(1) Irma (born 1988 in Douala, Cameroon) is a singer-songwriter from Cameroon. She is now living in France.
Irma is from a family with a musical background. Her father is guitarist and her mother was in a church choir. As a child Irma was performing at masses too. At age 15 she went to a high school in Paris to improve her school education.
No doubt about it: Irma is part of a generation that can do just about anything. She’s capable of removing the blinkers of received ideas and transcending the boundaries between categories. And she was also daring enough to re-record her first album, initially entrusted to the greatly respected New York producer, Henry Hirsch, long-time musical partner of Lenny Kravitz. “We recorded in a place two hours from New York, in a chapel that had been converted into a studio. I thought it sounded good, but when I listened to it again back in Paris, I was pretty disappointed! Too many musicians around her, too many effects and not the emotion she was after. Driven by the audacity of youth, the 20-year-old Irma took the risk of re-recording in Paris. And it was worth it because the album reveals her personality, with her soft vocals and hazy aura, and shows a gentle modesty that is perfectly consistent with her barely disguised shyness. She did most of the takes herself from the mixing desk in a studio converted from a former cellar. She played around with the various tracks to recreate the private world of this young woman barely out of childhood and give us a sense of the atmosphere of the bedroom where she composed for many years.
Born in Douala into a family from Bangangté in western Cameroon, Irma arrived in Paris in 2003 to continue her secondary school studies. She was 15 years old and already showing some serious talent. This was the start of a new life for the teenager, who discovered the voices of neo soul and singers “with guitars” as she puts it, starting with Ben Harper’s ‘Live from Mars’, one of her favourite albums given to her by her mother and ‘Change the World’ by Eric Clapton, which she dug up from her father’s record collection. The young Cameroonian guitarist and songwriter redid songs by her heroes in her own style and started posting videos on YouTube in 2007: for starters, a cover of ‘Au Suivant’ inspired by seeing –M- and Camille’s version on the TV programme Taratata, followed by the Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’, Yael Naïm’s ‘New Soul’, and Django Reinhardt’s ‘After You’ve Gone’. It didn’t take long for praise to start flooding in; lots of fans wanted to find out (lots) more. Wanted to hear some of her own songs. They got ‘Letter to the Lord’ with its original black-and-white clip, and it opens the album. “I describe the process of searching for inspiration. I write to the Lord asking him to send me some chords. A love letter,” she says, never shy with references to her faith which is “very important” to her. Later she posted the wonderful ballad ‘Somehow’, a piano-vocal number that concludes the collection, opening up new horizons for this singer-songwriter who had until now composed her own personal brand of mostly sweet, sometimes bitter songs on the guitar. Irma prefers the subtle charms of light and dark to the glaring lights of seduction.
The hype built up so quickly that she started to receive emails from tempted producers, including a big cheese from My Major Company who’d succumbed immediately to the charms of ‘I Know’. Things moved very fast after that. In August 2008, the beautiful stranger succeeded in winning over 416 Internet co-producers in just one weekend; in under 48 hours she had collected the €70,000 she needed to record her first album. “It was amazing because we had reckoned on 5 months to get the money together.” She marked her arrival at My Major Company with a fundraising record that has not yet been matched! And we can expect a similarly bright future for this album composed of well-crafted tunes that will strike a chord with listeners of all generations, and choruses that draw on the influences of all the singers who have struck and shaken her heart, beginning with her absolute idol, Michael Jackson. “I’ve got everything of his! I love everything about him! His energy, his tunes, his voice, his sensitivity, his showmanship: he had the whole world spellbound! I’d only just started taking classical piano lessons!”
Irma trod the same fertile pop and soul path as the former little prince of soul who became the king of pop, if we want a resumé of her style that doesn’t, however, tell the full story. How can you sum up in a few words the multitude of influences that have gone into making this unclassifiable album? She is as indebted to Cat Power and Eric Clapton as she is to The Fugees and Queen, but you can also add Regina Spektor and Fink, the star of the Ninjatune team. “My songs are the fruit of everything I’ve assimilated: two seconds on the radio, a few notes in a film, or a whole album. I just need to set that all to music.” It’s not as if she’s a debutant. She brought a few of her own compositions with her from Cameroon – ‘I Know’, ‘Love You’, ‘End of the Story’ and others. A third of the album dates back to her early years when the little girl got her hands on a guitar her father had bought and taught herself to play. “Simple verse-chorus songs in a major key”, which the young woman she has become has since reworked to reflect her new liking for neo soul sounds, as on ‘Their Truth’ with its funky hip-hop-like beats, churchy organ, the crackling of vinyl records and her even warmer vocals.
You’ll have realised by now that Irma is a composite character with a shifting identity; multiple and yet singular. Like her songwriting. Her lyrics tell us about her without ever being autobiographical, stories of love, its joys and its disappointments. “The words come to me completely naturally,” Irma says modestly. But her lyrics certainly don’t lack irony. ‘Your Guide’, for example, pokes fun at young people who are indifferent to everything, already disappointed in love, have survived everything, against all the odds. She is quite the opposite, ready to embark on this strange journey called music and fully intending to perform live, a dimension she added in spring 2010. “I spent the whole of March 2010 with Diam’s. It was the first time I’d been on tour and travelled like that.” Irma has supported many different artists including –M-, Mickey and Tété since then. Each time she had “twenty minutes, five tracks”, completely alone with her guitar and her voice. And last autumn she performed weekly dates at the Java, just like a real star. The crowd always ended up falling under the spell of her husky melodies.
Her subtle charisma will overpower you too – and she promises to enchant us for many years to come.
