Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz singer-songwriter, an… Read Full Bio ↴Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Though he is a primarily a vocalist, he also accompanies himself on instruments including piano, guitar and drums.

Cullum was born in Romford, East London. He was brought up in Hullavington, Wiltshire, and educated at the independent fee-paying Grittleton House School and the sixth form at Sheldon School. He then went on to study English Literature, and minored in Film Studies, at Reading University where he graduated with First Class Honours.

His mother, Yvonne, is a secretary of Anglo-Burmese origin, whose family settled in Wales after Burma's independence; his father, John Cullum, worked in finance. His paternal grandfather was a British Army officer, while his paternal grandmother was a Jewish refugee from Prussia who sang in Berlin nightclubs.

Cullum married British model Sophie Dahl at a country hotel in the New Forest National Park in England on 9 January 2010.

Cullum released his first album, Jamie Cullum Trio—Heard it All, in 1999, of which 500 copies were made. Due to their rarity, original copies have sold for as much as £600 on eBay. The success of Heard It All Before resulted in Cullum being invited to appear on Geoff Gascoyne's album Songs of the Summer.

After graduating from Reading University, Cullum released a best-selling album, Pointless Nostalgic, which stirred interest from Michael Parkinson[2] and Melvyn Bragg.

Just after Cullum made his first television appearance, on Parkinson in April 2003, he signed a £1m contract[3] for three albums with Universal, who beat Sony in a bidding war. Cullum's third album, Twentysomething, released in October 2003, went platinum and became the #1 selling studio album by a jazz artist in the United Kingdom. Cullum ended 2003 as the UK's biggest selling jazz artist of all time.[3]

Although primarily a jazz musician, he performs in a wide range of styles and is generally regarded as a "crossover" artist with his musical roots firmly based in jazz. Cullum draws his inspiration from many different musicians and listens to an eclectic mix of music from Miles Davis[4] to Tom Waits and many more. Cullum has belonged to several bands, ranging from banging drums in a hip hop group to playing guitar in rock bands such as Raw Sausage and The Mystery Machine, in his teenage youth. Cullum names his elder brother, Ben Cullum, as his biggest musical influence, and the two continue to collaborate extensively.

Cullum is well known not only for his abilities on the piano, but also for his unique entertainment style and charisma. One of the many things that features in Jamie's concerts is the "stompbox" (not to be confused with an effect pedal for guitars), made from a small wooden block. The stompbox is used to amplify a musician's tapping foot. Jamie found this in Australia and uses it to enhance upbeat and fast-paced songs such as Seven Nation Army originally by the White Stripes and "Gold Digger", originally by Kanye West. He is also often found using a looping machine. This plays a heavy part in Cullum's versions of Seven Nation Army and Teardrop by Massive Attack. Cullum is also often found beatboxing at most gigs.

As well as the White Stripes and Kanye West, Cullum has performed work by Massive Attack, Rihanna, Pussycat Dolls, Radiohead, Gnarls Barkley, Elton John, Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Joy Division, Lady Gaga and many others. He has also performed with Kylie Minogue, Sugababes, Will.i.am and Burt Bacharach.

Cullum rarely works to a set list and on average his gigs last just over two hours. The gigs are largely improvised, rooted in jazz but not solely consisting of jazz music.

Cullum has played at many large music festivals, including Glastonbury Festival (in 2004 & 2009), Coachella 2005, 2006 South by Southwest, North Sea Jazz Festival, the Hollywood Bowl (performing with the Count Basie Orchestra) and the 2006 Playboy Jazz Festival. On the April 29th 2006 Cullum played his biggest ever crowd on Queensday in The Netherlands.

Discography:
1999 - Heard It All Before
2001 - Pointless Nostalgic
2003 - Twentysomething
2005 - Catching Tales
2009 - The Pursuit
2010 - Devil May Care
2013 - Momentum
2014 - Interlude
2018 - The song society playlist
2019 - Taller
2020 - The pianoman at christmas
2021 - The pianoman at christmas (The complete edition)

Catch The Sun
Jamie Cullum Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Every day it comes to this
Catch the things you might have missed
You say, get back to yesterday
I ain't ever going back

Back to the place that I can't stand
But I miss the way you lie
I'm always misunderstood

Pulled apart and ripped in two
But I miss the way you lie

Catch the sun, before it's gone
Here it comes, up in smoke and gone
Catch the sun, it never comes
Cry in the sand, lost in the fire

I never really understood
Why I didn't feel so good
But I miss the way you lie
I've always been up and down
Never wanted to hit the ground
But I miss the way you lie

Catch the sun, before it's gone
Here it comes, up in smoke and gone

Catch the sun, it never comes
Cry in the sand, lost in the fire

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Jamie Cullum's "Catch the Sun" convey a sense of longing and frustration with the past, but also a determination to move forward. The opening lines, "Every day it comes to this, catch the things you might have missed," suggest a daily struggle to seize opportunities and not let them slip away. The next lines, "You say, get back to yesterday, I ain't ever going back," indicate a desire to leave the past behind and not get stuck in it.

The following stanza, "Back to the place that I can't stand, but I miss the way you lie, I'm always misunderstood, pulled apart and ripped in two, but I miss the way you lie," introduces some ambiguity. The singer simultaneously wants to leave a place and a person behind, but also misses the way they used to be together. The line "I'm always misunderstood" suggests that the relationship was fraught with miscommunications and misunderstandings, which might explain the need to move on, but the line "pulled apart and ripped in two" shows the pain and difficulty of doing so.

The chorus, "Catch the sun, before it's gone, here it comes, up in smoke and gone, catch the sun, it never comes, cry in the sand, lost in the fire," uses a metaphor of the sun to represent life and the fleetingness of time. The singer urges the listener to seize the moment and not let opportunities slip away, while also acknowledging the possibility of failure and regret.

Overall, "Catch the Sun" is a thought-provoking song that explores the complex emotions of letting go of the past and moving forward.

Line by Line Meaning

Every day it comes to this
Every day I find myself in this situation

Catch the things you might have missed
Pay attention to the things you might have overlooked

You say, get back to yesterday
You advise me to go back to yesterday

I ain't ever going back
But I have no intention of going back

Back to the place that I can't stand
I refuse to go back to the place that I loathe

But I miss the way you lie
But I miss the falsehoods that you used to tell me

I'm always misunderstood
I always feel like people don't understand me

Pulled apart and ripped in two
I feel like I'm being torn apart

But I miss the way you lie
But I miss the falsehoods that you used to tell me

Catch the sun, before it's gone
Seize the opportunity while it's still present