Thom attended Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen. At the age of 17, Thom became the youngest student to be accepted at the prestigious Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA). In 2003, Thom graduated from LIPA with a BA (Hons) in Performing Arts. Thom has assisted charity appeals for Oxfam's work in Malawi.
In 2004, Thom moved to London to pursue her song-writing career, working with three co-writers: Jake Field, Duncan Thompson and Tom Gilbert. Thom signed to Windswept Pacific Music in 2005, an independent music publishing company, and its UK arm, P&P Songs, and received 25,000 pounds. She signed a record contract with the small record label Viking Legacy, who released her début single, "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)" in late 2005. The song failed to garner major airplay or sales and release of her début was delayed.
Thom subsequently accepted an offer by Sony. This led to the single re-release being delayed until May, when it was released on Sony's RCA label. The news of this broke on 3 April 2006, the official signing itself being webcast. The single was placed on Music Week Daily's playlist that day. Paul Kelly of the Independent and others have questioned how she was able to sustain production of the webcast, and it viewership figures. Her manager, Ian Brown, in an interview with the Guardian, said the idea came from her, whilst her management and Music PR team, Quite Great Communications, claim to have conducted a large publicity campaign, including a million "virtual flyers". Thom described Streaming Tank as "friends of my managers", since she could not have afforded commercial rates for the streaming. Craig Logan, the managing director of RCA said that the label was "drawn to" Thom after hearing of the webcasting, as has Thom herself.
Following her online webcast concerts from her basement in Tooting, "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker" was re-released on 22 May 2006, on RCA Records UK. The song had been gaining in airplay exposure, and on download sales it achieved #15 in the general charts (and #7 in the official downloads chart). The physical release had three formats: two CD versions (one featuring the radio mix and "A Light As Bright As Ours", another featuring the radio mix, the album version, a further remix, "May You Never" and the video), and also as a 7" vinyl record backed with "No More Heroes". In the week of 22 May, the song reached #2 in both charts. She performed on Top of the Pops on 28 May, making her major terrestrial television début, and on 4 June, the song replaced the deleted "Gnarls Barkley" single "Crazy" at #1 in the singles chart. Her début album, Smile... It Confuses People was released in the United Kingdom on Monday 5 June 2006, and débuted at number one in the chart dated 11 June, selling over 700,000 copies worldwide. The song was later nominated at the Brit Awards for Best British Single. In the Republic of Ireland, "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker" entered the singles chart at #10 (week ending 25 May 2006), and rising to #2 in the following week (ending 1 June), and then to #1 the week after, but was then knocked off the top spot by Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie". The single also enjoyed success overseas, where it reached number 1 on the Australia "ARIA Charts" for ten consecutive weeks making it Australia's highest selling single of 2006.
"I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker" was the 47th biggest selling UK single (as of January 2009) from a female artist since 2000 according to the Official Charts Company. The follow-up single "What If I'm Right" reached the lower reaches of the charts, but "Lonely Girl", the third single from the album, failed to enter any charts.
In May 2008, Thom released her second album, The Pink & the Lily, preceded by the first single, "The Devil's Beat".
A compilation album, The Best of Sandi Thom, was released by the Sony/BMG in July 2009 without Thom's consent to fulfil contractual obligations.
Thom's third studio album, Merchants and Thieves, was released independently in May 2010 with "This Ol' World" (featuring guitarist and then boyfriend Joe Bonamassa) as the lead single.
Thom's fourth studio album, Flesh and Blood, was released in September 2012. The album was recorded in Nashville's 16 Ton Studios and features The Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson as guest producer, and other musicians such as Audley Freed and Rolling Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys.
Her fifth studio album, The Covers Collection, was released in November 2013 and was publicised as an acoustic collection of songs that Thom listened to as a teenager, including Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam, Heart, and Fleetwood Mac. Thom played all instruments on the record and produced the album.
Her album Ghosts was released in 2019.
Gold Dust
Sandi Thom Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
His desire took my lust
He sent shivers down my spine
His ghost echoes in my mind
The one heart I thought I could trust
His love was like Gold Dust
His love was my oxygen
He played such a beautiful game
It used to drive me insane
The one heart it thought I could trust
His love was like Gold Dust
You don’t know what you feel as time moves on
You don’t know what you want until its lost and gone
I never realised that my heart could rust
Until love slipped through my fingertips like gold dust
Now his love won’t leave me alone
His words are on my tombstone
And tears won’t wash them away
I guess that’s the price you pay
To put faith in a heart you trust
His love was Gold Dust
You don’t know what you fear until you powerless
You don’t know what you want until your truly obsessed
I never realised that my heart could rust
Until love slipped through my fingertips like Gold Dust
His love was my final dance
With such innocent romance
The flowers will dry out with time
His ghost echoes in my mind
The one heart I thought I could trust
His love was like Gold Dust
The one heart I thought I could trust
His love was like Gold Dust
The one heart I thought I could trust
His love was like Gold Dust
The lyrics to Sandi Thom's song "Gold Dust" tell a powerful story of a love that was once so precious but has now turned into a memory that haunts the singer. The metaphor of love being like gold dust is evident throughout the song, with references to the way it slips through fingers and how it can become tarnished over time. The opening lines suggest that the singer's lover was like gold dust because his love was so valuable but also fleeting. His desire and their physical intimacy were intoxicating, sending shivers down her spine, but now he is a ghost that echoes in her mind. The pain of losing him is palpable, and the singer struggles to come to terms with the fact that the one person she thought she could trust has let her down.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the universal theme of how we often don't realize the value of something until it is gone. The singer laments that she didn't know what she felt or wanted until it was too late, and she now realizes that her heart can rust just like any other metal. She acknowledges the powerlessness she felt when she lost her love, and how it consumed her obsessively. The final verse speaks to the finality of her loss, with his love becoming her final dance with innocent romance. The flowers, a symbol of beauty, will dry out with time, but his memory will echo in her mind forever.
Line by Line Meaning
His love was like gold dust
The love he showed her was invaluable
His desire took my lust
She was fully consumed by his passion and desire
He sent shivers down my spine
His touch and presence had a powerful effect on her
His ghost echoes in my mind
Memories of him haunt her thoughts
The one heart I thought I could trust
He was the only person she believed she could put her trust in
He was my addiction
She was completely dependent on him and his love
He played such a beautiful game
Their relationship was like a game that he excelled at playing
It used to drive me insane
His actions and behavior were making her crazy
You don’t know what you want until its lost and gone
Sometimes we fail to appreciate something until it's too late and we've lost it
I never realised that my heart could rust
She didn't know that she was capable of losing her capacity to love and trust until it was too late
Until love slipped through my fingertips like gold dust
Just like gold dust is hard to hold onto, love can be just as fleeting and difficult to hold onto
His love won’t leave me alone
She can't shake off the feelings of love and longing she still has for him
His words are on my tombstone
She feels like his words of love and affection have become a part of her being and are unshakeable
And tears won’t wash them away
No amount of crying or mourning will erase the impact he had on her life
I guess that’s the price you pay
She has come to accept that sometimes love and heartbreak come hand in hand
You don’t know what you fear until you powerless
Sometimes we only discover our greatest fears once we've lost control of a situation
You don’t know what you want until your truly obsessed
Obsession can blind us to what we really want and need in life
His love was my final dance
Their relationship was like a last hurrah, a final moment of passion and romance
With such innocent romance
Their love may have been intense, but it was still pure and innocent at its core
The flowers will dry out with time
Just like flowers, love can wilt away and die if it's not cared for and maintained
Writer(s): Jake Jefferson Field, Sandi Thom
Contributed by Arianna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
remoods
Beautiful voice...keep up the great work ! REMOODS
Robert Wisniewski
Great song, Great Voice. Keep it up !!
FlashFace
Great vocal, Sandi
SouzieRawrs23
I think a video clip to ghost town would have been better but this is also pretty cool. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK MISS THOM! ;D
lizzyr494
love it great video sandi!!!
KANDYE21
AMAZING 👏
MadeByFlo
you rock! :) keep it up Sandi :)
Susana M.
Well done, Sandi! Great video!
UnknownMari
simply wonderful :D
Larry McNaughton
Thanks Sandi, love the video, great work as usual! ( )o)===#