Spilt Milk was recorded in London with Jimmy Hogarth, the sought-after British producer whose recent credits include Duffy, Corinne Bailey Rae and James Blunt. Powerhouse songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and arranger Eg White – Grammy Awards Record of the Year nominee for Adele’s “Chasing Pavements” – co-wrote most of this material. Singer and pianist Ed Harcourt also co-wrote two, including the climactic “Far From the Country,” an especially poignant and personal conclusion to the disc, about the physical and emotional distances one must bridge to keep love alive
For inspiration, Train turns to Aretha Franklin – “There is not a song that Aretha has sung or will ever sing that doesn’t just melt me” – along with blues/R&B cult figures like former Stax star/Raelette Mable John and Bob Dylan-favorite Karen Dalton. Says Train, “I wanted my album to offer glimpses of my influences, not sound like my influences. Jimmy, Eg and I are of similar backgrounds, we appreciate the same music; we have similar tastes. The arrangements are just what we felt the songs needed, they give the songs flavor but don’t try to steal anybody else’s style. I hope the album is a nod to the music I love, while still being modern.”
Music has been at the center of Train’s world since she was a toddler, when her mother encouraged her to play the violin. Train took to the instrument, but, more importantly, she also discovered an innate aptitude as a singer, with unerring pitch and a preternaturally mature delivery from a very young age. Says Train, “There’s depth to my voice and I think it comes from a lot of different places. But the way I sound today is the way I always sounded -- except in a tinier body.”
As an artist, Train could never simply be described as a product of her times and that has allowed her, on Spilt Milk, to create music that can arguably be called timeless. Her mom, who raised Train alone, fashioned what some might view as a sheltered existence for the young Train, keeping her away from television and pop radio. But what she really did was provide a fertile laboratory for Train to freely grow as a young woman and a singer, apart from the vagaries of trends. Train took music and ballet lessons and listened to classical music and opera, along with jazz and blues. Her violin training definitely came in handy: Train has arranging credits on three of her tracks and overdubbed strings on two of them.
Though born in New York City, Train was raised in Savannah, Georgia, and southern soul and gospel, which she sang in church and school choirs growing up, has had the most profound effect on her work. Almost as significant was the moment when, as a teenager, she unearthed her mom’s tucked-away stash of vinyl albums from the sixties and seventies: Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin. Say Train,” I remember hearing Janis Joplin’s records and thinking, what is that all about? We lived in downtown Savannah, in a house kind of like a New York City brownstone. When we had thunderstorms I would go up to the roof and scream at the top of my lungs because I wanted to make my voice raspier. God only knows what that’s done to me!”
By the time Train was 19, she was already singing professionally, albeit locally. A producer based in the south who’d spotted Train arranged to bring her up to New York City to showcase for Blue Note. The label chiefs offered Train a development deal – but her mom had other ideas. She insisted her daughter go to college first. Many a confident and headstrong young artist would rebel and go it alone, accept the deal and take their chances. But Train – reluctantly, she now admits – listened to her mom. She agreed to attend college in Athens, Ga., keeping her hand in music by joining a band and spending far more time rehearsing and gigging than hitting the books. And when she was ready to return to her career full-time, Blue Note was still waiting.
It was time well-spent, Train now realizes: “I know that at 19, I would not have made this record, which is the record I always wanted to make. This is the album that defines who I am. At 19, I don’t know what I would have put out. I believe everything happened for a reason. It took this amount of time for me to get here and to make this record. I always knew it would happen. “
Train made several trips to London over the course of two years, to write with Hogarth and White, but the actual recording moved quickly. In fact, Train was such a natural that some of the vocal performances they chose came straight from the song demos they’d originally done. Right before they were about to embark on their final sessions, though, a disastrous computer glitch during file back-up resulted in the loss of much of what they’d already completed. As Train recalls, “It was the perfect electronic storm.” Undaunted, she and her cohorts went back in and re-cut the vanished material with even more passion and determination, the setback turning out to be far more inspiration than challenge. Looking back, Train says, “I don’t think anything was lost. I don’t think there was this one magic moment that we could never recapture. I love what it is today.” And the experience provided her with an album title. “Don’t cry over spilt milk.”
Train’s confidence and faith in what she has created is part of what makes Spilt Milk so thrilling: “There’s just this magic thing that happens sometimes and you think, I want to sing this song for the rest of my life – I want to live in it, I want to bury myself in it, I want to wriggle around in it.. Every time I finished one, it was like, I can’t believe that, at this point in my life I finally have a song I would fight for, that I believe in 100% percent. And now I have all these songs together on an entire album that I feel this way about. For me, that’s my college degree.”
Chase Me Away
Kristina Train Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm done with this year
I'm tired of everyone here
I just need some time alone
Before I'm ready to come back home
There's gotta be something else out there for me
I could feel it in my heart the day I started to dream
There's more than this Midwestern town
So I tell myself
There's a girl out on the coast of California
There's a world out there and it's waiting for you
And I can hear they're calling my name, tonight
Take me away I need the sand and the waves
The sunset and let's not forget those warm Autumn days
I just need to get out of here
And visit the coast just to see her
There's gotta be something else out there for me
I could feel it in my heart the day I started to dream
There's more than this Midwestern town
I can't let this place keep me down
So I tell myself
There's a girl out on the coast of California
There's a world out there and it's waiting for you
And I can hear they're calling my name, tonight
There's a girl out on the coast of California
There's a world out there and it's waiting for you
And I can hear they're calling my name, tonight
Take me away to January
I'm done with this year
I'm tired of everyone here
I just need sometime alone
Before I'm ready to come back home
Kristina Train's song "Chase Me Away" depicts a yearning to escape from a Midwestern town and explore the world beyond. The lyrics suggest a sense of restlessness and dissatisfaction with the current situation, implying the desire to find a new direction in life. The line "There's more than this Midwestern town, I can't let this place keep me down" conveys a sense of limitation and a need to break free from the confines of the familiar.
The chorus repeats the image of a girl on the coast of California, pointing to a specific destination and representing the possibility of something different and exciting. The singer seems to envision a better future for herself, one with sand, waves, warm autumn days, and a new outlook on life. The repetition of "And I can hear they're calling my name tonight" suggests a calling or a pull towards adventure and change.
Overall, "Chase Me Away" is a song about the search for something more, the need to escape and explore, and the hope for a better future. The lyrics are relatable for anyone who has ever felt stuck in a rut or in need of a change of scenery.
Line by Line Meaning
Take me away to January
I want to escape from my current reality and start fresh.
I'm done with this year
I am ready to leave behind the past and move on to new experiences.
I'm tired of everyone here
I am feeling drained and want to distance myself from those around me for a while.
I just need some time alone
I need space to reflect and recharge my energy.
Before I'm ready to come back home
I can’t go back until I feel at peace with myself and ready to face the world again.
There's gotta be something else out there for me
I have a strong belief that there is more to life than what I'm currently experiencing.
I could feel it in my heart the day I started to dream
From the beginning, I knew deep down there was a bigger purpose to my life.
There's more than this Midwestern town
I am certain there are other places in the world where I can feel fulfilled and happy.
I can't let this place keep me down
I refuse to let my current environment stop me from achieving my dreams.
So I tell myself
I constantly remind myself of my goals and dreams.
There's a girl out on the coast of California
There is someone who is having a great time on the west coast, and I want to be like that.
There's a world out there and it's waiting for you
The world is full of opportunities and experiences that are waiting for me to explore them.
And I can hear they're calling my name, tonight
I feel a strong pull from my dreams and the future, drawing me towards them.
Take me away I need the sand and the waves
I am craving the calming and healing effect of nature, especially the beach.
The sunset and let's not forget those warm Autumn days
I want to experience the beauty of nature, especially at sunset, and the feeling of the perfect temperature during autumn.
And visit the coast just to see her
There is someone who I want to see on the west coast, and this trip is an opportunity to do that.
Writer(s): Byrne Brian Peter, Jones Kasey Renee
Contributed by Lily W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.