In September 1994, Sónia Tavares, Nuno and John Gonçalves, Miguel Ribeiro and Ricardo Braga enrolled in the Bar Ben Music Competition in Alcobaça and took second place in the competition, to everyone's great surprise, given the band’s short time in existence.
The band performed its first show at the Alcobaça Monastery in July 1995. This was followed by the Belém Cultural Centre (Lisbon) in September 1996 and the Labirintho Bar (Porto) in November 1996.
The Gift masterminded their first record, with the intention of using it as a demo for the media and labels. From this effort, “Digital Atmosphere” was born, a six track enhanced CD featuring interviews and videos, recorded at home but not available in stores. In 1997 the band went on the road, playing at over 30 theatres (many of which sold out) and released video at the end of the tour at Belém Cultural Centre and the Alcobaça Cine-Teatro shows.
Soon after the Digital Atmosphere Tour finished, Ricardo Braga left the band and The Gift was now a four member group once again. In 1998, they established themselves as an independent band forming g their own label, La Folie with the visionary goal of releasing a next record as independents.
Sónia Tavares, The Gift - photo by João Loureiro
In November 1998, the band’s first true record “Vinyl” is released. "Vinyl" combined the potentials of new technologies (samples and synthesizer) with classical instruments (violins, cellos, trumpets, saxophones etc.). “Vinyl” , which was fully funded by The Gift themselves, was named Album of the Year by the Diário de Notícias newspaper a first for a Portuguese independent band and began courting the attention of the labels that previously ignored The Gift’s work. In spite of this, the band chose to stay independent, opting to to use distribution contracts.
From November 1998 through 1999, The band performs over 80 shows, including the biggest Summer Festivals, sells out the most important venues in Lisbon and Porto, wins several awards with the first hit single “Ok! Do You Want Something Simple?” and sells over 35,000 records.
At the end of that year The Gift performs for the first time abroad, in Paris (at La Cigalle) and a few months later participates in the prestigious music fair MIDEM 2000 (in Cannes), taking the first step towards the band’s career outside Portugal.
In early 2000, the band closes the “Vinyl” era, simultaneously releasing the photo book “A Single Diary” (by Ana Pereira) and the video “Single Hand Camera Documentary” (by Gonçalo Covacich), two artistic visions and documentary pieces on the Vinyl Tour. Once again, all the, costs incurred were covered by the band establishing The Gift once and for all as a solid DIY band.
The steps taken abroad continued to gain momentum in June 2000 with the band’s first mini-tour outside Portugal, including dates in Germany (Expo 2000 – Hanover), Macau and again, France (Paris).
At the end of the year The Gift take a break from touring and start writing songs for the next album, some of which are introduced later in 2001 at the Eurosonic Festival in the Netherlands, representing Portugal .
Howie B produces “Film”, The Gift’s second album released again through theirown label, La Folie Records. The band shows its “Film” throughout the country, playing at the Paredes de Coura Festival, the optimushype@meco Festival (sharing the stage with Howie B and Matthew Herbert), at the Interactive TV’s launch in Portugal, live for Sic Radical channel, and radio Antena 3.
“Film” goes Gold at 25,000 units and The Gift win several more awards for its videos (“Waterskin” and “Question of Love” – the album’s first two singles). At the end of 2001, the band was once more invited by Cap Magellan to promote “Film” in Paris.
In March 2002, The Gift flies to the United States to enter the South by Southwest Music & Media Conference in Austin, Texas; in June returned to Paris to perform at the Hôtel de Ville Square; in August Popkomm and Musikfest Am-Ring festivals in Germany; Spain followed in September with shows in Barcelona; in October the band was back in the USA for a short tour in a few north-American cities New York); and in November its first concert in Madrid, Spain, took place.
Of the few performances in Portugal, the Manchester Mad Remixers (which featured The Gift together with Rodrigo Leão and Pedro Oliveira) concerts are a highlight (first at the nightclub Lux, and later at the Frágil and the Clinic bars). This was a project specially created for the "24 Hour Party People" film's premiere.
The band performs in numerous places, Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Bilbao, Vigo, New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, San Diego, London, Caracas, Dunkirk, amongst many other cities.
The Gift was invited to open for The Flaming Lips and Cousteau, and at the end of the year, in December 2003, get an invitation to perform for the recently launched Portuguese MTV, recording one of the first MTV Live shows in the history of MTV Portugal.
