Yet, just one year ago - with two albums already to his name, a raft of rave reviews, and a legion of fans from five years of solid gigging - Jack was about to pack it all in.
Having left his former label and management, he had become thoroughly disillusioned with the music biz at the age of 27. “I was seriously thinking about giving it all up,” he admits. He had just gotten married, had a kid on the way, and hadn't written a song in months.
Then, contemplating his next move last summer, a song came into his head. “I was thinking my career was over before it had really begun. Then this song came along and made me realise I wanted to make another album.”
That song, 'Knock Knock,' is one of the 13 self-penned songs that make up 'Before the Storm.' It's Jack's third album, but he sees it as a new beginning. “For me this is like starting all over again. The first two albums came from my imagination, but for this one I have drawn on my personal experience.”
The songs on 'Before the Storm' chart a turbulent relationship, and articulate the emotional dilemma of a young man torn between enjoying his freedom and settling down with the love of his life. There are fast songs and slow songs, sad ones and happy ones, songs about wild nights on the town and dark nights of the soul. What they share is the honesty of the lyrics and the catchiness of the tunes.
The son of a Polish-German model, whose own parents had fled the Holocaust, and an Italian actor who fled home to escape terrorist death threats, he grew up in London, Italy and Switzerland. Having spent school days “looking out of the window”, he first planned to become a footballer.
Next came a plan to study film in California, prompted by seeing 'The Graduate' at the age of 16, and falling in love with its Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack. That ambition was dramatically thwarted by Jack leaving home on September 11, 2001. “I woke up on a plane halfway across the Atlantic with military jets outside the window and the captain telling us the Pentagon had been hit, and the Twin Towers were no longer standing.” Fourteen frightening hours after taking off in Zurich, he was landing in Geneva. “My California dream came to a pretty abrupt end.”
When he finally made it to Los Angeles, he found a nation in shock, but fell in love with the city and its music. Encouraged by his mother, who had hung out with Hendrix and the Stones in her modelling years, he picked up a guitar and began to write tunes for the poetry he had written at school.
The outcome was 'Between The Minds', a debut album that showcased Jack's husky voice and knack for a catchy tune. Radio 2 loved it and he was invited to tour Europe with Corinne Bailey Rae, culminating in a gig in front of 9,000 fans at Hammersmith Apollo.
But Jack and his indie label were fighting to be heard against the machine of the industry. “It was just the wrong time for me to try to break through.”
A headline tour of Caffe Nero branches around Britain helped generate a buzz about Jack, but his second album, 'Harder than Easy,' failed to reach the audience it deserved when he parted ways with his first label.
Fast-forward to the Spring of 2012 and Jack is in the studio around the corner from his home. Recorded in just four days at KensalTown Studios, 'Before the Storm' is produced by Martin Terefe and The Suppliers, the Scandinavian collective behind a host of hits for artists including James Morrison and Jason Mraz.
“After eight years I have finally found my sound,” says Jack. “I feel like this is my first album. The first two felt like my education and my college years, and this feels like my first real job. I sat down and decided I wanted to make a great album, where every song could stand alone and yet be part of a great album. I think we've achieved it. I am very proud of this album.”
http://www.jacksavoretti.com/
Before The Storm
Jack Savoretti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the sound of her name
I can't help feel like crying
And that something that I can't quite explain
It leaves me here feeling like I'm dieing
The calm is over long before the storm
The calm is over long before the storm
Oh I'm going to know what it means to let you go
Theres just one thing I'd like to say
Before you go and break my heart
Is there nothing I can do to make you stay
If you go you better go before it gets too dark
The calm is over long before the storm
The calm is over long before the storm
Now the cold winds blow
Oh I'm going to know what it means to let you go
Yeah yeah yeah
Now there's something
In the sound of your name
I can't help feel like crying
The calm is over long before the storm
The calm is over long before the storm
Now the cold winds blow
Oh I'm going to know what it means to let you go
Let you go
Let you go
The lyrics to Jack Savoretti's "Before The Storm" seem to speak of a love that is slipping away, but not without warning. The first verse starts with the singer mentioning how something about the sound of her name brings tears to his eyes, yet he can't quite explain why. Perhaps it's a sense of foreboding, a sudden realization that their love is doomed. The calm before the storm that he refers to in the chorus seems to suggest that he knows that their love is about to come to an end, but there's no stopping it.
The second verse reveals the singer's desperation, as he pleads with his lover not to break his heart. He seems to offer some sort of alternative to her leaving, as he asks whether there's nothing he can do to make her stay. But he knows deep down that it's probably too late. The repetition of the chorus drives home the idea that the end is coming, and that he'll soon understand what it truly means to let her go. The final verse has him once again alluding to the sound of her name, as if it's the only thing that can bring him some sort of solace amidst the pain.
Overall, the lyrics of the song seem to be about the inevitability of endings, and how sometimes it's better to accept them before they come crashing down upon you. It's a bittersweet song about the pain of letting go, but also about the beauty of finding love in the first place.
Line by Line Meaning
Now there's something
The singer experiences a certain feeling or emotion.
In the sound of her name
This emotion is triggered by the mere mention of a particular person.
I can't help feel like crying
The emotion is so strong that it brings tears to the singer's eyes.
And that something that I can't quite explain
As the emotion is complex, the singer cannot find words to articulate it.
It leaves me here feeling like I'm dying
The intensity of the emotion is such that it causes the singer great distress.
The calm is over long before the storm
Problems and difficulties have been building up for some time and the situation is about to erupt.
Now the cold winds blow
The situation has reached a critical point and the situation is becoming unpleasant.
Oh I'm going to know what it means to let you go
The singer is aware that they will experience pain and heartbreak when they let the person go.
Theres just one thing I'd like to say
The singer has something important to convey to the person before they leave.
Before you go and break my heart
The singer is afraid that the person will cause them great emotional pain by leaving.
Is there nothing I can do to make you stay
The singer is hoping that there might be some way to convince the person to stay.
If you go you better go before it gets too dark
The singer is urging the person to leave before the situation gets even more unpleasant.
Yeah yeah yeah
An exclamation of emotion that emphasizes the urgency and intensity of the situation.
Let you go
Repeated phrase that emphasizes the central theme of the song: the pain of letting go of someone you love.
Contributed by Charlie R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
충현이
What a great song!
Maud Vreeburg
Wow, I just figured out why this sounds so familiar. Check out Tyrone Wells' Sea Breeze, Jack uses the same riffs