T'Pau formed in 1986. The members originated from the towns of Shrewsbury and Wellington in central England and took their name from a Vulcan high priestess in the classic Star Trek episode Amok Time. Their debut single and first hit was the 1987 release Heart and Soul. Initially a flop in the UK, it first became a hit in the U.S. Billboard charts, reaching #4, a feat it repeated in the UK Singles Chart some months later. The same year, the band had their biggest hit with the ballad, China in Your Hand, which spent five weeks at Number One in the UK chart, and also claimed the top slot in several European countries, although oddly the song made little impact on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
They had a number of smaller hits which made it to at least the UK Top 40, including the singles Valentine, Sex Talk (a new recording of early flop single Intimate Strangers), I Will Be With You, and Secret Garden. Their 1987 album Bridge Of Spies (the album was called T'Pau in the U.S.) was a best seller and won several British record industry awards.
Nevertheless, the band failed to maintain their success and split in 1991. But Decker reformed the band with a new line-up in 1998, and T'Pau have in recent years attempted a comeback.
In May 2005, Carol Decker reached the final round of the ITV show Hit Me Baby One More Time, singing the T'Pau hit China in Your Hand.
See also: Official site
Heart & Soul
T'Pau Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Keeps us apart.
I feel a tearing in half of my heart.
A walk on the water,
Is all that I need.
But miracles are not happening.
You're not even listening to me.
Leaving you ain't easy now,
You never want me for myself,
And I've needed you right from the very start.
Oh, won't you stay and try to:
Give a little bit of heart and soul.
Give a little bit of love to grow.
Give a little bit of heart and soul,
And don't you make me beg for love.
Give a sign 'cos' I need to know.
Give a little bit of heart and soul.
Now listen to me.
I wish that I was wrong,
But you don't feel that way.
We drift apart with each passing day.
You never seem to notice any more.
Living in a fantasy,
There's never any room to breath.
Hoping every waking hour,
You'll turn around and say that we can stay.
Won't you even try to:
Give a little bit of heart and soul.
Give a little bit of love to grow.
Give a little bit of heart and soul,
And don't you make me beg for love.
Give a sign 'cos' I need to know.
Give a little bit of heart and soul.
Somehow I lost my way,
Looking to see something in your eyes.
But lover will never compromise.
There is the politics of life.
Give a little bit of heart and soul.
Give a little bit of love to grow.
Give a little bit of heart and soul,
And don't you make me beg for love.
Give a sign 'cos' I need to know.
Give a little bit of heart and soul.
The lyrics of T'Pau's song Heart & Soul express the feelings of a person who desperately wants to reconnect with their partner. The opening lines "More than an ocean, keeps us apart" highlight the distance and separation between the two. The singer feels a tearing in their heart because they are emotionally torn between the desire to leave and the desire to keep trying.
The imagery of walking on water conveys the need for a miracle, a miraculous change or intervention that would make everything right again, but the singer knows that miracles are unlikely to happen. They feel unheard and unimportant to their partner, who never wants them for who they are. Despite this, leaving becomes harder, as the singer has been in love with their partner from the start, and loving them has become a defining part of their life.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the singer's plea for their partner to show a little bit of heart and soul, to give them some love to grow and not make them beg. The lyrics are a reminder that love should be given willingly, generously, with a sense of commitment, and not just reduced to one's own convenience.
Overall, T'Pau's Heart & Soul is a song about the difficulties and complexities of love, how it can ebb and flow, but ultimately, it requires an exchange of feelings and a willingness to invest time and effort for a relationship to flourish.
Line by Line Meaning
More than an ocean,
The distance between us is far greater than just an ocean.
Keeps us apart.
This distance is what separates us.
I feel a tearing in half of my heart.
The distance is agonizing and causing me emotional pain and heartbreak.
A walk on the water,
All I need is something miraculous to bring us together.
Is all that I need.
If I could just walk on water, I could reach you and bridge this gap.
But miracles are not happening.
Unfortunately, miracles are not happening and we remain separate.
You're not even listening to me.
You are not paying attention to my pleas and desires.
Leaving you ain't easy now,
Despite the difficulties we face, it is still very hard for me to leave you.
But loving you's the harder part.
The hardest part is that I love you and don't want to give up on us.
You never want me for myself,
It feels like you never truly want me, just the idea of me.
And I've needed you right from the very start.
I have always needed you by my side.
Oh, won't you stay and try to:
I am pleading with you to stay and try to work things out.
Give a little bit of heart and soul.
I am asking you to show some love and dedication to this relationship.
Give a little bit of love to grow.
We need some love to grow our relationship and overcome the challenges we face.
And don't you make me beg for love.
Please don't make me have to beg for your love and attention.
Give a sign 'cos' I need to know.
I need a sign from you that you want this relationship to work.
Now listen to me.
Please give me your attention and listen to what I have to say.
I wish that I was wrong,
I wish I wasn't right about the problems we face and that everything was okay.
But you don't feel that way.
You don't share my wish that everything was okay and the problems we face don't exist.
We drift apart with each passing day.
As time passes, we grow further and further apart.
You never seem to notice any more.
It feels like you don't notice the distance between us or the problems we face anymore.
Living in a fantasy,
It feels like we are both living in a fantasy world where the problems don't exist, but they do.
There's never any room to breath.
It feels like there is no room to breathe in this relationship.
Hoping every waking hour,
I hope and pray every moment of every day that things will get better between us.
You'll turn around and say that we can stay.
I hope that you will turn around and tell me that we can work things out and stay together.
Somehow I lost my way,
I feel like I have lost my way in this relationship and don't know how to fix it.
Looking to see something in your eyes.
I am desperately searching for some sign or indication in your eyes that you want this relationship to work.
But lover will never compromise.
It feels like we are both unwilling to compromise and work together to fix our problems.
There is the politics of life.
The everyday problems and stresses of life are weighing on this relationship and making things harder for us.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: THE MEKONS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind