After playing in several bands, John Parish formed Automatic Dlamini in 1983 and for the next 9 years recorded and toured under that name. Members of Automatic Dlamini at various times included Rob Ellis, PJ Harvey, Ian Olliver, Jeremy Hogg (all of whom later performed with PJ Harvey), Giles Smith (writer/journalist) and Andy Henderson (Echobelly). In 1988 Automatic Dlamini was one of the first Western European bands to tour Eastern Europe. Automatic Dlamini albums were The D is for Drum (1987), Here Catch Shouted his Father (1989- unreleased) and From a Diva to a Diver (1992). In 1986 Parish also began his career as a record producer working with UK bands including The Chesterfields, The Brilliant Corners, and The Becketts. In 1995 he co-produced PJ Harvey's To Bring You My Love (1995), on which he also played guitar, drums, percussion and organ. Parish toured with Harvey during 1995. In 1996 they recorded Dance Hall at Louse Point together: John wrote and performed the music and Polly did the lyrics and vocals. They went into the studio in 1996, to record nine songs and two instrumentals, with producer Head, who had already worked on PJ Harvey's album Dry. Mick Harvey from The Bad Seeds joined them for the second time (he collaborated on To Bring You My Love) to record a cover of Leiber and Stoller's Is That All There Is? originally performed by Peggy Lee.
Dance Hall At Louse Point was released in September 1996. Four small club shows were held in John's hometown of Bristol (Fleece & Firkin), with dEUS as the opening act. The band included former Automatic Dlamini members Rob Ellis and Jeremy Hogg, plus Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, Pixies) who had already taken part in the 1995 tour. Mick Harvey joined them for the encores on October 9th to perform three songs including two by Serge Gainsbourg (Harley Davidson in French, Bonnie & Clyde in English). John and Polly also collaborated with the Mark Bruce Company to prepare a dance show based on Dance Hall At Louse Point, featuring the aforementioned band and five dancers. The show toured the UK in 1997 and in July '97 was performed at the Salzburg Festival in Austria.
During the next couple of years John was involved in a number of records as a performer or producer. He played on Rob Ellis's Soundtrack To Spleen, produced Elliot Green, The Harvest Ministers and, in 1997, 16 Horsepower's album Low Estate. During '97-98 he also played on PJ Harveys next album Is This Desire (1998), He toured with PJ Harvey during 1998. Early in 1998 he began producing Giant Sand's album Chore of Enchantment (2000) in Tucson, Arizona. While there he was contacted by Belgian director Patrice Toye to write the soundtrack for her Flemish-language film Rosie. In 1999 he won the Jury Special Appreciation prize at the Bonn International Film Music Biennale for the Rosie soundtrack. It was released as a CD in 1998, and includes one song (Pretty Baby) sung by Alison Goldfrapp. He toured the soundtrack music with a seven piece band under his own name in 1999. He later guested on Goldfrapp's album Felt Mountain, went on to co-write the Eels album Souljacker (2001) and tour with Eels in 2001. He produced Tracy Chapman's Let It Rain (2002) and tracks on Sparklehorse's It's a Wonderful Life. He has worked with a number of European artists, producing albums for the French artists Dionysos and Dominique A, Thou (Belgium), the Magic Rays (Switzerland), and Italian bands including After Hours, Cesare Basile, and the Italian diva, Nada.
At the same time he has recorded and toured his own music, working with an 11 piece band, including Portishead's Adrian Utley, slide guitarist Jeremy Hogg and Jesse Morningstar (Morning Star, This is the Kit) for his album How Animals Move (2002). For his next album, Once Upon A Little Time (2005), he worked with a four piece band of Italian and French musicians - John plus Marta Collica (keyboards), Georgia Poli (bass) and Jean -Marc Butty (drums). He continues to play and tour with this band, recently playing at the Strada Blu festival in Modigliana Italy, and the End of the Road Festival in England (2007).
Recent productions have included Amber's One Minute Love Affair, This is the Kit's Krulle Bolle and Tom Brosseau's Cavalier. In 2006 he wrote and recorded the soundtrack for a Dutch 8-part TV drama about a circus family, entitled Waltz.
In 2006-7 he returned to the studio to work on a new PJ Harvey album, White Chalk, which he co-produced and played on (drums, banjo, guitar, percussion, backing vocals). In 2008 he wrote the score for Patrice Toye's new film The Spring Ritual, and recorded "A Woman A Man Walked By" with P J Harvey.
Choice
John Parish Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What I have I want to learn to appreciate you
Every line traces history of emotion
And your smile
And I thank the Lord
That beauty's getting older
In the eye of the beholder
No Lolita on my knee
Choice is distraction
All I want is easy action
One of gold worth a hundred of your nickel
And your time
And I thank the lord
That beauty's getting older
In the eye of the beholder
There'll be no portrait up my stairs
There'll be no Grecian in my hair
And I thank the lord
That beauty's getting older
In the eye of the beholder
There'll be no pin-back cheeks for me
No Lolita on my knee
The lyrics of John Parish's song Choice delve into the various themes of beauty, aging, and the notion of choice in life. The opening line of “Choice the devil take you” sets the tone with a sense of urgency, and it appears to be a reference to the devil's malicious nature of tempting people with different choices in life. The next line, "What I have I want to learn to appreciate you" reflects the idea that sometimes what we value least in life is what we should appreciate the most.
The following lines, "Every line traces history of emotion, and your smile" bring in the theme of emotion and how it can be traced through one's life, from youth to old age. The lyrics "And I thank the Lord that beauty's getting older, in the eye of the beholder, there'll be no pin-back cheeks for me, no Lolita on my knee" is an acknowledgement of the passing of time and how beauty is fleeting. Yet, the persona seems happy to let go of the notion of youth and beauty.
The song seems to suggest that the idea of choice can be a distraction, and the persona often desires an "easy action." The repeated lines of "And I thank the Lord that beauty's getting older, in the eye of the beholder, there'll be no portrait up my stairs, there'll be no Grecian in my hair" emphasize the idea of beauty and time passing by. The ending lines of "There'll be no pin-back cheeks for me, no Lolita on my knee" appears to be a declaration of acceptance of getting older and appreciating it in everyday life.
Line by Line Meaning
Choice the devil take you
I do not want any choices in this matter, I just want to get on with things without the distraction of indecision
What I have I want to learn to appreciate you
I want to work on learning to appreciate and value what I already have in my life
Every line traces history of emotion
All experiences and actions carry with them an emotional weight that is reflected in everything we do
And your smile
Your smile is a reflection of your inner self and emotional state
And I thank the Lord
I am grateful for the blessings and experiences I have been given in life
That beauty's getting older
I am grateful that the people and things I value are still present as they age and change over time
In the eye of the beholder
Perceptions of beauty are subjective and vary from person to person
There'll be no pin-back cheeks for me
I do not want to pursue someone who is young or immature
No Lolita on my knee
I am not interested in engaging with someone who is too young or naive
Choice is distraction
Having too many choices can be overwhelming and take away from the important things in life
All I want is easy action
I do not want to overthink or complicate things unnecessarily, I just want to take action
One of gold worth a hundred of your nickel
I value quality and substance over quantity or cheapness
And your time
Time is a precious and limited resource, and I do not want to waste it on anything that is not worthwhile
There'll be no portrait up my stairs
I do not want to idolize or put anyone on a pedestal
There'll be no Grecian in my hair
I do not want to try to cling to youth or pretend to be something I am not
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: JOHN PARISH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind