Jovovich was born in Kyiv, Ukraine (former Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, to Bogdan “Bogić” Bogdanović Jovović, a Serbian medical doctor, and Galina Loginova (after marriage, Galina Jovović), a Soviet actress.
In 1981, when Milla was five years old, her family had to leave the Soviet Union for political reasons and move to London; they subsequently lived in Sacramento, California, USA. Seven months later, they settled in Los Angeles, California. She also has a brother named Marco Jovovich born in 1988.
Jovovich's mother had "raised [her] to be a movie star" and in 1985, enrolled Jovovich in the Professional Actors school in California. Jovovich had begun working on a music album as early as 1988, when she was signed by SBK Records after the company heard a demo she recorded. In August 1990, she asserted in an interview that the then-forthcoming album would be "a mix between Kate Bush, Sinéad O'Connor, This Mortal Coil, and the Cocteau Twins". After it was initially presented by SBK strictly as a pop album, Jovovich protested, insisting on using her personal poetry for lyrics and recording her own instrumental material. Jovovich had written the songs when she was fifteen, with the exception of a Ukrainian folk song, "In a Glade", that she covered. In April 1994, billed under her first name, she released The Divine Comedy, a title that was a reference to the epic poem by Dante Alighieri of the same name. Jovovich had chosen the title after seeing Russian artist Alexis Steele's proposed cover artwork sketch for the then untitled album. Jovovich found that the sketch had "all the struggle that I'm singing about. It IS the divine comedy". The Divine Comedy was well received by critics, and featured pop-infused traditional Ukrainian folk songs that led to comparisons with musicians Tori Amos and Kate Bush. John McAlley of Rolling Stone called the album "remarkable", "strikingly mature and rich in invention", and as featuring "angst-laced poetry with vivid melodies and arrangements that find a common spirit in synth pop, European folk and psychedelic dream rock". Jovovich released the track "Gentleman Who Fell", with an accompanying music video, as the sole single from the album. The music video was originally directed by Lisa Bonet and featured Harry Dean Stanton, but Jovovich was unsatisfied with the results and decided to film another version. The second version of "Gentleman Who Fell", a homage to Maya Deren's short film Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), was subsequently played on MTV.
Jovovich toured the United States during most of 1994 to promote the album, opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket and Crash Test Dummies, as well as playing smaller acoustic sets. Jovovich had opted to perform in smaller and more intimate settings, turning down a musical appearance on Saturday Night Live. Milla has also been collaborating musically with longtime friend and musician Chris Brenner, who co-wrote with her on The Divine Comedy Album and who was the musical coordinator for the supporting tour. She and Brenner met in 1993 and have been working creatively on different ventures ever since. Following The Divine Comedy, she expressed interest in releasing a second album, having had ten songs ready for a future recording that was intended for a Summer 1996 release.
The 1998 release, The Peopletree Sessions, was recorded by David Turin and Milla Jovovich during several late night sessions at David Turin's apartment in the Hollywood Hills.
Before issuance, it was remixed in a San Francisco apartment on Haight Street by D.Elder, who is now known for Noise Music. Issued originally on Turin's People Tree Recordings, hence the name, the release at first circulated only in small record shops in Los Angeles and received some airplay on community and pirate radio stations. A copy fell into the hands of The Dust Brothers who remixed "Queen Of the Parade" to make "Queen Electric", one of the more recognizeable tracks from the sessions. "The Peopletree Sessions" is now regarded as a classic of home-made electronic music and of lo-fi folk music.
In May 1999, Jovovich along with Chris Brenner formed an experimental band called Plastic Has Memory, in which she wrote the songs, sang, and played electric guitar. The band was "[m]uch heavier and darker than the vaguely Ukrainian folk-sounding elements of her first album" and had a similar sound to a grunge and trip hop Portishead. Plastic Has Memory played about a dozen shows in Los Angeles and New York City for a potential Virgin Records album release, one of which Mick Jagger had attended. Though Plastic Has Memory was featured on Hollywood Goes Wild, a benefit celebrity compilation album, the group never formally released a record and is no longer together.
Jovovich has contributed tracks to several of her film soundtracks, including The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) and Dummy (2002), and has also provided songs for the soundtracks of films in which she has not acted such as Underworld (2003) produced by musician Danny Lohner who was the bass player in Nine Inch Nails for many years. In 2001, Jovovich was one of many celebrities whose vocals were featured in a cover of "We are Family" to raise money for the American Red Cross. She has appeared as guest vocalist on the song "Former Lover" on Deepak Chopra's album, A Gift of Love II: Oceans of Ecstasy (2002) and Legion of Boom (2004) by The Crystal Method.
Since 2003, Jovovich has worked with musician Maynard James Keenan, of Tool and A Perfect Circle, on his Industrial side project Puscifer, contributing vocals to the track "REV 22:20", which was featured on various film soundtracks in its original or a remixed form. As of January, 2009, she can be heard collaborating with Maynard and Danny Lohner on the Puscifer track called, "The Mission." She also performed the song at the first live Puscifer performance on February 13, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Danny Lohner, and longtime music collaborator Chris Brenner currently continue to record and perform with Jovovich who has made several highly praised appearances in recent years.
