Holly Golightly (born Holly Golightly Smith on September 7, 1966) started h… Read Full Bio ↴Holly Golightly (born Holly Golightly Smith on September 7, 1966) started her musical career as a founding member of all girl garage band Thee Headcoatees, a Billy Childish / Thee Headcoats splinter group in 1991. She spent a good few years as a Headcoatee before making her debut solo record, The Good Things, in 1995.

Where the Headcoatees sound was a blend of girl-group sounds and three-chord garage-rock, with all the original songs coming from the pen of Billy Childish, Holly’s solo sound is more a blend of pre-rock electric blues, folk, soul and less frantic elements of rock & roll. Apart from the wide range of covers of such artists as Willie Dixon, Ike Turner, Lee Hazelwood, Wreckless Eric, and Bill Withers, Golightly also writes her own material.

Since her debut LP in 1995, Golightly has been very prolific, releasing fifteen albums and a bounty of singles for a wide variety of labels. Holly’s sound has remained remarkably consistent throughout, but each record has a quality that sets it apart from the other releases.

In 1999 Surefire released an LP, In Blood, on which Billy Childish and Holly Golightly sing duets and the two of them celebrate One Chord, One Sound, One Song.

2001’s Desperate Little Town, released on Sympathy for The Record Industry, another collaboration (this time with Dan Melchior) marked a bit of a stylistic diversion as it is a relaxed and mostly acoustic record. In the same year she also collected up all thirteen of her singles and E.P’s onto one double album called Single’s Round-Up.

After playing several shows with The White Stripes, in the USA, and then supporting them at their some of their London shows, Holly has been good friends with Jack and Meg for some time, recording a duet with them ’It’s True That We Love One Another’, for their album Elephant.

Holly has also recorded in the US with The Greenhornes and they released a special Christmas 2002 single together on Damaged Goods called Little Stars. Holly appeared on the Greenhornes album Dual Mono which is out in the States on Telstar. And Holly sings lead vocal on the track ’There’s An End’, which featured as the title track for the film, Broken Flowers.

Over the years Holly has been guest vocalist on various other bands projects, including live with Mudhoney and on several Rocket From The Crypt releases. Her most recent album 2005’s ’Slowly But Surely’ released on Damaged Goods and recorded, as usual, by Liam Watson at ToeRag Studios in London.

There was also a 7", ’Walk A Mile’ taken from the album, with an exclusive b-side Don’t Fuck Around With Love featuring the ever wonderful Sexton Ming.

Sites: MySpace.

Holly Golightly is also the name of an indiepop band from Germany who released a four track 7" single in 1992.

Slowly But Surely
Holly Golightly Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Time goes by
Slowly but surely
Time goes by
And baby here am I
I'm wasting my time on you

Time goes by
Slowly but surely

Time goes by
And sometimes I have to cry
For loving you like I do

I'm watching a clock
And waiting for you
But how long
How long must I wait?

The beat of my heart
It's telling me true
'Give it up
You made a mistake'

Time goes by
Slowly but surely
Time goes by
And baby here am I
Oh, I'm wasting my time on you

Time goes by
Slowly but surely
Time goes by
Oh, slowly but surely
Time goes by

Slowly but surely
Time goes by

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Holly Golightly's song "Slowly But Surely" express the frustration of a person who has been waiting for too long for someone who seems to not reciprocate their feelings. The repetition of the phrase "time goes by, slowly but surely" emphasizes the slow passage of time, which can add to one's feelings of impatience and disappointment. The singer feels like she is wasting her time on someone who is not worth it, yet she can't help but love them. The line "And sometimes I have to cry for loving you like I do" highlights the emotional distress that comes with unrequited love.

The theme of waiting is further emphasized in the lines "I'm watching a clock and waiting for you, but how long, how long must I wait?" The singer is counting down the minutes, but the wait seems endless. Meanwhile, her heart is telling her to move on, but it's hard to let go of something that once felt so good. The repetition of the chorus at the end of the song drives home the idea that time passes slowly but surely, whether we want it to or not.

Overall, "Slowly But Surely" is a poignant take on unrequited love and the agony of waiting for someone who may never come around. It's a relatable theme that many listeners can connect with, and Holly Golightly's simple yet powerful lyrics convey the message perfectly.

Line by Line Meaning

Time goes by
The passing of time is regular and steady

Slowly but surely
Although it may seem slow, the passage of time is constant

Time goes by
The steady progression of time continues

And baby here am I
I have remained in the same place while time has moved on

I'm wasting my time on you
My devotion is misplaced and futile

Time goes by
The unrelenting march of time proceeds

Slowly but surely
The persistent, gradual pace of time continues

Time goes by
The passage of time persists

And sometimes I have to cry
Occasionally, the weight of my unrequited love brings tears to my eyes

For loving you like I do
Because of my deep feelings for you

I'm watching a clock
I am monitoring the time

And waiting for you
Anticipating your arrival

But how long
The duration of my waiting is uncertain

How long must I wait?
I am becoming impatient with the length of my waiting

The beat of my heart
My body's natural rhythm and emotions

It's telling me true
My heart is giving me an honest assessment of the situation

'Give it up
I should let go and move on from this unrequited love

You made a mistake'
My heart recognizes that my love for you was not reciprocated and was therefore a mistake

Oh, I'm wasting my time on you
My devotion is persistent, but ultimately futile

Time goes by
The relentless passage of time remains

Slowly but surely
The ongoing, gradual movement of time continues

Time goes by
The steady progression of time persists

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, CTM Publishing, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: GARVIN, JONES, WEATHERLY

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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