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.”
One Day
Polly Paulusma Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With a good strong base
And a cork that fits it
No label, no maker's mark
And I'll shout the bile and anger
And plain disappointment
In until I've almost filled it
And then I'll squeeze the cork down hard
To weather all the storms and the gales
I'll grab that bottle, grip the rail
And say my prayers
and then I'll throw that bottle
Out into the deep blue sea
And then I'll sail away
I'll throw that bottle out so far, it can't hurt me
One day
one day, I'll take some canvas
With a good strong seam and a hot air burner
A basket, some sandbags and rope
And I'll float above the earth
In my balloon of steam
Drifting further and further
Over plains and mountain slopes
I'll fly 'til I find the deepest lake
A volcano about to awake
I'll grab that bottle by the neck
And say my prayers...
and then I'll hurl that bottle
Down into the deep ravine
I'll never hear it hit the ground
I'll throw that bottle down
So far it can't hurt me
One day, one day...
one day I'll build a rocket
With a thick blunt nose and a megatonne engine
A window to look at the moon
And I'll burn through the stratosphere
With fire in my tail, a comet ascending
'til I float in weightless gloom
I won't turn back 'til I see a lunar plains
The detail of the rugged terrain
I'll grab that bottle full of pain
And say my prayers...
and then I'll hurl that bottle
Down onto the arid sea
And then I'll fly away
I'll hurl that bottle down
So far it can't hurt me
One day, one day
The song "One Day" by Polly Paulusma describes an individual who has had enough of the negativity and pain in their life and decides to take action to distance themselves from it. The song uses imagery of a bottle filled with bile and anger, a hot air balloon, and a rocket to represent different stages of escaping the pain. The lyrics convey the idea that the individual will take these objects and throw them as far away as possible so that they can no longer hurt them.
The first verse describes the individual filling a bottle with their negative emotions and throwing it into the sea, away from themselves. The second verse details the individual taking a hot air balloon and dropping the bottle into a deep ravine to ensure it never comes back to haunt them. Finally, in the last verse, the individual builds a rocket and launches it into space, throwing the bottle onto an "arid sea" on the moon. The song ends with the line "One day, one day" suggesting that the individual is not yet free from the pain but has hope that they will be one day.
Overall, the song speaks to the human desire to distance oneself from pain and negativity, both physically and emotionally. It also suggests that we have the power within ourselves to take action to alleviate our pain and improve our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
One day, I'll take a bottle
With a good strong base
And a cork that fits it
No label, no maker's mark
Someday, I will grab an empty bottle with a strong base and a cork that fits tightly. It won't have a label or any indication of who made it.
And I'll shout the bile and anger
And plain disappointment
In until I've almost filled it
And then I'll squeeze the cork down hard
I will scream out all my bitterness, anger, and sadness and pour it into the bottle until it is almost full, then seal it with a firm push of the cork.
I'll need a boat with a good strong sail
To weather all the storms and the gales
I'll grab that bottle, grip the rail
And say my prayers
I'll require a strong boat to stand up to the inclement weather, fight through the wind, and grab the bottle tightly, saying my prayers all the while.
and then I'll throw that bottle
Out into the deep blue sea
And then I'll sail away
I'll throw that bottle out so far, it can't hurt me
One day
Then I'll cast the bottle far out into the vast ocean, and I'll depart on my journey. I will throw it so far away that it can't harm me, one day.
one day, I'll take some canvas
With a good strong seam and a hot air burner
A basket, some sandbags and rope
And I'll float above the earth
In my balloon of steam
Drifting further and further
Over plains and mountain slopes
One day, I will embark on a hot air balloon adventure with a basket, sandbags, and rope. I'll drift on slopes of mountains and plains with a sturdy seam and a hot air burner.
I'll fly 'til I find the deepest lake
A volcano about to awake
I'll grab that bottle by the neck
And say my prayers...
I'll keep flying until I come to the deepest lake, and a volcano about to erupt. Then, tightly holding the bottle by the neck, I'll say my prayers.
and then I'll hurl that bottle
Down into the deep ravine
I'll never hear it hit the ground
I'll throw that bottle down
So far it can't hurt me
One day, one day...
Next, I'll toss the bottle into a deep ravine. I'll never hear it smashing against the earth's surface as I'll have thrown it so far, that it can't hurt me anymore. One day, I will do this.
one day I'll build a rocket
With a thick blunt nose and a megatonne engine
A window to look at the moon
And I'll burn through the stratosphere
One day, I will construct a sturdy rocket with the sheer power of a megatonne engine and thick, blunt nose. This rocket will have a window that will enable me to see the moon. Then, I will burn through the stratosphere.
With fire in my tail, a comet ascending
'til I float in weightless gloom
I won't turn back 'til I see a lunar plains
The detail of the rugged terrain
I'll grab that bottle full of pain
And say my prayers...
As the rocket powers up, resembling the ascent of a comet, I will ascend until I'm floating in space, entirely weightless. I won't turn back until I see the lunar plains and the complexity of the rugged terrain on the moon. I'll grasp the bottle pouring with my pain, saying my prayers once again.
and then I'll hurl that bottle
Down onto the arid sea
And then I'll fly away
I'll hurl that bottle down
So far it can't hurt me
One day, one day
Lastly, I'll slam the bottle forcefully down onto the dried-up sea. Afterward, I'll fly away, relieved from the agony of the bottle that I threw far enough to not hurt me anymore. One day, I will do this.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: PAULUSMA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ujjaya Ethno ambient
One day, I'll take a bottle
With a good strong base
And a cork that fits it
No label, no maker's mark
And I'll shout the bile and anger
And plain disappointment
In until I've almost filled it
And then I'll squeeze the cork down hard
I'll need a boat with a good strong sail
To weather all the storms and the gales
I'll grab that bottle, grip the rail
And say my prayers
and then I'll throw that bottle
Out into the deep blue sea
And then I'll sail away
I'll throw that bottle out so far, it can't hurt me
One day
one day, I'll take some canvas
With a good strong seam and a hot air burner
A basket, some sandbags and rope
And I'll float above the earth
In my balloon of steam
Drifting further and further
Over plains and mountain slopes
I'll fly 'til I find the deepest lake
A volcano about to awake
I'll grab that bottle by the neck
And say my prayers...
and then I'll hurl that bottle
Down into the deep ravine
I'll never hear it hit the ground
I'll throw that bottle down
So far it can't hurt me
One day, one day...
one day I'll build a rocket
With a thick blunt nose and a megatonne engine
A window to look at the moon
And I'll burn through the stratosphere
With fire in my tail, a comet ascending
'til I float in weightless gloom
I won't turn back 'til I see a lunar plains
The detail of the rugged terrain
I'll grab that bottle full of pain
And say my prayers...
and then I'll hurl that bottle
Down onto the arid sea
And then I'll fly away
I'll hurl that bottle down
So far it can't hurt me
One day, one day
kezzworld
Only 200 views and no likes on the day I came here. How sad. This is such a great song by such a great singer songwriter. She sings from my windows into my garden regularly and I am glad to be alive when that happens.
Max Occhipinti
She is great. :-) hello from Italy
Polly Paulusma
Thank you both, such lovely comments.