Smith was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Her mother, Beverly, was a jazz singer, and father, Grant, worked at the Honeywell plant. She spent her entire childhood in Deptford, New Jersey. Raised the daughter of a Jehovah's Witness mother, she claims she had a strong religious, Bible-based education but left organized religion as a teenager because she felt it was too confining. (She later wrote the opening line of her cover version of Them's Gloria in response to this experience.) After graduating from Deptford Township High School in 1964, Smith went to work in a factory.
In 1967 she left Glassboro State Teachers College (now Rowan University) and moved to New York City. She met photographer Robert Mapplethorpe there while working at a book store with friend, poet Janet Hamill. Mapplethorpe's photographs of her became the covers for the Patti Smith Group LPs, and they remained friends until Mapplethorpe's death in 1989. In 1969 she went to Paris with her sister and started busking and doing performance art. When Smith returned to New York City, she lived in the Hotel Chelsea with Mapplethorpe. The two frequented the fashionable Max's Kansas City and CBGB nightclubs. The same year Smith appeared with Wayne County in Jackie Curtis's play "Femme Fatale". As a member of the St. Mark's Poetry Project, she spent the early '70s painting, writing, and performing. In 1971 she performed – for one night only – in Sam Shepard's "Cowboy Mouth". (The published play's notes call for "a man who looks like a coyote and a woman who looks like a crow".) She collaborated with Allen Lanier of Blue Öyster Cult, who recorded several of the songs to which Smith had contributed, including Debbie Denise (after her poem "In Remembrance of Debbie Denise"), Career of Evil, Fire of Unknown Origin, The Revenge of Vera Gemini, and Shooting Shark. During these years, Smith also wrote rock journalism, some of which was published in Creem magazine.
By 1974 Patti Smith was performing rock music herself, initially with guitarist and rock archivist Lenny Kaye, and later with a full band comprising Kaye, Ivan Kral on bass, Jay Dee Daugherty on drums and Richard Sohl, on piano. Financed by Robert Mapplethorpe, the band recorded a first single, "Hey Joe/Piss Factory", in 1974. The A-side was a version of the rock standard with the addition of a spoken word piece about fugitive heiress Patty Hearst ("Patty Hearst, you're standing there in front of the Symbionese Liberation Army flag with your legs spread, I was wondering were you gettin' it every night from a black revolutionary man and his women..."). The B-side describes the helpless anger Smith had felt while working on a factory assembly line and the salvation she discovered in the form of a shoplifted book, the 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud's Illuminations.
Patti Smith Group was signed by Clive Davis of Arista Records, and 1975 saw the release of Smith's first album, Horses, produced by John Cale amidst some tension. The album fused punk rock and spoken poetry and begins with a cover of Van Morrison's Gloria, and Smith's opening words: "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine."
As Patti Smith Group toured the United States and Europe, punk's popularity grew. The rawer sound of the group's second album, Radio Ethiopia, reflected this development. Considerably less accessible than Horses, Radio Ethiopia received poor reviews. However, several of its songs have stood the test of time, and Smith still performs them regularly in concert. On January 23, 1977, while touring in support of the record, Smith accidentally danced off a high stage in Tampa, Florida and fell 15 feet into a concrete orchestra pit, breaking several neck vertebrae. The injury required a period of rest and an intensive round of physical therapy, during which time she was able to reassess, re-energize and reorganize her life. Patti Smith Group produced two further albums before the end of the 1970s. Easter (1978) was her most commercially successful record, containing single Because the Night co-written with Bruce Springsteen. Wave (1979) was less successful, although songs Frederick and Dancing Barefoot both received commercial airplay.
Before the release of Wave, Smith, now separated from long-time partner Allen Lanier, met Fred Sonic Smith, former guitar player for Detroit rock band MC5 and his own Sonic's Rendezvous Band, who adored poetry as much as she did. ("Wave"'s "Dancing Barefoot" and "Frederick" were both dedicated to him.) The running joke at the time was that she only married Fred because she would not have to change her name. Patti and Fred had a son, Jackson, and later a daughter, Jesse. Through most of the 1980s Patti was in semi-retirement from music, living with her family north of Detroit in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. On June 1988 she released Dream Of Life, which included song People Have the Power. Fred Smith died on November 4, 1994. Shortly afterward, Patti faced the unexpected death of her brother, Todd, and original keyboard player, Richard Sohl. When her son Jackson turned 21, Smith decided to move back to New York. After the impact of these deaths, her friends Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Allen Ginsberg (whom she had known since her early years in New York) urged her to go back out on the road. She toured briefly with Bob Dylan in December 1995 (chronicled in a book of photographs by Stipe).
In 1996, Smith worked with her long-time colleagues to record the haunting Gone Again, featuring About a Boy, a tribute to Kurt Cobain. Smith was a fan of Cobain, but was more angered than saddened by his suicide. That same year she collaborated with Stipe on E-Bow the Letter, a song on R.E.M.'s New Adventures in Hi-Fi, which she has also performed live with the band. After release of "Gone Again", Patti Smith has recorded two new albums: Peace and Noise in 1997 (with the single 1959, about the invasion of Tibet) and Gung Ho in 2000 (with songs about Ho Chi Minh and Smith's late father). A box set of her work up to that time, "The Patti Smith Masters", came out in 1996, and 2002 saw the release of "Land (1975–2002)", a two-CD compilation that includes a memorable cover of Prince's When Doves Cry. Smith's solo art exhibition, "Strange Messenger" was hosted at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh on September 28, 2002.
On April 27, 2004 Patti Smith released Trampin' which included several songs about motherhood, partly in tribute to Smith's mother who died two years before. Smith curated the Meltdown festival in London on June 25, 2005, the penultimate event being the first live performance of "Horses" in its entirety. Guitarist Tom Verlaine took Oliver Ray's place. This live performance was released later in the year as "Horses/Horses". In August 2005 Smith gave a literary lecture about the poems of Arthur Rimbaud and William Blake. On July 10, 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. In addition to her influence on rock music, Minister also noted Smith's appreciation of Arthur Rimbaud. On October 15, 2006, Patti Smith performed at CBGB nightclub, with a 3½-hour tour de force to close out Manhattan's music venue. She took the stage at 9:30 p.m. (EDT) and closed for the night (and forever for the venue) at a few minutes after 1:00 a.m., performing her song Elegie, and finally reading a list of punk rock musicians and advocates who had died in the previous years.
Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 12, 2007. She dedicated her award to the memory of her late husband, Fred, and gave a performance of The Rolling Stones classic, Gimme Shelter. As the closing number of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Smith's "People Have the Power" was used for the big celebrity jam that always ends the program.
From March 28 to June 22, 2008 the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Paris hosted a major exhibition of the visual work of Patti Smith, "Land 250", drawn from pieces created between 1967 and 2007. At the 2008 Rowan Commencement ceremony, Smith received an honorary doctorate degree for her contributions to popular culture. Smith is the subject of a 2008 documentary film, "Patti Smith: Dream of Life". http://www.dreamoflifethemovie.com/
In June 2012, Smith released her 11th studio album, "Banga." In an interview on CBS News Sunday Morning on April 1, 2012, Smith explained the album's title: "for those who are curious, you can find what Banga is if you read The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov." In The Master and Margarita, Banga is Pontius Pilate's dog who Pilate could freely complain about the hemicrania that tortured him. Other songs on the album were also inspired by literature, particularly "April Fool," inspired by Nikolai Gogol.
