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.
Paper Lies
Marillion Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you look into the mirror
Do you see a face you hardly recognise
If you look into the sun too long
Do the things you see begin to burn your eyes
Paper lies
Just to express what he's thinking
Must a man take all the mail will bring
Are we living only for today
It's a sign of the times
We believe anything and nothing
Paper lies
When you kill the truth
You can make a killing
You might just make losing look like winning
You came to tell the people what's goin' on
But nobody knows whose side you're on
Seems like you're sailin' pretty close to the wind again
Paper lies
You have already won a prize!
I know something that you don't know
Something that you ought to know
It's burning a hole in my pocket book
Listen ... do you want to know a secret?
We can print our own money here
If you let us do a piece on you
We can take you to pieces
When you look into the money
Do you see a face you hardly recognise?
When you get behind the news of the world
Do the things you find begin to bend your mind?
Paper lies
Why don't you let us take a piece out of you?
The song Paper Lies by Marillion is a commentary on the power of the media and how it can distort our perception of reality. The lyrics suggest that we are bombarded with lies and misinformation in the newspapers and on the news, which can be damaging to our mental health and wellbeing. The song questions whether we are living only for today and how we believe anything and nothing because of the way the media presents us with false information.
The opening lines of the song draw our attention to the act of looking in the mirror and seeing a face that we hardly recognise. This could be interpreted as a metaphor for society, which has become so accustomed to the lies fed to them by the media that they no longer recognise the truth when they see it. When the song states, "If you look into the sun too long, do the things you see begin to burn your eyes", it's suggesting that the lies we are fed by the media are as harmful as staring into the sun. They can burn our eyes or metaphorically speaking, damage our mental health.
Overall, the song Paper Lies is a deep commentary on the power of the media and how it influences our perception of reality. It asks us to question what we read, to be discerning and critical of what the media presents us. It's an important message to be mindful and to not fall into the trap of believing everything we read.
Line by Line Meaning
Good morning!
Greeting at the beginning of the song
When you look into the mirror
Asking if you recognize yourself in the mirror
Do you see a face you hardly recognise
Questioning if you see someone you once were but don't see anymore
If you look into the sun too long
Asking if you've stared at the bad things for too long
Do the things you see begin to burn your eyes
Asking if the bad things you've focused on hurt you or blind you to the truth
Paper lies
There are lies all around us
Just to express what he's thinking
Why do people need to write or spread their ideas everywhere?
Must a man take all the mail will bring
Asking why people are so eager to spread their messages
Are we living only for today
Asking if people only care about the present
It's a sign of the times
This is happening all around us all the time
We believe anything and nothing
We can be easily convinced of anything or we can be completely skeptical
When you kill the truth
When people suppress the truth
You can make a killing
You can get rich
You might just make losing look like winning
Deception can make people think they are winning when they are really losing
You came to tell the people what's goin' on
Asking if journalists tell the truth about what is happening
But nobody knows whose side you're on
Questioning if journalists have their own agendas
Seems like you're sailin' pretty close to the wind again
Journalists are pushing their luck and might be in danger
Paper lies
There are lies all around us
You have already won a prize!
People who deceive others can get away with it
I know something that you don't know
The singer knows secrets
Something that you ought to know
The secret is important
It's burning a hole in my pocket book
The secret is hard to keep
Listen ... do you want to know a secret?
The singer wants to share the secret
We can print our own money here
The secret is that people have the power to create their own value
If you let us do a piece on you
Suggesting that people can be bought for the right price
We can take you to pieces
Suggesting that the media can destroy people if they choose to
When you look into the money
If you focus too much on money
Do you see a face you hardly recognise?
Do you lose sight of your true self when you think too much about money?
When you get behind the news of the world
If you look deeper into global events
Do the things you find begin to bend your mind?
Are you losing sight of the truth when you focus too much on the news?
Paper lies
There are lies all around us
Why don't you let us take a piece out of you?
Suggesting that the media can destroy people if they choose to
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN HELMER, STEVE HOGARTH, MARK KELLY, IAN MOSLEY, STEVE ROTHERY, PETER TREWAVAS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Wagner Ribeiro de Santana
Espetacular performance!🙆.
Hochet Bernard
super ! quand Hogarth est sapé comme Brian Ferry !!
Christine Philp
Good morning to the band on Tuesday
Hope your recording is trouble free. When you're ready for refreshments don't forget Lobster Linda's lemon drizzle cake awaits - let Ant know and he'll place the order. Linda's wearing her Marillion apron! Don't disappoint please.
Have a productive day.
Rudy Armawan
Love Marillion, love you all .... One in Marillionation
Myriam Melly
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS !!!! TOO TOO FANTASTIC !!!! DU TOUT TOUT GRAND MARILLION !!!!
Lilian Pontes
Love!!