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.
Vena Cava
Nerina Pallot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And truth wins hearts, not sleight of hand
But what good will it do?
When the world will sing a different song
And no one knows the words
So you sing along in silence
And silently you hurt
Only feeling, only feeling flowing through our veins
And it's beautiful, it's beautiful
Everything that's wrong will all be right again
If you can't speak of what you've seen
Was it too much for you to feel?
Do the senses not make sense
When these empires are magnificent?
But all things fall apart
And I once more get out a miracle
A breath to stop the heart
Vena cava, vena cava, in the end we're all the same
Only feeling, only feeling flowing through our veins
And it's beautiful, it's beautiful
Everything that's wrong will all be right again
Vena cava, vena cava
Spill the blood and mourn it after
Time will heal and so will laughter
But life is strange
Vena cava, vena cava, in the end we're just the same
Only feeling, only feeling flowing through our veins
And it's beautiful, life is beautiful, it's beautiful
It's beautiful, it's so beautiful
Everything that's wrong will all be right again.
The lyrics of Nerina Pallot's song Vena Cava speak to the idea that love and truth are what truly matter in life, but the weight of societal pressures and expectations can make it difficult to hold true to those values. The line "It's love, not manners, maketh man" suggests that it's genuine human connection and emotion that define a person, not just their polite behavior or social graces. Similarly, "truth wins hearts, not sleight of hand" reinforces the idea that honesty and authenticity are what ultimately resonate with others.
However, the song acknowledges that living by these principles can be challenging. The line "But what good will it do? When the world will sing a different song" speaks to the difficulty of staying true to oneself when the rest of the world may prioritize things like power or material success. As a result, many people end up struggling in silence, as the last lines of the verse illustrate: "So you sing along in silence / And silently you hurt."
The chorus brings up the idea of the vena cava, a major vein that carries blood back to the heart. The lyrics suggest that despite all our differences, we all share this one vital component of life: "Vena cava, vena cava, in the end we're all the same / Only feeling, only feeling flowing through our veins." The repetition of the phrase "it's beautiful" reinforces the idea that even though life can be difficult and confusing, there is a certain beauty to it and ultimately, things will work out.
Overall, the lyrics of Vena Cava are a thoughtful reflection on the importance of staying true to oneself in the face of societal pressures, and finding comfort in the commonalities that connect us all.
Line by Line Meaning
It's love, not manners, maketh man
Being a good person is not about following etiquette, but about loving others.
And truth wins hearts, not sleight of hand
Honesty and sincerity are what make people trust and love you, not deceitful tricks.
But what good will it do?
Despite the importance of love and truth, it may not be enough to change the world.
When the world will sing a different song
When society values different things than love and truth, it can be hard to make a difference.
And no one knows the words
It can be difficult to understand the motivations and desires of others.
So you sing along in silence
To fit in or avoid conflict, you may go along with what others believe or do, even if you don't agree.
And silently you hurt
This can cause emotional pain and conflict within yourself.
Vena cava, vena cava, in the end we're all the same
We are all human and share the same basic experiences and emotions.
Only feeling, only feeling flowing through our veins
Our emotions are the driving force of our lives.
And it's beautiful, it's beautiful
Despite everything, life and emotion are beautiful things.
Everything that's wrong will all be right again
Even though life can be difficult and painful, things will eventually become good again.
If you can't speak of what you've seen
Sometimes the things we experience are too overwhelming or difficult to put into words.
Was it too much for you to feel?
The emotions that come with certain experiences can be too intense to handle.
Do the senses not make sense
Sometimes the things we see, hear, or feel don't seem to make sense in the larger scheme of things.
When these empires are magnificent?
Even in the face of great things, it can be hard to make sense of our emotions and experiences.
But all things fall apart
No matter how magnificent or perfect things may seem, eventually they will break down and fall apart.
And I once more get out a miracle
Despite the inevitability of things falling apart, we can still create moments of beauty and goodness in the world.
A breath to stop the heart
These moments can be so powerful and beautiful that they take our breath away.
Spill the blood and mourn it after
Sometimes in order to move forward we have to accept loss and pain, even when it is difficult.
Time will heal and so will laughter
Over time, wounds will heal and we can find joy and happiness again, even after tragedy.
But life is strange
Even though there is beauty and goodness in the world, life can be unpredictable and difficult to understand.
Vena cava, vena cava, in the end we're just the same
Regardless of our differences or struggles, we are all human and share the same emotions and experiences.
It's beautiful, life is beautiful, it's beautiful
Despite everything, life is a beautiful thing.
It's so beautiful
This beauty can be incredibly powerful and emotional.
Everything that's wrong will all be right again.
Even though life can be difficult and painful, eventually things will become good again.
Contributed by Miles D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
T J B
Nerina has just released a new version of Vena Cava on her Photographs 1 ep,
Just her voice and piano. It's achingly beautiful.
Tesse23
Thanks so much for uploading this. I love this song :)