Heather Nova is the Bermudian Songwriter who grew up on a boat in the Caribbean and went on to sell over 2 million albums in her 15 year career to date. She has released seven albums and has opened for artists like Van Morrison and Neil Young as well as performed with artists like Sarah McLachlan. She has also had hit records with co-writes featuring artists like ATB (Renegade), and Eskobar (Someone New).Her brother is the Reggae singer Mishka.
By the end of the 1980s, after leaving RISD, Heather moved briefly to New York City (where she unsuccessfully tried to interest some major labels in a demo including Columbia , who rejected her, only to sign her five years later ), before moving to London, England. She has British citizenship due to her Bermudan origin. In 1990, she released her first recording, an EP called 'Heather Frith' — she had not yet changed her name by then. The name change came a year or so later after several gigs in the Netherlands, where, after finding out that the Dutch have trouble pronouncing "Frith," she chose a name that would be easily pronounceable in every European language, "Nova," her Canadian mother's maiden name.
The new name debuted in 1993 with her second EP 'Spirit in You' and her first full album, 'Glow Stars'. The success of the album led her to record and release her first live album, 'Blow', the same year, which she supported by a tour of Europe. A year later in 1994 she released what many consider to be her finest work to date, the emotional yet jagged album 'Oyster', for which she toured for almost two years. Another live album, 'Live from the Milky Way', was released in 1995, and after its release she toured for nearly three years straight, twice joining Sarah McLachlan and others on the North American Lilith Fair, which is a music festival with only female performers. Heather is also a frequent performer at European music festivals such as Roskilde.
In 1998, the long-awaited follow up to 'Oyster' was released. After the release of 'Siren', Heather took a break while various television show and film soundtracks licensed some of her songs and her record company (Sony Records/The WORK Group) released various singles from the album, which received only moderate play on America's MTV2, Europe's MTV and Canada's MuchMusic and on mainstream radio, although she was popular on college radio. Also during this time, she recorded a version of the often covered Billie Holiday song, 'Gloomy Sunday', for the German WWII drama Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod. In 2000, she released yet another live album, called 'Wonderlust'.
Over the years, Heather has written and recorded over a hundred songs, so that her albums are selected from work that has often already been performed live, rather than being conceived during rushed songwriting sessions. Half the songs on 'Siren' had been written during the 'Oyster' sessions and were frequently played live prior to being committed to a studio session, and most of the songs for 2001's 'South' were written between 1999 and 2000 while she was on hiatus from touring. With the release of 'South', she returned to the international spotlight with an appearance on the soundtrack of the John Cusack movie "Serendipity", a couple of music videos, and a collaboration with Swedish band Eskobar, for a song called "Someone New", also released as a video, which proved so popular that it was played primarily on America's MTV, not just MTV2 (which is normally reserved for less-popular songs). 'Storm', Heather's fifth studio album, was released in late 2003 on Big Cat Records, as was 'Redbird', released in 2005.
In 2002, she self-published 'the sorrowjoy', a 72-page book of her poetry and drawings. An album of the same name was released in March 2006, which featured Nova reading the poems from her book set to ambient music. The album has only been available for purchase at concerts beginning with the Intimate Evening tour, from the fan-run websites, HeatherNova.Net and HeatherNova.De, and from the official website, www.heathernova.com.
The album Storm was released in 2003. It was a more refined album, using Mercury Rev as Heather's backing band. The album was Top 5 in Germany and Top 10 across Europe. It was an album of dark ballads, marking a step away from the polished sound of South. It was also Heather's first release on her own record label, Saltwater Records. Despite being pregnant, she toured hard with a new line up and band, before returning home to Bermuda. (A live DVD was made of these concerts (live at the Union Chapel)
Blessed
Heather Nova Lyrics
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I sit and watch the demons ass
A world I know but never seen
A fear that ripped the color from me
I lit a candle for the day
Saw the light around your head
Walked where angels never go
It's easy when you're blessed
With money, love and sex
You're not like all the rest
It's easy when your blessed
And did your mother lie to you?
You got God and death confused
I can't blame it on your soul
There was nowhere else it could go
It's easy when you're blessed
With money, love and sex
You're not like all the rest
It's easy when you're blessed
It's easy when you're blessed
The song "Blessed" by Heather Nova is a deeply introspective song that explores the notion of blessings in life. The opening lines of the song set the tone for what's to come, "Tonight my life is moving fast, I sit and watch the demons ass, a world I know but never seen, a fear that ripped the color from me." Here, the poet is describing a sense of unease and anxiety in the face of an unknown world. The demons mentioned in the song could represent the darkness or the negative thoughts that plague us all at some point in life.
The next verse of the song brings in the theme of religion, "I lit a candle for the day, saw the light around your head, walked where angels never go, saw them shining from below." This verse suggests that the person is trying to find solace and light in the darkness by lighting a candle. The angels mentioned in the line may represent a spiritual guide or hope that leads the person to the light.
The central message of the song comes through in the chorus, "It's easy when you're blessed with money, love, and sex, you're not like all the rest, it's easy when you're blessed." The poet seems to suggest that when we have these elements in life, we have a sense of security, belonging, and power. However, the final verse subtly questions these blessings, "And did your mother lie to you? You got God and death confused, I can't blame it on your soul, there was nowhere else it could go." This verse raises questions about the very nature of blessings and whether they truly exist or are merely a fabrication of our minds.
Overall, "Blessed" is a reflective song that looks at the concept of blessings in life and challenges us to question our definitions of these blessings. It suggests that while we may have what we consider to be blessings, we should question whether we need them or whether they bring us more problems than solutions.
Line by Line Meaning
Tonight my life is moving fast
My life seems to be moving quickly right now
I sit and watch the demons ass
I observe the demons that are plaguing me
A world I know but never seen
I am experiencing a familiar yet unknown world
A fear that ripped the color from me
I feel a fear so strong that it has taken away all the color in my life
I lit a candle for the day
I lit a candle to create some hope for the day ahead
Saw the light around your head
I saw a light shining around your head which gave me some comfort
Walked where angels never go
I went to a place where even angels fear to tread
Saw them shining from below
From a lower vantage point, I saw the angels shining bright
It's easy when you're blessed
When you have been given lots of love, money, and sex, life tends to be easier
With money, love and sex
Having an abundance of these things can make life more enjoyable
You're not like all the rest
You are different from everyone else because you have been blessed with so much
And did your mother lie to you?
Did your mother deceive you in some way?
You got God and death confused
You are confused about the nature of God and death
I can't blame it on your soul
I cannot blame your soul for your confusion
There was nowhere else it could go
Your soul had no other option but to be confused
It's easy when you're blessed
Life tends to be easier when you are blessed with an abundance of love, money, and sex
With money, love and sex
These things make life more enjoyable
You're not like all the rest
Because you have been blessed with so much, you stand out from everyone else
It's easy when you're blessed
Once again, life tends to be easier when you have been blessed with an abundance of love, money, and sex
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: HEATHER NOVA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind