Love and loss are the fuel that lights her songwriting fire. Rhythm and melody come as naturally to her as a morning latte in a Greenwich Village café. And a well-travelled journey through life provides a rich seam of experience to mine.
She’s a native New Yorker with a fondness for old-time music and vintage clothes, who’s seen the world and absorbed its musical influences: country and jazz, blues and soul, and more besides. You can hear as much of it – or as little – as you care to find in her music. Because, for all its familiar scents and flavours, her songs are distinctly her own.
Nell Bryden was born and raised in a bohemian quarter of Brooklyn where her mother Jane was a classical soprano who sang at Carnegie Hall and her father Lewis a renowned landscape painter whose works hang in some of America’s finest museums, galleries and private collections.
At only four weeks of age, her mother brought her on a concert tour of South America, planting the seed that has so beautifully blossomed on ‘What Does It Take’. “I always knew I would end up on stage,” says the ebullient singer. “As a child I used to put on plays with my friends – back when I was seven I wrote and directed a version of The Little Shop Of Horrors.”
For ten years she studied the cello and dreamed of becoming an opera singer until the day she first heard Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. “And that was that. I was 15 and that was the first time I realised it’s more about your personality than your technical prowess. People fell in love with Janis because she gave it everything.”
By the time she left high school, Nell still wanted to be the new Maria Callas, but that changed on a gap year trip to Australia, where she turned her travel diary into song lyrics, bought a cheap guitar, and began to sing her own songs for the first time.
Further travels broadened an already inquisitive mind: to Arizona, where she made daily free-fall jumps and lived on a drop zone; to Thailand to work in a refugee camp; to university in Boston, where she graduated in English Literature with honours and began to play in public for the first time.
Back in New York City, she poured out songs in the aftermath of 9/11, delving into old American country music for solace, and recorded an album in Nashville. “But,” she admits, “I still hadn’t found my voice.”
She started another album in New Orleans, where the Big Easy’s musical melting pot – “jazz, blues, folk, country, cajun, zydeco… everything except rock!” - inspired her to find her true voice for the first time.
Then came Ireland, which took her to its music-loving bosom when she booked herself a month-long tour through the internet, and arrived in a foreign land with “just my suitcase and my acoustic guitar.” She travelled from gig to gig by bus, and stayed on couches “that every passing musician had slept in for the last ten years.” But it worked: “I played 30 venues and all of them booked me to come back.” So she did – time and again.
Lastly came Iraq, following a chance meeting with a US Army colonel at South By South West, where she set aside her political preconceptions to entertain the troops – not once, but twice – and became, in the process, a Forces Sweetheart.
Her greatest stroke of good fortune, however, came in her own backyard. “I was back at my dad’s studio, out of cash, going through some of his old paintings, when I found an unfamiliar one at the back of a box in his attic.”
It turned out to be a gift that her father had got her as a baby, and forgotten all about. In the intervening years its painter, Milton Avery, had posthumously become a major artist. “So I took it to Sotheby’s and it was sold at auction for $270,000.”
Nell used the cash to re-record the album she had left uncompleted in New Orleans, this time with Grammy-winning record producer David Kershenbaum at the helm. The result is ‘What Does It Take’, a collection of songs and styles spanning her many years on the road.
It displays a confidence that can only come from years of constant touring, and a sound that taps into the musical past while remaining very much of its time.
“I don’t see myself as a heritage act,” stresses Nell, “but most of my influences are songs that come from an earlier era. I just feel they crafted songs so well then.”
Second Time Around
Nell Bryden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
geumbang kkajin anideorado
eonjengan ijhyeojil georago
mideotji geureohge midgo
jigeum kkaji gyeondyeo
wasseotneunde geureon
nal biutdeut
jungryeog cheoreom nae modeun
maeumeul neoegero
kkeureo dang gigo isseo
beoseo nal suga eobseo
jiguga taeyangeul ne beon
gamssa anneun dongan
naneun su baeg beondo neomge
neoreul geuriwo haetgo
nunmul heullyeoya haesseo
cham geureohji.
ireohge nal himdeulge
hago oerobge haneun
geureon gieoginde
geu gieogdeuri machi
jungryeog cheoreom nae modeun
maeumeul neoegelo
kkeureo dang gigo isseo
beoseo nal suga eobseo
jiguga taeyangeul ne beon
gamssa anneun dongan
naneun su baeg beondo neomge
neoreul geuriwo haetgo
tto jiwogaya haesseo
wae geuraeyaman haesseo
chalnaui sungane yeong wonhi
gadhyeojin heugbaeg
sajin sog pisache gati
heugbaeg sajin sog pisache gati
naui seulpeumeun hangsang ttog
gateun pyojeongeuro neol hyanghago
jiguga taeyangeul ne beon
gamssa anneun dongan
naneun su man beondo
neomge neoreul geuriwo haetgo
tto jiwogaya haesseo
wae geuraeyaman haesseo
jiguga taeyangeul ne beon gam
gamssa anneun dongan han beon
saenggaghae bon jeog itneun ji
kkwae oraen shigan jina
jiguga taeyangeul yeol beon
gamssa aneun huedo
neol yeojeonhi geuriwo hago
isseul nae geu moseubeul
wae geuraeyaman haesseo
wae nal tteonaya haesseo
The Korean phrase "cheoncheonhi soljighi aju" in Nell Bryden's "Second Time Around" can be roughly translated to "slowly and carefully, a lot." The song is about trying to move on from a past love and wondering if there's space for a second chance. Bryden sings about memories of a former lover that weigh heavy on her heart and feel like an unwelcome presence. She's frustrated that no matter how much time passes, she can't seem to shake these memories.
The line "geu gieogdeuri machi jungryeog cheoreom nae modeun maeumeul neoegero" translates to "those memories are like a funeral procession, invading my every thought." She feels trapped by these memories and wishes she could be free. The repetition of the lines "jiguga taeyangeul ne beon gamssa anneun dongan naneun su baeg beondo neomge" emphasizes the feeling that time stands still and there is no escape from these painful memories. The chorus ends with Bryden pleading for a second chance at a love that was lost.
In the second verse, she returns to the idea that memories of this past love are always present. The fact that she can't escape the memories make it difficult to move forward emotionally. She expresses her frustration with the line "cham geureohji, ireohge nal himdeulge hago oerobge haneun geureon gieoginde." Essentially, she's saying that this constant reminder of the past makes her feel trapped and powerless.
The bridge of the song shifts to a reflection of how precious time is, and how painful it is to waste it on things that don't bring us joy. She sings about wanting to move past the hurt and reclaim some of the time she's lost. The song ends with Bryden wondering why this love had to end, and lamenting the fact that she was left alone.
Line by Line Meaning
cheoncheonhi soljighi aju
Softly, quietly, deeply
geumbang kkajin anideorado
Although it's not much different
eonjengan ijhyeojil georago
It will disappear someday
mideotji geureohge midgo
I thought so, I believed it
jigeum kkaji gyeondyeo
So far, hold on
wasseotneunde geureon
I thought I had overcome it
nal biutdeut
It broke me down
geu gieogdeuri machi
Those memories, like a blanket
jungryeog cheoreom nae modeun
Covering all of me like a hide
maeumeul neoegero
Piercing into my heart
kkeureo danggigo isseo
It's hurting me deep inside
beoseo nal suga eobseo
I can't avoid it
jiguga taeyangeul ne beon
When the earth rotates around the sun
gamssa anneun dongan
During the moments when it touches the darkness
naneun su baeg beondo neomge
I'm still drowning countless times
neoreul geuriwo haetgo
Longing for you again
nunmul heullyeoya haesseo
Tears were falling
cham geureohji.
It's really like that
ireohge nal himdeulge
It's tormenting me like this
hago oerobge haneun
It's doing it painfully and coldly
geureon gieoginde
Those memories
chalnaui sungane yeong wonhi
In the moment of departure, forever
gadhyeojin heugbaeg
Clasped together hands
sajin sog pisache gati
Like a demon in a picture
naui seulpeumeun hangsang ttog
My loneliness always rises
gateun pyojeongeuro neol hyanghago
I remember you with the same face
jiguga taeyangeul ne beon
When the earth rotates around the sun
gamssa anneun dongan
During the moments when it touches the darkness
naneun su man beondo
I'm barely surviving
neomge neoreul geuriwo haetgo
Longing for you again
tto jiwogaya haesseo
I'm disappearing again
wae geuraeyaman haesseo
Why did it have to be like this
jiguga taeyangeul ne beon gam
When the earth rotates around the sun
gamssa anneun dongan han beon
During the moments when it touches the darkness
saenggaghae bon jeog itneun ji
Thinking if I've seen it before
kkwae oraen shigan jina
Or if it's been a moment ago
jiguga taeyangeul yeol beon
When the earth rotates around the sun again
gamssa aneun huedo
Even in the darkness it touches
neol yeojeonhi geuriwo hago
I'm still longing for you
isseul nae geu moseubeul
This is how I am
wae geuraeyaman haesseo
Why did it have to be like this
wae nal tteonaya haesseo
Why did you have to leave me
Writer(s): Nell Bryden
Contributed by Max A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sam Watson
Man I love this song! Just makes me want to dance. Quality, quality, quality.
StrayGamer
....can someone explain how such an amazing artist who is all over the radio has hardly any hits on her official music videos?... am i missing something!?
Fredy ruiz
very good song congratulations from peru (fredy) .. greetings of hope, martha, anthony
zgirl5
Great video and song! Cute.