Throughout her career, she has released five studio albums, two extended plays, eleven singles, and four promotional singles.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Grimes began releasing music independently late in the first decade of the 2000s, releasing two albums, Geidi Primes and Halfaxa in 2010 on Arbutus Records. She subsequently signed with 4AD and rose to fame with the release of her third studio album Visions in 2012. It produced the singles "Genesis" and "Oblivion", and received the Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year. Her fourth studio album Art Angels (2015) received critical praise, and was named the best album of the year by several publications. Her fifth studio album, Miss Anthropocene, was released in 2020. Her next album, Book 1, is supposed to be released in early 2023.
Dream Fortress
Grimes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He can't have it
I can tease
Oh, lie with me
Tired of living on my own, baby
Oh, how dear, when I see
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
Oh, no, you see the way and I can't see
I can't my baby
(You're down, I know)
I can't my baby, oh
I can't my baby
I can't my baby
I am on my own
Oh, I don't know how
Oh, be on time oh
Oh, I don't know how
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
Oh, be on time
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
I want my baby
(I wanna pay)
I want my baby
(And I will know where I'm from)
I want my baby
I don't know how my baby
Here I am, running in the dark
Here I am, running away
Here I am, running in the dark
Here I am, running away
The lyrics of Grimes's Dream Fortress are ambiguous yet emotional, evoking a sense of longing and desperation. The first verse talks about a person she desires but can't have. She can only tease him and lie with him. The repetition of "oh" in this verse emphasizes her frustration and the intensity of her emotions. In the next lines, she sings about her tiredness of living alone, indicating that she wants companionship. However, she sees the person she desires going away from her, and she can't understand why he's leaving her.
The second verse is more straightforward but no less emotional. She expresses her desperation to be with her baby, who could be her partner or a metaphor for her feelings. She repeats "I can't my baby" as if pleading with the person to stay. The lines "Oh, be on time oh, Oh, I don't know how" suggest that she's waiting for the person, but she doesn't know how long she can wait. The bridge of the song has a similar theme, with her running away from something or someone. It can be interpreted as her running away from her feelings or the pain of rejection.
Overall, Dream Fortress is a complex yet emotional song that illustrates Grimes's ability to capture raw emotions and express them through her music.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, touching
The beginning of a sensual experience.
He can't have it
The object of desire is not easily attainable.
I can tease
The singer enjoys the act of seducing and teasing her desired partner.
Oh, lie with me
The singer desires physical intimacy with her desired partner.
Tired of living on my own, baby
The singer is lonely and yearns for a connection with someone else.
Oh, how dear, when I see
The sight of the desired partner is precious to the singer.
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
Act on opportunities when they arise.
Oh, no, you see the way and I can't see
The desired partner sees a path to their goal, but the singer lacks clarity in their approach.
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
Again, act on opportunities when they arise.
I can't my baby
The ability to take action and move towards what is desired is hampered.
(You're down, I know)
The desired partner is also experiencing difficulty.
I am on my own
The singer feels isolated and disconnected.
Oh, I don't know how
The singer is unsure of how to proceed.
Oh, be on time oh
The desire for the desired partner to be present and ready.
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
Act on opportunities when they arise.
I want my baby
The singer yearns for the desired partner.
(I wanna pay)
The singer is willing to sacrifice and pay a price to be with the desired partner.
I want my baby
Again, the singer yearns for the desired partner.
(And I will know where I'm from)
The singer believes that being with the desired partner will provide a sense of identity and belonging.
I want my baby
Again, the singer yearns for the desired partner.
I don't know how my baby
The singer is uncertain of how to proceed towards being with the desired partner.
Here I am, running in the dark
The singer is pursuing their goals blindly and uncertainly.
Here I am, running away
The singer may be hesitant to pursue their desire due to fear or insecurity.
Here I am, running in the dark
Again, the singer is pursing their desired outcome without clarity or certainty.
Here I am, running away
Again, fear or hesitation may be preventing the singer from fully pursuing their desire.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Claire Elise Boucher
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MalincheDeniz
I think there was some sort of endorsement from Grimes if I remember well but frankly she (Grimes) got the perfect video for free; it’s spotlessly made, right on the mark, looks gorgeous and dreamy and everybody that comes to listen to the song sees this.
Basically what I am saying is that she (Grimes) should have retroactively paid her (the video creator).
I am bored and in pain so I’ll keep writing to busy myself: Grimes it seems to me has not emerged as the creative generous force as I imagined her to be -or at least to become when gaining proéminence, so it is not surprising.
I am always a bit taken aback how little people who make a good amount of money from their craft do not seem interested in spreading around to lift young creators.
This is marginally related on the question of remunerating people and referencing them properly even when you do not have to.
I remember à discussion recently about Madonna, her behavior, her legacy and I do think if I were an artist of that stature I would probably have moved out of tik tok into multitudes of creative projects supporting upcoming and unknown artist/musicians.
I wouldn’t try and keep up: I’d rest on my laurels and my iconic status and my way to be relevant would be to be super involved with a bunch of new artists and creators and invest my own money in that; as well as in outreach art/music projects; free programs, events. Like I would make it rain. I soil lay people handsomely for their contribution and not rip off stuff from tik tok without even a n attribution.
I would be a hen mother. That would be my second act.
So if someone somewhere made a gorgeous video for my music, a video that fits my aesthetics, a video everybody enjoys, I would probably give them a bunch of money so they can keep being an artist and create more. You know if I were, you know, a wealthy artist and not stuck in pain in my bed.
@ytubeanon
I found an interview about the director and this video, a link should be added under the video:
- Are you telling a story? If yes, what is the synopsis?
... There's a story, inspired by Nikolai Gogol's short novel 'May Night, or the Drowned Maiden'. Of course, it's a very liberal interpretation of the story, but the plots are similar. The main heroine is a senescent witch trying to save her vanishing beauty. She enchants innocent girls, forcing them to become a part of a heathen ritual. The girls fall into this magical net in spite of themselves, lose their spiritual purity and give away their youth and beauty.
That is why the video is divided into two parts: in the first one, girls are dressed decently, their amusements are harmless and naive. But the witchcraft draws them farther, and the moment where the witch blows out a candle marks the border between two parts. In the second part girls are dressed in a more agressive manner, their make up is defiant, their moves are uninhibited and tempting: in such a way innocent beauty turns into comprehension of one's sexuality, grace becomes a weapon.
But witchcraft is insubstantial, like any dream about eternal youth; a new day breaks, illusions separates from reality, white feathers separate from white petals, and witchcraft fails inevitably.
We can see just an old woman, who's unable to change the timestream.
________________________________________________________________
Here's the rest of the interview:
http://grimesreference.e-monsite.com/pages/album-2-halfaxa/page-9.html
This music video made by a young director, from Russia, needs to be known !
Here some question about its maker, Anastasia Shulepova, if you want to know more about her intentions :
- When did you discover Grimes? (love at first sight?)
The first time I heard Grimes about three years ago; it was a sleepless trip to the airport, endless row of fir's flitting outside the car window and the voice singing 'Crystal Ball' - all these things merged into one enchanting hallucination, full of echoes, ornate melodics and voices, proper rather to elves, than to human beings. That was interesting.
- When did you have the idea to make a music video about one of her track? Why 'Dream Fortress'? Is it one of your favorite song?
That might sound strange, but I didn’t have any choice, actually.Dream Fortress' appeared accidentally in my playlist and knocked me out without any warning. I've been listening to dozens of songs each week, but this track became a true obsession - I've been listening to it on repeat for several days. At some instant I felt into specific auditory trance - and images started rushing to my head like an avalanche. For some reason I felt that there was something slavic in this song, something pagan and bewitching.
At the same time, I couldn't just play in a historical reenactment, I needed to take ancient russian customs and breathe a new life into it. Thereby, we got fire pois instead of ritual bonfires and tie dye leggins instead of mermaid's tail.
- We can see in your video description that a lot of people worked on it. They were your friends, your colleagues ? Do you all belong to a studio?
Actually, there was no rational reason to make this video - the song has been released three years ago, and nobody asked me to work on this project, so there were just me and my friends, ready to help.
I spent my own money - about 2,500 dollars - for renting necessary video equipment, buying fabric for the costumes etc. And my friends - apparently, they were the only people, who could get pleasure out of hard unpaid work during two months.
- What was the most difficult thing to do during the filming ?
It was my first work ever - until I started filming it, I haven't had an idea how to create a video.
That's why I can frankly answer that the most difficult thing was to stop trembling before the first shooting day. But when I found myself next morning, standing with a shooting script in my hand and watching models preparing for the first scene, I forgot about everything.
We were shooting outside, and I quickly realised that nature was the hardest location to shoot on - daylight was changing every hour, wind was always too high or too feeble; once we've been attacked by an army of flying ants, but we withstanded.
