Growing up with an older brother Mark and a younger sister Joanne, Young first went to work at the Vauxhall Motors factory and in his spare time played in several bands as bass guitarist. The first group for which he became lead singer was Kat Kool & The Kool Kats. In the late 1970s he joined the Streetband, who had one Top 20 hit in the UK, with the humorous, novelty track "Toast", reaching No. 18 in November 1978.
In December 1979 the Streetband broke up and Young formed the Q-Tips, who established their name by playing live and supporting The Who on their 1982 tour but had no chart hits in the UK, although their single "Letter Song" did enjoy minor success in mainland Europe.
The Q-Tips went their separate ways in 1982, and Young was signed by CBS Records as a solo performer, uniting the fields of New Wave and Soul. His first two singles, "Iron Out the Rough Spots" and a cover of Nicky Thomas’ "Love of the Common People" had no success, but the third, a cover of the Marvin Gaye B-side "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" was No. 1 in the UK singles chart for three weeks in the summer of 1983, the first of fourteen British Top 40 singles.
Similar success followed all over Europe. In the UK, follow-up single "Come Back and Stay" reached No. 4, and a re-release of "Love of the Common People" made it to No. 2, while his début album No Parlez was certified platinum in various countries.
Young's style at the time was a warm, approachable white soul, though he sometimes received playful criticism for his fashion decisions. However, his choice of an Antony Price leather suit for the cover of No Parlez was impractical for stage, where an energetic show dictated more robust clothing.
1984 was a difficult year for Young, as his first heavy promotional and live concert tour of America affected his vocal cords to the extent that he couldn't sing at all for most of the year. He recovered, however, to famously perform the opening line to the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and his second album, The Secret of Association, secured his future success in the U.S., Japan and Australia. Young's biggest worldwide hit came from this album in 1985 with a version of Daryl Hall & John Oates's album track "Everytime You Go Away". The song reached #1 on the U.S. pop charts.
His third and fourth albums, Between Two Fires, in 1986, and Other Voices, in 1990, were commercial failures (though the latter was a success in the US) but a popular duet, "Senza una donna-Without a Woman", with Italian blues singer Zucchero in 1991 and a corresponding greatest hits album (which also featured duets with Clannad and Joni Mitchell) returned him to success. It also included a new track, 'I’m Only Foolin Myself'. He sung "Radio Ga Ga" with Queen in 1992, at the tribute concert to the recently deceased Freddie Mercury.
In 1992, Paul Young formed Los Pacaminos, a Tex-Max style live band including other top-class musicians such as Jamie Moses and the late Matt Irving. The group have released two albums, with a third scheduled for released in 2024.
In 1993, Young released The Crossing, which produced his first solo Top 20 hit since 'Everytime You Go Away', 'Now I Know What Made Otis Blue'. After this, Young was freed from his contract with CBS. In 1994, he released the covers album Reflections, which was a commercial failure.
He reformed the Q-Tips for a short series of concerts that year in 1993. A year later he suffered significant vocal damage, which has followed him ever since. He contributed to the Vangelis album Voices in 1995. Young sang the British national anthem "God Save the Queen", on the eve of England's Euro '96 semifinal match against Germany.
In 1997, he released his final album to feature original material on EastWest Records. The album featured his final UK Top 40 hit, 'I Wish You Well' and abandoned soul in favour of a more country style somewhat similar to that of Garth Brooks. In 2006 and 2016, he released covers albums, Rock Swings On The Wild Side of Swing and Good Thing, with the former being only released in Germany.
Paul still actively tours solo and with Los Pacaminos and is releasing a new albums both solo and with his group in 2023. He spends his time with his family and following his past time of cooking.
www.paul-young.com/
Behind Your Smile
Paul Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you told me that you were my friend
And if we could adjust each other
and might as well bring it to an end
But to stop me, that was all okay,
and you just should ask me if I can
And you tell me everything that was happening
It seemed like everything was shared
But now behind your smile,
and we are all around your shoulder
As it grows even wider, I can see,
I can see behind your smile
Hey hey hey hey
Now you, you tell me that I owe you,
woman, you owe me all right
And you, you never seem to telephone
Or tell me when, when you're gonna be
But, but, but now you got your memories
And you got the money that I earned, uh-huh
The only thing that I have now is a lesson I have learned
But behind your smile,
As it grows even wider, I can see,
I can see behind your smile
You got—you gotta—hey hey hey
All right, yeah yeah
Behind your smile,
oh and we’re all around your shoulder
As it grows even wider, I can see,
oh I can see behind your smile
Yeah, hey!
I can see behind your smile, oh now now,
care for me, care for me
Yeah hey hey hey hey yeah yeah carefully
Oooh, find your temple, are you my own size?
Oh oh oh oh oh oh, hey hey hey hey
I can see behind, behind your smile,
care for me, no no
You can't help me no more,
I learned my lesson well, uh huh
I learned my lesson well, huh huh, yes I do, hey hey yeah
I learned my lesson well
The lyrics to Paul Young's "Behind Your Smile" express betrayal and disillusionment with someone who was thought to be a close friend. At the beginning of the song, the singer believed everything their friend said and was willing to work through any issues together. However, the friend's manipulative behavior becomes apparent, and they begin to take advantage of the singer's trust and kindness. The friend owes the singer money and doesn't bother to keep in touch, leading the singer to feel used and forgotten. The song's title "Behind Your Smile" refers to the false front that the friend puts up to hide their true intentions and actions.
The singer has learned a valuable lesson from this experience, implied by the repetition at the end of the song: "I learned my lesson well, huh huh, yes I do, hey hey yeah." It's a painful lesson, and the singer expresses their hurt and anger through the song, but they've gained wisdom from the experience. The song's catchy melody and upbeat rhythm contrast with the sad lyrics, emphasizing the deceptive nature of the friend's behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
I believed every word that you said
I trusted you completely
When you told me that you were my friend
When you claimed to be my friend
And if we could adjust each other
If we could resolve our issues
and might as well bring it to an end
We might as well end our relationship
But to stop me, that was all okay,
But it was okay to end things between us
and you just should ask me if I can
You should have asked me if I agreed
And you tell me everything that was happening
You used to confide in me
It seemed like everything was shared
It appeared that we shared everything
But now behind your smile,
But now I see through your smile
and we are all around your shoulder
And your burden is shared by all of us
As it grows even wider, I can see,
As your smile grows, I see something else
I can see behind your smile
I can see what you are hiding behind your smile
Now you, you tell me that I owe you,
Now you claim that I owe you
woman, you owe me all right
But the truth is, you owe me
And you, you never seem to telephone
You never call me
Or tell me when, when you're gonna be
Or let me know when you will be around
But, but, but now you got your memories
But now you have your own memories
And you got the money that I earned, uh-huh
And you took the money that I worked hard for
The only thing that I have now is a lesson I have learned
I have learned a valuable lesson from this
You got—you gotta—hey hey hey hey
Your true self is exposed
Behind your smile,
Behind your fake smile
oh and we’re all around your shoulder
Oh, we all see what you are hiding
Yeah hey hey hey hey yeah yeah carefully
You should be careful now that your true self is revealed
I can see behind your smile, oh now now, care for me, care for me
I see what you were concealing behind your smile and I need you to take care of me
You can't help me no more,
You cannot be of any more assistance to me
I learned my lesson well, uh huh
But I have learned something valuable from this experience
I learned my lesson well, huh huh, yes I do, hey hey yeah
I learned not to trust you anymore
Contributed by Hannah R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.