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.
Geek Love
Nerina Pallot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I am checking my face in the back of a spoon,
You're accusing, you say I'm not here, but I'm here, yes I'm here, yes,
I'm not on the moon,
But I'm leaving so soon,
So don't presume to know shit about me,
'Cause I don't know myself from one day to the next,
And I don't pose perplexities purposely,
So hey, you, could you give it a rest?
Just take me home and get me undressed,
Put on a fire and make it enough,
Oh, we're geeks, but we know this is love.
Nine am to the beat of a drum,
As we drive through the canyon,
I'm feeling the hum of the engine,
My head and my heart are a-swim-will your cat be ok?
Your wife was she in?
Your wife, is she in???
'Cause I don't presume to know shit about you,
When you won't really tell me until I beg you to,
But I know that perplexity's a wonderful thing,
It's a sudden found joy, the strangeness it brings...
So hey, you, could you give it a rest?
Just take me home and get me undressed,
Put on a fire and make it enough,
Oh, we're geeks, but we know this is love.
I like that we argue,
But not everyday,
Your scent in a room,
The way that you say 'color' not 'colour'.
What colour today?
It's grey, grey, it's grey.
So hey, you, could you give it a rest?
Just take me home and get me undressed,
Put on a fire and make it enough,
Oh, we're geeks, but we know this is love.
The opening lines of Nerina Pallot's song, "Geek Love," suggest the singer's anxiety about being stuck in a place that she wants to leave. She mentions "checking my face in the back of a spoon," which can be interpreted as a way of trying to maintain her appearance and a sense of self-worth while feeling trapped. The singer dismisses accusations that she's not present, insisting that she's here, and not on the moon. However, she's leaving soon, so whoever is accusing her of being absent or checked out may have a point. The singer then chastises the accuser for presuming to know anything about her when she doesn't even know herself from one day to the next. She insists that this isn't a game or a test, so she doesn't need anyone else's judgment or scrutiny.
The next verse shifts locations to a drive through a canyon, where the singer's companion (possibly a lover or friend) is the focus of the narrative. There's a sense of imperfect communication, with the singer acknowledging that she doesn't know much about the other person's life until she asks directly. The line "But I know that perplexity's a wonderful thing" suggests that the singer finds mystery and uncertainty exciting, rather than frustrating.
Overall, "Geek Love" seems to celebrate love and intimacy between people who don't necessarily fit into mainstream or conventional molds. The singer and her companion are "geeks" who are happy to argue sometimes and appreciate small details like different spellings of "color." The song's chorus confirms that, despite their quirkiness, the two people know that what they have together is love.
Line by Line Meaning
In the race to get out of this place,
I'm in a hurry to leave this place behind.
I am checking my face in the back of a spoon,
I'm checking my face in a spoon, likely to ensure I look good before leaving.
You're accusing, you say I'm not here, but I'm here, yes I'm here, yes,
I'm being accused of being absent or distracted when I know I'm not.
I'm not on the moon,
I'm still on Earth and reachable.
But I'm leaving so soon,
Though I'm still here, I'm leaving soon.
So don't presume to know shit about me,
Don't assume you know everything about me.
'Cause I don't know myself from one day to the next,
I am still learning who I am and changing all the time.
And I don't pose perplexities purposely,
I am not trying to confuse or deceive you.
This isn't a game, this isn't a test.
This is not a game or an experiment.
So hey, you, could you give it a rest?
Can you take a break, please?
Just take me home and get me undressed,
Let's go home and get comfortable.
Put on a fire and make it enough,
Let's have a cozy time together.
Oh, we're geeks, but we know this is love.
We're not perfect, but we know we are in love.
Nine am to the beat of a drum,
We're moving to a rhythm at 9 am.
As we drive through the canyon,
We're driving through a canyon.
I'm feeling the hum of the engine,
I can feel the vibration of the car's engine.
My head and my heart are a-swim-will your cat be ok?
The thoughts inside my head and the emotions within my heart are in flux. Also, are you sure your pet is fine?
Your wife was she in?
Is your spouse present?
Your wife, is she in???
Just confirming if your wife is here.
'Cause I don't presume to know shit about you,
I am not assuming I know everything about you.
When you won't really tell me until I beg you to,
You're not sharing information until I request it repeatedly.
But I know that perplexity's a wonderful thing,
I understand that complexity and mystery can be intriguing and enjoyable.
It's a sudden found joy, the strangeness it brings...
It is a newfound ecstasy, the oddness that it entails.
I like that we argue,
I appreciate it when we have disagreements.
But not everyday,
But I don't want to argue every day.
Your scent in a room,
I enjoy the presence of your scent in a room.
The way that you say 'color' not 'colour'.
I like the way you say color.
What colour today?
What color should we pick for today?
It's grey, grey, it's grey.
We're both in agreement, let's pick gray.
So hey, you, could you give it a rest?
Can we take a break, please?
Just take me home and get me undressed,
Let's go home and get comfortable.
Put on a fire and make it enough,
Let's have a cozy time together.
Oh, we're geeks, but we know this is love.
We're not perfect, but we know we are in love.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Nerina Pallot
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jamjam93
I most definitely remember listening to this on loop thousands of times in 2007 ish, and here I am back 12 years later :)
keyfeatures
I used to listen to Fires so much. Excellent and under-appreciated album.
ManchesterBlackSheep
Sends shivers through me ten years or more after I first bought it. Gorgeous. She's so gracious and welcoming post-shows, as well as super-talented.
arvin mogan
She's an incredible artist blessed with an amazing voice
Alan Lellis
não conhecia,mas gostei logo de cara!!! em pouco tempo vai estourar aqui no brasil lol lol...
michael doyle
amazing artist.such a beautiful singer
Dalimonade
this song is nice! love her voice :}
Michael Carpenter
Great to see Nerina perform Geek Love at Lafayette London 23 October 2022 ❤ 🎵
Jeanutti
I just love her! I need har cd!
SYCA
it´s a nice song...beautiful song....great voice, and music....