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Going Under
Patti Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Light is dancing again
Let's go under where the sun beams
Let's go under my friend
Are we sleeping
Are we dreaming
Are we dancing again
Crack it open
And we'll slide down
Its stream
We can hold on (I'm sure)
To the sea's foaming mane
It will serve us
We'll surface
And we'll plunge back again
Sun is rising on the water
Light is dancing like a flame
There's no burning where the sun beams
Oh it's such a lovely game
Does the sea dream (I'm sure)
We are here, we attend
We are bells on the shore
Where the tolling suspends
Who will decide the shape of things
The shift of being
Who will perceive
When life is new
Shall we divide and become another
Who is due for gift upon gift
Who will decide
Shall we swim over and over
The curve of a wing
Its destination ever changing
Sun is rising on the water
Light is dancing like a flame
Let's go waltzing on the water
Let's go under again
Let's go under
Going under
The lyrics to Patti Smith's song, Going Under, as with many of her songs, can be interpreted in a variety of ways. On the surface, it appears to be a song about taking a plunge into the ocean and enjoying the sensation of being enveloped by the water. The opening lines, "Sun is rising on the water/Light is dancing again" set the stage for an alluring adventure. The repetitive phrase, "Let's go under where the sun beams/Let's go under my friend" is an invitation to join in and be a part of something unique and exhilarating. Throughout the song, Smith uses imagery of the ocean to symbolically represent the unknown, the subconscious, or even death. The idea of going "under" can be seen as diving into uncharted territory or the depths of the mind.
Smith questions the nature of reality by asking, "Are we sleeping/Are we dreaming/Are we dancing again/Is it heaven/Crack it open/And we'll slide down/Its stream." The idea of not knowing whether we are awake or dreaming suggests that the line between what is real and what is not is blurred. The reference to heaven is interesting because it can be seen either as a spiritual or a metaphorical realm. When she says, "And we'll slide down/Its stream," she is suggesting that we can surrender to the force of the unknown and let it take us where it will. The final stanza is especially poignant. She asks, "Who will decide the shape of things/The shift of being/Who will perceive/When life is new/Shall we divide and become another/Who is due for gift upon gift/Who will decide/Shall we swim over and over/The curve of a wing/Its destination ever changing." These lines can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but at their core, they ask: how much control do we really have over our lives? Are we simply riding the current of the ocean, experiencing life as it comes, or are we active participants in shaping our own destiny?
Line by Line Meaning
Sun is rising on the water
The sun is emerging from the horizon and casting its light onto the surface of the water
Light is dancing again
The sunlight is reflecting and creating a visual spectacle on the water
Let's go under where the sun beams
Let's submerge ourselves underwater where the sunlight reaches
Let's go under my friend
Let's dive into the water together, my friend
Are we sleeping
Are we in a state of slumber?
Are we dreaming
Are we in a state of unconscious thoughts?
Are we dancing again
Are we moving rhythmically in the water, as if we were dancing?
Is it heaven
Is this experience blissful and divine?
Crack it open
Open up our perception to new experiences and possibilities
And we'll slide down
We'll surrender ourselves to these new experiences and let them take us on a journey
Its stream
The flow of life and existence
We can hold on (I'm sure)
We have the capability to take control and ride the waves of life
To the sea's foaming mane
To the turbulent and powerful waves of the ocean
It will serve us
The power of nature can be harnessed and used to our benefit
We'll surface
We'll come up for air and regain our bearings
And we'll plunge back again
We'll dive back into these new experiences and continue exploring
There's no burning where the sun beams
The sun's rays create a pleasant and gentle sensation, not a painful one
Oh it's such a lovely game
This experience is entertaining and enjoyable
Does the sea dream (I'm sure)
Is the ocean capable of having dreams or imagined realities?
We are here, we attend
We are present and actively participating in this experience
We are bells on the shore
We are like signals or alarms on the outside, observing and signaling changes
Where the tolling suspends
Where the sound of the bells fades and becomes silent
Who will decide the shape of things
Who has the authority or power to shape the world around us?
The shift of being
The change and transformation of existence
Who will perceive
Who will observe and interpret these changes?
When life is new
During new or transformative experiences
Shall we divide and become another
Should we separate and become different entities or embrace our shared experiences and connections?
Who is due for gift upon gift
Who deserves to receive blessings and good fortune?
Shall we swim over and over
Should we continue to revisit and relive these experiences?
The curve of a wing
The shape and movement of a bird's wing
Its destination ever changing
It's direction and end point are always shifting and evolving
Let's go waltzing on the water
Let's dance gracefully and elegantly on the surface of the water
Going under
Submerging ourselves in these new experiences and allowing them to take us on a journey
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FRED SMITH, PATTI SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind