Heather and Ciara met at BIMM Institute and formed the band Creek in 2013 with guitarist Ben Bateman and bassist Ryan Marsden. Their song “Lust” gained local popularity and received radio airplay, leading to a number of local gigs. In 2014, band changed its name to Pale Waves and Hugo and Charlie joined soon after, in 2015. Heather has said that the band name comes from the title of a painting owned by her grandmother.
They were signed to record label Dirty Hit in 2016 and their first two singles, 2017's "There's a Honey" and "Television Romance", were produced by Matthew Healy of labelmates The 1975. Their first EP, All the Things I Never Said, was released in February 2018. In September 2018, they released their debut album My Mind Makes Noises.
Early in 2019, the band shared plans to release an EP that year, but decided later to focus on their second album. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020—as well as the decision to approach the new album with a different stylistic direction inspired by the music of the 1990s and 2000s—delayed the production and release of new music until late 2020.
The band’s second album, Who Am I?, was released on February 12, 2021, preceded by the single "Change”, which was released on November 10, 2020. It debuted at #3 on the UK Albums Chart.
Unwanted, Pale Waves' third album, was released on August 12, 2022. The album represents yet another stylistic leap for the band, this time adding pop punk influences to their evolving sound.
Eighteen
Pale Waves Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But you try to be everything I need
We sat on the corner kissing each other
Felt like I could finally see in colour
I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
Everybody passed us by
With the same conversation time after time
I could stay by your side all night
Baby, it's just you and me and that's fine
I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
When I met you
I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
When I met you
Pale Waves’ song “Eighteen” portrays the joy and excitement of first love, with a glimpse of melancholy as the singer reflects on it. The opening line, “This city depresses me,” reveals the singer’s discontentment with their surroundings. However, the person they are with is a source of comfort and fulfillment - “you try to be everything I need.” The chorus of the song highlights the transformative effect that love has on the singer’s life as they describe feeling like they are finally able to see in color and feel for the first time.
The lyrics use strong imagery to describe the setting: “We sat on the corner kissing each other” and “Everybody passed us by, with the same conversation time after time.” The singer feels that they are living in their own world, with their partner being the only important thing in the moment. The repetition in the chorus emphasizes how important this person is to the singer: “I was eighteen when I met you/Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth/I finally felt like I could feel for the first time/When I met you.”
Overall, “Eighteen” captures the sweet, tender moments of first love, but also touches on the fleeting nature of those moments. The theme of growing up and transitioning into adulthood is prominent throughout the song, with the singer looking back on their past self and how much they have changed since then.
Line by Line Meaning
This city depresses me
The urban environment makes me feel sad and down.
But you try to be everything I need
You attempt to fulfill all of my needs and desires.
We sat on the corner kissing each other
We kissed while sitting on a street corner.
Felt like I could finally see in colour
Emotionally, everything felt more vivid and alive after kissing.
I was eighteen when I met you
I was eighteen years old when we first met.
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I opened up and shared all of my deepest feelings and honest thoughts.
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
Meeting you enabled me to truly experience emotions for the first time.
When I met you
This marks the time when the artist and the person being sung to initially encountered each other.
Everybody passed us by
As we sat on the street corner, other people walked by and ignored us.
With the same conversation time after time
Each passerby had repetitive, unremarkable conversation.
I could stay by your side all night
Being with you is so engaging, I'd be content to remain at your side for hours.
Baby, it's just you and me and that's fine
The two of us together are enough -- we don't need anybody else.
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
Again, the singer expresses that they spoke honestly and candidly to the person they met at eighteen.
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
Re-emphasizing that their interaction had allowed them to experience deep, intense emotions.
When I met you
Closing out the song by circling back to the moment their lives collided.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ciara Louise Doran, Heather Patricia Baron-Gracie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@yesaccaseyyesac
Eighteen
Pale Waves
This city depresses me
But you try to be everything I need
We sat on the corner kissing each other
Felt like I could finally see in colour
I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
When I met you
Everybody passed us by
With the same conversation time after time
I could stay by your side all night
Baby, it's just you and me and that's fine
I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
When I met you
I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
I was eighteen when I met you
Poured my heart out, spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time
When I met you
@sarahandceciliabohman8655
This city depresses me
But, you try to bring everything I need
We sat on the corner, kissing each other
Felt like I could finally see in color!
I was eighteen, when I met you
Poured my heart out
Spilt all my truth
I finally felt like I could feel for the first time, when I met you
Everybody passed us by, with the same conversation time after time
I could stay by your side, all night!
Baby, it's just you and me
And, that's fine
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
Written by: Ciara Doran and Heather Baron - Gracie
Genre: Alternative Rock, Dream Pop, Power Pop, Rock
Album: My Mind Makes Noises
Year: 2018
@timblom7364
This was apperently shot in Sweden, and it just adds an extra layer of the song to be a swede and hear the lyrics "this city depresses me"
@mtbjon3587
This town kills you when you are young!
@edanefelia9431
are your towns depressing? i always think of sweden to be nice but i know nothing about it. aesthetically it looks beautiful!
@timblom7364
@@edanefelia9431 i feel so atleast, we're very distant to eachother, and avoid any interactions, the culture we have is very pretentious and self-obsorbed which pisses me off! I like self-denegrating humour but people take themselves way to seriously to joke about themselves. So being humble is not really that common ouside of smaller towns. But I really shouldn't complain, I'm lucky ass hell to live here and it is beautiful during the summer.
But out of personal reasons I connect parts of my hometown to bad memories which has given me the will to just leave
@edible0pig
@@timblom7364 Swedish guy here... We're not all bad.
@timblom7364
@@edible0pigObviously I know! I'm one of the good ones! get it? Cause I called swedes pretention and self-centered and now I'm being pretentious and self-centered
@adobongbaboy4723
I turn 18 yesterday, and I found this band just a moment ago, and I already completed all your songs overnight lol. I swear pale waves is gonna be one of my favorite bands
@dougevans826
i love all kinds of music when i found Pale Waves i fell in love
@ostDeutsche
I am forty years old. I thought that nothing could make me feel, but this girl, this band, this music made me cry with happiness! When I listen to their songs, I understand that rock is still alive! Her voice sounds so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. I wish Heather and her team all the best!
@andychandler1380
Heard this at my gym. Instantly fell in love with it but because my gym is noisey I could never hear the lyrics and therefore never able to search for it. Today it was quiet and I was able to hear it full and I'm so happy to discover this gem of a song. Love it. New favourite song. Rock on.