Throughout her 20s, Paulusma flirted with a number of occupations, from scholar (she embarked on a PhD after graduation from Cambridge University) to novelist (she was talented enough to bag a literary agent). But raised on a diet of Joni Mitchell and Carole King, music was always Paulusma’s first love. She wrote her first song aged ten, but it took 18 years of denial before she finally listened to her heart and recorded her debut album.
“Music had always been part of my life,” she says. “I’d been in bands, writing songs all along, but I’d just been doing it for the hell of it. It never crossed my mind to try and do it properly.”
It wasn’t until she recorded backing vocals for friends Ben & Jason’s last album that the penny finally dropped. “I had one of these earth shattering moments when I suddenly realised that everything I was doing was wrong and that I should be doing this instead,” she says. “It was like I got hit with an electric current – maybe I did – it was a pretty lo-fi studio so there was always that possibility! I just started crying. I thought, oh buggery fuck, here we go again.”
20 Over The Hill
Polly Paulusma Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There was you and me and some drunkards
In a black london taxi cab
and we said:
"driver, over the hill
There's a place where time stands still;
Quicken your pace there
though I built up a wall around me
You just blew it down
And mother always told me
That you'd come and dig me out of here
Somehow
she told me:
"somewhere, over the hill
There's a place where time stands still;
Follow your fate there
But don't rush it, you've got time
To get over the hill..."
climbing higher, got no place to rest
I'm just clijmbing higher
Aiming for the mountain crest
It's up there, the panacea
Come and see for yourself
I've got nothing for you
But kisses and a pocketful of rye
But I see our unborn children
In the apple of your eye
and I say:
"darling, over the hill
There's a place where time stands stilll;
Let's have a race there, come on boy
I'll chase ou up over the hill...
Let's have a race there
I'll chase you up over the hill,"
The lyrics to Polly Paulusma’s song Over the Hill depict a scene in which a couple takes a black London taxi cab over a hill to a place where “time stands still.” The woman seems to have built a wall around herself, perhaps as a defense mechanism, but the man has managed to tear it down. The woman references her mother’s advice to follow her fate and not rush it because “you’ve got time to get over the hill.” The couple decides to climb higher towards the mountain crest where they don’t have a place to rest, but they have each other. The woman sees their unborn children “in the apple of [his] eye” and suggests they have a race up over the hill.
The song is about taking a risk and following fate. The couple decides to leave their comfort zone and take a taxi to an unknown place where time stands still. The woman mentions the wall she had built around herself, which could symbolize emotional barriers or past traumas that had caused her to become guarded. It is the man who ultimately breaks down the wall, and she trusts him enough to follow him up the mountain, where they can start a new life together.
Line by Line Meaning
Take me back to the evening that it all began
I want to go back to the night we met
There was you and me and some drunkards
We were with other people at the time
In a black london taxi cab
We were in a specific place
and we said:
We had a conversation
"driver, over the hill
We gave the driver specific instructions
There's a place where time stands still;
We believed in the existence of a magical place
Quicken your pace there
We were in a hurry
Put your foot down, driver, get us over the hill,"
We urged the driver to go faster and help us get to this magical place
though I built up a wall around me
I was guarded and didn't want to let anyone in
You just blew it down
You broke through my walls and got me to open up
And mother always told me
My mom gave me advice
That you'd come and dig me out of here
My mom believed you were the one to save me
Somehow
She wasn't sure how it would happen
she told me:
She shared her wisdom with me
"somewhere, over the hill
She also believed in this magical place
There's a place where time stands still;
She thought that it would solve my problems
Follow your fate there
She encouraged me to go there
But don't rush it, you've got time
She wanted me to take it slow
To get over the hill..."
So that I could reach this magical place
climbing higher, got no place to rest
I'm struggling to keep going
I'm just clijmbing higher
I'm pushing myself harder
Aiming for the mountain crest
I have a goal in mind
It's up there, the panacea
I believe that this goal will solve everything
Come and see for yourself
I want you to experience it too
I've got nothing for you
I don't have anything to offer you right now
But kisses and a pocketful of rye
All I have to offer is my love
But I see our unborn children
I imagine a future together
In the apple of your eye
I see how much you love and care for me
and I say:
I share my thoughts
"darling, over the hill
I feel confident about our future
There's a place where time stands stilll;
I still believe in this magical place
Let's have a race there, come on boy
Let's go there together
I'll chase ou up over the hill...
I want to face it together
Let's have a race there
I want to share this adventure with you
I'll chase you up over the hill,"
I'll be there for you every step of the way
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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