A musician and lyricist of uncommon and mature gift, and one blessed with a gloriously fluid and expressive voice, Lawson was born and raised in Plymouth in what was he says a resolutely non-musical household. “No-one sang or played anything. We didn’t have any records. My dad would listen to Radio 2 a bit but that was the extent of it. And this was back in the days before the station got really good. There was nothing in what I heard that spoke directly to me.” Then the elder of his two brothers hit adolescence and things began to change: “He got me into The Smiths, The Housemartins, the Jackson 5 ...” A disparate trio of early influences, you might think, but Jamie says not really. “They’re all very big on melody. And Morrissey and the young Michael Jackson both have a real passion to the way they sing.”
Aged eight, he asked for and received his first guitar. Early on in secondary school, he was invited to join his first band. “We were quite a dedicated little bunch, rehearsing every lunchtime when the rest of the class was out playing football. It was pretty much all covers, of course ... R.E.M., the Chilli Peppers, some Hendrix. By the time I was 15 we had quite a wide repertoire of other people’s badly-done songs.” He was writing material of his own too, “all of it terrible to start with, of course. I’d be 17 at least before I came up with anything good.” And he was singing, though mainly in unconscious impersonation of Michael Stipe. “My own voice took a while to find. I had to stop trying to replicate someone else’s tricks.”
When he did properly uncover it, that voice proved to be something very special indeed. No one who has heard him sing live would disagree (and in addition to his own regular schedule of gigging, he has played with artists including The Frames, Martha Wainwright and Damien Rice, as well as having been chosen as opening act for outdoor gigs by both Van Morrison and Katie Melua). Even-keeled, even undemonstrative offstage, he comes alive in front of an audience and in the service of his songs. “American Music Club’s Mark Eitzel has been a big influence, in the sense that he sings with his whole body and puts so much into his performance. The difference is that my voice is sweeter and more pure.”
There was a brief and half-hearted attempt at following a different career path. But unhappy and unfulfilled in his earliest weeks at Art College, Lawson sought the advice of a counsellor who then asked him, ‘So what do you want to do with your life?’ “And when I said that I wanted to be a singer she told me, ‘Then go and do it!’ which totally surprised me but which was absolutely the right thing to say. I met that woman just once and for five minutes. I don’t even know her name. But she showed me what I had to do.” And via a geographically circuitous route that has taken in Dublin, Cornwall and now London and during which both his song writing skills and stagecraft have increased by leaps and bounds, he has done it.
Lawson is not just a singer but also an exceptionally blessed and affecting one. His voice and songs have proven to work equally beautifully and well whether in a tiny indoor venue like London’s 12 Bar Club or outdoors before 10,000 people. “And the simple fact is that I love to sing,” he says. “I love the intimacy of live performance. I love drawing people into my mood. I love bringing them to where I am.”
Alan Jackson.
The Times
London.
Footprints In the Snow
Jamie Lawson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I hold you knowing I'll have to let you go
And this night is ours, quiet and clear
We dance but soon the only proof we were even here
Will be footprints in the snow
Twelve months to the day
I'll be home again
But I'll see you next Christmas
I'll see you next year
We both know there's nowhere else
I'd rather be than here
Do you remember we kissed beneath the mistletoe
And you take a little part of me with you and you go
And these broken days and every sleepless night
But I still see you walk away when all that's left behind
Are footprints in the snow
Covered over now
You'll find a way, I know
To get back home to us somehow
And I'll see you next Christmas
I'll see you next year
We both know there's nowhere else
We'd rather be than here
But tonight I know that my wish won't come true
I'm dancing in the snow
But nothing feels the same without you
Nothing feels the same
So I'll think of you this Christmas
I'll remember you every year
I'll be looking out my window
Wishing I still had you here
I'll think of you this Christmas
I'll hold on to you every year
'Cause everything reminds me
I wish I still had you here
I still had you here, oh, oh
I wish I still had you here
Each and every Christmas
Each and every Christmas
The lyrics of Jamie Lawson's song "Footprints in the Snow" depict a bittersweet moment between two lovers who are forced to part ways for an extended period of time. The coldness outside symbolizes the emotional distance between them as they know they have to let go and separate for twelve long months. Despite this, they cherish the present moment, aware that soon there will be no evidence of their togetherness except for the footprints they leave in the snow.
