In November 2003, at the age of 19, Melua released her first album, Call off the Search, which reached the top of the United Kingdom album charts and sold 1.8 million copies in its first five months of release. Her second album, Piece by Piece, was released in September 2005 and to date has gone platinum four times. Melua released her third studio album Pictures in October 2007, which has been announced to be the last of her albums in collaboration with Mike Batt. According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2008, Melua has a fortune of £18 million, making her the seventh richest British musician under thirty.
In the summer of 2003, aged just 18 and still studying at the Brit School of Performing Arts in leafy Surrey, no-one, least of all Katie, would have predicted what the next few years would hold for the teenager. Four years later, Katie has sold more than 7.5 million albums becoming, in 2006, the year’s best selling British female in the world along the way.
Georgian born Katie relocated from Tbilisi to Belfast at the age of 8 due to her father’s profession as a heart surgeon and 5 years later moved to South East London. After her GCSEs Katie joined the Brit School for Performing Arts where she undertook a BTEC and Music A-level and discovered different styles of music including Queen, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Irish folk music and Indian music. On hearing an Eva Cassidy song Katie was blown away and when she discovered that Eva was no longer alive wrote the song ‘Faraway Voice’ as a tribute to her. It was this song that attracted the attention of the composer and producer Mike Batt. Katie signed to Batt’s record label Dramatico but stayed at the Brit School to complete her studies – she graduated with distinction in July 2003.
During the summer of 2003 her debut single, ‘The Closest Thing To Crazy’, attracted the attention of British station BBC Radio 2 and upon its release entered the charts at number 10. Released in November, Katie’s debut album ‘Call Off The Search’ hit the UK number 1 spot in January 2004 and has subsequently scored top 10 positions throughout Europe. The album has since been certified gold in Holland, Hong Kong and Switzerland, platinum in Denmark, New Zealand and Australia, 2 x platinum in Germany, Ireland, Norway and South Africa and received the IFPI Double Platinum Award for 2 million European Sales. In March 2005 ‘Call Off The Search’ hit the number 1 spot in Denmark, a year after its initial release and became a top five album in Japan. Katie was awarded Best International Newcomer at Germany’s ECHO Awards in April 2005. In Britain, Katie was the highest selling female artist in 2004 – ‘Call Off The Search’ has now sold 1.8 million copies and is 6 x platinum (in Britain alone) and worldwide sales exceed 3.5 million.
Katie joined the line up for the Band Aid 20 single to record a new version of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’. As an ambassador for Save The Children this was particularly poignant for Katie. In March 2005 Katie was invited by Nelson Mandela to perform at his 46664 concert in aid of Mandela’s AIDS foundation. In addition to performing a full live set, Katie joined Queen on stage to perform a moving version of ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’. Katie flew from South Africa to Sri Lanka where she experienced the work that is being done by Save The Children, particularly with child soldiers.
In August 2005 Katie and her family swore allegiance to The Queen and became British Citizens following a ceremony in Surrey, England. Katie was asked to perform at the Royal Wedding of Prince Pieter-Christiaan in Holland and at the Norwegian Royal Gala Concert in the presence of the Crown Prince Of Norway. Continuing the royal theme, the American TV show ‘Good Morning America’ broadcast live from Buckingham Palace and Katie was invited by the show to perform ‘Nine Million Bicycles’ and ‘The Closest Thing To Crazy’. Katie performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Norway.
In between her overseas travel Katie recorded her new album, ‘Piece By Piece’, which was released in Europe on September 26th 2005. The album comprises more self-penned songs including the title track as well as a cover of the 1987 Cure hit ‘Just Like Heaven’ that Katie recorded for a new DreamWorks film starring Reese Witherspoon. The first single, ‘Nine Million Bicycles’, preceded the album release and gave Katie her highest UK single chart entry at number 5. One week later and Katie entered the UK album charts at number 1 and Europe swiftly followed with the album reaching #1 in Norway, Denmark and Holland, #2 in Ireland, #2 in Iceland, #3 in South Africa, #4 in Poland and #2 in Germany giving an overall chart position of #2 on the Billboard European Top 100 Chart.
Katie was nominated for two Brit Awards in the “Best Female” and “Pop” categories, for the “Best International Female” at the Edison Awards in Holland and was awarded “Best International Female (Rock & Pop)” at the Echo Awards in Germany. Once again Katie was pronounced the highest selling female artist in Britain in 2005 selling more than 1 million albums.
It is fair to say that 2006 was yet another extraordinary year for 22 year old Katie. In addition to the awards nominations, Katie had a Dutch tulip named in her honour, toured America coast to coast, raced at 160mph round Grand Prix circuit Silverstone, flew a plane, launched Save The Children’s ‘Rewrite The Future’ campaign, made the headlines with a Guinness World Record for the deepest concert when she performed 303 meters beneath the North Sea in the leg of a gas rig and was awarded the World Music Award for Britain’s Biggest Selling Female. Whilst in 2004 and 2005, Katie was the greatest selling female artist in Britain, in 2006 Katie was the highest selling European female artist in the world selling more than 3 million copies of her second album ‘Piece By Piece’.
Awarded the Golden Camera Award for International Pop Artist at the start of 2007, Katie was presented with the Echo Award for International Female Artist in March 2007.
October 2007 saw the release of Katie’s third album ‘Pictures’ – a record which has delighted her legions of fans, confirmed Katie’s status as a unique and remarkable vocalist, and revealed the third chapter in what is destined to be a long musical career.
