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.
Cigarette
Nerina Pallot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But no one can know
Cigarette, how I love you
But I let you go
Like a vodka and a quart of whiskey
6 o'clock could never come too soon
But time is fleeting
One night stand, you were perfect
You were quite the man
In the same clothes as yesterday
In a stranger's hand
Give me vodka and a quart of whiskey
Just a line and then I'll get there soon
But time is fleeting
And I am wasted howling at the moon
On a summer's afternoon
On a summer's afternoon
Shania, you impress me
But my friends can't know
The song "Cigarette" by Nerina Pallot is a melancholic ballad about a woman pouring her heart to a cigarette, confessing how much she wants and loves it. However, she knows that she needs to let go of it and keep her addiction a secret because it is not socially acceptable. She compares her addiction to alcohol, which she also consumes excessively, as a way to cope with her pain and emptiness. She describes how she feels wasted and howls at the moon while waiting for the next fix. The lyrics suggest that the singer has lost herself and is struggling to find meaning, which perhaps explains her attraction to the destructive and self-destructive.
The second verse is about a one-night stand with a man who is perfect for her only in that moment. She is so desperate for connection that she doesn't seem to care that he is wearing the same clothes as yesterday or that he belongs to someone else. She just wants to feel something that would distract her from the void. The chorus repeats the idea of alcohol being her savior and time being her enemy. She wants to escape the reality and be someone else for a while. The last line "on a summer's afternoon" contrasts with the dark themes of the song and emphasizes the fleeting and ephemeral nature of pleasure.
Overall, "Cigarette" is a poignant and honest portrayal of addiction and escapism. The cigarette represents not only the physical object but also a metaphor for anything that we cling to as a way to cope with life. The song reminds us that addiction is a lonely and isolating experience, and we should be more compassionate towards those who suffer from it.
Line by Line Meaning
Cigarette, how I want you
I desire you, cigarette
But no one can know
I must keep my desire for you a secret
Cigarette, how I love you
I have intense feelings of love for you, cigarette
But I let you go
I recognize that loving you is not healthy and have decided to stop smoking
Like a vodka and a quart of whiskey
Just like alcohol, I crave you, cigarette
6 o'clock could never come too soon
I am eagerly waiting for 6 PM when I can indulge in smoking
But time is fleeting
However, time passes quickly
And I am wasted howling at the moon
I am wasting my time and energy on something that will harm me in the long run, just like howling at the moon is pointless
One night stand, you were perfect
Smoking felt perfect, like a one night stand
You were quite the man
Smoking felt powerful, just like a confident man
In the same clothes as yesterday
However, smoking is like wearing the same clothes from yesterday - it's a habit and not something fresh
In a stranger's hand
You, cigarette, are now in the hands of a stranger, and not mine
Give me vodka and a quart of whiskey
I crave alcohol to help fuel my smoking habit
Just a line and then I'll get there soon
I believe that just smoking one cigarette will satisfy me
On a summer's afternoon
This memory of smoking comes from a nostalgic summer afternoon
Shania, you impress me
While Shania Twain impresses me, nobody can know of my secret desire for smoking
But my friends can't know
I must keep up appearances and maintain my facade of not smoking in front of my friends
Contributed by Mason B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Arif
I love stumbling to music out of my genre! This is awesome
BlackSword18
wow <3
funghoul
i love you nerina...but you'll never know
Nikky Momo
way cute no doubt about it.
airindiana
Her big right eye in the photo really weirds me out listening to this