It was in 1978 that Duffy helped form Duran Duran with college friends Nick Rhodes and John Taylor. After recording demos and playing local gigs Duffy left the band to form Only Five Believers. This latter band evolved into The Hawks who released their sole single Words of Hope in 1980, beating his first band Duran Duran by a year.
The Hawks eventually dissolved and Duffy formed Tin Tin, a four-piece synth-led band who recorded Kiss Me (1983). This was picked up by WEA and became a major club hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Financed by Warners, Duffy moved to America for 1 year to write songs but was eventually dropped and returned to England to be signed by Virgin/10. In the meantime, he had relaunched himself as a solo artist called Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy. A re-recording of Kiss Me was reissued in 1985 and became a major hit followed by Icing on the Cake and the album The Ups And Downs. After this period, he dropped the Tin Tin from his name and proceeded to record as Stephen AJ Duffy. He released 3 more singles and 1 more album called Because We Love You. This marked the end of his pop phase.
Following an experimental dance album, Designer Beatnik under the alias Dr Calculus, Duffy was dropped by Virgin/10 and he returned to his folk roots and formed The Lilac Time with his brother, Nick. The band evolved into a four-piece and were picked up by Fontana. They recorded three albums and released 9 singles before they were dropped and signed to Alan McGee's Creation label. The resulting album, 1991's Astronauts was another critically acclaimed LP but also another commercial disaster. They were dropped by Creation and The Lilac Time split.
In 1993, after signing with EMI, the album Music in Colors was released. It was a collaborative effort with violinist Nigel Kennedy and featured 9 songs of Duffy and 9 instrumentals of Kennedy. It was credited to Stephen Duffy feat. Dr. Nigel Kennedy. Again, it was a commercial flop and the inevitable happened - Duffy was dropped. In 1994, he moved to Alaska and then to USA to start a record with R.E.M. and Velvet Crush producer, Mitch Easter. During this time, Duffy also started to regularly co-write songs with Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies and their songs can be heard on various BL albums from 1994 onwards.
After reading about the Britpop boom that was occurring in Britain in late '94, he managed to secure a deal with BMG subsidary Indolent and a new album simply called Duffy was released in 1995. By this time, he had dropped the Stephen from his name and rather Morrissey-like, he was simply known as Duffy. Even though the album was mostly recorded in the US, Duffy found himself wrapped up in the Britpop wave and he recorded a one-off single called Hanging Around as Me Me Me with Alex James of Blur in 1996. Reaching the lofty heights of #17, this was the first chart action Duffy had experienced in 11 years. He started to record his 2nd album as Duffy but shortly before it was to be released, he got dropped. Again.
Major indie Cooking Vinyl picked the album up (called I Love My Friends) and released it in 1998. After this, Duffy reformed The Lilac Time with his brother Nick and original drummer Michael Giri and also added the girl, who in 2008 would become Mrs. Stephen Duffy, Claire Worrall as backing vocalist. Worrall had been working as the touring keyboardist/backing singer/guitarist for Robbie Williams live band. The resulting album Looking for a Day in the Night was released in 1999. Somehow managing to keep a deal with Cooking Vinyl, the band released the follow-up Lilac6 in 2001. Three successive albums on the same label was a major feat but inevitably he was dropped in 2002.
Following a chance meeting with old Duran Duran bandmate, Nick Rhodes, the duo started to re-record old demos Duffy had found on a cassette in the back of a drawer. After 6 weeks of recording, the album Dark Circles credited to The Devils was released on their own label, Tape Modern. Featuring old Duran songs and brand new songs written by the duo, Rhodes commented that this is how the debut Duran LP would have sounded had Duffy stayed on with them.
His next project was a new Lilac Time album and this was released on his own label, Folk Modern, in 2003 and credited to Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time. The album wryly called Keep Going was again critically acclaimed but had little commercial success. Later that year, it was announced that Duffy was going to be new co-writer of Robbie Williams.
