Heap grew up playing music from an early age, and by her eleventh birthday she was writing her own songs. From the age of 15, she studied at the BRIT School Of Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon, South London, recording three tracks for the school's annual CD between 1994 and 1995, "Aliens" being the title track of the latter.
After being introduced to Nik Kershaw by his manager Mickey Modern, Heap and Kershaw recorded four demos that Mickey Modern took to Rondor Music. Consequently, a few months later Heap signed her first record contract at 18 to independent record label Almo Sounds. During 1996, Heap began working with an experimental pop band called Acacia, which featured her future collaborator Guy Sigsworth and was fronted by the singer Alexander Nilere. While never a full member of the band, Heap was a guest vocalist (as a counterpart to Nilere) and contributed to various Acacia single and album tracks in 1997. One Acacia song, "Maddening Shroud", would later be covered by Frou Frou.
Heap enjoyed a prestigious live début, performing four songs (backed by friends Acacia) between sets by The Who and Eric Clapton at the 1996 Prince's Trust Concert in Hyde Park, London. Her début album, I Megaphone (an anagram of "Imogen Heap") was internationally released in 1998 on independent record label Almo Sounds and garnered critical acclaim. However, as production of the album neared completion, it was announced that the record label had been sold and would be shut down. I-Megaphone featured collaborations with Guy Sigsworth and Dave Stewart. In Japan, the regional distributor, Zora, re-released the album in 2002, featuring "Blanket," her collaboration with Urban Species which was released as a single in the United Kingdom, and a Frou Frou remix of one of her B-sides, a video to which was released exclusively to Japanese media. Following the disbanding of her UK and USA record label, I Megaphone was scarce in circulation, having not been re-printed until November 2006. An independent Brazillian record label has rights to the record, and has issued limited copies, some of which are available on eBay. It has also been released through the iTunes Music Store under the Almo label.
At the same time as the Japanese re-release, Heap was working on new tracks with producer Guy Sigsworth, who had collaborated on "Getting Scared" from I-Megaphone. Together, they formed an electro-pop group Frou Frou, releasing an album called "Details" and singles, "Breathe In", "It's Good To Be In Love" and "Must Be Dreaming." The album was a full collaboration between the two artists. Frou Frou were approached to cover "Holding Out for a Hero", originally performed by Bonnie Tyler, for the soundtrack to the highly successful movie Shrek 2. An album track, "Let Go", was featured in the movie Garden State in 2004.
In December 2003, Heap announced on her web site that she was going to write and produce her second solo album, using her site as an online blog to update fans on progress, even seeking them to be her A&R team for the lyrics to "Daylight Robbery". Heap set herself a deadline of one year to make the album (she booked the album mastering for December 2004), and re-mortgaged her flat to fund production costs, including the use of studio time and instruments (which she purchased as a birthday present to herself). Having been burned by previous challenges with record labels (Heap had been spurned twice by record companies, when Almo Sounds was sold and when Frou Frou's label staff focused on promoting other acts), Heap decided to form her own record label on which to release the new record. At the end of 2004, Heap premiered two album tracks online, enabling fans to pay for a digital download, entitled "Just For Now" (which was up for a limited time as a Christmas gift), and "Goodnight And Go", which had been featured on the second season of hit US TV drama The O.C.
In April 2005, The O.C. season two finale featured another track, the sparse vocodered-vocal track, "Hide And Seek". The track was released immediately to digital download services such as iTunes where it became an instant fixture in the chart. The track was released as a digital download on the 5th July 2005 in the UK and peaked at #8 on the iTunes download chart.
The album, entitled "Speak For Yourself" was then released in the UK on July 18th 2005 on her own record label, Megaphonic Records. The album was also released on iTunes UK, where it entered the top 10, selling strongly. "Hide And Seek" also received radio attention from the popular UK radio station BBC Radio One, with DJ Scott Mills featuring it as his "Record of the Week", and provoking strong reactions ("love it or hate it") from other DJs at the station. Due to popular demand, the track was commercially released on a special limited edition (1500 copies were printed) 7" vinyl in the UK in September. Speak For Yourself was licensed to Sony BMG imprint RCA Victor in August 2005, enabling the record to be released in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was released in those territories in November, and Heap appeared on the Hotel Cafe Tour promoting the record. Imogen also performed "Goodnight And Go" on The Late Show with David Letterman on January 11, 2006. Heap is slated to continue touring in 2006 in the US and UK to support the record.
As well as TV soundtracks (Frou Frou and Heap's solo records have been featured in shows as varied as The O.C. to CSI, among others), Heap has also contributed solo tracks to movie soundtracks. Her cover of the song "Spooky" (made famous by the band Classics IV, and previously covered by Dusty Springfield) for the soundtrack to the Reese Witherspoon movie Just Like Heaven. Heap also wrote a special track entitled "Can't Take It In" for the soundtrack to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She has also appeared on the second soundtrack for the HBO television series "Six Feet Under", entitled "Six Feet Under Vol. 2: Everything Ends" with a 50-second track that closed the Season 4 episode "I'm A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch)". Three versions were recorded and are available from Heap's official web site.
In addition to producing her own records, she has also produced a track for Nik Kershaw and has collaborated with artists as diverse as Joshua Radin, Jeff Beck, Temposhark, LHB, Way Out West, Jon Bon Jovi, Mich Gerber, Sean Lennon, Urban Species, Blue October, Jon Hopkins and Acacia.
Heap's 2009 album 'Ellipse' features Canvas, Aha! and Half Life.
Sites: Twitter
www.imogenheap.com
Whatever
Imogen Heap Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So perfectly yeah
So perfectly made
And yeah all that you are
And yeah all that you said
You're so exquisitely bred
Hmm yeah what more can I say?
So yeah, yeah
I guess it's alright
Yeah, no
I guess it's alright whatever
Yeah no
I guess it's alright
Yeah no
I guess it's alright whatever
And I, I hate ya for
For letting me fall for you
Just like a fool
And now I'm all psyching out
Hmm 'cause all were about
Is this ugly phone and it's all I have
To look forward to, yeah
Dreaming, of you lyin' in my bed
Just like how we were just days before
Oh just leave me just get out of my head
Cause I can't take this torture any more
You're so far away, yeah
Why are you so far away
From me?
Imogen Heap's song "Whatever" is a contemplative and introspective track about the conflicting emotions of a love relationship. The song describes the feelings of a protagonist who is torn between attraction and loathing for their romantic partner. The opening lyric "You, you come to me / So perfectly yeah / So perfectly made" suggests the singer initially perceived their partner as perfect and faultless. However, later lyrics contradict this idealized image, leading the singer to "hate ya for / For letting me fall for you / Just like a fool."
The chorus repeatedly emphasizes the phrase "I guess it's alright whatever," which seems to be a coping mechanism for the singer. They are trying to convince themselves that they have accepted the complexities of their relationship and can live with the tensions inherent in it. The lyrics "Dreaming of you lying in my bed / Just like how we were just days before" suggest that despite the singer's emotional turmoil, they still long for physical intimacy with their partner. The final line, "You're so far away, yeah / Why are you so far away / From me?" conveys a sense of distance, both literal and metaphorical, which exacerbates the singer's feelings of isolation and vulnerability.
Line by Line Meaning
You, you come to me
The singer is addressing someone who has come to them.
So perfectly yeah
The singer thinks that the person who has come to them is perfect.
So perfectly made
The singer thinks that the person who has come to them has been made perfectly.
And yeah all that you are
The artist acknowledges that the other person has many positive qualities.
And yeah all that you said
The artist acknowledges that the other person has said many positive things.
You're so exquisitely bred
The singer thinks that the other person is from a noble family or has good breeding.
Hmm yeah what more can I say?
The singer is at a loss for words to describe how they feel about the other person.
So yeah, yeah
The artist agrees with something that has been said.
I guess it's alright
The artist thinks that something is okay, but not great or amazing.
Yeah, no
The artist initially agrees with something, then disagrees.
Yeah no
The singer initially agrees with something, then disagrees.
I guess it's alright whatever
The artist is now apathetic or indifferent towards the situation.
And I, I hate ya for
The singer has negative feelings towards the other person.
For letting me fall for you
The singer blames the other person for leading them on.
Just like a fool
The singer feels foolish for falling for the other person's actions and words.
And now I'm all psyching out
The artist is getting stressed or anxious about something.
Hmm 'cause all were about
The artist thinks that everything between themselves and the other person was superficial.
Is this ugly phone and it's all I have
The singer is unhappy with their means of communication with the other person.
To look forward to, yeah
The singer is not excited about anything related to their communication with the other person.
Dreaming, of you lyin' in my bed
The artist has romantic or sexual thoughts about the other person.
Just like how we were just days before
The artist is reminiscing about a time that was enjoyable with the other person.
Oh just leave me just get out of my head
The artist wants the other person to leave their thoughts and dreams.
Cause I can't take this torture any more
The singer is overwhelmed with their feelings and emotions towards the other person.
You're so far away, yeah
The artist is lamenting the distance between themselves and the other person.
Why are you so far away
The singer is frustrated with the physical separation between themselves and the other person.
From me?
The singer is questioning why the other person is not closer to them.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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