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.
Happy Day
Nerina Pallot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For his children gone astray,
When he comes in all his glory -
That'll be a happy day.
When at last there is an end to weeping,
Every cruelty cast away.
When at last there is an end to weeping -
That'll be a happy day,
Oh Lord, let me see
As they lay my body weary
As they lay my body down in the ground.
As they lay my body down in the ground.
And up from every ocean riseth
A fearsome river to wash away.
Up from every ocean riseth -
That'll be a happy day.
Oh Brother Daniel, are you watching
The golden light on feet of clay?
Oh Brother Daniel, are you watching?
This'll be a happy day,
This'll be a happy day!
Oh Lord, let me see
As they lay my body weary
As they lay my body down in the ground.
As they lay my body down in the ground.
When he comes in all his glory
For his children gone astray
When he comes in all his glory
That'll be a happy day,
That'll be a happy day,
That'll be a happy day,
That'll be a happy day
The song "Happy Day" is a religious ballad that speaks about the end of the world and the joyous event that will come with it. The first verse speaks of the second coming of Christ when he will return with glory to collect and save his children that have been lost. The second verse describes the end of human suffering and pain as cruelty is cast away and the tears that humans have shed will cease. The chorus repeats the line, "That'll be a happy day" in anticipation of the arrival of this glorious event.
In the third verse, the song speaks of the rising of a river from all the oceans, which may symbolize a cleansing or destruction of the world to prepare for the end of days. The final verse is a personal plea to the Lord to allow the singer to witness this day, as they lay their body down in the ground. The song employs the use of "Brother Daniel" to represent the community and asks him if he is watching the golden light on feet of clay, which could be interpreted as a warning to remain vigilant and anticipate the coming of the Lord.
Overall, "Happy Day" is a song that deals with themes of hope, redemption, and the coming of the end of the world. It emphasizes the joyous event that will come with Christ's return and the end of human suffering. The plea for the singer to witness this event speaks to the importance of faith in times of hardship.
Line by Line Meaning
When he comes in all his glory
For his children gone astray,
When he comes in all his glory -
That'll be a happy day.
The day when God comes back to redeem his lost children will bring happiness to all.
When at last there is an end to weeping,
Every cruelty cast away.
When at last there is an end to weeping -
That'll be a happy day,
That'll be a happy day.
The day when sorrow and oppression are eliminated will be filled with joy.
Oh Lord, let me see
As they lay my body weary
As they lay my body down in the ground.
As they lay my body down in the ground.
As I pass away, I wish to witness the final moments of my physical body.
And up from every ocean riseth
A fearsome river to wash away.
Up from every ocean riseth -
That'll be a happy day.
On that day, a powerful force will wash away everything that needs to be.
Oh Brother Daniel, are you watching
The golden light on feet of clay?
Oh Brother Daniel, are you watching?
This'll be a happy day,
This'll be a happy day!
The moment when the light illuminates everything, even obscured things, will bring pure joy.
When he comes in all his glory
For his children gone astray
When he comes in all his glory
That'll be a happy day,
That'll be a happy day,
That'll be a happy day,
That'll be a happy day
Repeating the idea how the return of God will bring happiness to his lost children.
Contributed by Jordan H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Lenah J
Great voice!
Bouwe Bear
"Happy Day"
When he comes in all his glory
For his children gone astray
When he comes in all his glory
That'll be a happy day
When at last there is an end to weeping
Every cruelty cast away
When at last there is an end to weeping
That'll be a happy day
That'll be a happy day
Oh Lord, let me see
As they lay my body weary
As they lay my body down in the ground
As they lay my body down in the ground
And up from every ocean riseth
A fearsome river to wash away
Up from every ocean riseth
This will be a happy day
Oh Brother Daniel, are you watching
The golden light on feet of clay?
Oh Brother Daniel, are you watching?
This'll be a happy day
This'll be a happy day!
Oh Lord, let me see
As they lay my body weary
As they lay my body down in the ground
As they lay my body down in the ground
When he comes in all his glory
For his children gone astray
When he comes in all his glory
That'll be a happy day
IIPoeme
For that, happy day my dear friend.
Beautiful voice and song.
Poême.
Sirens Meadow