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.
Still Yours
Jamie Lawson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This heart has been fixed
This heart it is open by
Machiavellian tricks
This heart has its reasons
Its hopes and its flaws
This heart is still mine
Which means it's still yours
This heart has its beating
This heart has its bruise
This heart has its bleeding
Its match and its fuse
This heart has its workings
Its mouths and its cures
This heart is still mine
Which means it's still yours
If you want it
It's still yours
If you'll have it
It's still yours
If you need it
It's still yours
This heart has it's soulmate
Its hopes it won't fail
This heart has its crime rate
It's keys and its jail
This heart has it's chambers
Its judges and laws
This heart is still mine
Which means it's still yours
If you want it
It's still yours
If you'll have it
It's still yours
If you need it
It's still yours
This heart has its timing
This heart has its clocks
The heart has its chiming
It ticks and it tocks
This heart has its longing
So it it endures
This heart always mine
Will always be yours
If you want it
It's still yours
If you'll have it
It's still yours
If you need it
It's still yours (still yours)
Still yours (still yours)
Still yours
Still yours
Still yours (still yours)
Still yours (still yours)
Still yours
Maybe you ever wanted
If you ever you ever you ever need it
If you ever you ever you ever want it
It's still yours
Jamie Lawson's "Still Yours" is a song about the complexities of love and how it impacts the heart in different ways. The lyrics suggest that the heart has been both broken and fixed, and that it remains open despite the pain it has endured. The heart is described in great detail, with each line revealing a new aspect of its workings. The lyrics maintain a sense of ambiguity, leaving the listener to interpret the meaning of the words in their own way.
The standout lyrics in the song are: "This heart is still mine/Which means it's still yours." This line appears throughout the song and speaks to the idea that no matter what happens to our hearts, they remain connected to the people we love. It suggests that love is a constant force in our lives, and that even when things go wrong, the bond between two people can remain intact.
One interpretation of this song is that it's about a relationship that has gone through a lot of ups and downs. Despite the pain and hurt that the couple has inflicted upon one another, they still feel a strong connection. The song suggests that love is a complex emotion that can't be easily explained or simplified, but that it's a force that endures through the hardest of trials.
Line by Line Meaning
This heart has been broken
My heart has gone through a lot of pain
This heart has been fixed
But it has been mended and healed
This heart it is open by Machiavellian tricks
Although it's vulnerable, it's guarded against deceitful people
This heart has its reasons
It has a purpose and motivation
Its hopes and its flaws
But it also has its imperfections and desires
This heart is still mine
Despite everything, it belongs to me
Which means it's still yours
Thus, it's still yours if you want it
This heart has its beating
It's alive and thriving
This heart has its bruise
But it has also been hurt and wounded
This heart has its bleeding
It's bleeding from the hurt and pain
Its match and its fuse
Its equilibrium is put to risk
This heart has its workings
It operates in its own way
Its mouths and its cures
It can speak and it can heal
If you want it
You can still have it
If you'll have it
It's still yours if you choose to keep it
If you need it
It's yours to take if you're in need
This heart has it's soulmate
It's meant to find love
Its hopes it won't fail
And it desires not to be disappointed
This heart has its crime rate
It has committed its own selfish acts
It's keys and its jail
But it has taken responsibility and suffered the consequences
This heart has it's chambers
It has different compartments and emotions
Its judges and laws
It sets its own standards and morals
This heart has its timing
It operates on its own schedule
This heart has its clocks
It ticks and tocks with every second
The heart has its chiming
And sometimes it makes beautiful sounds
So it it endures
Even when things are tough, it persists
This heart always mine
And it always belongs to me
Will always be yours
But it's also all yours if you ever want it
Maybe you ever wanted
You might have wanted it all along
If you ever you ever you ever need it
And if you ever have a use for it
If you ever you ever you ever want it
Or if you ever find yourself wanting it
It's still yours
Just remember, it's yours to have
Still yours (still yours)
It's still yours
Still yours
Always remember that it's yours
Still yours (still yours)
It's always been and always will be
Still yours (still yours)
It's still yours
Contributed by Sophia R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Rian Lyons-Copeland
Love this song! The hubs and I got to see him live a few years back. He was incredible! So amazingly humble and sweet. It was an awesome experience. I highly recommend catching him live.