The following year, Duffy scored a #1 hit with the song Radio performed by Williams and produced & co-written by Duffy. The eventual fruits of their labour were realised in 2005 when the album Intensive Care was released. Duffy had major input in the album as sole producer, co-writer and multi-instrumentalist (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, programming). Also during this year a self-titled album by The Vanity Project was released. This was an alias for Steven Page of Barenaked Ladiesand the album featured 12 songs co-written by Duffy.
In 2006, Duffy embarked on a major world tour with Robbie Williams as live on-stage guitarist and "musical director". Following this recent rise in his profile, much of his back catalogue has now been reissued by all his former labels. The latest Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time album Runout Groove was released in October 2007.
In September 2009, Duffy released his first major career retrospective, Memory & Desire - 30 Years in the Wilderness, covering both his work as a solo artist and as The Lilac Time.
Totem
Stephen Duffy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I want to love you
Without ego without pride
I want to know you I want to know you
I want to know you
Outside inside without side
You make me want to die
Love is pulling me on
Passed the suitors you spurned
And the lovers you burned
You may think I'm old fashioned
But I'm not in your class
My voice steams up the windows
While yours can cut glass
Still you make me transcend.
I want to hold you I want to hold you
I want to hold you
Without holding you at bay
I want to hear you I want to hear you
I want to hear
Every single word you say
You make me want to cry.
No I'm not superstitious
But I can't help touching wood
With my head in my hands
And you doing no good
In the interests of courtship
I'll walk you back home
Through the streets here in heaven
When we're alone
You make me transcend.
No I'm not superstitious
But I can't help touching wood
With my head in my hands
And you doing no good
Is it all over nothing
Does that make you feel sad
It's not the standards of living
That make dying so bad
It's the fear of the end
You make me transcend.
In Stephen Duffy's song Totem, the singer expresses his desire to love and understand his lover without any ego or pride. He yearns to know her inside and out, without any boundaries or limitations. He feels pulled towards her despite the fact that she has rejected other suitors and burned past lovers. Despite their differences in class and demeanor, he is willing to walk her home through the streets of heaven. The singer is shown to be vulnerable and superstitious, as he can't help but touch wood and is afraid of the end.
The lyrics of Totem are heavily focused on love and desire, but they are also critical of the idea of class and societal expectations in relationships. Although the singer acknowledges that he is not in the same class as his lover, he still desires her deeply. Throughout the song, the singer seems to be struggling with his own vulnerability and superstitions, yet he is still willing to make himself vulnerable for the sake of love. The lyrics suggest that love is an all-consuming force that can transform and transcend a person.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to love you I want to love you
The singer desires to love someone deeply
I want to love you
Without ego without pride
The singer wants to love someone without conditions or restrictions
I want to know you I want to know you
The singer desires to understand and connect with someone
I want to know you
Outside inside without side
The artist wants to understand someone's inner and outer self, without any biases
You make me want to die
Now I'm caught in your slip stream
The intense feelings of love are overwhelming the artist's senses and thoughts
Passed the suitors you spurned
And the lovers you burned
The singer is willing to overlook the past romantic failures of the person they're pursuing
You may think I'm old fashioned
But I'm not in your class
The singer is acknowledging that they might not be the ideal match for the person they love
My voice steams up the windows
While yours can cut glass
The artist and the person they love have contrasting personalities
I want to hold you I want to hold you
Without holding you at bay
The artist wants to physically embrace the person they love without any hesitation
I want to hear you I want to hear you
Every single word you say
The artist wants to listen to and understand everything their loved one says
You make me want to cry
No I'm not superstitious
The intense emotions caused by love sometimes bring the singer to tears
But I can't help touching wood
With my head in my hands
And you doing no good
The artist has a small hope that their loved one will reciprocate their emotions, despite the lack of evidence
In the interests of courtship
I'll walk you back home
Through the streets here in heaven
When we're alone
The singer is willing to go out of their way to court their loved one
Is it all over nothing
Does that make you feel sad
It's not the standards of living
That make dying so bad
The singer realizes that love and the fear of losing it can overshadow materialistic things in life
It's the fear of the end
You make me transcend.
The singer is transcended into a feeling of love, despite the fear of the relationship ending
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: STEPHEN DUFFY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Amy D
One of my favourite albums; works well when going through heartbreak.
John Connolly
Fucking love this song.