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.
The Last Time
Jamie Lawson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If it's the last time we pull through
And the last line back to you
Can I take it?
If it's the last time that you read
If it's the last time we can't see
Can you do one last thing for me
Before you break iiiiit
It seems we're never gonna make this right
If we're goin' nowhere
Can we stay there
And believe in this for one more night
It's not the way we's planned this
Hard to understand it
We almost fell in love so fast
If this is the last time
Let the last time last
And we can leave all this behind
We could say we found what we can't find
It won't be the last time that we cry
If we fake iiiiiiit iiit
So hold on before it's all gone
It seems we're never gonna make this right
If we're goin' nowhere
Can we stay there
And belive in this for one more night
It's hard to understand it
It's not the way we planned it
We almost fell in love so fast
If this is the last time
Let the last time last
Oh oh
What don't you understand
Hold on before it's all gone
And let the colour bleed until we're gone
If we're goin' nowhere
We should stay there
You never know what we might find
And its hard to understand
And its not the way we've planned
And its all fallin' apart so fast
If this is the last time
Let the last time last
Oh
If this is the last time
Let the last time last
Let this be the last time that you say
This is the last time if you stay
The song "The Last Time" by Jamie Lawson depicts a bittersweet moment between two people who are possibly ending their relationship. The lyrics express an urgency to hold on to what they have left, to cherish the last moments and to let the memories last. The song's emotional intensity comes through as the singer, in a plea, asks their partner to do one last thing before they finally let go. The song comes across as both heart-wrenching and hopeful. The singer is holding onto the idea that maybe they can find a way to make it work, even as their relationship comes to an end.
Line by Line Meaning
If it's the last thing that you do
If there is only one thing you do before it's too late
If it's the last time we pull through
If this is the last time we succeed in overcoming a challenge together
And the last line back to you
And if I am returning your last message
Can I take it?
Am I emotionally strong enough to handle it?
If it's the last time that you read
If this is the last time you read my words
If it's the last time we can't see
If it's the final moment we are blinded by a circumstance
Can you do one last thing for me
Can you perform a final favor for me?
Before you break iiiiit
Before your emotional breakdown
Hold on before it's all gone
Don't let everything disappear before our very eyes without a fight
It seems we're never gonna make this right
It seems like we will never be able to fix our situation
If we're goin' nowhere
If we are not making any progress
Can we stay there
Can we remain in the same position
And believe in this for one more night
And have faith in our relationship for one last night
It's not the way we's planned this
This is not how we envisioned things would turn out
Hard to understand it
Difficult to comprehend it all
We almost fell in love so fast
Our love almost happened quickly and suddenly
If this is the last time
If this is the end of our journey
Let the last time last
Let this final moment be eternal
And we can leave all this behind
And we can forget about all our troubles
We could say we found what we can't find
We can convince ourselves that we finally found something that wasn't there before
It won't be the last time that we cry
We will cry again in the future
If we fake iiiiiiit iiit
If we pretend that everything is fine
Let the colour bleed until we're gone
Let the emotions run until we are no longer physically here
We should stay there
We should remain in our current, stagnant situation
You never know what we might find
We might find something unexpected
And its hard to understand
And it is difficult to comprehend
And its not the way we've planned
And it is not how we had envisaged it to be
And its all fallin' apart so fast
Everything is collapsing rapidly
Let this be the last time that you say
Don't say "this is the last time" again
This is the last time if you stay
This will be the last moment if you continue to stay
Contributed by Elizabeth S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Becky Millington
on I'm Gonna Love You
Marriage not memories