1) an Austral… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least nine artists with the name Paul Kelly:
1) an Australian singer-songwriter
2) an American film and TV composer
3) an American soul singer & songwriter
4) an Irish folk singer and songwriter
5) a member of British bands Birdie and East Village
6) a member of English rock band Northern Uproar
7) an English multi-instrumentalist for The Islanders
8) an American bass player
9) a member of The Martial Arts, BMX Bandits and How to Swim
1) Paul Kelly is an Australian singer-songwriter, based in Melbourne, and widely considered as an icon of Australian music. He has released music under his own name and as Paul Kelly and the Messengers, Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, and Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys. His output has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output comfortably straddles folk, rock, and even some country. His lyrics, simply and laconically voiced, have managed to speak to Australian experiences and history perhaps more broadly and directly than any other artist.
2) Paul Kelly is an American composer based in New York City. He is the talent that brings music to the world of film, TV, and advertising. He has been sought after by renowned directors, like Oliver Stone, for his blockbuster films, Savages, Any Given Sunday, Comandante and Oscar-Nominated short film Everything In This Country Must. Glowing reviews that Kelly has received, can be seen in the following from Thom Jurek, Soundings in Film, who say, “His moving sound constructions are full of emotions and moods — not all of them pleasant — and his takes on funk, rock, and blues are not journeyman, but those of a musician who takes these art forms seriously and seeks to represent them accurately in his utterances. Kelly may be a sketcher, but his sketches stand on their own outside the realm of the image,” and Frank O. Gutch Jr, Evolution In Film, who give glowing context to the work of Kelly in the following, “Paul Kelly knows what music is. He knows that it can be a setup, a climax, or an anticlimax. He knows the value of music applied to other media. More than that, he knows music. Not at all unlike a classical composer or even the rock band which plays beyond the fringe, he creates music for a reason.”
Visit http://paulkelly.com for more information.
3) Paul Kelly (born Paul Laurence Dunbar Kelly in Overtown, Miami, Florida, USA on 19 June 1940) is an American Soul singer, musician and producer. He is best known for the song "Stealing in the Name of the Lord", which was a hit in 1970. And in 1974 another hit with "Hooked, Hogtied & Collared" from the album with the same title. He also wrote "Personally", which has been widely-covered, and was a hit for soul singer Jackie Moore, as well as country singers Karla Bonoff and Ronnie McDowell. Other songs have been covered by gospel artists, including The Mighty Clouds Of Joy and The Staple Singers.
4) Paul Kelly (born 1957 in Dublin) is an Irish folk singer and songwriter. He has played Irish traditional music, bluegrass and country, and is equally at home in a variety of different styles of music.
5) Paul Kelly is a British member of Birdie and East Village
6) Paul Kelly is a member of English rock band Northern Uproar
7) Paul Kelly is an English multi-instrumentalist for The Islanders
8) Paul Kelly is an American bass player
9) a member of The Martial Arts, BMX Bandits and How to Swim
Brand New Ways
Paul Kelly Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All my precious pearls to swine
You took my treasures and trashed them
I was blind
Now I've got to find
Some brand new ways
You've been taking it all around
You took your honey pot and jammed it
You did me wrong
Now the time has come
For brand new ways
Yes I heard your explanations
And I swallowed all your lies
I didn't know I could be so foolish
I never saw it in your eyes
I've been hanging on much too long
I've been dangling on a thin, thin thread
Well I'd be better off dead and buried
For all time
Unless I can find
Some brand new ways
Got to find
Some brand new ways
In Paul Kelly's song "Brand New Ways", the lyrics speak to the end of a relationship and the need to find new ways to move on from it. The opening lines "I’ve been giving it all away / All my precious pearls to swine" express a feeling of regret for having given all your love and energy to someone who wasn't deserving. The line "You took my treasures and trashed them / I was blind" speaks to the betrayal felt by the singer, who was blind to this person's true intentions. The chorus "Now I’ve got to find / Some brand new ways" emphasizes the need for change and for the singer to move on.
The second verse speaks to the other person's actions in the relationship, "You’ve been taking it all around / Just like a little honey bee / You took your honey pot and jammed it / You did me wrong". The use of the metaphor of a honey bee and a honey pot creates a vivid image of the other person taking what they want and leaving the singer with nothing. The line "For brand new ways" at the end of the verse emphasizes the necessity of change for the singer.
The last verse speaks to the struggle the singer faced in realizing the truth about the other person, "I heard your explanations / And I swallowed all your lies / I didn’t know I could be so foolish / I never saw it in your eyes". The line "Well I’d be better off dead and buried / For all time" expresses the depth of the singer's heartbreak and the feeling that there is no hope for moving on. However, the chorus repeats the need to find "brand new ways" and suggests that the singer is willing to try.
Overall, "Brand New Ways" is a powerful song that speaks to the pain of heartbreak and the need for change in order to move on and begin again.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been giving it all away
I've been giving my all but to no avail
All my precious pearls to swine
I've been giving my valuable things to unworthy people
You took my treasures and trashed them
You took my valuable possessions and destroyed them
I was blind
I was ignorant of your true nature
Now I've got to find
I need to explore other options
Some brand new ways
I need to find new paths for my life
You've been taking it all around
You've been taking advantage of everything and everyone around you
Just like a little honey bee
Just like a busy bee gathering honey for itself without regard for others
You took your honey pot and jammed it
You took the rewards and benefits for yourself, leaving none for others
You did me wrong
You betrayed me
Now the time has come
It's time for change
For brand new ways
For new and fresh approaches to life
Yes I heard your explanations
Yes I heard your pathetic excuses
And I swallowed all your lies
And I believed all your lies without question
I didn't know I could be so foolish
I didn't realize how blind I was to your deceit
I never saw it in your eyes
Your true intentions and motives were never clear to me
I've been hanging on much too long
I've been holding onto hope for too long
I've been dangling on a thin, thin thread
I've been in a precarious and uneasy position for too long
Well I'd be better off dead and buried
I'd rather die than continue living like this
For all time
Forever
Unless I can find
Unless I can discover the solution
Some brand new ways
Some fresh and innovative ideas
Got to find
Need to find
Some brand new ways
Some unexplored paths
Contributed by Ian J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.