(2) Irma Schultz Keller (born 1 October 1965) has appeared in many movies and television series in Sweden. As a singer, she has made five solo albums and participated in many other music projects like ‘Songs for December’ along with Uno Svenningsson. In 2007, Keller and Uno Svenningsson performed in Melodifestivalen and made it to the second chance round with the song ‘God Morgon’.
Stereo
Irma Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Time is on my side, yes it is
Now you always say
That you want to be free
But you'll come running back (said you would baby)
You'll come running back (I said so many times before)
You'll come running back to me
Oh, time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is
You're searching for good times
But just wait and see
You'll come running back (I won't have to worry no more)
You'll come running back (spend the rest of my life with you, baby)
You'll come running back to me
Go ahead, go ahead and light up the town
And baby, do everything your heart desires
Remember, I'll always be around
And I know, I know
Like I told you so many times before
You're gonna come back, baby
'Cause I know
You're gonna come back knocking
Yeah, knocking right on my door
Yes, yes!
Well, time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is
'Cause I got the real love
The kind that you need
You'll come running back (said you would, baby)
You'll come running back (I always said you would)
You'll come running back, to me
Yes time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Oh, time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
I said, time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Oh, time, time, time is on my side
Yeah, time, time, time is on my side
The song "Time is on My Side" is a bold assertion of confidence and a plea for a lover to return. The lyrics are reassuring in nature, as the singer assures his lover that time is on his side and that she will eventually return to him. He is confident in the love he has for her, despite her desire for freedom and good times, and he knows that she will come back to him.
The repetition of the phrase "time is on my side" throughout the song emphasizes the singer's unwavering confidence that the passage of time will work in his favor. He acknowledges that his lover may stray, seeking adventure and excitement, but ultimately, he knows that she will realize that the love he has for her is worth returning to. The repetition of the phrase also creates a sense of urgency, as if the singer is trying to convince his lover that time is of the essence and that she should return to him quickly.
Overall, the song "Time is on My Side" is a hopeful plea for love and reconciliation. The singer's confidence in the power of time and his unwavering love for his partner make for a powerful and emotive message.
Line by Line Meaning
Time is on my side, yes it is
I have plenty of time to wait for you to come back to me
Time is on my side, yes it is
I am confident that time will work in my favor
Now you always say
That you want to be free
But you'll come running back (said you would baby)
You'll come running back (I said so many times before)
You'll come running back to me
Though you want to be independent, you will eventually realize that you need me and come back to me, as we have discussed before
You're searching for good times
But just wait and see
You'll come running back (I won't have to worry no more)
You'll come running back (spend the rest of my life with you, baby)
You'll come running back to me
You are looking for happiness elsewhere, but eventually you will come back to me and we will spend the rest of our lives together
Go ahead, go ahead and light up the town
And baby, do everything your heart desires
Remember, I'll always be around
And I know, I know
Like I told you so many times before
You're gonna come back, baby
'Cause I know
You're gonna come back knocking
Yeah, knocking right on my door
Yes, yes!
I encourage you to do what makes you happy, but I'll always be here waiting for you. I am sure that you will come back to me, just as I have predicted so many times before.
Well, time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is
I am confident that in the end, time will work in my favor and bring you back to me
'Cause I got the real love
The kind that you need
You'll come running back (said you would, baby)
You'll come running back (I always said you would)
You'll come running back, to me
I know that you need my love, and that need will eventually bring you back to me
Yes time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Oh, time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
I said, time, time, time is on my side, yes it is
Oh, time, time, time is on my side
Yeah, time, time, time is on my side
Time is the key element that will bring us back together, and I trust that time will work in my favor.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jerry Ragovoy, Norman Meade
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@pjf654
1965....Take a look at this heart,
it's the one i'm gonna use to love you.
Take a look at these arms. This the arms am gonna use to hug you
look at these eyes this are the eyes that will haunt you
take a look at this girl, she is the girl that wants you
Take a look at my feet they gonna walk up to your door
Take a look at this hand take a look at this fist
Its gonna knock like never before.
Look at this lips they're gonna kiss u and I know they'll haunt you.
Take a look at this girl I'm the girl that wants you
Take a look at that ring that u see lying there in the window,
Take a look at that poor little empty spot on my third finger
If you wanna see someone who's gonna be happy as can be
Take a look at me
Take a look at me
Take a look at me.
Take a look at this heart,
it's the one i'm gonna use to love you.
Take a look at this arms; take a look at this arms
they're the arms I'm gonna use to hug you.
Take a look at this lips they gonna kiss you and I know they'll haunt you.
take a look at this girl I am the girl that wants you
Come on take a look at this girl am the girl that wants u
take a lok at this girl am the girl that wants u
Come on and take another look at this girl I'm the girl that wants you
Come on pretty baby look at this girl, am the girl that want you
take a look at this girl am the girl that wants you.......1965
@emmed56
I heard this song on a cream cheese commercial of all places lol. Omagoodness. I had to find out the name and who sang it! Love the words, the music and her voice.
@bevhart4604
I did the same thing, had to stop what I was doing & research. Plus it’s perfect for the commercial too. Now she & the song are on our radar!
@conniemiller4027
That makes at Least 3 of us. loveeeeee this song!
@ronniedamnitz9295
Thank God for commercials! I fell in love with this song when I was in the midst of falling in love happy memories 1997!
@kimberlystewart3908
Me too
@motoxta128
Same here. Thank you, sound search.
@rifkijohngm
The song curator for that cream cheese commercial is absolute genius💕
@judykauppinen724
Right? I remember this song from my childhood. Saw the commercial and immediately came here.
@nailonknighten273
Love her with all my heart
@kevincooney4573
I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of her before, but wow what a voice. Absolutely incredible. I’m a fan now for sure