The Virginia-Born performer had a successful career off Broadway and in TV and film before launching her music career after a chance encounter with a songwriter while shooting the CMT reality show “Popularity Contest”
The assembly of the parts of Marthia Sides’ life wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the amazing performing and musical talent that’s part of her family history. Her great grandma was a young, Italian born vaudeville star who sang and danced under the name “Barazzo” at places like the Beale Street Palace. Her grandmother was an opera singer who was once asked to participate in the Met’s Young Artist program. And her paternal grandfather was Elvis Presley’s engineer at American Studios, where The King recorded after his years at Sun Studio. Her dad was also an engineer who sang.
Looking back on the greatest piece of advice she was ever given, Sides says, “My dad told me from a very young age, ‘No matter how talented you are, no matter what you do, no matter how successful, you’re going to be lacking something if you sing only for yourself.’ He told me that as a singer, my work was all about making people happy. He would say, ‘You’re there because at the end of the day, your audience is out there because they want their lives to be better. They’re looking to you to help them escape what may be the worst week of their lives.’ I remember a show I played in a college town called Manhattan, Kansas, where a friend had, ironically, moved after studying in Manhattan, New York. After the show, a guy literally came up to me and said, ‘I have had the worst week of my entire life and you have made it better.’ Turns out my dad was right, and it’s my pleasure to get out there now and bring as much joy as I can to people who need to hear it most.”
Check out Marthia on MySpace!
myspace.com/marthia
facebook.com/marthia
Also check her out on CMT.com.
City
Marthia Sides Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Daddy's workin' he's a Sunday Man. Something else gettin' in the plan.
Va raised livin'n the beach. Sense of pride and security.
The bible belt's been good to me. So much more that I need to see. They say VA's for lovers that's good enough for others.
Always knew where I was gonna be.
Chorus:
Stuck between the city, country, city. Always had the best of both within' me. Stuck between the city, country ,city.
Kinda girl.
Apple empire my desire. Landed here like a wildfire. Should I laugh or should I cry? Hey there y'all look me in the eye.
Sittin' here with my back to the wall. Gotta go way back. Gotta get to what's real. Runnin' northern shades with a southern
feel.
Chorus:
Now I know how it's gonna be. To get them all eatin' out the palm of my hand. Don't wanna be to city. Don't wanna be to
country, if I can.
Chorus:
The lyrics of Marthia Sides’s “City, Country, City” reveal her personal experience of growing up in a Virginia raised and beach living family while stuck between the city and country. The song’s opening lines “Daddy's workin' he's a Sunday Man. Something else gettin' in the plan” highlight how the working-class background of her father and the area she comes from influenced her upbringing. The reference to Virginia’s pride and security portrays a sense of protection and closeness to home that informed Sides’s identity.
The lyrics of “City, Country, City” go on to articulate Sides’s bicultural identity and sense of belonging to both rural and urban communities. She is “Stuck between the city, country, city” and has the “best of both in her”. The song’s chorus effectively emphasizes her identity by repeating the line “stuck between the city, country, city, kinda girl”. This refrain highlights the complicated nature of the artist’s identity and her desire to be both, city and country, without having to choose between them.
Overall, “City, Country, City” is a reflection about Sides’s mixed identity, her desire to explore different places and to define herself in her own terms. The song is a powerful anthem that celebrates her rich background and her unconventional identity, while implicitly challenging the polarity between rural and urban lifestyles.
Line by Line Meaning
Daddy's workin' he's a Sunday Man. Something else gettin' in the plan.
My father works hard and prioritizes his work on Sundays, but sometimes other things disrupt his plans.
VA raised livin'n the beach. Sense of pride and security.
I was raised in Virginia near the beach, which gave me a sense of pride and security.
The bible belt's been good to me. So much more that I need to see. They say VA's for lovers that's good enough for others.
Living in the conservative Bible Belt has been beneficial to me, but I know there is more to explore. Virginia is known as a romantic state, which is good for some people.
Always knew where I was gonna be.
I have always had a clear idea of where I want to be in life.
Stuck between the city, country, city. Always had the best of both within' me. Stuck between the city, country ,city. Kinda girl.
I feel caught between the urban and rural lifestyles, but I have a bit of both within me. I am a mix of both city and country.
Apple empire my desire. Landed here like a wildfire. Should I laugh or should I cry? Hey there y'all look me in the eye.
I have a strong desire to succeed like the Apple technology empire, and I landed in my current situation quickly and passionately. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad, but I want to be seen and understood by everyone.
Sittin' here with my back to the wall. Gotta go way back. Gotta get to what's real. Runnin' northern shades with a southern feel.
I feel cornered and defensive, and need to go back to the basics to find what is truly important. I am blending elements of the North and South in my actions and personality.
Now I know how it's gonna be. To get them all eatin' out the palm of my hand. Don't wanna be to city. Don't wanna be to country, if I can.
I understand how to succeed and have influence over others, but I do not want to be too much of a city person or too much of a country person if I can avoid it.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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