Phillips began her musical career as a vocalist in the early 1980s, singing background parts for Christian artists such as Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill, and others. After a short time, Phillips was signed to a solo contract with Myrrh Records (under her given name) where she went on to record four Christian pop albums: Beyond Saturday Night, Dancing with Danger, Black & White in a Grey World, and, The Turning, which teamed her with producer and future husband T-Bone Burnett. Throughout the Myrrh period, Phillips wrote more and more of her own songs and several were Top 10 singles on Christian radio.
Since Cyndi Lauper was popular at the time and also had an high-pitched, idiosyncratic vocal style, Myrrh insisted on promoting her as "the Christian Cyndi Lauper." Phillips was never comfortable with this image, and it was a bone of contention between her and the label. She began using the name "Sam" professionally in 1988 when she left Myrrh Records and signed with Virgin Records, partially in order to distance herself from her somewhat embarrassing Myrrh-imposed persona.
Like many Christian artists before her, she expanded into more secular content at the new label. She released The Indescribable Wow, which featured the orchestrations of Van Dyke Parks. Cruel Inventions, which was released in 1991, included a guest appearance from close friend Elvis Costello, and she (with her husband) supported Costello on his 1991 tour. 1994's Martinis & Bikinis was widely praised by music critics and was even nominated for a Grammy Award; this was Phillips' first nomination.
In 1995, Phillips made her silver screen debut in the Bruce Willis blockbuster Die Hard With a Vengeance, in which she played a mute terrorist. She was originally supposed to have a speaking part in the film but it was decided that her character would be silent, since it made her appear much more imposing and lethal, although it also placed her in a more stereotypically femme fatale role at the same time.
In 1996, Phillips released Omnipop (It's Only a Flesh Wound Lambchop), which was more experimental musically and ended up being her worst-selling album to date. After releasing a contractual obligation "best-of" album for Virgin in 1999, the label dropped Phillips from their roster.
In 2001, Phillips signed with Nonesuch Records and released a stripped-down acoustic album called Fan Dance, which featured some of the most critically acclaimed songwriting of Phillips' career. Van Dyke Parks contributed string arrangements for a track or two. Phillips also began writing music for and scoring the television series Gilmore Girls, and even appeared on-screen during the final episode of season six, performing Taking Pictures. In 2004 she released A Boot and a Shoe, another collection of acoustic cabaret songs in the same vein as her previous album.
Sam returned with a new album don't do anything in 2008. In October 2009 Sam launched Long Play, an exclusively web-based membership site which promised subscribers 5 digital EPs and 1 full-length digital album over the course of about one year. A physical "best of" compilation of Long Play songs, titled Solid State, was released in June 2011.
I Don't Know How To Say Goodbye To You
Sam Phillips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm not good at things that I don't want to do
Should I pretend that I don't care
that you don't feel what I feel is there
I don't know how to say Goodbye
A kiss might insist that we play
A touch might give away too much
Would my feeling be discovered
Would you be scared if I just stared
And let you look inside me
Or should I smile and walk away
So my eyes won't betray me
In these lyrics, Sam Phillips is expressing the difficulty of saying goodbye to someone she cares about. She admits that she is not good at handling situations she doesn't want to face, and is considering different approaches to this goodbye. She wonders if pretending that she doesn't care would make it easier or if it would be better to be honest about her feelings.
Phillips also contemplates the risks of physical contact, such as a kiss or touch, which could reveal too much about her emotions. She ponders whether the other person will be scared or uncomfortable if she reveals her true feelings by looking into her eyes. Ultimately, she is unsure about how to approach saying goodbye and feels caught between her desire to reveal her feelings and her fear of being vulnerable.
Overall, the lyrics convey the internal struggle of trying to end a relationship while harboring conflicting emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
don't know how to say goodbye to you
I am struggling with finding the right words to express my farewell to you
I'm not good at things that I don't want to do
Expressing goodbye is hard for me because it is something I do not want to do
Should I pretend that I don't care
I am questioning if I should mask my true feelings and act indifferent
that you don't feel what I feel is there
I am unsure if you share the same emotions that I do
A kiss might insist that we play the game of lovers
A kiss could lead to us pretending to be in love and continuing something that has to end
A touch might give away too much
Physical contact might reveal more than we are ready to share
Would my feeling be discovered
I am uncertain if my emotions will be revealed
Would you be scared if I just stared
I question whether you would feel threatened if I simply gazed into your eyes
And let you look inside me
Allowing someone to see the real me is scary and vulnerable
Or should I smile and walk away
I am wondering if it would be better to put on a happy facade and leave without expressing any sadness
So my eyes won't betray me
I am considering masking my true emotions in my facial expressions so my eyes do not reveal my sadness
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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