According to the The A Soft Place To Land Songfacts Edwards' father is Leonard Edwards, a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. As a result she spent portions of her teenage years in Korea and Switzerland. Her blend of country, folk and pop music made her a favourite of music critics, and a rising star on radio in 2003 with her debut album, Failer, made popular by her hit singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates" Her style of music is sometimes placed in the music genre "alt-country".
In 1999, Edwards recorded a six-song EP entitled Building 55 and pressed 500 copies. By the fall of 2000, she was on tour across Canada managing her own gigs. In 2001 she wrote seven of the ten songs for her 2003 debut release Failer.
Edwards married musician and producer Colin Cripps in 2004. They later divorced.
In 2005, Edwards released Back to Me, which also garnered considerable critical acclaim, and led to the release of the singles "Back to Me" and "In State". The track "Summerlong" also featured on the soundtrack of the movie Elizabethtown starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst.
In 2006, she was nominated for Juno Awards for Songwriter of the Year and Adult Alternative Album of the Year for Back to Me.
On March 4, 2008, her new CD, Asking for Flowers, arrived to excellent reviews.
Her fourth album, Voyageur, was released on January 17, 2012.
Nagasaki
Kathleen Edwards Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Here's the thing I cannot hide
Head is clumsy, heart is open
And only dust and dirt inside
And I am screaming, not with my mouth
Not even asking all that much
Well, I can't stutter lazy one lines
If I can't be your Nagasaki
You should please just leave me alone
'Cause my guts are Hiroshima
And I think I might explode
And if no man can be an island
Maybe I will be that no man
Little floater in the bathtub
I'm half asleep, to weak to stand
And here's the riddle to your answer
And the sum of human fear
Well, I can't drop bombs on my hierarchy
When what I have just disappears
If I can't be your Nagasaki
You should please just leave me alone
'Cause my guts are Hiroshima
And I think I might explode
I can't be your Nagasaki
You should please just leave me alone
'Cause my guts are Hiroshima
And I think I might explode
I think I might explode
The lyrics to Kathleen Edwards's "Nagasaki" seem to express a sense of frustration and inner turmoil. The singer seems to feel inadequate and unable to express herself effectively, likening herself to a clumsy, dust-filled vessel. She is screaming internally, but unable to articulate her thoughts and feelings in a clear and concise manner. She references the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, suggesting that her emotional state is similarly explosive and potentially destructive. The lyrics also touch on the idea of isolation and the difficulty of connecting with others, with the singer suggesting that perhaps she is better off as a solitary "little floater in the bathtub."
The chorus of the song, in which the singer repeats the lines "If I can't be your Nagasaki/You should please just leave me alone/'Cause my guts are Hiroshima/And I think I might explode," emphasizes the feelings of inadequacy and emotional volatility expressed elsewhere in the song. The contrast between the two cities is also significant; Nagasaki is often seen as the "less important" of the two atomic bombing sites (in terms of the number of casualties, at least), and the singer seems to be suggesting that she is similarly "less important" or valuable compared to others.
Line by Line Meaning
Here's a riddle to the answer
I have a puzzle or mystery to reveal.
Here's the thing I cannot hide
There is something I cannot keep hidden any longer.
Head is clumsy, heart is open
My mind is confused, but my feelings are clear.
And only dust and dirt inside
Inside of me, there is only emptiness and despair.
And I am screaming, not with my mouth
I am expressing my pain and frustration in a way that is not verbal.
Not even asking all that much
I am not asking for anything extravagant or unreasonable.
Well, I can't stutter lazy one lines
I cannot speak in short sentences or cliches because it would not do my feelings justice.
'Cause I've been bastardized enough
Because I've been mistreated, invalidated, or criticized unfairly before.
If I can't be your Nagasaki
If I cannot be your ultimate expression of destruction or devastation,
You should please just leave me alone
You should distance yourself from me or give me space,
'Cause my guts are Hiroshima
Because my emotions are equivalent to the bombing of Hiroshima,
And I think I might explode
And I fear that my feelings have the potential to harm myself or others.
And if no man can be an island
And if it is true that no one can truly isolate themselves from others,
Maybe I will be that no man
Perhaps I will be the exception to that rule,
Little floater in the bathtub
A metaphor for feeling small and insignificant like a piece of debris in a tub of water.
I'm half asleep, to weak to stand
I am in a state of exhaustion or emotional fatigue, incapable of standing up or taking action.
And here's the riddle to your answer
And here is the key to unraveling the mystery or puzzle previously mentioned.
And the sum of human fear
And the culmination of all that humans dread or are afraid of.
Well, I can't drop bombs on my hierarchy
I cannot take destructive action against those who hold power over me or are above me in status.
When what I have just disappears
When something of value or significance to me suddenly vanishes or is taken away.
I can't be your Nagasaki
I cannot be the ultimate cause of destruction or devastation for you.
You should please just leave me alone
You should distance yourself from me or give me space.
'Cause my guts are Hiroshima
Because my emotions are equivalent to the bombing of Hiroshima.
And I think I might explode
And I fear that my feelings have the potential to harm myself or others.
I think I might explode
I fear that I am on the verge of losing control of my emotions.
Contributed by Gianna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mandylaycock5187
This is my 2nd fave KE tune - I wish she’d re-release her very early work 😀
@wazzer912
@resurgam7 your welcome :) this song is awesome
@domhaley3105
Someone knows the year of this EP ?
@jonathans.1448
1999, self-released in an edition of 500.
@magedhosny3091
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