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/
I
Paul Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lying sleeping below the silver trees
Then up comes Davey and says
You must be running boy
Now I must fly, now I must fly
First to my darling down in the valley
I cried madly, hey, I'm here at your door
You and your misery I'll taste no more
I was in chains and bound for Australia
Dreaming wildly about my life before
Of my distrust all across the dreadful ocean
And of my true love I'll lay no more
And of my true love I'll lay no more
Oh, I was in chains and bound for Australia
Dreaming wildly about my life before
Of my distrust all across the dreadful ocean
And of my true love I'll lay no more
And of my true love I'll lay no more
Oh the, oh the future
The future before me, oh
?
The lyrics of "I" by Paul Young tell a story of a man who was once in love but was in chains, maybe metaphorical or literal, and possibly imprisoned. He lay sleeping below the silver trees until a man named Davey came and told him to run. The man now flies, but his first stop is to see his darling down in the valley. However, when he gets there, she denies him and tells him to leave. She does not want to taste his misery again. The man then reflects on his life before and how he was bound for Australia, dreaming wildly, and distrusting everything across the dreadful ocean. He also reflects on how he won't lay with his true love anymore. The song ends with the future before him.
The lyrics of the song have multiple interpretations. Some believe it is a story of a prisoner who was wrongly accused and is now trying to reconnect with his love. Others believe it is about a man who has been unfaithful to his love and is now regretful but cannot return to her. The song also uses nature imagery, such as the silver trees and the dreadful ocean, to convey the emotions of the man.
Line by Line Meaning
I was in chains, chained to my love
I was trapped, entangled in a painful and complicated relationship
Lying sleeping below the silver trees
I was found in a peaceful place, but my mind was troubled
Then up comes Davey and says
Suddenly, someone came and interrupted my thoughts
You must be running boy
You need to escape from your current situation
Now I must fly, now I must fly
I need to leave quickly and urgently
First to my darling down in the valley
My first priority is to go to my loved one in a safer place
I cried madly, hey, I'm here at your door
I arrived at their doorstep with desperation and strong emotions
She says, John, John now be gone from my door
My loved one rejected me and demanded I leave immediately
You and your misery I'll taste no more
I will not put up with your pain and suffering anymore
I was in chains and bound for Australia
I was trapped and sentenced to be sent away to a faraway place
Dreaming wildly about my life before
I was reminiscing about my past life and the freedom I once knew
Of my distrust all across the dreadful ocean
I had a constant feeling of distrust and unease throughout my journey
And of my true love I'll lay no more
I will no longer have the comfort and love of my partner
Oh the, oh the future
The future seems uncertain and full of unknown challenges
The future before me, oh
I must face whatever comes my way as I move forward in life
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: IAIN GEORGE SUTHERLAND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TheNotoriousJP
This was the song I had played for a girl I was strongly interested in, as my means to ask if she was interested in being more than just friends. This was back in the 1990s. She notified me the feelings were mutual and she was holding it in for awhile because she was scared I didn’t share them. We had a fun relationship while it lasted, however unfortunately things didn’t work out between us. When we split, I left the town we both were living in because the idea of being in the town with her and us not being together was pretty heartbreaking to endure. I was young and immature at the time, but that was the decision I felt was best. When I got to the bus terminal for my cross county to join a different life, she stopped by to see me off and played the song one more time. We both shed plenty of tears that day, however we both knew it was for the best to move on with that chapter of our lives. It took a little time to get used to, but eventually we became the good friends again we were before we got together. We both also moved on to other relationships, I got married and have two wonderful kids with an equally wonderful woman, and she had two kids of her own who thought the world of her. The day I got married, she sent me a message saying “I know this is right, and she’s best for you, far better than I could be, but somehow I feel like seeing you go on to marry someone else is the biggest mistake I’ll ever make.” I made a joke about her ending up with less grey hairs later in life that anyone who married me assuredly would get.” We both shared a hell of and laugh that day and many others in the years that followed.
Last February, two days before my 41st birthday, I received heartbreaking news that she suddenly passed away. While we had been apart almost 2 decades, we still (as mentioned above) remained close friends and confidantes. The news of her death absolutely kicked my ass, knowing the world lost a tremendous soul, and so many (myself included) lost a piece of them. As I went for a to reflect immediately after, about 25 into the drive, this song came on the local station. Not going to lie and say I didn’t shed a few dozen tears after pulling off the road as it played. However, without sounding too religious, I honestly felt that was her way of saying she was ok, and in a far better place. Yet, I will forever miss my friend, and anytime this song plays, I will forever think of her. Love you KC! Always will. Wherever you are is a better place because you are there.
Edit: To those who questioned why I became romantically linked to, and married another woman after— it was far from immediately after. It was several years after KC and I decided we were better friends. She also had moved on at that point, as she had every right to. When her and I took the next step in our relationship, we were both relatively young (I was 20, she was 19). As the relationship progressed, we both realized we had different perspectives on life and what we wanted for a long term thing. I wanted kids eventually, she didn’t want them period (ultimately had them, so she changed her mind but at the time…). I wanted the white picket fence eventually, she was more of a free spirit that wasn’t thinking that way, and was happy being involved but didn’t want happily ever after. What ultimately led to us agreeing to be friends was I enlisted in the military, a convo I had with her many times before doing so. She was uncertain from the jump when I mentioned it but supported me following my dream. When I joined, she said she wasn’t wanting to be part of the military life, and believe me— if you are a significant other, it’s not the easiest or for everyone. She really pondered it when it was brought up, but ultimately decided she couldn’t make that firm a long term commitment and having us separated possibly by continents wasn’t something she was crazy about. We decided for the sake of the friendship that we would forever remain friends, and did for the remainder of her life, but that the next level wasn’t going to work. Not every relationship ending needs to be nefarious and hostile. Ours wasn’t. Far from it. Sometimes as much as two people love each other, life takes them on different paths.
I will always hold a special place in my heart for her, as I know she did me. Do I have regrets the relationship didn’t fully work in a romantic sense? Anytime any relationship ends, you always ask yourself the what if question till you find the one. That all said, I never had a single regret that we became romantically involved, and I know she never did either. Sometimes being a grown up sucks, and making decisions like that aren’t easy, but as I said— not every relationship needs to end with hostility. We are proof of that. I’ll forever love my friend and miss her every day.
To those with all the positive comments: thank you! It means so much to me to see your kind words and how this hit close to home and resonated with you. To the people I made cry, sorry about that 😎.
Peace
JP
@samiebaker
2024... who's still listening to this masterpiece 🔥❤
@RajSharma-ro9ut
Me
@danahenderson7640
Yess
@David-dc3nk
Me!
@user-uv9xt2nw2d
Я-Україна, Миколаїв, зараз в Брайтон-ХОВЄ, ВІЙНА В Україні
@hardytorrespadilla2424
Right now trought YouTube but in a couple of weeks he's in my city I already bought the ticket for the gig cant wait
@TheAnthonyr32
The greatest hits of all time were penned in the '60s, '70s, and '80s. So many cherished memories! I'm grateful to have lived through the era of '80s music, the greatest melodies ever composed!
@ronellmeijerink442
🎵
@user-ir5is9ch5w
I'm still here, old man dave.
@sarthikamungase8227
Give me ur playlist pls-