Peyroux started singing at the age of fifteen, when she discovered street musicians in the Latin Quarter in Paris. She joined a group called the Riverboat Shufflers, first passing round the hat, and then singing. At sixteen she joined the The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, spending two years touring Europe performing songs by the likes of Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and others, which provided the basis for her first album, Dreamland.
Dreamland was released in 1996, and gained widespread attention. Time called it "the most exciting, involving vocal performance by a new singer this year". Dreamland, is a brilliant recording, as Peyroux's distinctive voice is not hindered by overly intricate arrangements. Most of the accompaniment on the record is light and sparse, the way it should be for a singer with such a unique voice. Peyroux soon found herself opening for Sarah McLachlan and Cesária Évora, and made appearances at jazz festivals and on the Lilith Fair tour.
In May 2002 she joined multi-instrumentalist William Galison, and together they appeared at such venues as the Bottom Line, Joe's Pub, and the Tin Angel. In 2003 the duo released a seven-song EP entitled Got You on My Mind, which they sold at shows and online. Got You on My Mind was re-released by William Galison in August 2004; the original EP was expanded by the addition of four tracks by Gallison.
Peyroux released her own sophomore effort, Careless Love, in September 2004. The album received generally positive reviews.
Her new album, Half the Perfect World, was released on September 12, 2006. She collaborated with several artists, including Jesse Harris, Walter Becker, Larry Klein (who also produced the album), and K.d. lang, with whom Peyroux duets on a cover of the Joni Mitchell song, "River".
On July 12, 2007, she was awarded Best International Jazz Artist at the BBC Jazz Awards.
Born To Lose
Madeleine Peyroux Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every dream has only brought me pain
All my life I've always been so blue
Born to lose and now I'm losing you.
Born to lose, it seems so hard to bear
How I long to always have you near
You've grown tired and now you say we're through
Born to lose, my every hope is gone
It's so hard to face that empty dawn
You were all the happiness I knew
Born to lose and now I'm losing you.
There's no use to dream of happiness
All I see is only loneliness
All my life I've always been so blue
Born to lose and now I'm losing you
Born to lose and now I'm losing you.
The lyrics of Madeleine Peyroux's "Born to Lose" expresses a sense of hopeless resignation and despair. The lines "Born to lose, I've lived my life in vain/Every dream has only brought me pain" present a bleak outlook on life, one where the singer feels trapped in a cycle of disappointment and failure. The repetition of the phrase "Born to lose" emphasizes this feeling of inevitability and powerlessness, suggesting that the singer is doomed to a life of disappointment.
The second verse introduces a romantic relationship, with the lines "How I long to always have you near/You've grown tired and now you say we're through/Born to lose and now I'm losing you." The theme of loss and sadness is continued here, with the singer acknowledging that their relationship is falling apart and that they are powerless to do anything about it. The last verse brings the song to a melancholic close, with the lines "There's no use to dream of happiness/All I see is only loneliness/All my life I've always been so blue/Born to lose and now I'm losing you" suggesting that the singer has given up all hope and resigned themselves to a life of sorrow.
Overall, the song uses powerful imagery and repetition to create a mood of hopeless despair, exploring the idea that some people are simply "born to lose" in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Born to lose, I've lived my life in vain
My fate was sealed from the start and everything I've done has been pointless
Every dream has only brought me pain
No matter what I've wanted in life, it's never brought me any joy, only more suffering
All my life I've always been so blue
I've been sad and hopeless my entire life
Born to lose and now I'm losing you.
I was destined to fail and now I'm losing the one person who brought me happiness
Born to lose, it seems so hard to bear
Knowing that my life was doomed from the start is almost unbearable to accept
How I long to always have you near
I crave the comfort of your presence in my life
You've grown tired and now you say we're through
You've lost interest in our relationship and want to end things
Born to lose and now I'm losing you.
Once again, my fate has caught up with me and I'm losing the person who brought me happiness
Born to lose, my every hope is gone
I've lost all hope for a happy future
It's so hard to face that empty dawn
It's difficult to wake up every day and face the emptiness of my life
You were all the happiness I knew
You were the only source of happiness in my life
Born to lose and now I'm losing you.
My fate has caught up with me once again and I'm losing the only thing that made life bearable
There's no use to dream of happiness
It's pointless for me to even hope for happiness at this point
All I see is only loneliness
All that's left for me now is a life of loneliness
All my life I've always been so blue
My life has been filled with sadness and despair from the very beginning
Born to lose and now I'm losing you.
My fate has caught up with me once again and I'm losing the only glimmer of hope in my life
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: DON GIBSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kurt
on The Summer Wind
Unbelievable Saxophon solo!