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.
Grey Love
Nerina Pallot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Grey, grey love
Blood on the streets
Crimson? the colour of misery
My hands onto
How cruel your kindness can be
A winter to last us the whole year through
What else is there for us to do but make...
Grey, grey love
Grey, grey love
Grey, grey love
Grey, grey love
Futile, this longing for something we own ourselves
Raising mine up while cities are raised to the ground
And is it any wonder
Is it any wonder we fall and we tumble
And reach for each other?
What else is there for us to do but make...
Grey, grey love
Grey, grey love
Grey, grey love
Grey...
Hope springs somewhere
Ooh, oh, baby, there
I pray for better days
But I think they ain't coming
I think they ain't coming.
Ooh...
Grey, grey love
Grey, grey love
Grey, grey love
Grey, grey love
The theme of the song Grey Love by Nerina Pallot revolves around the idea of a love that is neither black nor white but grey. The lines that repeat throughout the song create a somber and melancholic atmosphere, depicting the pain and suffering of a relationship that is not easy but rather complex. The mentions of blood on the streets and cities being raised to the ground, in the second verse, suggest a world that is in chaos, or at least, that their world is in chaos.
The lines "Futile, this longing for something we own ourselves" indicate that their love is not dependent on outer factors, but it is a thing of its own. Their relationship is not in a good place, but they still depend on it, as the last line states: "hope springs somewhere, I pray for better days, but I think they ain't coming." The fast-paced strumming of the guitar mixed with the slow tempo of the song accentuates the message contained in the lyrics - the struggle to find a balance between loving someone and trying to protect oneself from painful experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
Grey, grey love
The love shared between these two people is dull and colorless.
Grey, grey love
Reiterating that the love experienced in this scenario is gloomy and bleak.
Blood on the streets
Violence is in the air, the color of the blood being compared to misery.
Crimson? the colour of misery
The color of the blood that is being discussed, which signifies distress and pain.
My hands onto
The blood may be on the hands of the person speaking.
How cruel your kindness can be
Sarcasm is being used to depict the person's kindness as meaningless or insincere.
A winter so long
The winter season is being described as prolonged, signifying that things have been difficult for a while.
A winter to last us the whole year through
The cold season is so intense that it is taking up the entire year and there seems to be no escape from it.
What else is there for us to do but make...
The situation in which the people find themselves leaves them with just one option, and that is to make grey love.
Futile, this longing for something we own ourselves
The person has a yearning for something, perhaps greater control over their lives, but it seems impossible to achieve.
Raising mine up while cities are raised to the ground
Although their personal desires are not met, the person is still trying to maintain positivity even in the midst of great destruction.
And is it any wonder
The artist is questioning why anyone would be surprised given the tough conditions they are facing.
Is it any wonder we fall and we tumble
The people in this situation constantly feel like they are falling and cannot seem to get a footing.
And reach for each other?
They hold onto each other to maintain any bit of hope and positivity in their lives.
What else is there for us to do but make...
The only option for them is to make grey love in the face of all this adversity.
Hope springs somewhere
The artist is trying to maintain hope in their heart, even if it seems futile.
Ooh, oh, baby, there
The person is repeating affirmations to themselves to maintain hope and positivity.
I pray for better days
The person is praying that things will turn around for the better.
But I think they ain't coming
The person's hope is dwindling and they are beginning to lose faith that better days are around the corner.
Grey, grey love
Reiterating the fact that the love being experienced by the people in this situation is dull and colorless.
Grey, grey love
The final line of the song is the chorus, repeating that the love being experienced is devoid of any vibrancy.
Grey, grey love
Once again emphasizing the colorless nature of the love experienced by the people in the song.
Grey, grey love
Final repetition of the chorus, hammering home the lack of color in the love experienced by the people.
Contributed by Asher E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.