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.”
I'm Wanderin'
Kristina Train Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just wandering, with no place to go
Since I lost you, lost you, all I ever do
Is be wandering, 'til I wander back to you...
Oh, I'm wishing, been yearning for your kiss
Oh and I've been missing, the warmth of your caress,
Since I lost you, I lost you, all I ever do
Is be wandering, wandering, wandering
I look on every corner, down every dismal street
Are you there, are you there? Oh darling I repeat
I visit all familiar places, there's no one there but me
Where can you be? Where can you be?
Oh darling, where can you be?
Oh I'm praying, your touch for me has grown
Oh and I'm saying, for before it's not been known
I love you, I love you, and all I ever do
Is be wandering, crying, I'll be wandering, wandering
Back to you
The lyrics of Kristina Train's "I'm Wanderin'" suggest a feeling of longing and searching for a lost love. The singer is wandering from place to place, with no set destination in mind as she's trying to find her way back to the person she loves. She expresses her longing and yearning for her lover's kiss and the warmth of their caress. Her search seems futile as she looks at every corner, peers down every dismal street with no luck in finding her lover.
The singer's desperation and sadness are pronounced as she repeatedly questions her lover's whereabouts, wondering if they are still there for her. She is left feeling isolated and alone, visiting familiar places with nobody there but herself. The feeling of being lost is mirrored in the simple chorus, where she continuously wanders until she finally finds her way back to her love.
Through her lyrics, Kristina Train captures the feeling of being lost in love and the journey back to it. The song can be interpreted as a metaphor for the challenging journey of finding love once it's lost.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm wandering, been moving to and fro
I am aimlessly moving around, without any particular direction.
Just wandering, with no place to go
I am wandering without any specific destination in mind.
Since I lost you, lost you, all I ever do
Ever since I lost you, I have been constantly wandering.
Is be wandering, 'til I wander back to you...
I will continue to wander until I find my way back to you.
Oh, I'm wishing, been yearning for your kiss
I desire your kiss and have been craving it.
Oh and I've been missing, the warmth of your caress
I deeply miss the comfort of your touch.
I look on every corner, down every dismal street
I search every possible place, even the ones that are not welcoming.
Are you there, are you there? Oh darling I repeat
I constantly ask myself if you are there and repeat it each time.
I visit all familiar places, there's no one there but me
I go to places familiar to both of us, but I'm alone.
Where can you be? Where can you be?
I wonder where you are and can't stop thinking about it.
Oh darling, where can you be?
My love, where are you? I can't find you.
Oh I'm praying, your touch for me has grown
I am hoping that your affection for me has increased with time.
Oh and I'm saying, for before it's not been known
I'm telling you that before I haven't been this open about my feelings.
I love you, I love you, and all I ever do
I love you so much that my constant wandering is all about finding my way back to you.
Is be wandering, crying, I'll be wandering, wandering
I will wander and cry until I am finally reunited with you.
Back to you
My ultimate goal and only direction is to be with you again.
Writer(s): BERRY GORDY JR, TYRAN CARLO
Contributed by Matthew W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Юлия Волгина
Божественный голос!!!
Божественная песня!!!!
Слушаю каждый день!!!
Вы прекрасны)))спасибо вам!!!❤❤❤
Emilio T.
Just love this song. It's so haunting and heartfelt. Beautiful.
Marcos Koyama
Nobody sings this song like Kristina, so lovely, so soft, so full of emotions. Superb.
lisd168
Her voice is absolutely amazing, really conveys the feeling of longing
Angela Zee
I grew up with Aretha's version but I hear this..WOW!!!
Em Colleen
whenever i'm stressed, i can just listen to this & i'm cured. this is what real talent sounds like.
Jeremiah Jeremiah
Emma Walker not me. it makes me want to cry
djsfw
Hauntingly beautiful voice - the first time I heard this it stopped me dead in my tracks. She is phenomenal!
Carole Ann Dubé
I love this song and your voice is gorgeous ❤️🌺🎶
Christopher Eunice
I love this song so much! It touches your mind and heart and make you think of that 1 great love of your life!