The song captures the longing and nostalgia for the time they spent together, particularly during Christmas. They reminisce about their past Christmas memories, like the kiss they shared beneath the mistletoe, which holds a significant meaning to them. The separation brings about broken days and sleepless nights, but even in the face of heartache, the singer still vividly sees their lover walking away, leaving only footprints as a reminder of their affection.
The chorus repeatedly emphasizes the hope of being reunited next Christmas and next year, as they both acknowledge that there is no place they would rather be than together. However, the singer realizes that their wish for immediate reunion won't come true, and they find themselves dancing in the snow, feeling a void without their partner. They express the longing and yearning to have them back, promising to think of them every Christmas, holding onto the memories and wishing to still have them present each year.
Interpreting these lyrics, "Footprints in the Snow" captures the melancholic beauty of love, the pain of separation, and the enduring hope for reunion while cherishing the memories shared.
Line by Line Meaning
It's cold outside like I've never known
The weather is extremely frigid, unlike any cold I have experienced before.
I hold you knowing I'll have to let you go
I embrace you with the knowledge that I will eventually have to say goodbye.
And this night is ours, quiet and clear
This particular evening belongs to us exclusively, serene and transparent in nature.
We dance but soon the only proof we were even here
We engage in dancing, but before long, the only evidence that we existed in this moment will be the imprints left by our feet on the snow.
Will be footprints in the snow
The sole remnants of our presence will solely be the tracks we leave behind on the snowy ground.
Twelve months to the day
Exactly one year later from today.
I'll be home again
I will return to the place I consider home.
I wish that I could stay
I desire the ability to remain for a more extended period of time.
But I'll see you next Christmas
Nevertheless, I will reunite with you during the upcoming Christmas.
I'll see you next year
I will have the opportunity to see you in the coming year.
We both know there's nowhere else
Both of us acknowledge and understand that there isn't any other place
I'd rather be than here
where I would prefer to be compared to our current location.
Do you remember we kissed beneath the mistletoe
Can you recall the memory of us sharing a kiss underneath the mistletoe?
And you take a little part of me with you and you go
As you depart, you carry a small piece of me within yourself.
And these broken days and every sleepless night
During this period of heartbreak and countless nights without rest.
But I still see you walk away when all that's left behind
However, I can still visualize you departing while everything else remains behind.
Are footprints in the snow
The only remnants that persist are the marks left by our footsteps on the snowy surface.
Covered over now
Those footprints are now concealed and obscured.
You'll find a way, I know
I am confident that you will discover a method to return to us.
To get back home to us somehow
To find a way to reunite with us, your loved ones, against all odds.
But tonight I know that my wish won't come true
However, tonight I am aware that my desire will not be fulfilled.
I'm dancing in the snow
Amidst the snowflakes, I am gracefully moving my body in rhythmic patterns.
But nothing feels the same without you
Despite dancing, everything lacks the familiarity and joy it once possessed in your absence.
So I'll think of you this Christmas
Consequently, I will contemplate your presence during this Christmas period.
I'll remember you every year
Year after year, I will hold memories of you close to my heart.
I'll be looking out my window
I will gaze out through my window, observing the world outside.
Wishing I still had you here
Yearning for the continuation of your companionship and the void it fills.
I still had you here, oh, oh
I desire that you were still present in my life, oh, oh.
I wish I still had you here
It is my fervent wish that I could still hold onto your presence.
Each and every Christmas
Throughout each annual Christmas celebration.
Each and every Christmas
Year after year during the Christmas season.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Jamie Lawson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Becky Millington
on I'm Gonna Love You
Marriage not memories