After an education in the arts, music and drama, by the age of 15, Tzuke spent most of her time writing poems which she turned into songs and playing folk clubs, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. She went to Island Records to try and get a record deal and after she'd played two songs was asked if she had any more. She replied that she had twenty, which she didn't, and they asked her to come back and record them the following week. She didn't return, but their interest made her realise that she could have a career in music.
In 1977 Tzuke went to see managing director David Croker at Elton John's label 'Rocket Records' as their motto was "a label for artists". She played them a few songs, one of which was "Stay with Me Till Dawn" and was immediately signed to the new label. Judie and collaborator Mike Paxman spent the next six months or so recording her first album Welcome to the Cruise at Air Studios in London, with producer John Punter.
The first single was released in the summer of 1978, entitled "For You" and was greeted with great critical acclaim and substantial air-play but only reached the top 40.
This was to all change with the release of the Welcome to the Cruise album and the single "Stay with Me Till Dawn". The song stayed in the UK charts for 16 weeks, and she made three live appearances on Top of the Pops. The song became a firm favourite and is still played regularly on radio in the U.K. It has appeared on dozens of compilation albums and regularly appears in lists of all time most popular songs.
With the success of her debut album, Judie and Mike put together the first Judie Tzuke band. Paul Muggleton on guitar and backing vocals and Bob Noble on keyboards, along with bass player John Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich.
Tzuke and her band then toured for the next 18 months and made her second album Sportscar at Virgin's Manor studios, in Oxfordshire.
In 1980, Tzuke and her band toured America for three months as support to Elton John. The tour was well received, but during the tour Elton John decided to change the US distribution for his Rocket label from MCA to the new Geffin label. MCA consequently decided to stop all tour support and promotion for the acts on the Rocket label, which meant that Judie was playing to huge audiences, including 450,000 people in New York's Central Park, but no-one knew who she was and her records were not available in the shops.
She recorded her third album I Am the Phoenix, followed by another lengthy UK tour which culminated in appearances headlining the Glastonbury CND Festival and some summer festivals in Europe. She then made the decision to leave Rocket and to sign with Chrysalis Records.
Judie was by this time selling out halls all over the UK and in parts of Europe. Her next album Shoot the Moon was recorded mainly at Rockfield studios in Wales and was released in 1982.
During the spring tour two sell out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon (now The Carling Apollo) were recorded and later that year the acclaimed live album Roadnoise was released.
Judie, Mike and Paul wrote new songs and went to Mayfair studios in London to record her fifth album, augmenting her stage band with a number of other musicians.
Throughout the late 80s and 90s, Judie has continued to record and tour, and has set up her own record label. In addition, she is now successfully writing songs for other artists.
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1 2 3
Judie Tzuke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Somewhere without me
And it feels like every smile
I'm not there to see
Is stolen from me
And all I want is you to tell me again
Make me believe
Two together
Three and still be free
How can we be one
Two together
Three and still be free?
'Cause inside me there's a heart that beats
Only to love you
And you say that if I could learn to let you go
I'll never lose you
And I know you can to teach me
Show me the way
But make me believe
That we can be one
Two together
Three and still be free
How can we be one
Two together
Three and still be free?
One – do you love me?
Two – do you love me?
Three – do you love me?
How can we be one
Two together
Three and still be free?
Can we still be one
Two together
Three and still be free?
One
Two together
Three and still be free
How can we be one
Two together
Three and still be free?
The lyrics to Judie Tzuke's song '1 2 3' speak of a deep longing for someone who is no longer present in the singer's life. The singer expresses how much they hurt themselves when they think of this person, who is somewhere else and experiencing happiness without them. The pain is amplified by the feeling that every smile that they're not there to see is a smile that's been stolen from them. However, the singer is still desirous of being with this person and longs for them to tell them again that they can be one, two together, three and still be free.
The chorus of the song focuses on the concept of being one, two together, and three and still being free. It seems that the singer is struggling to reconcile how being part of a couple can coexist with still maintaining independence and freedom in a relationship. They want to believe that staying with this person will not restrict their freedom, but instead, allow them to be truly happy and fulfilled. The song ends with the repetition of the lines "how can we be one, two together, three and still be free?", which underscores the main theme of the song about finding harmony between love, companionship, and independence.
Line by Line Meaning
I hurt myself when I think of you
The thought of you hurts me deeply and causes me pain
Somewhere without me
You are somewhere else, not by my side
And it feels like every smile
I feel like I am missing out on every moment of your happiness
I'm not there to see
I am not present to witness your joy
Is stolen from me
Your joy feels like it has been taken from me, as I am not there to share it with you
And all I want is you to tell me again
I want you to reassure me once more
Make me believe
Persuade me to trust you
That we can be one
That we can be united
Two together
Just us two, as a couple
Three and still be free
To have our own personal independence while still being together
How can we be one
How is it possible for us to become one
Cause inside me there's a heart that beats
Deep inside of me, my heart beats heavily
Only to love you
It only beats for the love I have for you
And you say that if I could learn to let you go
You claim that if I were to let you go, we could save our love
I'll never lose you
You'll always be mine
And I know you can to teach me
I believe you can show me how
Show me the way
Teach me the path
One - do you love me?
Questioning if you love me
Two - do you love me?
Asking again if you love me
Three - do you love me?
One last time, asking if you love me
Can we still be one
Can we still be united
Two together
Just us two, as a couple
Three and still be free
To have our own personal independence while still being together
One
Final questioning if you still love me
Two together
Just us two, as a couple
Three and still be free
To have our own personal independence while still being together
How can we be one
How is it possible for us to be united
Two together
Just us two, as a couple
Three and still be free?
To have our own personal independence while still being together? A final questioning of our chances.
Contributed by Michael N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.