Frank Turner started solo acoustic shows prior to Million Dead's break up. The first official performance was at the first Small Town America all dayer at 93 Feet East on September 18th 2004. The solo performances were, in a sense, a sideline to Million Dead. They did allow Turner to display some of his own songwriting capabilities (without a band) as well as some covers of songs and bands he enjoyed, in some cases the songs were much re-worked to fit an acoustic atmosphere. Solo performances were also used to help bolster or expose Million Dead to new individuals as well, with some acoustic in-store and radio performances of Million Dead songs.
At the end of February and start of March (2006) Frank went to Oxford to record the "Campfire Punkrock" EP with Dive Dive as the backing band for three of the songs. This EP was released on May 15 2006 on a limited run through Xtra Mile recordings. It sold out after only a few weeks on sale and had to be re-pressed to meet demand.
With Jonah Matranga doing some touring in June 2006 in support of his CD/DVD album "Jonah Matranga" there was some discussion of Frank doing supports with Jonah, this only ended up with one show featuring both at The Peel in Kingston. The discussion however lead to the creation of the Jonah Matranga and Frank Turner split 12" vinyl. Released in the USA on Welcome Home Records and in the UK via Xtra Mile Recordings. The release features Frank covering two songs by American songwriters and Jonah covering two songs by British songwriters. He was recently (September 18 2006) the last ever artist to perform on BBC Radio 1's Lamacq Live program, unveiling two new songs from "Sleep Is For The Week".
The good sales of "Campfire Punkrock" meant good news as this allowed Frank to record his debut album "Sleep Is For The Week" in August and September 2006. Recorded in Oxford with Dive Dive as extra band on a selection of the 13 tracks. The last track, "The Ballad Of Me And My Friends", is a live recording from a sold out show at the London Barfly and features the vocal contribution of the (approximately) 200 strong audience during a verse. Those in attendance and gave their names to Xtra Mile Recordings will have their names credited as contributers to this track.
In April 2008, his second album Love, Ire and Song was released to critical acclaim.
His third full-length album, Poetry Of The Deed, was released September 7th 2009, and includes the singles The Road, Try This At Home and Isabel. An accompanying DVD, Take To The Road, was released in March 2010.
Amidst extensive touring in support of Poetry of the Deed, Turner and his then-untitled backing band recorded Rock & Roll, an EP consisting of tracks written at the same time as Poetry of the Deed alongside new material. Following its release, Turner and the band spent twenty days in January 2011, recording their next studio album with producer Tristan Ivemy. The result was England Keep My Bones, the fourth studio album by Frank, released on June 6, 2011, on Xtra Mile in the United Kingdom, and on June 7, 2011, on Epitaph Records worldwide. Preceded by the single, "Peggy Sang the Blues", the album was produced and mixed by Tristan Ivemy, who had previously mixed Love, Ire and Song, Rock & Roll and Campfire Punkrock.
The album's title is taken from William Shakespeare's play, The Life and Death of King John, with Turner noting, "I knew that the album was, for the most part, about mortality, and about Englishness. Shakespeare seemed like a good place to go hunting for some pearls of wisdom, and with a little help from my friend Ben we came across this one, and it just seemed to fit the work really well."
Following the completion of the album, Turner subsequently announced his backing band had named themselves The Sleeping Souls, after a lyric in the track, "I Am Disappeared". The Sleeping Souls are Nigel Powell, Ben LLoyd, Tarant Anderson and Matt Nasir.
Turner recorded his fifth studio album in Burbank, California, in October 2012. The reason for recording first time abroad in California was, that producer Rich Costey wouldn't come to England with all his equipment so he convinced Turner to record it in Burbank. Frank Turner announced via Twitter on 28 October 2012 that recording was completed, and mixing and mastering would be done in time for a March 2013 release date. During the November and December UK tour a free CD titled Good Hangs from Xtra Mile Recordings was distributed for free at Frank Turner shows, this included a yet-to-be-released Turner song titled "Tattoos" plus the Möngöl Hörde song "Casual Threats From Weekend Hardmen". On Christmas Day 2012, the song "Four Simple Words" was released on Xtra Mile Recordings' website as a free download along with the b-side "Cowboy Chords". On 4 January 2013, a video was shot for what would be the first single. On the same day Frank announced on Twitter that the single was the song "Recovery". On 9 January, Frank uploaded a photo to his Instagram page showing the names of all 13 songs that would feature on his new album. This included songs played during the UK and US tours of 2012 such as "Anymore", "Plain Sailing Weather", "We Shall Not Overcome" and "Tell Tale Signs". Frank also posted on his fan forum that an extended edition of his new album would be released that includes an extra 5 or 6 songs. On 19 February 2013, it was announced that Turner had signed a licensing deal with Interscope Records in the US for Tape Deck Heart. Following the release of the album Frank Turner embarked on a short U.K tour.
[this section requires expansion, to cover the period 2013 to 2018]
Discography:
2005 - Frank Turner's Demo
2007 - Campfire Punkrock
2007 - The Real Damage
2007 - Sleep Is For The Week
2008 - Love Ire & Song
2008 - The First Three Years
2009 - Poetry Of The Deed
2010 - Take to the Road: Live 2009
2010 - iTunes Festival: London 2010
2011 - 2011-11-17: Daytrotter Session, Big Orange Studios, Austin, TX, USA
2012 - The Second Three Years
2012 - Last Minutes and Lost Evenings
2013 - Tape Deck Heart
2014 - Polaroid Picture
2014 - The Third Three Years
2015 - Positive Songs for Negative People
2017 - Songbook
2018 - Be More Kind
2019 - No Man's Land
2020 - West Coast vs. Wessex
2020 - Buddies II: Still Buddies
You Are My Sunshine
Frank Turner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You'll never notice how much I love you.
Please, don't take my sunshine away.
The other night, dear,
As I laid sleeping.
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried
I'll always love you
And make you happy.
If you'll only say the same.
But if you leave me to love another,
You'll regret it all some day.
You told me once, dear,
You really loved me
And no-one else could come between.
But now you left and love another,
You have shattered all my dreams.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never notice how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
Frank Turner's version of the classic song "You Are My Sunshine" is a heartfelt and emotional rendition, imbued with a sense of longing and loss. The lyrics address a lover who is the source of joy and happiness in the singer's life, even in the midst of dark and gloomy days. The lines "You'll never notice how much I love you" and "Please don't take my sunshine away" convey a profound fear of losing this light in the singer's life.
The second verse describes a dream in which the singer is holding their lover in their arms, only to awaken to the harsh reality that they are alone. This dream sequence adds to the overall tone of melancholy and yearning. The final verse reveals that the lover has left the singer for someone else, shattering their dreams and leaving them with a sense of regret.
Overall, the lyrics of "You Are My Sunshine" speak to the universal human experience of loving and losing, and the fear of being left alone without the one who brings light to our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You are the source of light in my life, you are the only one who can bring me joy.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
Your presence in my life brightens up my days and makes me feel happy even when everything around me is gloomy.
You'll never notice how much I love you.
I don't think you understand just how much you mean to me and how much I love you.
Please, don't take my sunshine away.
I beg you, please don't leave me and take away the light and happiness you bring into my life.
The other night, dear,
On another night, my love,
As I laid sleeping.
As I was sleeping.
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
In my dream, I was able to hold you in my arms and feel your love.
When I awoke, dear,
But when I woke up,
I was mistaken.
I realized it was just a dream and it wasn't real.
And I hung my head and cried
This realization made me feel sad and I couldn't help but cry.
I'll always love you
I will never stop loving you.
And make you happy.
My aim is to keep you happy always.
If you'll only say the same.
If only you feel the same way as I do.
But if you leave me to love another,
But if you decide to leave me and love someone else,
You'll regret it all some day.
One day, you'll realize that leaving me was a mistake and you'll regret it.
You told me once, dear,
At one point, you told me,
You really loved me
That you truly loved me.
And no-one else could come between.
And nothing and no one could ever come between us.
But now you left and love another,
But now that you've left and found someone else to love,
You have shattered all my dreams.
You have destroyed all my hopes and dreams for our future together.
Contributed by Sydney I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.