In 2004, The Gift celebrated its first 10 years in music and returned to album releases. By the end of the recording sessions, The Gift was faced with a double album, where two distinctive but complementary environments surfaced (one more intimate and introspective, the other more euphoric) and in which duality was the key word. The new relese, the first in three years, is entitled “AM-FM”.
“AM-FM” was released in November 2004 with great expectation from the group's fans, who rapidly sold out the presentation concerts in Alcobaça, Lisbon and Porto (a few days after the band's shows in London, New York and Los Angeles. A week after the retail release, “AM-FM” goes Silver and not long after Gold, selling more than 25, 000 copies.
In 2005 they won the MTV Europe Award for Best Portuguese Act.
The album Fácil de Entender, their first live album was released in 2006. Sells over 25,000 units.
The Gift acted with great success on the Expo 2008 Zaragoza, the day of Portugal at the exhibition.
In 2008 and 2009, The Gift's Sonia Tavares and Nuno Goncalves along with fellow musicians, Paulo Praça [Plaza]and Fernando Ribeiro record and tour with their side project Hoje’s: Amalia Hoje. Amalia Hoje garners triple platinum status selling over 85,000 units and is the Portuguese runaway Album of the Year.
2010 The Gift returns to record Their 5th Album explode and invite Ken Nelson [Coldplay, Gomez, Kings of Convenience, Badly Drawn Boy to produce the Album. The Gift spends three months in Madrid recording
2011 is the year of Explode. Explode is released in Portugal on 1 April and immediately goes to number one in the charts where it holds top ten for over 10 weeks.
Explode is scheduled to be released in North America on 27 September 2011
www.gift.pt
2) THE GIFT are a Symphonic Prog band from, London, formed after Mike Morton (vocals, 6/12 string acoustic guitar, piano and string arrangements) and Leroy James (lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals, samples, effects and programming, piano and string arrangements) came up with the idea of creating a band and making a concept album at the same time.
The concept was devised by Mike Morton and was initially meant to be just one piece.
They brought in other musicians to help with the recording, viz. Jim Thomas (bass), Rod Haverhill (keyboards) and David Storey (drums) and THE GIFT was born.
The band made some initial demos and pressed on with the idea. They sent the demos out to various places and general opinion was positive. So positive in fact, that the Cyclops label (responsible for bands such as Mostly Autumn, Pineapple Thief, Saens and Tr3nity) gave them a deal.
THE GIFT had the desire and conviction to record the album itself. The idea initially was to record one multi-themed piece (a suite called Awake and Dreaming), about “savagery and war and the final triumph of piece” (as their MySpace biography notes), but Cyclops felt it need to be longer and asked them to record a slightly extended finish. This ended up as another suite (of 30 minutes in length), called Fountains of Ash about “domestic violence, again seeking solace in the human spirit” (from their MySpace bio).
Their sound is quite varied, but takes on a definite symphonic rock air to it. They have hard rocking sections, pastoral songs, and “complex time signatures, wild key changes and ambitious concepts.”
Their progressive rock influences include Pink Floyd, Genesis (Gabriel era), Yes, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, Tangerine Dream, Rush and Dream Theater. They also take influence from non-prog bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, The Who, Beatles, Massive Attack, U2, Sex Pistols and Prince.
Their debut album (a double CD) Awake and Dreaming, was released on October 9, 2006, by Cyclops.
3) The Gift is a funeral grunge band from Washington, DC featuring members of Turboslut, Exosus and Tradition Dies Here. Their debut LP "Mostly in Sickness" is out now on Amor y Lucha Records, www.amorylucha.org. Free tracks can be downloaded and streamed at their website, www.thegift.bandcamp.com.
