During the 1980s, Armstrong's composition work included commissions from the Arts Council for various classical ensembles in Scotland, and he also served as resident composer at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow. During this time he also received a Composer's Award to study electronic music, and maintained a parallel career in the Scottish Pop music scene, as a member of bands Hipsway, Texas and The Big Dish.
In 1990, his music theatre group Performance performed at the Glasgow Mayfest, and he composed a number of works for film, television, and stage productions by the Traverse Theatre, the BBC, and the Royal Shakespeare Company, among others. By the late 1990s he had gained critical acclaim for his work on the Baz Luhrmann films Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! (which won him a Golden Globe for Best Original Score in 2001). He has also done orchestrations with artists such as Hole, Massive Attack, Madonna, Spice Girls, U2, Suede, Shola Ama, Pet Shop Boys and The Future Sound of London. During this time he also released his first album of his own orchestral work, The Space Between Us, in 1998.
During the early 2000s Armstrong continued to produce film and orchestral work, including commissions for the Barbican Centre and the Scottish Ensemble. His most recent film scores are for Richard Curtis's 2003 film Love Actually, the Academy Award winning Taylor Hackford film, Ray (for which Armstrong won a Grammy Award) and Oliver Stone's 2006 film World Trade Center.
His track called "Escape" from the film Plunkett & Macleane is frequently used, since it is a rising crescendo type of music, on the British Television program "Top Gear" as the music which usually plays at the end of the "epic challenges" (for example, when Jeremy Clarkson completed a lap of the Nürburgring in 9 minutes, 59 seconds), and this track is commonly known, around the internet, as the "Top Gear Epic Music".
Starting in 2006 and continuing to this day, Armstrong's "Ball" track is used as the music in the filler/preview for test channel BBC HD in two edited forms and normally receives up to 10 airings a day.
In 2008, he wrote a fifteen minute opera for Scottish Opera, collaberating with popular author, Ian Rankin. The opera, titled 'Gesualdo', was one of five operas commissioned and clips from all five were shown as part of a programme about the future of opera on BBC1 Scotland. One of the other five operas was written by popular new composer, Gareth Williams.
This Love
Craig Armstrong feat. Elizabeth Fraser Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This love is a strange love
A faded kind of mellow
This love
This love
I think I'm gonna fall again
And even when you held my hand
This love
Now rehearsed we stay, love
Doesn't know it is love
This love
This love
It hasn't have to feel love
It hasn't need to be love
It hasn't mean a thing
This love
This love loves love
It's a strange love, strange love
This love
This love
This loves gonna be a strange love
Doesn't mean a single thing again
This love
This love
This love
It's a strange love, strange love
Doesn't mean a single thing again
This love
This love
I think I'm gonna fall again
It's a strange love, strange love
Doesn't mean a single thing again
This love
This, this love
This love
It's a strange love, strange love
Doesn't mean a thing
This love
The lyrics to Craig Armstrong's "This Love" depict a complex and confusing type of love. The chorus repeats the phrase "This love" over and over again, creating a sense of ambiguity around what the love is or means. The first stanza suggests that this love is "a strange love" and "faded kind of mellow", indicating a sense of weariness or apathy toward the relationship. The second stanza mentions holding hands, but notes that it "didn't mean a thing", suggesting a lack of emotional connection or depth.
The third stanza references the fact that the love is "rehearsed", indicating that it may be a routine or habit rather than something genuine. The fourth and final stanza emphasizes the strange and meaningless nature of the love, repeating the phrase "doesn't mean a thing" and concluding with the assertion that "This love loves love". Overall, the lyrics suggest a type of love that is confusing, unfulfilling, and ultimately empty, yet still persistent and difficult to shake.
Line by Line Meaning
This love
The emotion of love
This love is a strange love
Love can be unpredictable and peculiar
A faded kind of mellow
Subdued and muted in intensity
This love
The emotion of love
I think I'm gonna fall again
I am about to experience love again
And even when you held my hand
Physical touch does not necessarily indicate love
It didn't mean a thing, this love
Love cannot be reduced to simply physical contact
Now rehearsed we stay, love
Our love has become routine and practiced
Doesn't know it is love
Our love may not even recognize itself
This love
The emotion of love
It hasn't have to feel love
Love can exist without a strong emotional connection
It hasn't need to be love
Love does not require anything specific to be considered valid
It hasn't mean a thing
Love can be meaningless or significant, depending on the circumstances
This love loves love
Love has a tendency to express itself through love itself
It's a strange love, strange love
Love can be mysterious and enigmatic
This love
The emotion of love
This love
The emotion of love
This loves gonna be a strange love
Love may not conform to any traditional or expected form
Doesn't mean a single thing again
Love may not always carry meaning with it
It's a strange love, strange love
Love can be bizarre and inexplicable
Doesn't mean a single thing again
Love may not always carry meaning with it
I think I'm gonna fall again
I am about to experience love again
It's a strange love, strange love
Love can be mysterious and enigmatic
Doesn't mean a single thing again
Love may not always carry meaning with it
This, this love
The emotion of love
This love
The emotion of love
It's a strange love, strange love
Love can be bizarre and inexplicable
Doesn't mean a thing
Love may not carry inherent meaning or significance
This love
The emotion of love
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Craig Armstrong, Jerry Burns
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@popbox01
This love
This love is a strange love
In that it can lift a love
This love
This love
I think I'm gonna fall again
And ever when you held the hand
And turn 'em in your fingers, love
This love
Now rehearsed we stay, love
Doesn't know it is love
This love
This love
Doesn't have to feel love
Doesn't care to be love
It doesn't mean a thing
This love
This love loves love
It's a strange love, strange love
This love
This love
This love is a strange love, strange love
I'm gonna fall again love
Doesn't mean a thing
Think I'm gonna fall again
This Love
@fadingstarlight8
This song brings me back to my high school crush/heartbreak. That was decades ago and I've been happily married for over a decade, but something about 'This Love' beautifully captures the sweet pain of her memories. The ever-fading memory of her warm smile in the crisp autumn air of New England, the ghosts of dreams never made real. This love is a strange love.
@angelinak.4868
Liz Fraser's voice is the most beautiful thing in the world. The voice of an angel.
@vrod6525
Angelina K. This song always gets me 13+ years and still gets me!!!
@fabriceb2323
Actually..."of God"! This is the way journalists called her in the debut of Cocteau Twins !
@MrDINNboy
Sure!! I love CT Liz Fraser, this is music is perform by Sara Brightman but perform of Liz is upper!! Other singer indicated to you is Any Lennox is a great!! Bye
@namastepeace
A voice that gives my heart so much = thank you so much for this
@michaelpyero
T R U E !!!❤
@maha77
The first time I heard this song for 4 minutes my world completely stopped. I had to buy the album that night and play it at least 10 times a day for months and months.
@moimoi63
Elizabeth Fraser is an alchemist. Every song she touches turns to gold. My heart forgets itself in her voice, I am nowhere but in my aching aching centre when I hear this song.
@LorenzoVersnick-cf4gn
Je weet het je moet maar eens de drie films zien echt prachtig