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.
The Towering Inferno
Lucky Soul Lyrics
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'Cause I was hungry but now I'm starving, darling,
Believe me, believe me.
The towing inferno inside me,
May one day consume and devour me.
Well I say " Let it burn! Let it burn!"
Ain't never gonna satisfy me.
Well I tried but I can't behave like others, lover.
For the hunger forever keeps me apart, sweetheart.
Believe me, Believe me.
The towing inferno inside me,
May one day consume and devour me.
Well I say " Let it burn! let it burn!"
Ain't never gonna satisfy me.
If there's fire in your eyes it's a half step from smiling to scowling.
I've been hurtin' so bad I can't tell if I'm burning or drowning.
So don't let me burn myself to the ground,
I've been begging so long that it's starting to sound like a come on,
A come on, a come on.
The towing inferno inside me,
May one day consume and devour me.
Well I say " Let it burn! let it burn!"
Ain't no one ever gonna save me.
Ain't no one ever gonna save me?
The lyrics to Lucky Soul's song "The Towering Inferno" reflect a sense of insatiable hunger and longing that the singer feels unable to control. The use of the metaphor of a "towering inferno" within the singer suggests an unstoppable force, which they simultaneously fear and embrace. The opening line "Well all the luck in the world won't save me, baby" sets the tone for the rest of the song, suggesting that the singer does not wish to be saved or rescued from their own desires.
The lines "May one day consume and devour me" and "Ain't no one ever gonna save me" reflect a nihilistic, fatalistic outlook on the part of the singer, who seems resigned to following their own path despite the consequences. The final lines of the song - "Don't let me burn myself to the ground/I've been begging so long that it's starting to sound like a come-on" - suggest a desperate plea for intervention or assistance, but the negative outlook of the singer's previous thoughts counteracts this.
Overall, the lyrics to "The Towering Inferno" convey a sense of intense passion and desire, which the singer feels powerless to control. The aim of the song seems to be to explore the nature of desire and what occurs when it is not regulated.
Line by Line Meaning
Well all the luck in the world won't save me, baby.
Despite having all the luck in the world, it won't be enough to save me.
'Cause I was hungry but now I'm starving, darling,
I was once simply hungry but now I am starving.
Believe me, believe me.
Please trust what I am saying.
The towing inferno inside me,
There is a towering inferno inside of me.
May one day consume and devour me.
It could one day completely take over and destroy me.
Well I say " Let it burn! Let it burn!"
I am willing to let it burn, even if it means my destruction.
Ain't never gonna satisfy me.
Nothing can ever fully satisfy me.
Well I tried but I can't behave like others, lover.
I have tried, but I cannot behave like everyone else.
For the hunger forever keeps me apart, sweetheart.
This hunger inside of me will always keep me distant from others.
If there's fire in your eyes it's a half step from smiling to scowling.
The intensity in your eyes can quickly change from happiness to anger.
I've been hurtin' so bad I can't tell if I'm burning or drowning.
I am in so much pain that I cannot distinguish whether I am burning or drowning.
So don't let me burn myself to the ground,
Please do not let me completely destroy myself.
I've been begging so long that it's starting to sound like a come on,
I have been asking for help for so long, it may come off as insincere.
Ain't no one ever gonna save me.
No one will ever be able to completely save me.
Contributed by Carter G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
bh617
How is this song not more well known?