After learning to play the guitar, the fiddle, and the piano, as well as to sing, Rusby played at many local folk festivals as a child and adolescent. She came to wider attention through her duets with her friend and fellow Barnsley folk singer Kathryn Roberts on the 1995 album Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts.
At about this time she joined, and became the lead vocalist of, the all-female Celtic folk band The Poozies. This led to her becoming a founding member of the group Equation, which included Kathryn Roberts and Seth Lakeman. Rusby left Equation (being replaced by Cara Dillon) to follow a more traditional direction and, in 1997, released her debut solo album Hourglass produced by Scottish fiddler John McCusker (to whom Rusby was married for some time).
In 1999 Rusby recorded Sleepless which earned her a Mercury Music Prize nomination and the BBC Folk Award for Best Album and Best Folk Singer.
Rusby continues to release albums mixing traditional and self-penned songs on her own Pure Records, winning fans as diverse as Graham Coxon (who provided the illustration for her album The Girl Who Couldn't Fly) and collaborator Ronan Keating.
2008 saw the release of Sweet Bells, an album of traditional Christmas songs interpreted by Rusby.
In 2010, Rusby released the album Make the Light, a collection of self-penned songs, and in 2011 issued a second collection of Christmas songs titled While Mortals Sleep.
www.katerusby.com
No Names
Kate Rusby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We know that the time it is near
Be strong and be brave,my dear
Let me go now,let me go
How it came to this
It's not clear
Long and lonely nights
Though I need your hand to hold,
My dear
Let me go now,let me go
Let me go now,let me go
Take my hand my dear
We were drifting year after year
When we tried our best to fly,my dear
Let me go now,let me go
How it came to this
It's not clear
Long and lonely nights
Now I fear
Be strong and be brave
My dear
Let me go now,let me go
Let me go now,let me go
Take my hand my dear
Love takes us far away from here
Tell me once again so I hear
Let me go now,let me go
Let me go now,let me go
Let me go now,let me go
Let me go now,let me go
The lyrics of Kate Rusby's 'No Names' song speaks to a difficult moment of letting go of a loved one. The opening line of the song, "Take my hand my dear, we know that the time it is near," prepares the listener for the emotional tone of the song. The chorus of the song, "Let me go now, let me go," is repeated several times to emphasize the sense of finality and resolution that the person singing is seeking.
The tone of the song is melancholic and reflective, with the singer rummaging through memories and emotions to find some sense of closure. The verse, "When we tried our best to fly, my dear, let me go now, let me go," is particularly poignant as it speaks to the idea of reaching one's limits and needing to let go. The reference to "long and lonely nights," also adds to the sense of sadness and isolation present in the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Take my hand my dear
I need you to be with me as I face what's ahead
We know that the time it is near
We both understand that the moment has come for us to part ways
Be strong and be brave,my dear
You need to find the courage to let me go and move forward with your life
Let me go now,let me go
It's time for us to say goodbye and for me to move on
How it came to this
I don't understand how we ended up in this situation
It's not clear
I just can't figure out why things turned out this way
Long and lonely nights
I've spent many hours thinking about our relationship and how it's come to an end
Now I fear
I'm scared about what's ahead for us both
Though I need your hand to hold,
I know I can't keep holding onto you – I need to let you go
We were drifting year after year
We've been going through the motions of our relationship without realising we've grown apart
When we tried our best to fly,my dear
We attempted to make our relationship work, but it just wasn't meant to be
Love takes us far away from here
Our love will endure, but we need to move on from one another
Tell me once again so I hear
Just to be sure, I need to hear you say that it's time for us to part ways
Let me go now,let me go
I know it's hard, but I need you to let me move on
Let me go now,let me go
We need to let go of each other to move forward with our lives
Contributed by Liliana F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Na TA
Lyric
Take my hand, my dear,
We know that the time it is near,
Be strong and be brave, my dear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
How it came to this it's not clear,
Long and lonely nights now I fear,
Though I need your hand to hold, my dear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Take my hand, my dear
We were drifting year after year,
When we tried our best to fly, my dear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
How it came to this it's not clear,
Long and lonely nights now I fear,
Be strong and be brave my dear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Take my hand, my dear
Love takes us far away from here,
Tell me once again, so I hear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Ian Brocklebank
this song touches me like no other and brings back a time and a person long gone from me who was the love of my life and who I let down very badly,never got to say sorry,the only consolation is I think she is happier now and i'm grateful for that
Graham Lees
I come back to this time after time. It's one of the sadest and most beautiful songs at the same time.
Nicholas Pearson
What a lovely performance :) Kate is divinely talented and will forever remain one of the contemporary folk greats! I hope they upload more performances via this official channel :).
karl newsome
wonderful song with a heavenly voice.
Andrew Bowyer
This is her best version of No Names. Absolutely beautiful. Seeing her in Cardiff in a few weeks - can't wait.
Dan Seabright
this was the song that introduced me to kate, wow what a voice. girl who couldnt fly is an outstanding album and all the others since. saw her live in darlington 2014 or 15 somwhere round there, and when she did akward annie i stood up out of respect lol. that damien fella is a very lucky guy. love ya kate. thanks our lass
Trebor Retsehc
This one pulls at the heart strings (and hard).
JamesStuart Brice
a great song melody and performance!
Sophie Rusby
Beautiful ❤
Na TA
Lyric
Take my hand, my dear,
We know that the time it is near,
Be strong and be brave, my dear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
How it came to this it's not clear,
Long and lonely nights now I fear,
Though I need your hand to hold, my dear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Take my hand, my dear
We were drifting year after year,
When we tried our best to fly, my dear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
How it came to this it's not clear,
Long and lonely nights now I fear,
Be strong and be brave my dear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Take my hand, my dear
Love takes us far away from here,
Tell me once again, so I hear,
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Let me go now,
Let me go.
Let me go now,
Let me go.