Faulkner began playing guitar at the age of 11-12 with session guitarist Bob "crazy guy" Cranham and also attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, where he spent 2 years gaining both diploma and the higher diploma award under the tutelage of Eric Roche.
His first band was a Green Day cover band, in which he played bass guitar. His experience on the stage grew as he formed Half a Guy, a funk rock group with a quirky edge, with fellow band mates Matt Buchanan, Dave Elvy and Nicola Crawshaw. Half a Guy recorded two demo CDs and managed 2 years before splitting. He then spent time recording and gigging under the name Newton Battenberg Faulkner, where he played the Lapagestock festival on the 11th June 2005.
Recent appearances on BBC Radio 2 as well as a publishing deal with Peermusic UK compelled the Independent on Sunday to tell its readers to "Watch this face". Faulkner performed at the 2006 South by Southwest music festival and at Guilfest 2007.
In 2006 he had a support slot for Steve Forbert at The Spitz in London, England.
Newton has recently been signed by [labelSony BMG records and on the 30th of July 2007 he released his debut album Hand Built By Robots. He supported James Morrison on his February UK tour as well as Paolo Nutini on his UK tour in April, and also John Mayer on his September dates in the United Kingdom. He also supported The John Butler Trio on a number of European dates.
In June 2007 Newton's second single Dream Catch Me was selected Jo Whiley's 'Pet Sound' on her daily Radio 1 show. This gave the track much exposure and was highly commented on by listeners to Jo's show.
Newton appeared twice at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2007 - once on the Friday on the Acoustic Stage and once on the Sunday on the Leftfield Stage. He appeared at V Festival 2007 in August where he played in the Virgin Mobile Sessions Tent - a venue much too small as people overflowed outside. He also appeared at the Connect Music Festival at the end of August 2007 on the Guitars and Other Machines stage
On July 29, Dream Catch Me entered the UK Singles Chart at number 16. The following week it had risen to number 7 with Hand Built By Robots entering the album charts at number 3. The song rose to #8 on 12 August, the album to number 1 on 26 August.
Eric Roche is undoubtedly one of Newton's biggest influences, both from a stylistic point of view (vis a vis the percussive use of the guitar's body) and through the use of tapping, uncommon tunings and inventive chord changes, such as in I Need Something and Ageing Superhero, from his debut album. This method of playing also shows heavily in the work of Jon Gomm and Pete Wailes, although with a slightly different feel in both.
First Time
Newton Faulkner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You were right there but somehow my friend had gone
Okay we got broken but we could start again
It could be like the old days
If we could just pretend
Let's make it feel like the first time and start from now
Tape over the memories of last time but learn somehow
Let's make it feel like the first time
I don't know all the words to say
Know how to please you not how to relieve your pain
One day we'll look back and we'll laugh out loud
It could be like the old days
We'll paint this whole damn town
Let's make it feel like the first time and start from now
Tape over the memories of last time but learn somehow
Leave the words we said behind and when we fall asleep
Let's make it feel like the first time
We're down to our last chance now
Forget that you know me inside out
Let's make it feel like the first time and start from now
Tape over the memories of last time but learn somehow
Leave the words we said behind and when we fall asleep
Let's make it feel like the first time
The lyrics of Newton Faulkner's song “First Time” talk about starting over and giving a failed relationship another chance. The singer expresses confusion over how things went wrong and some regret for not being able to keep things together. He sings that he doesn’t know what went wrong and how his friend could have suddenly started to drift away. However, he is willing to start over and relive the good memories they shared in the past, even if it is just pretending.
He suggests that they make things feel like the first time, forgetting what happened in the past and starting anew. To do this, they should forget the words they said to hurt each other, leave them behind, and start over with a clean slate. He acknowledges that they might not know what words to say or how to please each other, but they can learn along the way. He believes that someday they will look back and laugh about everything they went through, and they will make new good memories by painting the whole town.
The song’s message is a common one that speaks to the human experience of wanting a second chance, especially when it comes to love. It speaks to the hope of forgiveness, resilience and that any relationship can be fixed if both parties are willing to start over.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know where we went so wrong
I am not sure how things got so bad between us
You were right there but somehow my friend had gone
Although you were present, I felt like you were not there emotionally
Okay we got broken but we could start again
Even though we went through a difficult time, we have a chance to begin anew
It could be like the old days
We have the possibility of having a relationship that feels like it used to
If we could just pretend
If we could act as if we had not been hurt, things could be better between us
Let's make it feel like the first time and start from now
Let's try to recapture the excitement and happiness of our earlier days and begin afresh
Tape over the memories of last time but learn somehow
We should try to forget about our past mistakes but still learn from them
Leave the words we said behind and when we fall asleep
We should not dwell on the hurtful things we said in the past and let go of them before going to bed
I don't know all the words to say
I am not sure what to say to make things better between us
Know how to please you not how to relieve your pain
I know how to make you happy, but I am not sure how to ease your emotional pain
One day we'll look back and we'll laugh out loud
One day, we will see the humor in our past problems and be able to laugh about them
We'll paint this whole damn town
We will have a good time together and do things we used to enjoy
We're down to our last chance now
This is our final opportunity to make things work between us
Forget that you know me inside out
We should try to forget about the things we know about each other and start fresh
Contributed by Grace A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.