Pallot was born in London, but spent most of her childhood on the island of Jersey. Her mother is from India, whilst her father is native born from Jersey. Early in life, she spent some time living in India, but spent most of her early school years in Jersey. From there she won a scholarship to Wellington College, a famous military public school in England. Her time at this school provides much of the personal inspiration behind her single Everybody’s Gone to War as several of her school friends were directly involved in the Iraq war.
Nerina Pallot is classically trained in singing and piano, and then engaged in a peripatetic career around the fringes of the music industry. Outside these various industry-related jobs, Nerina Pallot was an active part-time musician with an ambition to follow a career in performing and song writing. At some point her career took her to her favourite job of this time, as PA to the music industry executive Andrew King; a key figure in the management of Pink Floyd from its earliest days. Still following her ambition to pursue a musical career, Pallot signed to Polydor in her mid-20s, despite misgivings from Andrew King. This signing resulted in the release of an album containing self-penned songs; the ironically titled Dear Frustrated Superstar (2001). However, singles released from this album failed to make a sales mark as did the album. Following this, Nerina Pallot was dropped by Polydor among some bitter recriminations which are documented on her web site. This experience was later to lead to the writing of Mr. King, a touching, and very probably unique tribute to a senior music industry executive.
Following this episode, Nerina Pallot returned to University to study English with a partially formed plan to become an English teacher. However, during her studies she rekindled a love of lyrical English and started to write again. The song Idaho came from this period, using the state as a metaphor for the place where she wanted to actively steer her life, rather than just letting it drift. Idaho, Mr. King, and Everybody’s Gone to War became three of the tracks that made up her second album Fires. This was, in part, financed by money from her publishers, Chrysalis, who had remained faithful, and partly through re-mortgaging her home. As important was the extensive good-will and contacts that she could call upon within the industry in both London and Los Angeles. The eventual album was released under her own label Idaho which, despite rave reviews, failed to make significant sales headway. This, and subsequent activities, lead to an early termination of her degree course, but she has expressed a desire to complete it.
Nerina Pallot persisted by extensively touring the country, and sometimes Europe, supporting acts such as Missy Higgins, Sheryl Crow, James Blunt, Suzanne Vega, Joseph Arthur, and Ray LaMontagne. This, and a very active and acerbic presence on MySpace resulted in a considerable word-of-mouth following. Typical of many of her contemporary artists in the Internet world, she is strongly supported by a group of dedicated fans, connected via so-called social networking sites. Nerina Pallot also benefits from support within influential parts of the media including the BBC.
Eventually this activity and support resulted in Nerina Pallot being signed to the Warner label 14th Floor who specialise in promoting acts with a partially established following. Fires received a slight makeover, and was re-released under the 14th Floor label. Everybody’s Gone to War was released as a single with a video filmed in a Los Angeles supermarket in the style of a Hollywood war film, save being staged as a “food-fight”. A second single, a remixed Sophia, was released in early October 2006. Learning to Breathe is to be released in early 2007 as the third single under the 14th Floor label.
During the summer of 2006 Nerina appeared at many music festivals, promotional and charity events. For the autumn months she is touring intensively in the UK and Europe as a headline act.
During her early 2007 tour of the UK and Ireland, Nerina Pallot reprised several songs from her Dear Frustrated Superstar period, possibly marking a coming to terms with a dark period in her career.
In 2007 Nerina Pallot was nominated for a Brit Award in the Best British Female category won by Amy Winehouse. Such was the unexpected nature of this nomination to her, that she had already set the date, St. Valentine’s day 2007 for her marriage to the music video producer Andrew Chatterley, both briefly leaving the reception in London for the award show.
Nerina Pallot released her third studio album "The Graduate" in 2009, on her own label. Nerina worked with many writers for the album but when it came down to the final tracklist only Pallot written material has made the cut. She wrote in her blog that she had approximately 60 viable songs. The album title refers to Pallot's 2009 graduation from university with a first-class honours English Literature degree.
Nerina Pallot and her husband Andy Chatterly wrote the title track and third single, "Better Than Today" from Kylie Minogue's 2010 studio album, "Aphrodite". Pallot signed with Geffon Records and released "Year Of The Wolf" in 2011. The album's title comes from her son, Wolfie, with whom she was pregnant during the recording of the album. Lead single "Put Your Hands Up" was originally written for Kylie Minogue.
Better Than Today
Nerina Pallot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I can do it better
And the talk of the town be true
But I'll make you forget her
How can hate something that you ain't ever tried?
You 'bout to lose control most every night, yeah
You see what they do
Well we can do it better
You've got to feel it, see it
Know how much you need it
What's the point of living if you don't take a chance?
You've got to use it, lose it
Know that you'll still do it
What's the point of living if you don't want to dance?
Oh we know life is hard
So we're living for the weekend
You can hurt or take heart
I guess it really depends
What's the point of worrying about being cool
When there's a million things to learn
They never teach you in school?
Oh don't believe what they say
We just want tomorrow to be better than today
You've got to feel it, see it
Know how much you need it
What's the point of living if you don't take a chance?
You've got to use it, lose it
Know that you'll still do it
What's the point of living if you don't want to dance?
You've got to feel it, see it
Know how much you need it
What's the point of living if you won't take a chance?
You've got to use it, lose it
Know that you'll still do it
What's the point of living if you don't want to dance?
The lyrics to Nerina Pallot's song Better Than Today have a motivational message urging the listener to take risks and live life to the fullest. The song begins by stating that the singer understands what the other person is doing but assures them that they can do it better. The talk of the town is true, but the singer will make the other person forget about it. The lyrics suggest that a person cannot hate something they have not tried, and the other person is about to lose control every night. The singer then challenges the other person by stating that they can do it better than what they see, prompting them to take a chance and make their own mark.
The chorus reinforces the message that life is short and that we must take risks to truly live. The singer urges the other person to feel and see what they need to do, take a chance, and use their opportunities to their fullest potential. They emphasize that seeking happiness and joy is essential to living a fulfilling life, hence the question of what is the point of living if you do not want to dance.
The bridge reminds listeners that life can be tough but also that we have the power to shape it. We can either hurt or take heart, and it depends on how we choose to live. The lyrics reassure listeners that there are always opportunities to learn and grow, and that ignoring the fear of being uncool or making mistakes is essential to growing.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh I see what you do
I understand what you're doing
But I can do it better
But I can do it even better
And the talk of the town be true
And what people say might be true
But I'll make you forget her
But I'll help you move on from her
How can hate something that you ain't ever tried?
Why do you hate something you've never even tried?
You 'bout to lose control most every night, yeah
You're about to lose control almost every night
You see what they do
You have seen what other people do
Well we can do it better
But we can do it even better
Yeah, I'm talking to you
Yes, I'm talking to you
You've got to feel it, see it
You need to experience it and witness it
Know how much you need it
And understand how much you need it
What's the point of living if you don't take a chance?
What's the purpose of living if you never take a risk?
You've got to use it, lose it
You need to make use of it and not be afraid to lose it
Know that you'll still do it
And know that you'll still be able to do it
What's the point of living if you don't want to dance?
What's the use of living if you don't feel like dancing?
Oh we know life is hard
Oh, we understand that life is difficult
So we're living for the weekend
So we're looking forward to the weekends
You can hurt or take heart
You can either feel down or stay positive
I guess it really depends
It depends on the situation
What's the point of worrying about being cool
Why bother worrying about being cool?
When there's a million things to learn
When there are so many things to learn
They never teach you in school?
Things they never teach you in school?
Oh don't believe what they say
Don't believe what others say
We just want tomorrow to be better than today
We just hope tomorrow will be better than today
Contributed by Aubrey G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.