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.
Break Up At The Disco
Nerina Pallot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I triggered the light, triggered the light
And you stole the show
When I said I was open minded
What did I know, what did I know, what did I know?
You, you take so long to know
There's something wrong
I'm gone, gone, gone
Well, I don't lose but this ain't winning
Take me back to the beginning
I've just about had, just about had, just about had enough
Don't call me when you're under the weather
I'll only say, "Pull yourself together"
I've just about had, just about had, just about had enough
No, thank you, no
Really don't plead, really don't plead
"It was just bad luck"
So I'm indisposed
So it shall be, so it shall be every time you call me up, up, oh
You go click, click, click
And I feel sick, sick, sick
I know I will get over it
Yeah, I don't lose but this ain't winning
Take me back to the beginning
I've just about had, just about had, just about had enough
Don't call me when you're under the weather
I'll only say, "Pull yourself together"
I've just about had, just about had, just about had enough
Lord won't you buy me a millionaire
Who doesn't have a wife or a girlfriend in a closet somewhere?
Well, I don't lose but this ain't winning
Take me back to the beginning
I've just about had, just about had, just about had enough
Don't call me when you're under the weather
I'll only say, "Pull yourself together"
I've just about had, just about had, just about had enough
Don't call me boy, don't call me, I've just had enough now
Don't call me, don't you call me, I've just had enough now
Don't you call me, don't you call me, boy, boy, boy
In “Break Up At The Disco,” Nerina Pallot sings about a relationship that has run its course, and the singer has decided to end it. The song starts off with Pallot singing about how she was blinded by her partner but then triggered the light and discovered the truth. Pallot's partner stole the show, but she was open-minded and didn't realize what was happening. She sings about how she's giving up and leaving the relationship because there's something wrong, and she can't take it anymore.
Pallot continues by telling her partner that she's had enough and doesn't want to hear from them again, even if they're under the weather. She's just about had enough of their issues that they can't seem to fix. In the bridge of the song, Pallot takes a humorous approach with the line, “Lord won’t you buy me a millionaire who doesn’t have a wife or a girlfriend in a closet somewhere?” The song wraps up with Pallot telling her partner not to call her anymore, and she's had enough.
Overall, “Break Up At The Disco” is about realizing that a relationship isn't working and that it's time to move on. Pallot's lyrics perfectly articulate the feeling of coming to terms with the end of a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
You had me blinded
You made me unable to see the truth
But I triggered the light, triggered the light
But I found a way to see what was really happening
And you stole the show
And you made everything about you and what you wanted
When I said I was open minded
When I said I was willing to listen and consider your perspective
What did I know, what did I know, what did I know?
I didn't realize how much you would manipulate me
You, you take so long to know
It takes you a long time to understand things
There's something wrong
Something is not right here
I'm giving up
I'm done trying to make this work
I'm gone, gone, gone
I'm leaving and not looking back
Well, I don't lose but this ain't winning
I usually don't lose, but this situation is not a win for me
Take me back to the beginning
I want to go back to when things were simpler and not so complicated
I've just about had, just about had, just about had enough
I'm getting really close to my breaking point and can't take it anymore
Don't call me when you're under the weather
Don't come to me when you're feeling down and out
I'll only say, 'Pull yourself together'
I'll only tell you to get yourself in a better state of mind
No, thank you, no
I don't want it
Really don't plead, really don't plead
Don't beg and make excuses
'It was just bad luck'
Don't try to make excuses for your behavior
So I'm indisposed
I'm not available right now
So it shall be, so it shall be every time you call me up, up, oh
This is how it will be every time you try to contact me
You go click, click, click
You try to contact me by clicking buttons
And I feel sick, sick, sick
It makes me feel physically ill
I know I will get over it
I know I will eventually move on from this situation
Lord won't you buy me a millionaire
I wish someone would give me a wealthy partner
Who doesn't have a wife or a girlfriend in a closet somewhere?
I want someone who is single and not hiding anything from me
Don't call me boy, don't call me, I've just had enough now
Don't use pet names or try to contact me, I'm done
Don't call me, don't you call me, I've just had enough now
Don't call me anymore, I'm fed up
Don't you call me, don't you call me, boy, boy, boy
I don't want you to contact me, especially not with pet names
Contributed by Brooklyn H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.