Tanya Donelly (born July 14, 1966, in Newport, Rhode Island) is an American… Read Full Bio ↴Tanya Donelly (born July 14, 1966, in Newport, Rhode Island) is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist based in New England who cofounded Throwing Muses with stepsister Kristin Hersh, then went on to work in The Breeders and Belly in the 1990s. In the late 1990s, she settled into a solo recording career, working largely with musicians connected to the Boston music scene.

Donelly is best known for her Grammy-nominated work in the mid-1990s as lead vocalist and songwriter for Belly, when she scored a national radio and music television hit with her composition "Feed the Tree." Belly recorded on Sire/Reprise Records and 4AD; Donelly's solo works have been released on Warner Brothers Records and 4AD.

Over the years she has listed several musical influences. In one interview she named her guitar-playing influences as Marc Ribot, the Beatles, and former bandmate Hersh. More recently she mentioned Leonard Cohen as a songwriting hero, citing her then-current listening favorites as Lucinda Williams and Joan Wasser, and listing Boston-based groups like the Dambuilders, Pixies, and Count Zero as past favorites. Although Donelly mainly performs her own original songs, she has in recent years added covers by Robyn Hitchcock, Nina Simone, and the Beatles to her repertoire.

Fallout
Tanya Donelly Lyrics

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Honey won't you let yourself speak free
Honey won't you let yourself speak freely
'Cause you're scaring me now
You're scaring me

Everything is pouring out of me now
I spread my hands to catch it but there's too much and there it goes
And we thought we'd fool them all

We thought we'd fool them all
And ha ha ha
But there's too much and there it goes

And I can't stop the fallout
After all

Honey
I want you
I still want you
I always do
I always will
Is that enough
'Cause here we go

And I can't stop the fallout

And I can't stop the fallout
After all

Overall Meaning

Tanya Donelly's song "Fallout" is a hauntingly beautiful ballad that speaks to the fear of vulnerability and the consequences that come with exposing one's innermost thoughts and emotions to another person. The opening lines plead with the subject to "let [themself] speak freely," as their suppressed feelings are causing fear in the singer. The following lines create a vivid image of overwhelming emotions, likened to a pouring out that cannot be contained by the singer's hands.

As the song progresses, it becomes clear that the subject and speaker have been hiding something, putting on a facade to the outside world. Perhaps they thought they could "fool them all" and hide their true selves, but the buildup of emotions is too much to sustain the act. The chorus repeats the somber refrain that while the fallout cannot be stopped, the singer's love for the subject remains constant. This is underscored by the repetition of "I want you... I always do... I always will," spoken directly to the subject.

Overall, "Fallout" is a deeply emotional and introspective song about the fear of vulnerability, the difficulty of hiding one's true self, and the constant presence of love in the midst of emotional turmoil.

Line by Line Meaning

Honey won't you let yourself speak free
Come on, please speak your mind freely

'Cause you're scaring me now
Your silence is making me anxious

Everything is pouring out of me now
I can't keep my emotions bottled up anymore

I spread my hands to catch it but there's too much and there it goes
I am trying to express myself but it's overwhelming, and I lose control

And we thought we'd fool them all
We were hoping to hide our true feelings from others

And ha ha ha
We thought it was amusing to deceive others

But there's too much and there it goes
We can't hide it anymore, it's spilling out

And I can't stop the fallout
I can't prevent the consequences of my words or actions

After all
In the end

Honey
My dear

I want you
I love you