Jovovich continues to write songs which she refers to as "demos", and which are provided for free in MP3 format on her official website (www.millaj.com). She provides license to freely download and remix the tracks, but reserves the right to sell and issue them.
CLOCK
Milla Jovovich Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With a window and a clock
Sometimes I can't sleep
I watch the second hand feeding
Time is ticking, ticking
And the flowers are dripping, dripping
All hail to the madman
Great murderer, great Aryan
Take all that you need
Take my life, my song, my breed
Fires are burning, burning
My people are yearning, yearning
I'm locked away to defy and die
Instrumental
I'm locked in a box
With a window and a clock
Sometimes I can't sleep
I watch the second hand feeding
Time is getting colder
And I'm getting older, older
Where is the face that I knew before
I am awake and I cannot sleep
The lyrics of Milla Jovovich's song "Clock" convey a sense of confinement, fear, and uncertainty. The first verse describes the singer being locked in a box with nothing but a window and a clock, and her inability to sleep as she watches the second hand move. The second verse mentions a madman, a murderer, and an Aryan, and the singer offering to give up everything she has to this person, including her life, her song, and her breed. The pre-chorus alludes to fires burning and the singer's people yearning for something, while she is "locked away to defy and die."
The second half of the chorus introduces a new element - time getting colder and the singer getting older, while she wonders about "the face that [she] knew before." The line "I am awake and I cannot sleep" is repeated, emphasizing the singer's sense of restlessness and anxiety. The instrumental break that follows serves as a brief respite from the heavy themes of the song, before returning to the same themes in the final verse.
The lyrics of "Clock" can be interpreted in different ways, but one common interpretation is that it is a commentary on the state of the world and the sense of helplessness and lack of control that comes with it. The box with a window and a clock could represent a prison or a metaphor for the restrictions imposed by society or the government. The madman mentioned in the lyrics could represent a figure of authority that demands submission and loyalty, regardless of their actions or beliefs. The fires burning and the people yearning could refer to social unrest or political conflicts that the singer is witnessing from her confinement.
Some possible interpretations of the phrase "flowers are dripping" could be tears falling, time passing quickly, or the beauty of life slowly fading away. The reference to an Aryan could be a commentary on white supremacy or fascism, which ties into the themes of oppression and resistance present in the song.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm locked in a box
I feel trapped and confined, unable to escape.
With a window and a clock
I have an external view of the world and I am constantly reminded of the passage of time.
Sometimes I can't sleep
I struggle with insomnia and the anxiety it brings.
I watch the second hand feeding
I am fixated on the never-ending march of time.
Time is ticking, ticking
Time is constantly moving and waits for no one.
And the flowers are dripping, dripping
The passage of time is marked by the decay and loss of beauty in the world.
I am awake and I cannot sleep
My mind is constantly racing and I cannot find rest no matter how tired I am.
All hail to the madman
We often worship those who think differently or are capable of things we cannot do.
Great murderer, great Aryan
We are shaped by our environment and history, even if it is filled with violence and oppression.
Take all that you need
Sometimes it feels like everything is being taken from us and we have no control.
Take my life, my song, my breed
We are willing to sacrifice everything - our life, our passions, our identity - to survive.
Fires are burning, burning
The world can be a harsh, unforgiving place where we are constantly under threat.
My people are yearning, yearning
We all have a deep desire for safety, community, acceptance, and love.
I'm locked away to defy and die
Even when we are imprisoned and oppressed, we can still resist and fight for what we believe in.
Time is getting colder
As we grow older, we become more aware of our mortality and the impermanence of everything.
And I'm getting older, older
We cannot escape aging and the changes it brings to our bodies and minds.
Where is the face that I knew before
As time passes and people change, we can lose connection with who they used to be.
I am awake and I cannot sleep
Insomnia is not just a physical inability to sleep, but a mental and emotional state of anxiety and restlessness.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
LaotianLover
so deep and meaningful. I love this live performance. She is soo passionate.
silver9mm
The first song of hers I heard almost 14 years ago... It's Sooo good! I love this version of it, jazzy and sweet. Milla's amazing!
fanofa7x
I love her so much... Her voice, modeling and acting is so perfect shes just gorgeous <3
brightphoebus
Wow, fresh out of high school and she's doing this! I had thought she was in her mid 20's when she recorded Divine Comedy. This is one of my favorite songs on the album, along with the Russian lullaby. I hadn't known it was about Anne Frank, good to know. It all makes sence now.
CLERIO Batista
O Dom artístico de Milla E Exestraordinario😊
gonzalo rodriguez
Es tan talentosa y trabajadora en el arte
stef u
very nice 2 have this around in here, looping it 5 times and really fine 2 hear&see ..thanks 4 this very fine song,Milla..
victor jesus
es genial amo esta cancion
Anthony Steele
that guy on piano is a genius.. i saw him playing guitar earlier
gonzalo rodriguez
Milla eres la mejor amo tu ramas del artes Que escogiste eres genial