The group have had 28 top-40 singles and 17 top-5 singles on the UK Singles Chart, 12 of which have reached number one, including "Back for Good", "Never Forget", "Patience" and "Greatest Day". They have also had eight number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart. Internationally, the band have had 56 number one singles and 39 number-one albums. They have received eight Brit Awards—winning for Best British Group and Best British Live Act. In 2012 they received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Take That has been certified for 14 million albums and 11.4 million singles in the UK.
Williams left the band in 1995 while the four remaining members completed their world tour and released a final single before splitting up in 1996. After filming a 2005 Take That: For the Record about the group and releasing a new greatest hits album, a four-piece Take That without Williams officially announced a 2006 reunion tour around the UK, entitled The Ultimate Tour. On 9 May 2006, it was announced that the group were set to record new material together once again; their fourth studio album, Beautiful World, was released in 2006 and was followed up with The Circus, in 2008. The group achieved new success as a four-piece, scoring a string of chart hits across the UK and Europe while selling over 45 million records worldwide. Williams rejoined Take That in 2010 for the band's sixth studio album, Progress. Released on 15 November of that year, it was the first album of new material to feature Take That's original line-up since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. It became the fastest-selling album of the 21st century and the second fastest-selling album in British history.
In 2014, the band recorded a seventh studio album, this time as a trio without Williams and Orange. The album, titled III, was released in November 2014 and became the band's seventh number one. It was preceded by the single "These Days", which became the band's 12th number one single in the UK.
In 2011, Take That set the new record for the fastest-selling tour of all time in the UK with Progress Live, beating the previous record set by their Circus Live Tour in 2009. At the 2011 Brit Awards they won Best British Group. In 2012, Forbes named them the fifth highest-earning music stars in the world. The group performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony, playing "Rule the World" while the Olympic Flame was extinguished. In the same year, the Official Charts Company revealed the biggest-selling singles artists in British music chart history with Take That currently placed at 15th overall, making them the most successful boy band in UK chart history. Four of their albums are listed in the best-selling albums of the millennium, with three of them among the 60 best-selling albums in UK chart history.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_That
Studio albums
Take That and Party (1992)
Everything Changes (1993)
Nobody Else (1995)
Beautiful World (2006)
The Circus (2008)
Progress (2010)
Progressed (2011)
III (2014)
Wonderland (2017)
This Life (2023)
Wooden Boat
Take That Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sitting there for hours in the cold
Patience is a virtue til we die
Then a ripple in the water caught my eye.
Sometimes we don't know what we're waiting for
That's the time to be the first one on the dance floor
We go from green to blue to go to black
Only was last week I learnt to drive
Stole my mother's keys and drove all night
Christine never showed it's 4 am
Started up mum's car drove home again.
One year ago I kissed my bride
Now I wait to hear my baby's cry
Woman showed me all that she knew then
To cut himself down man's born again.
Christine died and now I'm here alone
What I wouldn't give to be on that wooden boat.
In "Wooden Boat," Take That uses the metaphor of a little boy fishing in a wooden boat to illustrate how patience is required in life. The song is a contemplative ballad about the passage of time, and how much can change in a person's life. The first verse describes a time of childhood innocence, sitting in a boat waiting for a fish to bite. The song's perspective then shifts to a broader perspective, with the lyric "Sometimes we don't know what we're waiting for." This line speaks to the unpredictability of life and how one must be ready for anything that may come.
In the following verse, the song describes the impulsiveness of youth. The singer takes his mother's car out for a joyride, cruising through the night, and potentially putting himself and others at risk. The lyric "Christine never showed it's 4 am" paints a picture of a restless youth who is looking for excitement in any form. The following verse speaks to a more mature period of the singer's life, marrying and waiting for the birth of his child. Take That encourages listeners to "breathe deep" and savor the present moment while still acknowledging that time can be fleeting.
Line by Line Meaning
A little boy me went fishing in a wooden boat
When I was a child, I went fishing in a wooden boat.
Sitting there for hours in the cold
I spent a long time waiting in the cold for fish to bite.
Patience is a virtue til we die
It's important to be patient throughout our lives.
Then a ripple in the water caught my eye.
I saw a small movement in the water that made me pay attention.
Sometimes we don't know what we're waiting for
There are times when we're waiting for something but we're not sure what it is.
That's the time to be the first one on the dance floor
In those moments of uncertainty, it's good to take the initiative and be the first to act.
We go from green to blue to go to black
Things can change quickly, going from one color to another, until they eventually fade to black.
Breathe deep, who knows how long will this last.
It's important to take a deep breath and appreciate the moment, because we don't know how long it will last.
Only was last week I learnt to drive
I only learned how to drive last week.
Stole my mother's keys and drove all night
I took my mother's keys and drove all night without her knowledge or permission.
Christine never showed it's 4 am
I was stood up by someone named Christine and it was now four in the morning.
Started up mum's car drove home again.
I started up my mother's car and drove home.
One year ago I kissed my bride
One year ago, I kissed my new wife on our wedding day.
Now I wait to hear my baby's cry
Now, I'm anxiously waiting for the birth of my child.
Woman showed me all that she knew then
My wife taught me everything she knew at that time.
To cut himself down man's born again.
Sometimes a person must go through a difficult time in order to start anew.
Christine died and now I'm here alone
Christine passed away and now I'm left without her.
What I wouldn't give to be on that wooden boat.
I long to go back to my childhood and go fishing in a wooden boat once again.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: GARY BARLOW, BILLY MANN, MARK OWEN, JASON ORANGE, HOWARD DONALD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind