Lucy was born in London, but was raised in Amsterdam and New York City. She has a very musical background: her British father is a composer and conductor and her New Yorker mother is a musicologist and an opera singer.
Raised on classical and Middle-Eastern music, Lucy studied piano and flute before asking for singing lessons at age 12. She attended a Bronx high school renowned for its music department and made her first recordings singing house music in her friends’ basements. She spent part of each summer in music camp and part in Holland, where she frequently locked herself up in her father’s studio and listened to jazz and old R&B records. At 16 she was accepted into the Manhattan School of Music to study jazz, but after a year decided to learn her songwriting and performing skills on her own. She spent the next few years performing in swing-organ trios, working as a session singer, waiting tables, and singing jazz standards in Greenwich Village restaurants. She started off singing in jazz cafes and singing for tips or dinner. "You sing with a piano player and a tip jar on top of the piano." She said in an interveiw on NZGirl.
In 2003 Lucy signed with Atlantic Records and recorded her debut album While You Can, out of which came the Top 40 hit “Dumb Girls,” produced by Kevin Kadish; other songs on the record were produced by John Shanks at Jim Henson Studios. Although her efforts won her some mainstream notoriety, making slick, radio-ready pop proved artistically unsatisfying for her.
The following year, Lucy was asked by producer friend Jaime Houston to record a version of the big-band tune "It's Oh So Quiet" for the Disney film Ice Princess. The song had originally been recorded by Betty Hutton in 1948 and was subsequently popularized by Björk. Lucy credits it as being a major creative turning point for her, one that inspired much of the writing in her second album.
Lucy began her musical reinvention on her second album, the independently released Lucy Woodward Is... Hot and Bothered (2007), a transitional effort that incorporated R&B grooves and electronic beats, while mining deep-rooted jazz influences. Hot and Bothered was produced by longtime collaborator Itaal Shur and Tim K. . Barnes & Noble named her “Artist of the Month” for August 2008. Released in 2007 on Atlantic, it was initially only available through iTunes, on July 29, 2008 getting a physical release exclusively through Barnes & Noble.
Lucy’s third album, Hooked!, was recorded at Stratosphere Sound in New York and Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood and released on Verve Records in 2010. It was largely produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T-Rex), but included contributions by Justin Stanley (Nikka Costa, Sheryl Crow), Itaal Shur and Tim K. Lucy penned much of the record with songwriters Dan Petty and Michelle Lewis, claiming she had been inspired by the music of Peggy Lee and Django Reinhardt. One song on the album, “Another Woman,” was written for her by longtime inspiration Nellie McKay (also Verve), who is also featured on background vocals.
In 2011, Lucy was asked to tour with Pink Martini after the band’s singer China Forbes had to undergo vocal surgery. Her quick study of Pink Martini’s repertoire of Croatian, Japanese, French, English and Turkish songs did not go unnoticed in the music press. She toured cross-continent with the band for a number of concerts the same year, including performances at the Toronto and Montreal jazz festivals and Ravinia, as well as a three-night stint with the San Francisco Symphony (Donato Cabrera conducting).
http://www.lucywoodward.com
He Got Away
Lucy Woodward Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Starve for days to catch a break
Waiting in that boat alone
Fish know something you don't
They told me there aren't many of us down here
All the good ones have been hooked
But I threw back the finest one
Now I'm the one who's been cooked
He got away, he got away
It's too late my baby's gone
He got away, he got away
How'd I blow it, now I know that he's the one
But I took too long
Well everybody's got a notion
Of how the story's meant to be
But I got blinded by the stars
And missed the part meant for me
Yes I got all swept up with emotion
But it's too hot for me to face
Might of had a better plan
If I wasn't caught up in the chase
He got away, he got away
It's too late my baby's gone
He got away, he got away
How'd I blow it, now I know that he's the one
But I took too long
Baby, he called me baby
When we were planning our registry
In tennis doubles and in couple's therapy
I'd make a special kind of wish list for Christmas
In our Casa Suburbia
And the neighbors would say that they can't possibly go
To bed and read
He got away, he got away
It's too late my baby's gone
He got away, he got away
I could kick myself, 'cuz yeah, I was horribly wrong
He got away, he got away
It's too late my baby's gone
He got away, he got away
How'd I blow it, now I know that he's the one
But I took too long
Don't rub it in
Don't rub it in
The song "He Got Away" by Lucy Woodward tells the tale of a woman who reflects on her lost opportunity to be with her perfect match. The lyrics use the metaphor of fishing in the ocean to explain the search for love. The persona has been waiting and trying hard, yet, did not succeed since the best ones already got hooked. The singer reveals that she finally caught the right one, but fear held her back from committing to the relationship or making a move, thus lost him. She regrets not having taken the opportunity, missing the moment that could have been. She was blinded by the stars and swept away by the emotion of the chase, which is why it took too long to make a commitment. Though she realized the value of the relationship that the ‘baby’ called her, the memory is a painful reminder of the opportunity lost.
The lyrics suggest that love can be challenging like fishing, and sometimes we may miss the boat despite our best efforts; it could be because of fear or past experiences that hold us back. The singer suggests that sometimes we need to let go of our fear and take chances, or we will miss out on opportunities that could have brought us happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Love's like fishing in the ocean
Love can be compared to fishing in the vast ocean
Starve for days to catch a break
Sometimes we have to patiently endure difficult times to catch a break
Waiting in that boat alone
Waiting for love can often feel lonely and isolating
Fish know something you don't
Fish have insights and knowledge that we do not possess
They told me there aren't many of us down here
The fish conveyed to me that there aren't many good options in the ocean
All the good ones have been hooked
The best romantic partners have already been taken by others
But I threw back the finest one
I rejected the best romantic partner I had found
Now I'm the one who's been cooked
Now I am the one who has suffered the consequences of my actions
He got away, he got away
The romantic partner I rejected got away from me
It's too late my baby's gone
It is now too late to salvage the relationship
How'd I blow it, now I know that he's the one
I now realize that I made a mistake by not choosing him
But I took too long
I waited too long to make a move
Well everybody's got a notion
Everyone has their own ideas about how things should be
Of how the story's meant to be
People have preconceived notions of how love stories should unfold
But I got blinded by the stars
I was distracted by unrealistic expectations and fantasies
And missed the part meant for me
I missed the opportunity to be with the person who was right for me
Yes I got all swept up with emotion
I allowed my emotions to take control and cloud my judgement
But it's too hot for me to face
Now the reality of the situation is too painful for me to confront
Might of had a better plan
I could have made a better decision if I had thought more logically
If I wasn't caught up in the chase
If I hadn't been so focused on the thrill of the chase
Baby, he called me baby
He used terms of endearment with me
When we were planning our registry
When we were planning to get married
In tennis doubles and in couple's therapy
We did activities together and sought help for our relationship
I'd make a special kind of wish list for Christmas
I wrote down my hopes and dreams for our future together
In our Casa Suburbia
In our home in the suburbs
And the neighbors would say that they can't possibly go
The neighbors were amazed by our connection and love for each other
To bed and read
They were too interested in our story to go to bed and sleep
I could kick myself, 'cuz yeah, I was horribly wrong
I deeply regret my mistake and acknowledge how wrong I was
Don't rub it in
Please do not taunt me or make my mistakes worse
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY
Written by: DAN PETTY, LUCY WOODWARD, MICHELLE LEWIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Play the Lucy Woodward Quiz
on Melody Facts
"He Got Away"
Love's like fishing in the ocean
Starve for days to catch a break
Waiting in that boat alone
The fish know something you don't
They told me there aren't many of us down here
All the good ones have been hooked
But I threw back the finest one
Coz I'm the one who got cooked
He got away, he got away
It's too late my baby's gone
He got away, he got away
How'd I blow it, now I know that he's the one
But i took too long
Well everybody's got a notion
Of how the story's meant to be
But I got blinded by the stars
And missed the part meant for me
Yes I got all swept up with emotion
But it's too hot for me to face
Might of had a better plan
If I wasn't caught up in the chase
He got away, he got away
It's too late my baby's gone
He got away, he got away
How'd I blow it, now I know that he's the one
But I took too long
Baby, he called me baby
When we were planning our registry
In tennis doubles and in couple's therapy
I'd make a special kind of wish list for Christmas
In our Casa Suburbia
And the neighbors would say that they can't possibly go
To bed and read
He got away, he got away
It's too late my baby's gone
He got away, he got away
I could kick myself, 'cuz yeah, I was horribly wrong
He got away, he got away
It's too late my baby's gone
He got away, he got away
How'd I blow it, now I know that he's the one
But I took too long
She took too long
She took too long
She took too long..
FirePhoenixMusic
About 3 months after this video, YouTube was blessed with some of the greatest music ever made in history.
We Like It Here, we really do.
hu99
Absolutely bananas. Snarky Puppy, the world needs you.
pranavguitarist
Why isn't this track on the Family Dinner Vol. 1 album on Spotify? It's so good you guys are the bomb my favourite group
Lucas Donato
half of the tracks are bonus tracks. maybe that's why.
moosicnsk8
pranavguitarist i believe de bonus tracks are on the dvd only
Rakhesh Martyn
+pranavguitarist I think it's Lucy's song.
popvision
i love her voice, her flavor. and she's so free with it.
themuzikismylife1
Love her voice!
TheSoundofU
this is pure class, I have watched this a dozen times & never tire of it. :-)
i hang out under bridges
This was awesome live!