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.
www.tzuke.com
Pot Of Gold
Judie Tzuke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our time is much too precious to waste a good days
There’s got to be a better way to get around the problem
Whatever gets us out of this place
Just when you think you know me well enough to stop listening
That’s when I need you to be there
All eyes and ears, ’cause when I say I love you, I mean it
Let’s explore the possibilities
Find out if there’s more to life than this
Try and work out where the pot of gold is
It’s all too complicated trying to make you understand
The way I’m feeling when you’re here
I’m always up and down you play me like a yo-yo
I’m all at sixes and sevens when you’re near
Let’s explore the possibilities
Find out if there’s more to life than this
Try and work out where the pot of gold is
And it’s all I want to do
Is to walk this road with you
To be there at every turn
Till we crash and burn
Let’s explore the possibilities
Find out if there’s more to life than this
Try and work out where the pot of gold is
The lyrics of Judie Tzuke's song "Pot Of Gold" describe a complicated relationship with someone who confides in the singer about their problems. The singer is tired of being the dumping ground for this person's troubles and urges them to find a better way to deal with their issues. The singer then addresses their own issues with this person, saying that they play with their emotions like a yo-yo and leave them feeling up and down all the time. The singer asks the other person to truly listen when they say "I love you," and not to humor them if they don't really care.
Despite these difficulties, the singer still wants to be with this person and explore the possibilities of their relationship. They want to find out if there's more to life than the current state of their relationship, and they want to work together to find the "pot of gold" - a metaphor for a happy and fulfilling life. The singer is willing to walk this road with the other person, even if it means crashing and burning together in the end.
Line by Line Meaning
Don’t want to be the one you dump your troubles on,
I don't want you to use me as a dumping ground for your problems, as our time together is too valuable to waste.
Our time is much too precious to waste a good days
Our time together is precious and we shouldn't waste it by dwelling on negative things.
There’s got to be a better way to get around the problem
We need to find a better solution to the issue we're facing.
Whatever gets us out of this place
We need to do whatever it takes to get out of this difficult situation.
Just when you think you know me well enough to stop listening
Just when you assume you know everything about me and stop paying attention,
That’s when I need you to be there
I need you to be there for me even when you think you know everything about me.
All eyes and ears, ’cause when I say I love you, I mean it
I need you to be attentive and listen to me because I truly mean it when I say 'I love you.'
Don’t humour me if you don’t care
Don't pretend to care about me or the situation if you truly don't.
Let’s explore the possibilities
We need to open ourselves up to new options and experiences.
Find out if there’s more to life than this
Let's try to figure out if there's more to life than what we're currently experiencing.
Try and work out where the pot of gold is
We need to figure out where our true happiness and fulfillment lies.
It’s all too complicated trying to make you understand
It's proving to be difficult to make you understand how I truly feel.
The way I’m feeling when you’re here
I have mixed emotions when you're around.
I’m always up and down you play me like a yo-yo
My emotions are constantly fluctuating, and I feel like you're toying with me.
I’m all at sixes and sevens when you’re near
I feel confused and disoriented when you're around.
And it’s all I want to do
All I want to do
Is to walk this road with you
Is to go through life's journey with you.
To be there at every turn
To be there for each other through life's ups and downs.
Till we crash and burn
Until our relationship reaches its inevitable end or falls apart.
Contributed by Brooklyn B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Michael Piersanti
I love Judy Suke. She changed my life. She was my professor at Sheridan College and I've never been the same. She allowed me to open up to the very big world out there and put a twist of humour to it!
Mohamad Abdulkader
An amazing speaker and professor