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.
RUNAWAY TRAIN
Sandi Thom Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I am the thunder burning black
Like a runaway train
I’m flying of the tracks
Now I’ve left you baby
I ain’t never coming back
So you tried and you tried ye
Well you tried and you tried baby
To keep my feet on the ground
I had to break down these walls
Oh cause I’m tired of waiting to be found
So I’ll keep rolling
Until the fires lets me be
I’ll keep rolling
Until I reach the darkest sea
I’ll keep hurting
Until your miles away from me
You can’t shake me on down baby
No I’m too far along the line
You can’t shake me on down baby
I’m too far along the line
I’m just a whisper in your head now
I’m forever in your mind
So I’ll keep rolling
Until the fires lets me be
I’ll keep rolling
Until I reach the darkest sea
I’ll keep hurting
Until your miles away from me
I am a runaway train
I am a runaway train
I am a runaway train
I am a runaway train
And I’ll keep rolling
I’ll keep rolling ye
I’ll keep rolling
I’ll keep rolling
I’ll keep rolling, rolling
I’ll keep rolling, rolling
Like a runaway train
I am the thunder burning black
Like a runaway train
You’ll never see me coming back
You’ll never slow me down baby
You’ll never keep me from the tracks
You’ll never slow me down baby
You know I’m never coming back
I’ll keep rolling, rolling
I’ll keep rolling, rolling…
In "Runaway Train," Sandi Thom is a symbol of an out-of-control train that can't and won't be stopped. She's refused to be held down, to break down the walls of her old life, and she's moving forward, rattling furiously forward, with a commitment to her freedom from whatever or whomever has imprisoned her. The track's chorus relentlessly repeats her intentions, as she blurts, "I am a runaway train / I am the thunder burning black / Like a runaway train / I'm flying off the tracks / Now I've left you baby / I ain't never coming back." She's not solely talking about just one relationship here, but more about a general sense of rejection of conformity and the past, as she continues to roll by unheard and unchallenged.
Line by Line Meaning
I am a runaway train
I am someone who is untameable and can't be tied down
I am the thunder burning black
I am powerful and unstoppable, like a storm that rages on
Like a runaway train
Comparing myself to a train that's gone off the rails, my life is chaotic and out of control
I'm flying off the tracks
My life is going off the rails and I'm heading towards disaster
Now I’ve left you baby
I ain’t never coming back
I've left someone I was in a relationship with and I'm not planning on returning
So you tried and you tried ye
But you can’t ever hold me down
Someone tried to control or restrain me, but they failed
Well you tried and you tried baby
To keep my feet on the ground
Someone tried to keep me grounded or stable, but it didn't work
I had to break down these walls
Oh cause I’m tired of waiting to be found
I had to overcome my own barriers because I was tired of waiting for someone else to save me
So I’ll keep rolling
Until the fire lets me be
I'll keep moving forward until the passion inside of me extinguishes
Until I reach the darkest sea
I'll keep going until I reach the furthest depths of darkness
I’ll keep hurting
Until your miles away from me
I'll continue to cause pain until the person is far away from me
You can’t shake me on down baby
No I’m too far along the line
It's too late to stop me now, I've gone too far
I’m just a whisper in your head now
I’m forever in your mind
Even if someone forgets me, memories of me will still linger in their mind forever
And I’ll keep rolling
I'll keep moving forward
I am a runaway train
I continue to be untameable and wild
And I’ll keep rolling
I’ll keep rolling ye
I'll keep moving forward no matter what
Like a runaway train
I am the thunder burning black
I'm still as powerful and unstoppable as before
Like a runaway train
You’ll never see me coming back
I won't be returning to where I came from
You’ll never slow me down baby
You’ll never keep me from the tracks
No one can restrain me or control my life
You’ll never slow me down baby
You know I’m never coming back
I'm not planning on returning to where I came from, no matter what
I’ll keep rolling, rolling
I’ll keep rolling, rolling…
I'll keep moving forward, no matter what obstacles I face
Contributed by Emily C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.