Katie’s fourth album, “The Katie Melua Collection”, is a musical summary of the 24 year old’s journey so far and is being released to coincide with Katie’s arena tour in October and November 2008.
www.katiemelua.com/
Looking for Clues
Katie Melua Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
By the sound of the telephone, oh yeah
I'm worried that the caller
Might have awful news, oh my
Who knows these days where on earth
All the money goes, oh yeah
No doubt we could put it to a better use, oh my
You keep insisting that nobody showed you
How to keep relationships, oh yeah
Your daddy made a real good try, oh my
You said you knew all along
We could work it out, oh yeah
Do you have to make a fuss every time we fly?
I'm looking for clues
I'll have to make an effort now
Just to be serious, oh yeah
Nobody's gonna give you
The benefit of the doubt, oh my
Every time I pick a paper up
It's harder to believe the news
I'm gonna have to shake it up
And twist and shout, oh my
You can't do nothing that you don't
Put your mind to, oh yeah
I suspected all along
You were a dream come true, oh my
I'm never in the dark 'cause my heart
Keeps me well informed, oh yeah
I'm convinced that there's a way
Of getting through to you
I'm looking for clues
It's crazy but I'm frightened
By the sound of relationships, oh yeah
I swear we could put it to a better use
Do hurry, baby, you've forgotten
How to catch a night groove
You told all the callers you were not amused
I'm looking for clues
You keep insisting that nobody showed you
How to use a telephone, oh yeah
Nobody's gonna give you a second chance, oh my
I don't have to make an effort now
To find out where the money goes, oh yeah
Do you have to make a fuss every time we dance?
I'm looking for clues
I'm looking for clues
I'm looking for clues
I'm looking for clues
In "Looking for Clues," Katie Melua sings about feeling anxious and uncertain in a world where bad news seems to be lurking around every corner. She expresses fear of the phone ringing and bringing bad tidings. At the same time, she expresses frustration with her romantic partner for their lack of communication skills and tendency to make things needlessly difficult. Melua reveals her search for clues, a way to understand and navigate the challenges of life.
The song's lyrics convey a sense of uneasiness and urgency, as if Melua is trying to get ahead of the curve and prepare for the worst. She mentions the recession, the state of the news, and the difficulty of maintaining relationships. She seems to be feeling overwhelmed by the complexity and unpredictability of life, but also determined to try and make sense of it all.
At the same time, Melua's lyrics reflect a sense of hopefulness and grit. She believes that there is a way out of the chaos and confusion, if only she can find the clues. Her heart keeps her informed, and she remains convinced that she can communicate effectively with her partner and figure out how to make things work.
Line by Line Meaning
It's crazy but I'm frightened
By the sound of the telephone, oh yeah
I'm worried that the caller
Might have awful news, oh my
The sound of my telephone terrifies me because I fear that the person calling might bear bad news.
Who knows these days where on earth
All the money goes, oh yeah
No doubt we could put it to a better use, oh my
It's hard to track where all our money goes these days, and surely there could be better uses for it.
You keep insisting that nobody showed you
How to keep relationships, oh yeah
Your daddy made a real good try, oh my
You keep saying that nobody taught you how to maintain relationships, even though your father did his best.
You said you knew all along
We could work it out, oh yeah
Do you have to make a fuss every time we fly?
I'm looking for clues
You claimed that we could always resolve our issues, yet you still cause a scene every time we travel together. I'm trying to understand why.
I'll have to make an effort now
Just to be serious, oh yeah
Nobody's gonna give you
The benefit of the doubt, oh my
I have to put in more effort just to be taken seriously, and I can't expect people to automatically trust me.
Every time I pick a paper up
It's harder to believe the news
I'm gonna have to shake it up
And twist and shout, oh my
The news is becoming increasingly unbelievable, and I need to take some drastic measures to bring about change.
You can't do nothing that you don't
Put your mind to, oh yeah
I suspected all along
You were a dream come true, oh my
You can't achieve anything unless you put your mind to it. I've always suspected that you were the perfect partner for me.
I'm never in the dark 'cause my heart
Keeps me well informed, oh yeah
I'm convinced that there's a way
Of getting through to you
I'm looking for clues
My heart always guides me and keeps me informed. I believe there's a way to communicate with you better, and I'm trying to find out how.
It's crazy but I'm frightened
By the sound of relationships, oh yeah
I swear we could put it to a better use
The idea of relationships scares me, but I'm sure we could channel that energy into something more positive.
Do hurry, baby, you've forgotten
How to catch a night groove
You told all the callers you were not amused
I'm looking for clues
Hurry up and remember how to have a good time at night. You've been telling people that you're not having any fun, and I want to find out why.
You keep insisting that nobody showed you
How to use a telephone, oh yeah
Nobody's gonna give you a second chance, oh my
You keep saying that you don't know how to use a phone, but people won't give you another opportunity to learn.
I don't have to make an effort now
To find out where the money goes, oh yeah
Do you have to make a fuss every time we dance?
I'm looking for clues
I don't need to put in effort to understand where our money goes, but I don't understand why you cause a scene whenever we dance together. I'm trying to figure out why.
I'm looking for clues
I'm looking for clues
I'm looking for clues
I'm searching for signs to help me understand what's going on and how to make things better.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ROBERT ALLAN PALMER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind