The Fish era is often categorized as neo-progressive. They originally started as "Silmarillion" (from Tolkien's book) with heavy influences from classic Genesis but went on to develop their own distinctive sound. The band was formed in 1979 by Mick Pointer (drums), Steve Rothery (guitar), Doug 'Rastus' Irvine (bass), and others, soon adding vocalist Fish (real name Derek W. Dick), Diz Minitt (bass), and Brian Jelliman. By the time of their first album, 1983's Script for a Jester's Tear, the bass position had been taken over by Pete Trewavas and keyboards by Mark Kelly.
The studio albums Fugazi (1984), Misplaced Childhood (1985), and Clutching at Straws (1987), as well as the 1984 live album Real to Reel all sold respectably, and the band scored a hit single in Britain with Kayleigh in 1985.
When Fish left the band in 1988 after four albums he was replaced by Steve Hogarth. A former member of The Europeans and some-time collaborator with The The and Julian Cope, Hogarth brought a new energy to the band.
Across a further ten albums, Hogarth – along with existing members Rothery, Kelly, Trewavas, and Mosley – have reinvigorated and constantly redefined Marillion’s sound. They forged into new musical territories with a succession of inventive, emotional albums, displaying little regard to the vagaries of hit charts or radio playlists.
After the release of 1999’s marillion.com the band freed themselves from record company pressure once and for all by launching their own record label, the Intact imprint.
Thanks to their pioneering embrace of the Internet through their website http://marillion.com, Marillion have developed a unique and intimate relationship with their fans. From sponsoring entire tours of the USA to funding the recording of recent albums, Marillion’s global fan-base is unique in its affection and dedication. As a result, such passionate, wholesale support has allowed Marillion to step outside of the conventional music industry and find their own path.
In 2001 Anoraknophobia saw Marillion take the groundbreaking step of asking fans to pre-order an album 12 months before release. An amazing 12,000 people signed up, helping to finance the recording. The band once again took pre-orders for the 2004 release Marbles, but this time the money was channelled into a campaign fund to promote its launch. The success of singles Don't Hurt Yourself and You're Gone – the latter making it all the way to number 7 – vindicated the band's independent strategy.
Their 2007 album Somewhere Else reached number 24 in the UK album chart with their most recent single Thankyou Whoever You Are hitting the UK singles chart at number 15. The band shows no signs of fading away after more than 25 years of activity.
Their 15th album, "Happiness is the road", was physically released in October 2008 but was originally available exclusively from the band's website. It was released with little promotion and a deluxe pre-order package was made available as with Marbles. 'Happiness is the Road' is the second studio double album of a long career (2004's Marbles was the other). A UK and European tour followed the album's release, and the band is taking special effort to record every show in the "Happiness on the Road" tour, making the recordings available from the band's website.
Born To Run
Marillion Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Echoes silently around the cold grey places
Ecstasies undared
Tremble upon the edge of the tightly, respectably unfulfilled
Who drink to excess in order to forget what never happened
Brave faces
Well dressed ordered minds on suicide's edge
[Blue grey]
And further South, and homeless
Here I am
Globally altered and dishevelled
Oh darling, I've done it all
An antithesis of sorts
And yet bound together and hopelessly in love
With the inevitable loss
And the end
How can we run from ourselves?
Pete: "A is a nice place to go. What were those chords again?"
Marillion’s Born to Run is one of the band’s most poignant tracks, talking about the interplay between personal struggles and societal desolation, looking at themes of loss, addiction, and homelessness that pervades across the North and South of the United Kingdom. The song opens with a piercing examination of the “quiet sadness of the people of the North" and goes on to describe “ecstasies undared” that remain “tightly, respectably unfulfilled" and hold up alcohol as an escape. The lyrics vividly paint a picture of people living on the edge with “well-dressed ordered minds on suicide's edge” and “globally altered and dishevelled” people who have lost their homes “further South.”
The chorus of Born to Run stands out as an existential question, “How can we run from ourselves?” which underlines the overwhelming theme of the song, which seems to suggest that whatever one tries to do to outrun the pain, personal demons will always catch up. In the end, the lyrics describe a pair trying to run away from themselves who knows that they are going nowhere. The song ends with an inevitable “loss” and “the end.”
Line by Line Meaning
The quiet sadness of the people of the North
People from the North are silently sad
Echoes silently around the cold grey places
Their sadness is felt in the lonely and desolate places
Ecstasies undared
No one dares to be happy
Tremble upon the edge of the tightly, respectably unfulfilled
The unfulfilled try to be respectable but feel like they're about to break
Who drink to excess in order to forget what never happened
They drink to forget things that never even occurred
Brave faces
People put on a brave face
Well dressed ordered minds on suicide's edge
Their minds are ordered but they still consider suicide
Reflected in the rain-skimmed slate grey, battleship grey, hardship grey
Their reflection is seen in the depressing rain and grey colors
[Blue grey]
The color is a mix of blue and grey
And further South, and homeless
People in the South are homeless as well
Here I am
The singer is present in this situation
Globally altered and dishevelled
He's changed and looks messy
Oh darling, I've done it all
He's done everything in his power
An antithesis of sorts
He's a contradiction in some ways
And yet bound together and hopelessly in love
Despite everything, he's in love
With the inevitable loss
But he knows it won't last forever
And the end
It will end eventually
How can we run from ourselves?
We can't escape our own problems
Pete: "A is a nice place to go. What were those chords again?"
This line is not part of the song.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: IAN FRANCESKO MOSLEY, MARK COLBERT KELLY, PETER JOHN TREWAVAS, STEVE HOGARTH, STEVEN THOMAS ROTHERY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
stuartandadele
absolutely one of their best songs...
peepsk771
Love this!! :)
gewoonkees nou gewoonkees
just heart, it's mister Rothery's favourite one on this album Radiation. And yes I have to admit this is a great track. Hard to choose between this one and "A Few Words For The Dead".
BrianEArts
Yes! Blues at the best!
Adrian Cardiel
nmms que rolon aparte ando super drogado !!!!! ha
Paul Leviston
3 Shades of Grey ,
Ambient Joe
has anyone here.... seen by old friend. Abraham?
M
Send you to sleep. Awful