Her second album "Translations" was released in mid 2007, again to good critical reviews. Her music draws influences from folk, jazz, chanson and cabaret.
Her latest album "It's All True" was released in June 2012, including collaborations with Gary Go, Sondre Lerche, Don Henry, and Pasquale Catalano
When I Drink
Sylvie Lewis Lyrics
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I come to when I drink.
This is my glass,
covered with fingerprints.
Now I don't get rowdy,
Go causing streets fights,
But I've been known to sing show tunes
Under the street lights.
You like the moon, could drive a woman mad.
You drove me this place,
And now they're calling me a cab.
Because all the pretty faces are starting to blur,
I must look like the happiest girl in the world.
When I drink, it's about you I think.
Every bar room love, ends like it begins:
Over drinks, one or two, too many rounds.
Not much at all, a few inches of liquid,
That's all it takes for a person to drown.
Sometime last week, sobriety on loan,
I vowed I wouldn't write you,
And I swore I'd never phone.
Now I'd like to call you and check you're all right,
But I don't know where you are spending your nights.
When I drink, it's about you, I think
When I drink, it's about you, I think
The song "When I Drink" by Sylvie Lewis is a melancholic reflection on one's relationship with alcohol and how it relates to the memories of a past love. The song opens with the lines "This is the bar, I come to when I drink. / This is my glass, covered with fingerprints." indicating that drinking is a way of navigating emotions and memories for the singer. She mentions that even though she doesn't get into any street fights or create any brash situations, she likes to perform show tunes under streetlights. This serves as a sort of release for her, a way to deal with the emotions that are brought up by the alcohol.
The chorus of the song highlights the fact that when she drinks, it's about the person that she has lost, the memory of the person. The lyrics "You like the moon, could drive a woman mad. / You drove me this place, / And now they're calling me a cab. / Because all the pretty faces are starting to blur, / I must look like the happiest girl in the world" indicate that though she may look happy to the people around her, the alcohol is really just a mask for her emotions.
Towards the end of the song, Lewis acknowledges the fact that these fleeting moments of happiness and recollection never end well. "Every bar room love, ends like it begins: / Over drinks, one or two, too many rounds. / Not much at all, a few inches of liquid, / That's all it takes for a person to drown." She reflects on her promises to herself to not contact or chase after her past lover, but acknowledges the temptation to do so when she says "Now I'd like to call you and check you're all right, / But I don't know where you are spending your nights."
Overall, the song touches on the theme of how alcohol can be a coping mechanism for dealing with heartache and loss, despite the fact that it ultimately creates more problems. The lyrics are poignant and relatable for anyone who has found themselves trying to escape their feelings through alcohol.
Line by Line Meaning
This is the bar,
This is the place I come to when I want to drink alcohol.
I come to when I drink.
I come to this bar when I want to drink alcohol.
This is my glass,
This is the glass that I am drinking from.
covered with fingerprints.
The glass has fingerprints on it, probably my own.
Now I don't get rowdy,
I don't become violent or disorderly when I drink.
Go causing streets fights,
I don't start fights in the streets when I drink.
But I've been known to sing show tunes
However, I have been known to sing show tunes, especially under the streetlights.
Under the street lights.
I like to sing show tunes when I'm standing under the street lights.
When I drink, it's about you, I think.
When I drink, I tend to think about you a lot.
You like the moon, could drive a woman mad.
You are as mesmerizing as the moon, and you have the power to drive a woman crazy.
You drove me this place,
You were the reason I decided to come to this bar.
And now they're calling me a cab.
Because I am too drunk to drive, the bar staff is arranging for me to take a taxi home.
Because all the pretty faces are starting to blur,
All of the attractive people in the bar are starting to look blurry and indistinct to me.
I must look like the happiest girl in the world.
Even though I might be feeling sad or unhappy, I probably look very happy to others because I am drinking and smiling.
Every bar room love, ends like it begins:
Romantic relationships that start in bars inevitably end the same way they started.
Over drinks, one or two, too many rounds.
Too much alcohol is usually involved in these brief romances, with one or two people drinking too much.
Not much at all, a few inches of liquid,
It only takes a few inches of liquid (alcohol) to make someone feel drunk, and sometimes even a brief encounter can lead to a relationship starting in a bar.
That's all it takes for a person to drown.
Just a few more drinks can be enough to make someone feel completely out of control.
Sometime last week, sobriety on loan,
At some point last week, I was not sober (I was drunk).
I vowed I wouldn't write you,
I promised myself that I wouldn't contact you (perhaps because I felt embarrassed or ashamed of how I felt about you).
And I swore I'd never phone.
I promised myself that I wouldn't call you on the phone (for the same reasons as above).
Now I'd like to call you and check you're all right,
Now, however, I would like to call you to make sure that you are doing okay.
But I don't know where you are spending your nights.
I don't know where you are currently living or staying.
When I drink, it's about you, I think.
Whenever I drink, I always seem to end up thinking about you.
When I drink, it's about you, I think.
Whenever I drink alcohol, my thoughts inevitably turn to you.
Contributed by Mason F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mllescupcake
Love it!