They have described themselves as queer, straight edge, vegan and anarchist. They have no designated frontperson and all contribute vocals. Two members of Martha previously founded (and still play in) the band ONSIND, and another leads the band No Ditching.
They have variously cited The Housemartins, Motown, Billy Bragg, The Thermals, Ted Leo, power pop, The Replacements, Heart, The Marked Men, Big Star, Masshysteri, and The Exploding Hearts as influences.
Martha formed in the village of Pity Me, a suburb of Durham in the North East of England. Formed by J.C. Cairns (guitar/vocals), Daniel Ellis (guitar/vocals), Naomi Griffin (bass/vocals), and Nathan Stephens-Griffin (drums/vocals) in the early 2010s, they released their self-titled debut EP in February 2012.
A year later they released the "Sycamore"/"Lost Without You" single on their own Discount Horse label. The band played Indietracks festival for the first time in 2013. After releasing a split single with American artist Spoonboy (David Combs of The Max Levine Ensemble) Martha headed to the studio with MJ of Hookworms to record their first album.
Courting Strong was released by Fortuna Pop! in the U.K. and Salinas Records in the U.S. They followed it with more split singles with American bands Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez and Radiator Hospital, a repeat visit to Indietracks and an appearance at Glastonbury Festival.
Their next album Blisters in the Pit of My Heart, also produced by MJ, was issued in mid-2016 by Dirtnap Records in the U.S. and Fortuna Pop! once again in the U.K.
They toured the UK with Radiator Hospital in late 2015, and played a tour of the UK and Ireland with Joyce Manor in July 2017.
In mid to late April and early May 2018 they, along with Bad Moves of Washington, D.C., supported Jeff Rosenstock for the Northeastern and Midwestern leg of his US tour.
On 17 April 2018 Martha, filling in last minute for Yo La Tengo, were the guest band on an episode of The Chris Gethard Show on truTV.
On 13 December 2018 the band released single "Heart Is Healing"; announcing they had signed to Big Scary Monsters in the UK and EU and had a new album following soon. On 28 January 2019 the band unveiled title track "Love Keeps Kicking" as a single. The video for which was the second directed for the band by friends Ben Epstein and David Combs of The Max Levine Ensemble. The band's third album, Love Keeps Kicking, was released on 5 April 2019.
Nowhere To Run
Martha Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
It's not love, I'm a running from,
It's the heartbreak I know will come.
'Cause I know you're no good for me, but you've become a part of me.
Ev'rywhere I go, your face I see, ev'ry step I take, you take with me yeah
Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide
I know you're not good for me, but free of you I'll never be, no.
Each night as I sleep, into my heart you creep.
I wake up feelin' sorry I met you, hoping soon that I'll forget you.
When I look in the mirror to comb my hair
I see your face just a smiling there.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from you baby,
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
I know you're no good for me, but you've become a part of me,
How can I fight a lover, that shouldn't be, when it's so deep,
So deep, deep inside of me
My love reaches so high I can't get over it
It's so wide I can't get around it, no
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from you baby
Just can't get away from you baby, no matter how I try to
I know you're no good for me, but free of you I'll never be,
Nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide, got nowhere to run to baby.
In Martha Reeves & The Vandellas's hit song "Nowhere To Run," the singer sings about being trapped in a tumultuous romance. The opening lines of the chorus, "Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide / Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide," suggest a sense of desperation and a feeling of being caged in. The lyrics continue to describe the singer's struggle to escape the heartbreak that they know will come. Though they recognize that their partner is no good for them, they can't seem to shake them off, and they've become a part of them. Everywhere they go, they see their partner's face, and every step they take, their partner is there. The singer is constantly haunted by their lover, and they can't seem to find a way out.
The second half of the song's lyrics continue with the same theme of entrapment. Each night when the singer sleeps, their partner crawls into their heart. Even when they wake up, they can't seem to shake off their partner's memories: "When I look in the mirror to comb my hair / I see your face just a smiling there." The lyrics suggest that the singer is emotionally attached to their partner, even though they know it's not good for them. The song suggests that the singer is in a bind, unable to escape the clutches of their lover, and is resigned to the fact that they may never be free from them.
Line by Line Meaning
Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide
Feeling trapped and exposed
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
Feeling helpless and vulnerable
It's not love, I'm a running from,
Not wanting to escape love
It's the heartbreak I know will come.
Fearing pain and loss
'Cause I know you're no good for me, but you've become a part of me.
Recognizing a toxic relationship
Ev'rywhere I go, your face I see, ev'ry step I take, you take with me yeah
Constantly haunted by memories of the person
I know you're not good for me, but free of you I'll never be, no.
Feeling trapped, unable to escape
Each night as I sleep, into my heart you creep.
Unable to escape their presence, even in dreams
I wake up feelin' sorry I met you, hoping soon that I'll forget you.
Regretting meeting the person and longing to forget them
When I look in the mirror to comb my hair, I see your face just a smiling there.
Feeling like the person is everywhere and in everything
My love reaches so high I can't get over it, It's so wide I can't get around it, no
Feeling trapped by the intensity of their love
Just can't get away from you baby, no matter how I try to
Unable to escape their presence
Nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide, got nowhere to run to baby.
Feeling trapped and exposed, unable to escape the situation
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: EDWARD JR. HOLLAND, LAMONT DOZIER, BRIAN HOLLAND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Tarantulisimo
Martha Reeves - Lead vocals
Rosalind Ashford & Betty Kelly - background vocals
The Funk Brothers - All instruments
Benny Benjamin: drums
James Jamerson: bass guitar
Earl Van Dyke: Wurlitzer electric piano
Jack Ashford: percussion, tambourine, vibes
Ivy Jo Hunter: Detroit snow chains
Robert White: guitar
Eddie Willis: guitar
Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr. - songwriters
Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland - producers
@markplane5994
I start Spring Cleaning tomorrow and my stereo is going to get abused with Martha, Aretha, Motown and Northern Soul.( if you are familiar with the Northern Soul Genre) Nothing under 50 years old and I am going to literally shake the house as I clean (unless I blow my speakers, which would be a really bad day) Don't know about my hips being loosened, but I could have very well dislocated them by the end of the day. lol.
If you are not from the UK, have a look at this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_soul
Here is a quick preview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TEyxwXIRPs&list=PLfMaV_DTTyta-hFFXFtw0OyeNqRUfOx9x&index=3
@ramsnover3599
63 yrs old, Detroit Bred, Every 2 days i heard a new motown song come out when i was young...
@markcf83
I don't doubt it for one minute. Motown were prolific.
@ralphsorrenti1602
At 65 I hear this music and I say to myself GOD I was luckly to be alive, when this music first came out. You wil NEVER EVER hear music like this again.
@salimaalazri9664
don't i wish i lived then cause i believe i was born into the wrong era when the musics actually meant something, unlike the garbage the produce these days :(
@motowngirl5891
Never
@beautyan5309
Truth
@frankmalinaro9700
~~ at 73 ..I hear ya...really blessed we are . The crap they call music today is unlistenable to me.
My motto is " Pick a decade and be true to it ".
@Snuffnguts
I'm lucky in this gen cause I can listen to it for free lmfao
@authenticallykyle
This song is so recognizable, makes me think of so many movies I love. Congratulations on Martha's Hollywood star today ❤
@lettsifo
It has been almost fifty years since I served in the South Vietnam War. But this song a;ways moves me to tears when I think of buddies lost in that senseless war. It still sadden me to think that they were given a chance to grow up and become men. Three of them were still in their teens when they died.