Born in Buxton, Derbyshire, Cole grew up in nearby Chapel en le Frith and went to New Mills Grammar School. After failing in law at University College London, he later attended (but did not graduate from) the University of Glasgow where he studied philosophy and English and met the other members of band that would become The Commotions. Their 1984 debut, Rattlesnakes, contained numerous literary and pop culture references to figures like Norman Mailer, Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, Truman Capote and Joan Didion. The group produced two more albums, Easy Pieces and Mainstream, before disbanding in 1989, when Cole re-located to New York to record with legendary musicians like Fred Maher and Robert Quine (as well as a then largely unknown Matthew Sweet).
This solo setting produced two acclaimed albums, Lloyd Cole in 1990 and 1991's Don't Get Weird on Me Babe. The latter was recorded in two parts: one side continued the New York rock mastered on his first solo album, while the other side featured a session orchestra, much in the style of Burt Bacharach or Scott Walker. Although some reviewers have claimed Don't Get Weird on Me Babe (the title being a quote from the American neo-realism poet Raymond Carver) to be a creative peak, it produced significantly lesser record sales, and the contract with Capitol Records ended.
Subsequently signed by Rykodisc, Cole continued redefining his sound with Bad Vibes (1993), a collaboration with producer/remixer Adam Peters using a harder, grunge and psychedelica inspired sound. Love Story (1995) established stripped-down, largely acoustic sound landscapes with the help of Stephen Street (famous for his work with Blur and The Smiths) and former Commotions Neil Clark and Blair Cowan; the album produced a minor hit with the song "Like Lovers Do".
In 2000, after years without a contract, Cole recorded a disc with the New York band The Negatives, featuring Jill Sobule and Dave Derby of the Dambuilders. He has since released solo albums on smaller independent labels. Sanctuary Records, the company responsible for the revival of Morrissey, released Music in a Foreign Language (2003) in the U.K. Recorded largely by Cole himself (including tracks recorded directly into a Mac), the songs had a stark, folk-inspired singer-songwriter style. One Little Indian, home of Björk, released Music in a Foreign Language in the U.S.; they also collected a number of outtakes (recorded from 1996 to 2000) on 2004's Etc. and released an instrumental ambient electronica album, Plastic Wood, the same year.
Cole continued to tour, playing intimate club venues in a one-man acoustic setting. In 2004, to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Rattlesnakes, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions reformed to perform a one-off, sell-out tour in the U.K. and Ireland. An avid golfer, he is also known for playing concerts in towns suspiciously close to famous golf courses. He also shares a passion for this sport with Alice Cooper who is said to introduce the song "Only Women Bleed" claiming "not even Lloyd Cole has written a song about menstruation" when playing live.
Cole's album "Antidepressant" was released in 2006 featuring the former Commotions guitarist Neil Clark on some tracks.
The follow-up Broken Record, released in September 2010, marked a departure from his solo recordings, as it was performed by a band of longstanding friends and working partners, including Fred Maher, Joan Wasser, Rainy Orteca, Dave Derby and Blair Cowan – as well as two musicians, Matt Cullen (guitar; banjo) and Mark Schwaber (guitar; mandolin).
An album co-funded by fans, Standards, was released in June 2013.
A studio album – Guesswork – was released on July 26, 2019 by earMUSIC.
I Didn't See It Coming
Lloyd Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On account of being overcooked
Head swimming, children and the women
Leave me stranded on my burning deck
And one fine morning
I awoke to hear you calling
Couldn't believe what I heard at all
I didn't see it coming
I didn't see it coming
Much later, I'm your grand capitulator
Certain that I could be wrong
Head still spinning, looking for an algorithm
To bring some sense to it all
And you start singing along
With that rock 'n' roll song
On your New York station
I didn't see it coming
I didn't see it coming, uh oh
Don't get me wrong
I wouldn't change a single thing
Just that having been wrong so many, many times
It's hard to believe that I might get it right
Didn't see it coming
I didn't see it coming
And now I'm underneath the train
I didn't see it coming
I didn't, I didn't see it coming
I didn't see it coming
The first stanza of Lloyd Cole's song “I Didn't See It Coming” speaks of being overwhelmed by life, represented by the metaphor of a ship that has been overcooked and left burning, while the singer is left stranded on the deck, surrounded by children and women. The second stanza begins with the singer awakening to the realization that someone has been calling him, and he is shocked to discover that it's someone from his past who he thought was long gone. He reflects that he could be wrong about this person, but his head is still spinning as he searches for answers.
The chorus of the song repeats the lines, "I didn't see it coming," twice, with an "uh oh" added to the second line. This emphasizes the sense of surprise and disbelief that the singer is experiencing as he discovers that this person has re-entered his life after so long. Cole then shifts to the third stanza, where the singer is singing along to a rock and roll song on a New York station. This image is juxtaposed with the earlier image of being overcooked and stranded on a burning deck, suggesting a shift from feeling out of control to feeling a sense of connection and joy.
The final stanza speaks to the realization that the singer has been wrong so many times in the past, so it's difficult for him to believe that he might finally get it right. The song ends with the repeated refrain, "I didn't see it coming" and the singer being "underneath the train." This final line leaves the song open to interpretation about what may have happened to the singer, but it suggests a sense of reckoning or an ending in some way. Overall, the song speaks to the unpredictability of life and the surprises that can come when we least expect them.
Line by Line Meaning
Gone fishing, called an intermission
On account of being overcooked
I took a break because I was feeling burnt out and overwhelmed.
Head swimming, children and the women
Leave me stranded on my burning deck
My mind was in chaos and the people around me were no help in calming me down.
And one fine morning
I awoke to hear you calling
Couldn't believe what I heard at all
Suddenly, you reached out to me, and I was taken aback by the sheer unexpectedness of it all.
I didn't see it coming
I didn't see it coming
I was completely blind-sided by your sudden reappearance in my life.
Much later, I'm your grand capitulator
Certain that I could be wrong
Head still spinning, looking for an algorithm
To bring some sense to it all
Time has passed, and I've accepted my own fallibility. I'm still trying to make sense of everything, but it's a difficult puzzle to solve.
And you start singing along
With that rock 'n' roll song
On your New York station
You show up again and surprise me by connecting with me on something unexpected - our mutual love of a certain type of music.
I didn't see it coming
I didn't see it coming, uh oh
Once again, you caught me off guard and made me feel off-balance and vulnerable.
Don't get me wrong
I wouldn't change a single thing
Just that having been wrong so many, many times
It's hard to believe that I might get it right
I'm not saying that I wish things were different. But after so many missteps and mistakes, it's hard to trust that things might work out in the end.
Didn't see it coming
I didn't see it coming
And now I'm underneath the train
Once again, I was caught unawares, and now I find myself in a dangerous, compromising position.
I didn't see it coming
I didn't, I didn't see it coming
I didn't see it coming
I can't emphasize enough how completely surprised and overwhelmed I was by your sudden return and impact on my life.
Contributed by Lucy P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.