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.
Power
Marillion Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like loose change jingle-jangling
At the bottom of your bag
You don't seem to feel it though
As you swing down the street
Walking that unique birthday-candle glow
In broad daylight
And you don't even know
The way I love you
You never knew power, did you?
You thought that power was in a strong arm
People pass the laws and gold
Tsunamis and mushroom clouds
Oh babe, that's nothing
You think it's kind of sweet
The stammer and the tremble in my voice
But don't mistake it for weakness
Or some kind of incompleteness
'Cause round about now
I can feel it tingle-tangling
It's coiled up inside me
And it's ready to blow
You never knew power, did you?
You thought it fizzed in the overhead lines
Burning steel and bone to carbon
Saturn-5 in a vertical climb
You never knew power, did you?
You Thought it roared like Niagara Falls
Or melted stone under volcanoes
Earthquake, thunder, lightning, storms
The way I love you
Is something you don't understand
The way I love you
Took more than I could imagine, even now
You never knew power
All the time you felt so strong
But now you can't function
Awake or asleep
As the meaningless world falls away from your feet
And the Universe ceases its light-speed retreat
Life was sweet in the meteor shower
Of the star-high divine
When you sparkled and fell
From heaven to hell
And ten years grinding by in every hour
In every hour
I know all about power
Listen to the rain
You might feel a tremble
You might feel it
The lyrics to Marillion's song "Power" are quite complex and layered, but they seem to express a sense of restrained power and unrequited love. The opening lines describe the singer being carried around by the subject of their love, as if they were loose change. However, the subject of the song seems unaware of the singer's feelings, instead walking down the street with a confident "birthday candle glow."
Throughout the song, the lyrics contrast this seemingly unaware subject with the power that the singer feels inside. They seem to be telling the subject that they don't understand true power, that the laws that they think represent power are nothing compared to the force that the singer feels inside them. They also describe this power as something that's ready to explode or burst forth from the singer.
Line by Line Meaning
You carry me around
Like loose change jingle janglin'
At the bottom of your bag
My presence in your life is insignificant and you treat me like loose change, which is always there but you don't value.
You don't seem to feel it though
Because you swing down the street
Walking that unique birthday candle glow
In broad daylight, in broad daylight
You are unaware of my love for you and you walk around confidently like a glowing birthday candle.
And you don't even know
The way I love you
You are unaware of the depth of my love for you.
You never knew power until you
You thought that power was this scar
People pass the laws in gold
Seen our needs, emotional parts
Oh baby, that's nothing
You never truly understood what power is until you witnessed its immense forms like the power to pass laws or meet emotional needs. What you thought was power before, is actually nothing.
You think it's kind of sweet
The stammer and the tremble in my voice
But don?t mistake it for weakness
Or some kind of incompleteness
You may find my stammering and trembling voice to be sweet, but that doesn't mean I am weak or incomplete in any way.
'Cause round about now
I can feel it tingle tanglin'
It's coiled up inside me
And it?s ready to blow
My emotions are building up inside me, ready to explode.
You never knew power until you
You saw it fizzed in the over-head lines
Burning steel are borne to currents
Satisfied the vertical pylons
You never really grasped what true power is until you saw the effects of electricity and how it moves through power lines and pylons, satisfying electrical needs.
You never knew power until you
Saw it roll like a head with thoughts
Or melting stone, a new volcano
Earthquake, thunder, lightning, stars
The true power is visible in the grandiose natural phenomena like a volcanic eruption, earthquake, lightning and stars.
The way I love you
Is something you don't understand
You fail to comprehend the depth of my love for you.
The way I love you
Took more than I could imagine, even now
You never knew how hard
All the time you felt so strong
My love for you took more than I expected and you never realized how challenging it is to be around you while my love is so intense.
But now you can't function
The wave of a sleeve
Is the meaningless slew
Falls away from your feet
You have lost your confidence and can't perform anymore. Something so simple as a wave of a hand is distressing you, preventing you from performing even the simplest tasks.
And the Universe uses
It's light, streaming free
Life will scream in the meteor shower
Of this guided light
Where you sparkle and fail
From heavens fell
The Universe presents itself in a shower of meteorites showering down like a celestial fireworks, making you feel alive or igniting the spark that carries on, even if you fail.
Take each guiding light
In in every hour, in every hour
I know the power, power
Listen to me
My feelings tremble
Am I feeling?
Take every leading sign of guidance you get, listen to my strong feelings, my emotions are trembling as they build up. Is it love I am feeling?
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Ian Mosley, Mark Kelly, Peter Trewavas, Steven Hogarth, Steven Rothery
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kim Dryden
h is a brilliant vocalist... He LIVES each song, along with singing it. You cannot ask for more from a performer. :)
Beaver McFluffy's World
The best of the best
Ahmad \ Nagy
Kim Dryden true..totally agree!
Luis Ocampo
i agree
Kate Murphy
Why on earth isn’t Everyone addicted to this band?
Old Griffo
I am..cant believe it's taken me so long to find this brilliant band and they come from a few miles away from where I used to live..only found their music last year..at 64..
Terry Ohara
I love being addicted to this band found them with fish when i was 12yrs old I'm 48yrs old and they still make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up my world stops when i hear marillion no band can do what they do beautiful powerful music have a joint and lie back
Robinson Ocampo Mejiá
@denis langlois from Peru.
carlos figueiredo
True indeed
Marco RC
I am