Headley began playing the music of her native country at a young age, including calypso, reggae and soca. She moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana in the United States at the age of fifteen when her father was offered a job as pastor of McKee Street Church of God (in Anderson, Indiana).
After graduating from Northrop High School, Headley attended Northwestern University to study communications and musical theatre. In 1997, she played Nala in The Lion King, the Broadway musical. Headley's performance was well-received and she then originated the title role in the Broadway adaptation of Aida, earning the Tony Award for Best Actress in 1999.
Headley released her debut album, This Is Who I Am, in October 2002 on RCA Records. Although its first single, "He Is", was not very successful, the second single, "I Wish I Wasn't", achieved moderate success and earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Headley was also nominated for Best New Artist.
On September 6, 2003, Headley married Brian Musso, formerly of the New York Jets. Her second album, In My Mind, was delayed due to the various executive shake-ups associated with RCA parent BMG's merger with Sony, and Headley joked that it should have been called Caught Up instead. Under BMG North America chairman/CEO Clive Davis for the first time, Headley released the album in January 2006. The title track was released as the first single; it was produced by India.Arie collaborator Shannon Sanders, and its music video was directed by Diane Martel. The song reached number-one on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
The Past Is Another Land
Heather Headley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know nothing about me and care even less
How could you understand our emptiness?
You've plundered our wisdom, our knowledge, our wealth
In bleeding us dry, you long for our spirit
But that, you will never possess
The past is now another land, far beyond my reach
Where timeless joys of childhood lie broken on the beach
The present is an empty space between the good and bad
A moment leading nowhere, too pointless to be sad
But time enough to lay to waste every certainty I had
The future is a barren world from which I can't return
Both heartless and material its wretched spoils, not my concern
Shining like an evil sun as my childhood treasures burn
Shining like an evil sun as my childhood treasures burn
The lyrics of Heather Headley's song "The Past Is Another Land" are a poignant reflection on the loss of tradition, culture, and identity in the face of colonization and globalization. The singer of the song is a member of a community that has been exploited and oppressed by outside forces who have taken over their land, resources, and way of life. The singer expresses a deep sense of mistrust and animosity towards these invaders, whom they see as both covetous and ignorant of their true worth.
The first verse of the song lays out this theme in stark terms, as the singer challenges the outsiders to acknowledge their lack of understanding and compassion towards the people they have exploited. The second verse reflects on the devastation wrought by this exploitation, as the singer describes a world where the past is distant and inaccessible, the present is empty and meaningless, and the future is bleak and hopeless. The final verse is a powerful image of the singer's sense of loss and defiance, as they watch their childhood memories and dreams burn in the face of the invaders' greedy ambitions.
Overall, this song is a powerful indictment of the imbalances of power and wealth that lie at the heart of colonialism and globalization, and a plea for recognition and respect of the cultures and traditions that have been lost or forgotten along the way.
Line by Line Meaning
You know nothing about me and care even less
You have no understanding of me, and even if you did, you wouldn't care
How could you understand our emptiness?
It's impossible for you to comprehend the depth of our pain and longing
You've plundered our wisdom, our knowledge, our wealth
You've taken everything valuable from us - our intelligence, our understanding, and our resources
In bleeding us dry, you long for our spirit
Your desire to drain us of everything we have is an attempt to claim our resilience and strength for yourself
But that, you will never possess
Despite your efforts, you will never be able to take our inner power for yourself
The past is now another land, far beyond my reach
The past is like a distant, foreign land that I can never go back to
Invaded by insidious foreign bodies, foreign speech
The past has been corrupted by outsiders who have brought in their own culture and ideas
Where timeless joys of childhood lie broken on the beach
The simple pleasures of my childhood now lay shattered and forgotten
The present is an empty space between the good and bad
The present feels like a void, without any clear direction or meaning
A moment leading nowhere, too pointless to be sad
This time feels meaningless, not even worth getting upset about
But time enough to lay to waste every certainty I had
Despite its lack of meaning, the present has eroded my sense of stability and confidence
The future is a barren world from which I can't return
The future is bleak, with no hope of going back to the way things were
Both heartless and material its wretched spoils, not my concern
The future only offers superficial, soulless rewards that I'm not interested in
Shining like an evil sun as my childhood treasures burn
The future glows like a sinister star, while the things from my past that I held dear are destroyed
Contributed by Lucas B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.