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/
One Step Forward
Paul Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Across miles and miles of water
Tell Stevie that I saw his friend
And the mother that I love her
Well, I know I haven't been here long
And I know it seems much longer
But every letter you write back
Makes me a little stronger
But only now they realize what they are here to see
So I'll take my pen and I write you a note
And send it off in a letter
And we'll hope that writing my troubles down
Will make me feel better
One step forward and one step left
I raise my gun and I take my aim
I'm just a pawn in the government's game
The first day I was posted
Was the longest I have known
I can't believe the bitterness
The human heart can show
The hatred of another is a blindness in their eyes
All I do is stand between them
Wondering why
One step forward and one step left
I raise my gun and I take my aim
I'm just a pawn in the government's game
Little boy stands with stones in hand
And cold eyes of steel
I wish I could throw my riffle down
And tell them how I feel
Well, I know I haven't been here long
And I know it seems much longer
But every letter you post to me
Makes me a little stronger, stronger
The song "One Step Forward" by Paul Young tells a story of a soldier who is far away from home and is sending letters to his loved ones. He talks about his experiences being in the military and the emotions he's feeling. He mentions writing letters to tell Stevie that he saw his friend and to tell his mother that he loves her. With every letter he receives from home, he feels a little bit stronger. He talks about how he and his fellow soldiers have been deployed for many years and are only now realizing what they're supposed to see. He writes that he's just a pawn in the government's game, suggesting that he doesn't have much control in the situation. He also expresses the frustration he feels when he witnesses the hatred and blindness of people towards each other, wanting to throw his rifle down and tell them how he feels.
The lyrics of this song are a reflection of the struggles and emotions that soldiers feel while serving their country. Being away from home, witnessing the destruction of war, and being a pawn in a larger political game can be overwhelming. The song speaks to the importance of communication and the emotional support that letters and messages from loved ones can offer.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm sending you these letters
I communicate with you by writing letters
Across miles and miles of water
Despite the distance between us, I send my letters to you
Tell Stevie that I saw his friend
Relay my message to Stevie that I saw his friend
And the mother that I love her
Acknowledge to my mother that I love her
Well, I know I haven't been here long
Although I haven't been here for much time
And I know it seems much longer
It feels like I've been here for ages
But every letter you write back
I gain strength from each letter that you send in response
Makes me a little stronger
It helps me get through each day a little better
Everybody here has been as many years as me
Everyone around me has the same military service years as me
But only now they realize what they are here to see
Now, they realize the true purpose of their being here
So I'll take my pen and I write you a note
I'll pick up my pen to write a message for you
And send it off in a letter
I'll send it to you through a letter
And we'll hope that writing my troubles down
Hopefully, writing down my problems will help me cope better
Will make me feel better
It can relieve some stress and emotional burden
One step forward and one step left
I move one step ahead and one step to the side
I raise my gun and I take my aim
I lift my gun and target my aim
I'm just a pawn in the government's game
I'm nothing but a mere instrument utilized by the government
The first day I was posted
The first day I arrived at this place
Was the longest I have known
It seemed to be the longest day of my life
I can't believe the bitterness
I can hardly accept how resentful people can be to each other
The human heart can show
How truly unkind the human heart can be at times
The hatred of another is a blindness in their eyes
The hatred of other people can cause them to be narrow-minded
All I do is stand between them
I'm just standing between these two parties
Wondering why
And constantly questioning why this is happening
Little boy stands with stones in hand
A young boy stands with stones clutched in his hand
And cold eyes of steel
With a fierce and indifferent expression
I wish I could throw my riffle down
I truly desire to abandon my gun and walk away
And tell them how I feel
And to convey my true thoughts and emotions to them
But every letter you post to me
Every letter that you send to me
Makes me a little stronger, stronger
Encourages and motivates me to keep going
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: IAN KEWLEY, PAUL YOUNG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind