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.
Coming Home
Nerina Pallot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause he says we're special, all different, you see?
And that's not words from some old book
Laying lonely on a shelf
That's a man who knows himself
He tells it like it is
If I don't write and I don't call
So I'm coming home
Yes I'm coming home
Please forget what I don't say
You know I love you anyway
So I'm coming home
Yes I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Oh, I'm coming home
'Cause I get tired of thinking 'bout things
I wasn't built for too much philosophizing
And I feel lost sometimes and small
I feel I'm hardly here it all
But there's a man who knows himself
He tells it like it is
If I don't write and I don't call
It doesn't bother you at all
So I'm coming home
Yes I'm coming home
Please forget what I don't say
You know I love you anyway
So I'm coming home
Yes I'm coming home
I'm all grown up now
But I'm still your kid
I'll make you proud one day
But I know you'll love me anyway
So I'm coming home
Yes I'm coming home
I'm coming home
This time, I'm coming home
I'm coming home to you
If I don't write and I don't call
It doesn't bother you at all
So I'm coming home
Yes I'm coming home
Please forget what I don't say
You know I love you anyway
So I'm coming home
Yes I'm coming home
I'm all grown up now
But I'm still your kid
I'll make you proud one day
But I know you'll love me anyway
So I'm coming home
Yes I'm coming home
I'm coming home
This time, I'm coming home
I'm coming home to you
The song "Coming Home" by Nerina Pallot is a poignant and emotional tribute to a father figure who is not famous, but who means the world to the songwriter. She expresses her love and admiration for him, citing his encouragement of individuality and his ability to speak the truth as qualities that make him special. The chorus of the song is a declaration of her intention to return to the comfortable and safe space of her childhood home, where she knows she will always be accepted and loved unconditionally, even if she never finds the words to express her feelings directly.
The first half of the song emphasizes the qualities of the father figure that make him so important to the songwriter. She highlights his ability to see everyone as unique and special, not just following the words of a book but through his own personal insight. She also mentions that this is not just self-reflection and growth, but that he is not afraid to be open and honest to his constituents. The second half of the song focuses on the songwriter’s own struggles and the fact that she often feels lost and small. However, she knows that by returning home, she will feel safe and loved. The chorus is particularly powerful with her declaring that even if she doesn't say everything that needs to be said, her father figure knows her love for him.
The lyrics of "Coming Home" resonate with listeners who have someone in their lives who acts as a guiding force, a mentor, or a rock of stability when everything else seems uncertain. Whether it's a parent, grandparent, teacher, or other figure, the message of the song is universal: we all need someone to remind us that we are special, that we are loved, and that we always have a place to call home.
Line by Line Meaning
My dad's not famous, but he is to me
My father may not be a celebrity, but he is highly significant to me.
'Cause he says we're special, all different, you see?
He believes that every one of us is special and distinctive from one another.
And that's not words from some old book
It’s not some random saying or quote from an old book.
Laying lonely on a shelf
It’s not just words that are left idly on a bookshelf.
That's a man who knows himself
Rather, it’s a man who understands himself very well.
He tells it like it is
He speaks the truth he knows without sugarcoating it.
If I don't write and I don't call
If I don't keep in touch often by calling or messaging you
It doesn't bother you at all
It doesn't concern or trouble you a bit
So I'm coming home
So I'll make it up to you now and pay you a visit.
Yes I'm coming home
Yes, I'm heading home.
Please forget what I don't say
Please ignore and forgive anything I have missed out or left unsaid.
You know I love you anyway
Despite that, you are aware that I have deep love for you.
I'm all grown up now
I have matured, and I’m an adult now.
But I'm still your kid
Regardless, I will always be your child.
I'll make you proud one day
One day, I aspire to make you proud.
But I know you'll love me anyway
Notwithstanding, I am confident that you will always love me.
This time, I'm coming home
This time, I’m planning to visit home.
I'm coming home to you
This time, I'm heading home just to see you.
I'm all grown up now
I have grown into an adult, and I'm not a child anymore.
But I'm still your kid
I might be mature, but in your eyes, I remain your child.
Contributed by Hudson T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Find That Music!
A song dedicated to a dad, beautiful! :D
Gdlen1
thanks heaps for these uploads, wouldn't have heard this otherwise, I discovered I pretty much like every song on the album, will buy this in the next few days, except that its not available in my country, god bless the internet
Lyuly
beautifull :)
Camilla E
It shares the same to Enrique Iglesias’s song Coming Home which makes me cry sometimes.