My perfectionism added more difficulties - for example, we intentionally transplanted algas from one place to another to make the first shoot. Some scenes have been shooted for 30 and 40 times, and it was devilishly hard for all crew, but the result was worth it.
- The animals were easy, or were they a little bit cheeky?
The hardest thing about animals was my absolute helplessness as a director; I could't say: 'Hey, what do you think you're doing? You must move in the opposite direction, gather yourself!'
Anyhow, the snake was the easiest one to work with, true professional. The hen allowed us to film as many takes as we wanted and even presented us an egg as a bonus.
But the ferret behaved like a scandalous movie star: he tried to escape, bite everyone he could reach and scatter his food as far as it was possible. No ferret in my next video, no way.
- Most of your pictures look like paintings. Did you think about painters, what are your references?
Thank you! Every beautiful shot was the merit of our D.O.P.; rather his talent helped us to achieve such quality of the shots, than our aspiration for imitating admitted painters.
Of course, I cannnot but mention Andrey Tarkovsky, the greatest artist of moving images, genius director and unattainable ideal for me. Some of our friends have already blamed us for copying his shooting style (shots with water and paints, as well as the first shot with water and algas).
If it was possible to approach Tarkovsky's mastery just by filming water - every single amateur could obtain immortality, I guess. But it wasn't enough, so we had to work as hard as we could.
- Are you telling a story? If yes, what is the synopsis?
Well, it's definitely not easy to be noticed and understood under all these metaphors and mythology - but yes ! There's a story, inspired by Nikolai Gogol's short novel 'May Night, or the Drowned Maiden'. Of course, it's a very liberal interpretation of the story, but the plots are similar. The main heroine is a senescent witch trying to save her vanishing beauty. She enchants innocent girls, forcing them to become a part of a heathen ritual. The girls fall into this magical net in spite of themselves, lose their spiritual purity and give away their youth and beauty.
That is why the video is divided into two parts: in the first one, girls are dressed decently, their amusements are harmless and naive. But the witchcraft draws them farther, and the moment where the witch blows out a candle marks the border between two parts. In the second part girls are dressed in a more agressive manner, their make up is defiant, their moves are uninhibited and tempting: in such a way innocent beauty turns into comprehension of one's sexuality, grace becomes a weapon.
But witchcraft is insubstantial, like any dream about eternal youth; a new day breaks, illusions separates from reality, white feathers separate from white petals, and witchcraft fails inevitably.
We can see just an old woman, who's unable to change the timestream.
- Why the mirror ? What does it mean ?
Actually there're plenty of superstitions and legends related to mirrors : ancient people believed, that mirror could show the man's soul; other were sure, that dead people could reflect in a mirror.
In the Middle Ages, mirrors were said to be a portal in another world; we used this image in our video. So, the mirror is the entrance to the territory of mysticism and witchery; the heroines step over the boundary of real world and fall into a subtle reflecting trap. It's a turning-point in our video: the hag's hunt is over - the victims are caught.
- At last, do you want to do another music video about another Grimes' song?
Grimes creates music which is very interesting to visualize; at the same time she usually acts as a director of her videos. As to "Dream Fortress", there was no official video for it, so it was an exceptional case for me. But who knows, maybe someday I'll be knocked out again.
@BusTVChan
Oh, touching
He can't have it
I can tease
Oh, lie with me
Tired of living on my own, baby
Oh, how dear, when I see
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
Oh, no, you see the way and I can't see
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
I can't my baby
(You're down, I know)
I can't my baby, oh
I can't my baby
I can't my baby
I am on my own
Oh, I don't know how
Oh, be on time oh
Oh, I don't know how
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
Oh, be on time
(Have it when it's waiting for you)
I want my baby
(I wanna pay)
I want my baby
(And I will know where I'm from)
I want my baby
I don't know how my baby
Here I am, running in the dark
Here I am, running away
Here I am, running in the dark
Here I am, running away
Source: LyricFind
@ehighmore
this video transformed me into a forest nymph and i now live in candlelight
@ericbryant6097
haha
@scientistsbaffled5730
Nice
@supremebouchard2104
Elliott Highmore Haha Nice Indeed Haha
@imaane1798
This is the best comment
@twenteetoo
so where the hell do you get ur candles from
@bs.6814
1. this could easily be a perfume commercial.
2. this lo-key makes me wanna be a witch.
@scathachfelicianocortes682
Why not to the latter 🙃 be a witch
@melophile_69
B S. They are models
@jett____
It makes me wanna runaway with all my friends and live on our own island away from all the crap that’s happening rn.