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.”
Dream Of Me
Kristina Train Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In a place far away from here
And dream that we made it
Now we see what is crystal clear
'Cause this life, this lonely, lonely life
Always caught on winter's edge, cuts you like a knife
I know that there's somewhere, everything is bright
Dream of me, baby
In a land far across the seas
The darkness has faded
Dappled light is falling through the leaves
'Cause this life, this lonely, lonely life
Always caught beneath the wheels broken by the night
I know that there's somewhere everything is bright
And one day I'll call that life I dream of this life
'Cause this life, this lonely, lonely life
Is cold as snow and hard as stone, darker than the light
I know that there's somewhere, everything is bright
And one day I'll call that life I dream of this life
The lyrics of Kristina Train’s song “Dream of Me” speak of the yearning for a faraway place that is better than the current reality. The singer implores her lover to dream of being with her in a place that is far away from their present location, where they have made it big and accomplished their dreams. The singer recognizes that life can be lonely and hard, especially during the winter months, and acknowledges that they yearn for a place where everything is crystal clear and bright.
The second verse repeats this notion of a faraway land, with reference to a place across the seas. The singer speaks of the darkness that has faded, and the dappled light that is falling through the leaves. She acknowledges once more that life is often difficult, with its many broken wheels, but this is not the life that she dreams of. Instead, she dreams of a life where everything is bright and sunny.
The use of repetition throughout the song reinforces the message that life can be lonely, and the singer yearns for something better. The lyrics focus on the desire for a brighter and more fulfilling existence, free from hardships and struggles.
Line by Line Meaning
Dream of me, baby
Kristina Train is asking her lover to think of her in his dream
In a place far away from here
She wants her lover to dream of her in a distant land
And dream that we made it
Kristina wants him to imagine that they both succeeded in something
Now we see what is crystal clear
The clarity of the dream makes them see things in a new light
'Cause this life, this lonely, lonely life
Kristina is describing her current state of isolation and loneliness
Always caught on winter's edge, cuts you like a knife
The feeling of being stuck on the edge of something difficult, something that hurts like the cold of winter
I know that there's somewhere, everything is bright
She believes that there's a better place where things are better
And one day I'll call that life I dream of this life
She hopes that one day, her dream will become her reality
In a land far across the seas
Kristina wants her lover to dream of her in a place very far away
The darkness has faded
The darkness in the dream has disappeared
Dappled light is falling through the leaves
She envisions the sunlight coming through the leaves, painting a beautiful landscape
'Cause this life, this lonely, lonely life
She repeats the description of her current life to emphasize her longing for a change
Always caught beneath the wheels broken by the night
She describes being stuck in a cycle of darkness and hardship
Is cold as snow and hard as stone, darker than the light
Her life is described as brutally cold, hard as stone, and even darker than the night
And one day I'll call that life I dream of this life
Her dream of a better life is what gives her hope and motivation to keep going
Contributed by Chase A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@JohmathanBSwift
I don't believe it's all that simple.
This is social media, and someone should be a bit more assertive with Kristina's media sites.
If you look on her channel here, she has no playlists, related channels, and
no one responds back to any questions about when her music is available on iTunes,
tour dates,etc.
She is on Facebook and she has done some grass movement type of PR,
but her postings are few and far between.
Once again, she doesn't answer people back on her FB social media page.
If you go to her dedicated website link that is on Facebook,
the website is outdated. WordPress would be a start to help change that.
Kristina was on Jools Holland, but it's not listed on her dedicated website.
Kristina needs to hire a social media specialists.
One who knows how to do Java Script,
has inside connections with with the larger social media outlets.
Once she does this, things will improve for her.
I love her voice and the David Lynch style videos she does.
I wish her the best of success.
@joshuajameson9502
THIS SONG WAS TRULY 10/10, A MISSED TREASURE
@T.C.216
It's sickening how underrated this is.
@rojolagarta
Two years on and I still can't believe this wasn't a hit.Beautiful.Certainly one of the best songs I've ever heard.
@SuperBartles
It really is.
@TheArtdecovampire
Agreed.
@welshyyyyy
Wonderful singer, shame there's been no new music from her for years, sings like an angel ❤️
@DavidEVogel
No new album release in 11 years. No recording contract? The music industry can be cruel.
@merlinscat
Well there is now new album is out Rayon city, long overdue
@thereselisle8325
love her voice and her music
@ianwalsh8528
Looking like that and she sings of a lonely life