The first swirls of what would become Lucky Soul took place in Glasgow in the imagination of a sound engineering student called Andrew Laidlaw. Inspired by the classic Sixties soul playing at a tiny night club called Papa Cool, he began sneaking into the studios at night, plotting to take a seemingly lost kind of pop music and update it for the 21st century. When the course finished, he moved to London, recruited a few friends and put out a classified ad for a singer. A heartfelt request for “no divas, no faux-American accents” seemed to have little effect, but alongside 300 Aguilera-clones emerged a honey-haired woman by the name of Ali Howard with a voice perfectly poised between power and vulnerability and a look that seemed tailor-made for Laidlaw’s music.
The first Lucky Soul album followed in April 2007. Released on the band’s own label Ruffa Lane (set up with the financial help and know-how of a couple of close friends) The Great Unwanted was a massive critical and commercial success: greeted with 4 and 5 stars – “an immediate classic”, “pop at its most glorious and heartbreaking” – across the board and sold 50,000 records worldwide, picking up a top 10 hit in Japan along the way.
Laidlaw’s pop vision had been vindicated, but the band had also thrown everything at that first record. Once the touring was done and with no financial safety net to fall back on while the royalties came through, Lucky Soul returned to their normal lives. Not for the first time, Laidlaw found himself stone broke and south of the river. This time he had no choice but to live inside the band’s studio, then in a draught-ridden converted fire station on the gloomier side of Greenwich. He played piano til the early hours and showered in the local swimming pool, and put his heart and soul into creating a second album, going by his own admission a bit crazy along the way.
Turning down an offer from legendary Bowie producer Tony Visconti, the band opted to retain complete creative control. Laidlaw produced the record himself, only turning to outside help for the mixing sessions, handled in New York by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, Sons & Daughters, Kirsty Macoll, PJ Harvey). Howard, Laidlaw and mercurial guitarist Ivor Sims were all that remained from the original lineup. Russell ‘Rusty’ Grooms and kiwi maverick Paul Atkins took the bass and drum briefs, and a new keyboardist was found in the form of Art Terry, a former protégé of Arthur Lee from Love who had initially just turned up to tune Laidlaw’s piano…
Months were spent in the studio, as Laidlaw – a synaesthetic to whom music appears in the form of vivid visuals that look “like an avant-garde Russian cartoon” – heaved his vision into awesome life. The result is a record with the gloves off, as trumpeted in the form of two advance singles Woah Billy! and White Russian Doll. The first album’s shameless love for pure melody remains, but any hint of knowing pastiche has been replaced with big, confident, lean production; it’s a soaring album of modern pop – music for a new decade.
One Kiss Don't Make a Summer
Lucky Soul Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't go thinking we're through, don't you, don't you.
You need a flame before you fizzle out.
So it don't matter much anyhow, anymore.
‘Cause sugar,
One kiss don't make a summer,
One kiss don't make a summer,
But if that's true,
Then tell me what I'm s'posed to do,
When the leaves are falling,
And I lose the pride that stops the aching inside showing through.
But I know if I can just last the winter,
Spring will bring hope renewed.
Don't go thinking you're funny, don't you, don't you.
My friends were right on the money ‘bout trusting you.
But I'm not bothered though, not today.
You're just a p.s. on a postcard home, anyway.
‘Cause sugar,
One kiss don't make a summer,
One kiss don't make a summer,
But if that's true,
Then tell me what I'm s'posed to do,
When the leaves are falling,
And I lose the pride that stops the aching inside showing through.
But I know if I can just last the winter,
Spring will bring hope a…
'Round here, the only thing that ain't blue is the sky.
Round here, there are places where the sunlight never shines.
And I'm tired of keeping composure, ‘cause I'm not supposed to feel sad,
When everybody's telling me that:
One kiss don't make a summer,
One kiss don't make a summer,
One kiss don't make a summer,
One kiss don't make a summer,
But if that's true,
Tell me what I'm s'posed to do,
When the leaves are falling,
And I lose the pride that stops the aching inside showing through.
Darling, if that's true,
Tell me what I'm s'posed to do,
When the leaves are falling,
And I lose the pride that stops the aching inside showing through.
Tell me what I'm s'posed to do,
What am I supposed to do?
What am I supposed to do?
What am I supposed to do?
The song starts with a warning to the subject not to think that they are too cool, and not to assume that they have broken up. They need to keep the flame burning, or they will fizzle out. The chorus then emphasizes that one kiss does not make a summer, implying that the subject cannot assume that everything is OK just because of one small gesture. The singer is conflicted about her own feelings towards the subject, confessing that losing them would make her sad but needing the inner strength to make it through the difficult times. The bridge emphasizes the struggle of maintaining composure in the face of sadness, and the frustration of others' dismissing the emotions as insignificant. The song ends with a plea for guidance on what to do in the face of falling leaves and lost pride, suggesting that the singer is looking for reassurance that everything will be OK.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't go thinking you're cool, don't you, don't you.
Don't be too confident and assume that you're cool.
Don't go thinking we're through, don't you, don't you.
Don't be under the impression that our relationship is over.
You need a flame before you fizzle out.
You need something to ignite your passion or you'll lose interest.
So it don't matter much anyhow, anymore.
It doesn't matter all that much because things have changed.
‘Cause sugar,
Addressing the person as a term of endearment.
One kiss don't make a summer,
One positive thing doesn't fix everything.
But if that's true,
If that really is the case.
Then tell me what I'm s'posed to do,
Then give me guidance on what I should do.
When the leaves are falling,
During the time when the leaves of the trees are falling off.
And I lose the pride that stops the aching inside showing through.
When my pride fades and my inner pain becomes more apparent.
But I know if I can just last the winter,
If I can just endure through the tough times,
Spring will bring hope renewed.
The arrival of a new season will bring renewed hope.
Don't go thinking you're funny, don't you, don't you.
Don't believe that you're amusing or entertaining.
My friends were right on the money ‘bout trusting you.
My friends were correct in their assessment of your trustworthiness.
But I'm not bothered though, not today.
But I'm not too concerned about it, at least not right now.
You're just a p.s. on a postcard home, anyway.
You're just an afterthought or a footnote.
'Round here, the only thing that ain't blue is the sky.
Everything around here is depressing except for the sky.
Round here, there are places where the sunlight never shines.
There are areas around here where there is no sunshine at all.
And I'm tired of keeping composure, ‘cause I'm not supposed to feel sad,
I'm exhausted from trying to keep up appearances because I'm not allowed to feel unhappy.
When everybody's telling me that:
When everyone is repeating to me the same thing.
Darling, if that's true,
Using a term of endearment to refer to the person again.
Tell me what I'm s'posed to do,
Tell me how to proceed or what I should do.
What am I supposed to do?
What should I do next?
What am I supposed to do?
What should be my next step?
What am I supposed to do?
Can you please tell me what I should do?
What am I supposed to do?
I am clueless about what to do. Please help me out.
Contributed by Aaliyah T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.