Driving You Slow
The Gift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I
I'll dress my songs cause I care for you
cause I
I will take my time driving you slow
Driving out cause I care for you
but then
someone loves you but I don't care for you
I will get my life
cause I will be your life
oh no
there were times I could care for you
but then
I found that girl that's been smile for you
and I
start to be something
and I
I don't care
why should I care
I will get my love
cause I will be your love
Oh no
Don't look back
Don't look back
Don't look back
Don't look back
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
and I
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
and you can rule my world
you can rule my songs
I will keep my helmet on
And then
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
Oh no
Oh don't, don't, oh don't, don't
Finding someone that cares for you
and I
I will dress my songs cause I care for you
cause I
I'll take my time driving you slow
Driving out cause I care for you
but then
Someone loves you but I don't care for you
and I
You don't care
I don't care
cause I will get my love
and I will be your love
Oh no
Don't look back
Don't look back
Don't look back
Don't look back
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
and I
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
and you
can rule my world
you can rule my songs
I will keep my helmet on
and I
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
Oh no
Oh don't, don't, oh don't, don't
Oh don't, don't, oh don't
Don't look back
Don't look back
Don't look back
Don't look back
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
and I
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
and you
you can rule my world
you can rule my songs
I will keep my helmet on
and I
I will build my world
I will sing my songs
I will keep my helmet on
The lyrics to The Gift's song Driving You Slow express a mixture of feelings towards a lover. The song begins with the singer professing their love and care for their partner, promising to take their time and drive them slow. However, as the song progresses, it becomes apparent that the singer is torn between their love for this person and the fact that someone else loves them too. They feel conflicted and confused, but ultimately decide that they will find their own love and become someone else's life. The repetition of "Don't look back" throughout the song highlights the singer's determination to move on.
The lyrics suggest that the singer has been hurt before and is wary of getting hurt again. The line "I will keep my helmet on" is repeated several times throughout the song, which could symbolize a desire to protect oneself and avoid vulnerability. The use of driving as a metaphor could also represent the journey of a relationship, where it's important to take your time, enjoy the ride, and not rush into things.
Overall, the song seems to convey a sense of resignation and acceptance that things didn't work out with this person, and that it's time to move on and find their own love.
Line by Line Meaning
Finding someone that cares for you
Searching for someone who truly loves and cares for you.
And I
The singer is speaking about himself.
I'll dress my songs cause I care for you
The singer will put passion and sincerity into his music, since he cares for the person addressed in the song.
cause I
The reason the singer will dress his songs is because he cares for the person he's singing to.
I will take my time driving you slow
The singer will be patient and cautious when in a relationship with this person.
Driving out cause I care for you
The singer will take her out on dates and do nice things for her because he cares for her.
But then
However, something changed..
Someone loves you but I don't care for you
There is someone else who loves the person addressed in the song, but he himself doesn't care for her anymore.
and I
The singer is still talking about himself here.
Start to be something
He found something that interests him more than the person he was once in love with.
And I
The singer is still talking about himself here.
Don't care
He does not feel any affection or attraction to the person addressed in the song anymore.
Why should I care
He doesn't see any reason to feel attached anymore.
I will get my love
The singer will find someone else to love.
Cause I will be your love
He will finally be able to give love to someone who deserves it.
Don't look back
The singer is advising to move on and not cling to the past.
I will build my world
He will focus more on his career and personal goals.
I will sing my songs
He will continue to make music and express himself creatively.
I will keep my helmet on
He will stay focused and protect himself from distractions and negativity.
and I
The singer is still speaking about himself.
You can rule my world
He will let someone else take control over his life and decisions.
You can rule my songs
He will follow someone else's guidance and inspiration.
I will keep my helmet on
He will still stay focused and not allow anyone or anything to distract him from his goals.
Oh no
The singer seems worried or bothered at this point.
Oh don't, don't, oh don't, don't
He is trying to convince himself to move on and forget about the person addressed in the song.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: NUNO MIGUEL CANDIDO GONCALVES, SONIA CRISTINA PASCOAL TAVARES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
wiccaluna
Obrigado a todos pelo carinho. Foi um prazer enorme ter feito este trabalho para os THE GIFT. Foi muito bom te-los conhecido e é ainda muito bom ter um feedback tao positivo.
Jecas
Performances autênticas são intemporais. Lots of love and light! 🤍
wiccaluna
@mia obrigado
wiccaluna
@de sousa Silvia obrigado
wiccaluna
@Rui Rodrigues obrigado
wiccaluna
@João C. E. Obrigado
Ricardo Pais
Esta música e todo o trabalho feito por detrás dela, fizeram entrar para a revista americana de música Billboard, pela primeira vez uma banda portuguesa conseguiu chegar a esse nível, grandes The Gift 👏👏🏻🤗👍🏼🌈. OBRIGADO
Rachel Thomas
Estive anos e anos à procura desta música pensando que era uma música de artísticos internacionais!! E agora que descobrir que é desta maravilhosa banda!! Wow! Fantástico! :D
João Correia
Viveu numa cave?
Yuri neto
eu tbm