Lakeman grew up with his two brothers Sean and Sam in the village of Buckland Monachorum in West Devon, England. He began playing music with his parents and two brothers at an early age. As The Lakeman Brothers, the three brothers released their debut album Three Piece Suite in 1994. Later that same year they were invited by two Yorkshire based singers Kathryn Roberts and Kate Rusby to join them as a backing group on a tour of Portugal. After the tour the five musicians became a permanent group and called themselves Equation. The group were signed in a record deal with Time Warner in 1995. After three full albums (Return to Me in 1996, Hazy Daze in 1998, and The Lucky Few in 2000), and tours in the UK, Europe and the United States, Lakeman left Equation in 2001. With his brother Sam he appeared on Sam's wife Cara Dillon's eponymous debut album, which featured Lakeman on fiddle, guitar and vocals. The album won two awards at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
In 2002 Lakeman released his first solo album, The Punch Bowl, which received wide critical acclaim including a review in fRoots magazine which said: "The songs don't just glide smoothly by.....they get their claws into you".
Kitty Jay, Lakeman's second solo album was released in 2004. The title track of the album tells the story of Jay's Grave, a well known location on Dartmoor. That same year he collaborated with Devon singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and young local singer Jenna Witts on the album Western Approaches.
A UK tour in Autumn 2005 followed his Mercury Music Prize nomination, after which Lakeman and his band (regularly brother Sean on guitar, Ben Nichols on bass, Andy Tween on drums), toured extensively with folk-rock band The Levellers, who took to closing their set with a "fiddle off" between Lakeman and Levellers' fiddler Jonathan Sevink. Other support tours with Billy Bragg and Jools Holland brought Lakeman's music to a wider audience.
In March 2006 Lakeman began a UK tour in order to promote his new album Freedom Fields which was released on iScream. He signed to a new major record label, Relentless Records, promptly releasing a new single "Lady of the Sea" in early August 2006.
His fourth solo album, Poor Man's Heaven, was released on 30 June 2008 with an accompanying tour. It introduced a rockier edge to the folk of the previous albums. His fifth solo album, Hearts & Minds, was released on 19 July 2010. Lakeman released his sixth album called Tales From The Barrel House on 18 November 2011.
www.sethlakeman.co.uk
Race To Be King
Seth Lakeman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And our wives along that pier
"Cheer up", they said
"You'll soon return in half a year"
So we sailed up north to reach the ice
We took full sails
Each boat was manned with guns
We know, that we're fighting
In this frost on our own
And we'll see no sound
Or sight of our homes
And our lovers will be
Waiting there till spring
It's a ramble and a race to be king
Race to be king
Now we've been sailing a league or three
Till we glimpsed that shore
The night was dark and won no hearts
So we stayed on board
There fired a shot along our deck
And down one side
And it cracked our mast and swept in fast
Our bird she cried out
The lyrics to Seth Lakeman's song Race To Be King tell the story of seafarers leaving their loved ones behind on a pier as they set off for a dangerous journey to hunt whales in the cold northern waters. Despite the reassurances of their partners, they know that they might not return home alive. They face the treacherous waters, battling the frost and the elements, and enduring the long wait until the spring when they can reunite with their loved ones. The journey is both a competition and a quest for power and wealth, as the sailors race to catch the biggest whale possible and become the king of the hunt. The song captures the essence of the seafaring life, the thrill of adventure, the fear of the unknown, and the bonds of love that keep the sailors going.
Line by Line Meaning
We left our sweethearts
We said goodbye to our loved ones
And our wives along that pier
We left our wives behind too
"Cheer up", they said
They tried to console us
"You'll soon return in half a year"
They told us that we would be back in six months
So we sailed up north to reach the ice
We headed north until we reached the icy waters
We took full sails
We sailed at full speed
Each boat was manned with guns
Each boat had armed crew members
And rope to hunt that whale
And ropes to capture the whales we were hunting
We know, that we're fighting
We are well aware that there is a struggle ahead
In this frost on our own
We are braving the harsh, wintry conditions alone
And we'll see no sound
We will not hear anything
Or sight of our homes
We won't see our homes for a long time
And our lovers will be
Our significant others will still be
Waiting there till spring
Waiting for our return until the spring season comes
It's a ramble and a race to be king
It is both a journey and a competition to be the best
Race to be king
Competition to be the best
Now we've been sailing a league or three
We have been sailing for quite some time
Till we glimpsed that shore
Until we finally caught sight of the shore
The night was dark and won no hearts
It was a dark and gloomy night with no emotional warmth
So we stayed on board
We decided to remain on the ship
There fired a shot along our deck
Suddenly, we heard a gunshot on our ship
And down one side
It hit one side of the ship
And it cracked our mast and swept in fast
It damaged our mast and quickly spread throughout the ship
Our bird she cried out
Our pet bird let out a loud cry
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: SETH LAKEMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kittylapis
insane skills... playing violin and singing to that standard at the same time... i have a new goal in life
Tim Veater
Did you achieve it?
Cockney Red
I'm a recent convert and so glad i did.English folk at its finest.speaking of which,most music derived from folk songs from England,Ireland and Scotland.we have a rich and deep musical heritage that i for one am very proud of.Seth has picked up the baton and made it cool to love folk again.
Landysghost1
what about Welsh music? we're part of the UK you know
Melody of AnnaLee
GREAT!!! Love Seth's music and talents. Thank you from California and also a Bluegrass fan.
Purnima Thaker Dhorajiwala
Instant uplifting...beautiful music and the voice..thank you.
Simon Marriott
Only discovered this young guy last night. Wow what a talent!!!!
cygil1
He's not that young, ironically.
Ann R
Brilliant saw somebody play like this 50 years ago he was awesome brought the house down cant beat a good fiddler!!! x x x
misslisa1120
You know, I'm not one who usually gravitates towards this kind of music, (hello, gothic metal) but this song is amazing! I may be looking into more of your music.