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)
Heart And Shoulder
Heather Nova Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Would it do any good?
If I rained for you
It would just be water
And the night's with you
And the storm's in your hand
And you're down and you're down
I'm powerless to change your world
I'm powerless to stop the hurt
But I'll give you my heart
Give you my shoulder
I give you my heart
Give you my shoulder
Over and over
Want to run for you
Would it do any good?
If I flew for you
You would still be standing
And it's hard watching
Cause I'm part of you
And it's hard not to
Not to know what I can do
I'm powerless to change your world
I'm powerless to stop the hurt
I'm trying hard to be your tower of strength
I'm trying hard to bring you back to joy
I'll give you my heart
Give you my shoulder
I give you my heart
Give you my shoulder
When the night just cuts you through
And the dream is lost to you
When you're worried and confused
I will give you my heart give you my shoulder
I give you my heart
Give you my shoulder
Over and over
Time and again
Give you my shoulder
I will
I give you my heart
Give you my shoulder
I will
Time and again
Over and over
I give you my heart
Give you my shoulder
"Heart And Shoulder" by Heather Nova is a song that speaks of the emotional struggle of wanting to help someone you love who is going through a hard time but feeling powerless to do so. The lyrics repeatedly express the singer's desire to "cry for you," "run for you," "fly for you," but acknowledging that none of those actions would really help. The person she is addressing seems to be going through a dark night of the soul, holding a metaphorical storm in their hand, and the singer can do nothing but watch and offer her heart and shoulder. She acknowledges that she is "part of you," so it's hard not to know what she can do to help. But ultimately, she repeats her commitment to giving her heart and shoulder over and over, as an offering of support and willingness to be there through thick and thin.
Line by Line Meaning
Want to cry for you
I feel emotional pain for you
Would it do any good?
Is there any way I can help you?
If I rained for you
If I cried for you
It would just be water
It wouldn't solve your problems
And the night's with you
You're going through a tough time
And the storm's in your hand
You're facing difficulty and struggle near you
And you're down and you're down
You're feeling overwhelmed and low
And I can't lift you
I can't make things better for you
I'm powerless to change your world
There's nothing I can do to fix your problems
I'm powerless to stop the hurt
I can't take away your pain
But I'll give you my heart
I'll show you my love and support
Give you my shoulder
I'll be there for you to lean on and cry on
Want to run for you
I feel like I need to do something to help
If I flew for you
If I tried to solve your problems for you
You would still be standing
Your difficulties would still be there
And it's hard watching
It's difficult for me to see you struggling
Cause I'm part of you
Because I care about you
And it's hard not to
It's difficult for me to not be able to help
Not to know what I can do
To feel unhelpful and powerless
I'm trying hard to be your tower of strength
I'm trying to be a source of support for you
I'm trying hard to bring you back to joy
I want to see you happy again
When the night just cuts you through
When you're experiencing pain and loneliness
And the dream is lost to you
And it feels like your hope is gone
When you're worried and confused
When you're feeling anxious and unclear
I will give you my heart
I'll be there for you, emotionally
Give you my shoulder
I'll be there for you, physically
Time and again
Repeating, consistent support
I will
I promise
Over and over
Persistent support, never giving up
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: NOVA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Eric G
Amazing voice , completely wraps around one's soul
Kevin Foster
I love this statement... (and her voice- lol).
Internal injection truly here under God Louy$lugz
In a conciense hearted descision on and off record
Film & Blues Production
Her voice brings me back to the best days in my life. Also Dawson's Creek :D
Juro
I hope more wonderful times lie in store for you friend
GrifterUno
She is part of the soundtrack to my life...Love you Heather!!!
LAB RATS UNITE
Me quattro!
Matthew Wilkinson
Me three.
Film & Blues Production
GrifterUno me too...
John LaStrada
One of the best female vocalists I have ever heard. This is one if the best female tracks in recent memory also, and she extends her classy manner into her videos. I don't stand to applaud many artists but I would stand to applaud Heather. Quite a creative and original young lady. I just may play this track another ten times today.