Born with Asperger's Syndrome, Pip Brown came from a musical family, with her mother being a singer-guitarist and her stepfather, a jazz drummer. During her childhood, various illnesses and allergies kept her in and out of the hospital. At age 10 she contracted erysipeloid, a disease that is common in seagulls but had not been seen in humans in New Zealand for 20 years. Her allergies to antibiotics, penicillin, and antihistamines greatly complicated treatment efforts and had put her in a coma and she came close to dying.
While attending Chanel College, she played in several grunge bands. After high school, Brown moved from Masterton to Wellington and formed in 2001 the hard rock band Two Lane Blacktop with some friends, playing lead guitar. Brown relocated to Melbourne, Australia after Two Lane Blacktop parted ways in late 2003, when their lead singer and drummer quit the band.
In Melbourne she met Nick Littlemore of Pnau (and later Empire of the Sun), formed the duo Teenager and moved together to Sydney. In 2006 Brown decided to leave Teenager to focus on a personal project she had been developing for sometime, a persona she had dubbed "Ladyhawke", inspired by the Richard Donner film from 1985 with the same name.
In 20 September 2008, her debut album Ladyhawke was released on Modular and gained mostly positive reviews. The album peaked at #16 at UK Albums Chart, #16 Australian Albums Chart, #41 at U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers, #62 at European Top 100 Albums, #1 at New Zealand Albums Chart. Ladyhawke ranked #23 on MusicOMH Best Albums of 2008.
She released five singles from the debut album: "Back of the Van" (1 April 2008, re-released in 18 May 2009; #93 UK), "Paris Is Burning" (6 July 2008, re-released in 2 March 2009; #47 UK, #52 AUS, #40 NZ), "Dusk Till Dawn" (8 September 2008; #78 UK), "My Delirium" (8 December 2008; #33 UK, #8 AUS, #9 NZ) and "Magic" (28 September 2009; #31 NZ).
In 2008 Pip Brown collaborated with the Australian band Pnau on the song "Embrace".
In 2009 Ladyhawke won five awards (Album of the Year, Best Dance/Electronica album, Single of the Year for "My Delirium", International Achievement Award, Best Female Solo Artist, Breakthrough Artist of the Year) and was nominated for People's Choice Award at New Zealand Music Awards. In the same year she was nominated for Best Solo Artist at NME Awards, Best Kiwi & Independent Spirit at MTV Australia Awards and for six categories on ARIA Music Awards 2009 (she won two of them: Breakthrough Artist – album for "Ladyhawke" and Breakthrough Artist – single for "My Delirium"). Ladyhawke was also nominated for International Female Solo Artist at Brit Awards 2010.
In 4 May 2010, Ladyhawke released a digital live EP entitled iTunes Live from SoHo. Currently she is writing material for a second album.
Official site: http://www.ladyhawkemusic.com
Cellophane
Ladyhawke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We’re on the night train
To anywhere but here
It takes us far
Into a fantasy
Where all the good things are
And it all makes sense when we close our eyes
All those years we’ve spent running away, we’d never meet
That it was meant to be
That it was meant to be
No time to find
We’re always losing
Without a single care
It makes us fear
We’re in a movie scene
And nothing else is real
And it all makes sense when we close our eyes
‘Cause we are looking through pink cellophane, cellophane
All those years we’ve spent running away, we’d never meet
That it was meant to be
That it was meant to be
All those years we’ve spent running away, we’d never meet
That it was meant to be
That it was meant to be
And it all makes sense when we close our eyes
‘Cause we are looking through pink cellophane, cellophane
That it was meant to be
That it was meant to be
(All those years we’ve spent running away)
That it was meant to be
That it was meant to be
No sleep tonight
We’re on the night train
The lyrics of Ladyhawke's song "Cellophane" suggest a sense of escapism and fantasy. The first verse begins with the singer declaring that they will not be getting any sleep as they are heading out on a night train to an unknown destination. They have no intention of staying where they are, and are actively trying to distance themselves from their current situation. The train ride takes them far away from reality and into a fantasy where all good things exist.
The chorus adds to the theme of escapism and fantasy, with the singer suggesting that when they close their eyes, they are looking through pink cellophane. This is a metaphor for seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses or through a filter that makes everything seem better than it is. They are also reminiscing about all the times they've spent running away, suggesting that they have a history of trying to avoid their problems. However, they ultimately realize that all of those experiences led them to this moment, and that they were meant to be on this night train heading towards a better future.
The second verse continues the theme of isolation and detachment. The singer suggests that there is no time to find things, and they are always losing something. They don't care about anything, which ultimately leads to a sense of fear as they feel like they are living in a movie scene and nothing is real. The song ends with a repetition of the chorus and reaffirmation that they were meant to be on this journey.
Line by Line Meaning
No sleep tonight
Unable to sleep tonight
We’re on the night train
We are traveling through the night on a train
To anywhere but here
Leaving this place for another destination
It takes us far
Takes us to a distant place
Into a fantasy
Transports us to a world of make-believe
Where all the good things are
A place where only good things exist
And it all makes sense when we close our eyes
It all becomes clear when we shut our eyes
‘Cause we are looking through pink cellophane, cellophane
We see the world through a rose-colored filter, cellophane
All those years we’ve spent running away, we’d never meet
All those years we ran away, we never crossed paths
That it was meant to be
It was destined to happen
No time to find
No time to search
We’re always losing
We keep losing things
Without a single care
Without worrying at all
It makes us fear
It fills us with fear
We’re in a movie scene
We feel like we are in a movie
And nothing else is real
Everything else seems unreal
All those years we’ve spent running away, we’d never meet
All those years we ran away, we never crossed paths
That it was meant to be
It was destined to happen
And it all makes sense when we close our eyes
It all becomes clear when we shut our eyes
‘Cause we are looking through pink cellophane, cellophane
We see the world through a rose-colored filter, cellophane
All those years we’ve spent running away, we’d never meet
All those years we ran away, we never crossed paths
That it was meant to be
It was destined to happen
That it was meant to be
It was destined to happen
(All those years we’ve spent running away)
(All those years we ran away)
That it was meant to be
It was destined to happen
That it was meant to be
It was destined to happen
No sleep tonight
Unable to sleep tonight
We’re on the night train
We are traveling through the night on a train
Lyrics © Freibank Musikverlags und vermarktungs GmbH, BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: PHILLIPA BROWN, PASCAL RICHARD MARCEL GABRIEL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lee Connelly
A great record with really nice use of guitar and synth...with that pouty voice.(for pop stuff).
jake fisher
Quite nice.
musicmad antidevil
Great song:) floaty and buzzy:)