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/
Red Balloons
Katie Melua Lyrics
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Mm
Mm
I put my heart in a red balloon
But I let it go to soon
Let it go on the boulevard
Where wicked winds blow so hard
Maybe had I looked up I would have seen that
The sky is full of red balloons
Red balloons are full of broken hearts
Broken hearts are floating by a chance
Will they burst or drift
Into arms
Will they burst or drift
Into arms
I put my voice in a red balloon
For you it sang too many tunes
Haunted by those melodies
I let it go with the breeze
Maybe had I looked up I would have seen that
The sky is full of red balloons
Red balloons are full of broken hearts
Broken hearts are floating by a chance
Will they burst or drift
Into arms
Will they burst or drift
Into arms
I put my eyes in a red balloon
To watch you with the light of the moon
But seeing you holding hands
With another girl and making plans
Well I just had to set you free
And finally see, that
The sky is full of red balloons
Red balloons are full of broken hearts
Broken hearts are floating by a chance
Will they burst or drift
Into arms
Will they burst or drift
Into arms
Mm
Mm
They could burst or drift
Into arms
Into arms
The lyrics to Katie Melua's "Red Balloons" reflect feelings of heartache, loss, and eventually hinting at hope for the future. The song is a story of a person who puts their heart, voice, and eyes in three separate red balloons and releases them into the sky. The balloons floating in the sky, full of broken hearts, represent the pain of those who have experienced heartbreak. The lyrics are a metaphor for the emotions of love, loss, and redemption.
The song starts with the artist's heart being in a red balloon, which she let go of too soon. She realizes that she has made a mistake and wonders if she would have looked up, she would have seen that the sky is full of red balloons. This can be interpreted as the artist missing opportunities to find love, perhaps by not noticing the love that was in front of her.
In the second verse, the artist put her voice in a red balloon and let it go. She sings about being haunted by melodies, and suggests that she could have held onto her voice or sang it to someone who would appreciate it, but chose not to. The artist then wonders if had she looked up, she could have found others like her, who are also broken-hearted and struggling to move on.
In the final verse, the artist puts her eyes in a red balloon to watch her lover with the light of the moon. However, she sees him holding hands with another girl and making plans. As a result, she decides to let him go, and finally sees that the sky is full of red balloons with broken hearts. The artist is acknowledging that life is full of uncertainty and that sometimes, things do not work out as we planned them. The song encourages the listener to embrace the uncertainty of life and be open to the possibility of finding someone new.
Line by Line Meaning
I put my heart in a red balloon
I entrusted my heart to the possibilities symbolized by a red balloon.
But I let it go to soon
However, I released it prematurely.
Let it go on the boulevard
I let it go, releasing it to the wide world,
Where wicked winds blow so hard
But the winds of fate are frequent and nefarious.
Maybe had I looked up I would have seen that
Perhaps, if I had only looked closer, I might have realized....
The sky is full of red balloons
The sky is teeming with possibilities, unfulfilled aspirations, and new beginnings.
Red balloons are full of broken hearts
But many of these balloons carry the shattered remnants of failed chances or loves.
Broken hearts are floating by a chance
These remnants are subject to chance, to whatever direction the wind may take them.
Will they burst or drift
The fate of these balloons is left to the whims of fate, whether they will triumph or fail.
Into arms
Whether they will find a new love or be consigned to oblivion forever.
I put my voice in a red balloon
I invested the power of my voice in this fragile red balloon.
For you it sang too many tunes
I sang with all my heart for you, for your delight and your adoration.
Haunted by those melodies
Yet, the memories still haunt me years later.
I let it go with the breeze
But I relinquished my voice to the wind of change, to decide my song's next chapter.
I put my eyes in a red balloon
I gave my vision and soul to a red balloon to see further and clearer.
To watch you with the light of the moon
I watched you, illuminated by the otherworldly lunar light, with all my heart.
But seeing you holding hands
This vision, however, ultimately led to my downfall.
With another girl and making plans
You made plans with someone else, leaving me behind.
Well, I just had to set you free
I had to release and let go of you, as much as it hurt me.
And finally see that
I came to understand that....
They could burst or drift into arms
The red balloons' fate remains uncertain, but there is always a chance that they will find love and happiness.
Into arms
Thus, the cycle of hope, love, and loss continues to turn, as the balloons drift away into the endless sky.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Katie Melua, Polly Scattergood
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind