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.”
Spilt Milk
Kristina Train Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Might throw my weight around
Games are never played unless there won
You silly little thing I see it on your lips
It isn't what you think, not this time
So don't say I'm cryin over spilt milk again
Don't say I'll bounce back, cause I won't
Cause this time I lost it
Now you say it's better to have loved than lost
Maybe you never loved me at all
Have you ever been a victim of a hit and run
You never turn to see what you've done
So don't say I'm cryin over spilt milk again
Don't say I'll bounce back , cause I wont
Don't say a word or I might lose control
Cause this I lost it all
So don't say I'm cryin over spilt milk again
Don't say I'll bounce back, cause I won't
Don't say a word or I might lose control
Cause this time I lost it
Don't say I'm cryin over spilt milk again
Don't say I'll bounce back cause I wont
Don't say a word or I might lose control
Cause this time I lost it all
The lyrics to Kristina Train's song "Split Milk" speaks to the pain of heartbreak and the difficulty of moving on after being hurt. The opening lines in the first verse suggest a mood of anger and frustration, as the singer admits that she might throw her weight around. The games she refers to in the following line could be the emotional dynamics at play in a relationship. She insists that games are never won unless they are played fairly.
The second verse speaks to the singer's sense of betrayal. The phrase "silly little thing I see it on your lips" suggests that the person she is addressing is trying to dismiss or downplay the pain she is feeling. In the chorus, the singer insists that her heartbreak is not a small thing that she can easily get over. She has lost control over her emotions and she is angry at the suggestion that she is crying over "spilt milk" again.
The bridge speaks to the idea that sometimes it is better to have loved than lost. But the singer doesn't seem to agree. Perhaps because she feels like the painful experience has scarred her more than it has enriched her. Her choice to use the hit and run metaphor suggests the idea that the person who hurt her fled the scene without taking responsibility or showing remorse.
Overall, the song conveys a sense of hurt and disappointment. The singer is struggling to deal with the pain of betrayal and is lashing out in anger. The title of the song, "Spilt Milk," suggests the idea that she feels like she has lost something valuable that cannot be replaced.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes I get down
Occasionally, I feel sad
Might throw my weight around
I could act forcefully
Games are never played unless there won
People don't play games without intending to win
You silly little thing I see it on your lips
I notice that you're trying to hide something
It isn't what you think, not this time
This situation is not as you've assumed it to be
So don't say I'm cryin over spilt milk again
Please don't suggest that I'm worrying about something that's already over
Don't say I'll bounce back, cause I won't
Don't assume that I'll recover quickly because I won't
Don't say a word or I might lose control
If you speak, I might not be able to contain myself
Cause this time I lost it
I lost my composure this time
Now you say it's better to have loved than lost
You believe that it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all
Maybe you never loved me at all
Perhaps you didn't actually love me
Have you ever been a victim of a hit and run
Have you ever been hurt by someone who didn't stick around to deal with the aftermath?
You never turn to see what you've done
You never acknowledge the damage you caused
Cause this time I lost it all
This time, I lost everything
Don't say I'm cryin over spilt milk again
Please stop accusing me of worrying over trivial matters
Don't say I'll bounce back cause I wont
I probably won't quickly recover from this
Cause this time I lost it all
I lost everything this time
Contributed by Alexander R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
J. Lyon Layden
Wow Kristina was awesome when we first saw her singing at open mic in Savannah and asked her to join us...she's absolutely incredible now!
DiffrentDrumr
This song melody is in my head every day.. can't get it out. It's haunting me! Lol. I absolutely love it.
Carlos Rivera
Desde COLOMBIA ,Bogota admiro la voz de esta gran cantante su suavidad . que delicia escucharla
Marius Ovidiu Fluture
Great voice !!! Wonderful.
Liz de carlo
I love her music. It’s so good.
Ry
i love this song , she had dinner at my grandparents couple times . shes so nice !
Carina Nielsson
This is a pretty song! And you know what? Sometimes I spill my milk, too...
smontgom106
Beautiful song...thanks for sharing...
Marius Ovidiu Fluture
I had the opportunity to listen her to Bucharest,where she sang accompanied by Herbie Hancock &band.She is amazing!!!
danvgoblue
Just saw Kristina open for Marc Cohn at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI...she has an amazing voice and is a great songwriter.