Named after a Chinese friend whose name sounds like the Mandarin pronunciat… Read Full Bio ↴Named after a Chinese friend whose name sounds like the Mandarin pronunciation of "bandstand," the Ting Tings -- a scrappy, dance-oriented duo consisting of singer/guitarist Katie White and drummer Jules De Martino -- formed in the Salford district of Manchester, England in 2006. Prior to forming the group, the pair worked together in 2001 when White was in the all-female punk-pop group TKO and De Martino wrote some songs for them. Later the pair reunited, and with another friend formed the trio Eskimo Kiss, which signed to Mercury Records but disbanded, in part due to changing personnel at the label. De Martino and White regrouped, working on their own music and others' at Salford's music commune The Islington Mill. Quickly signed to the local indie label Switchflicker Records, the Ting Tings released their debut single, "That's Not My Name," in the spring of 2007. Following the limited-edition, tour-only single "Fruit Machine," the Ting Tings signed to major-label Columbia later that year. The flipside of the Switchflicker single, "Great DJ," was released as the duo's debut Columbia single in March 2008, followed by the reissue of "That's Not My Name" with a new exclusive B-side remix.

"That's Not My Name" rose to the top of the U.K. charts in May 2008, the same month that the duo's debut album, We Started Nothing, appeared. The Ting Tings spent the rest of 2008 and a large part of 2009 touring in support of the album, which eventually sold over two million copies worldwide, won the 2009 Ivor Novello Award for Best Album, and earned the group a Best New Artist Grammy nomination that December. Early in 2010, De Martino and White moved to Berlin to work on songs for their second album. Inspired by the city's atmosphere and the cold weather, they went in a darker, more electronic direction with their new songs. In August 2010, the Ting Tings offered a taste of their new material, premiering the single "Hands" -- which was mixed by Calvin Harris -- on BBC Radio 1 and officially releasing it that October. After extensive touring and over eight months recording in Germany and Spain, in March 2012 the Ting Tings offered their sophomore album, Sounds from Nowheresville, a collection of songs inspired by the exuberant freedom of the Beastie Boys' classic Paul's Boutique. Two years later, third album Super Critical surfaced. Its October release date was preceded by the April release of first single "Wrong Club."

Keep your head.
The Ting Tings Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The room's green
It's got writing on the wall
It's got one chair
It's kinda small

Dirty shoes
Running past the door.
And then you go round

Beat yourself up,

[Chorus]
Ten minutes to go,
And I wanna go home
Ten minutes to go,
Yeah, I've got to go home
Ten minutes to go,
And the air, it don't feel clear
Everybody disappear, you're
In it on your own

Fourteen,
Intimidated, and she's just fourteen
She's getting pulled from the opposite side,
Until it breaks down
Blame it on the wrong crowd
Stay, more make up, hair dye

[Chorus]
Ten minutes to go,
You know she should have gone home
Ten minutes to go,
Yeah you should have gone home
Ten minutes to go,
And the air, it don?t feel clear,
Everybody disappear, you?re
In it on your own

You can't sleep,
You know it's over but you just can?t sleep
You've gotta face it,
Gotta go outside
And do the day-walk
Living with the lights off,
Ain't nobody home

[Chorus]
Ten minutes to go,
You know you wanna stay home
Ten minutes to go,
Yeah you wanna stay home
Ten minutes to go,
And the air, it don't feel clear,
Everybody disappear, you're
In it on your own

Keep your head
Keep your head
Just keep your head
Keep your
Head

You wanna keep, ah
Keep it on the right side
If you know your gonna be coming off
It's gonna make you open your eyes
I said, now, open your eyes
You know it
You wanna keep, ah
Keep it on the low side
Yes you gonna see ten minutes to go
And your keeping it heads up
Keep it low, be right
Push it kinda low

So, open your eyes.

Overall Meaning

The song "Keep Your Head" by The Ting Tings is a message about perseverance and finding the strength to keep going when everything feels overwhelming. The song begins by describing a small room covered in writing and dirty shoes running past the door. The singer feels isolated and overwhelmed, and they spend the first verse beating themselves up. The chorus reinforces this feeling of isolation, with the repeated line "everybody disappear, you're in it on your own." In the second verse, the singers describe a fourteen-year-old girl who is being pulled in different directions by opposing forces, eventually ending up in the wrong crowd. The chorus is repeated again with the line "you know she should have gone home." In the final verse, the singer describes the feeling of not being able to sleep because they know something is over but they can't quite let it go. The final chorus is uplifting, encouraging listeners to keep their heads up and keep moving forward.

Overall, the song is a powerful message about perseverance and finding the strength to keep going even when everything feels overwhelming. The lyrics focus on the idea that we are often alone in our struggles, but we have to keep moving forward anyway. The repeated chorus reinforces this message, reminding listeners that they are in it on their own but encouraging them to keep pushing ahead.

Line by Line Meaning

The room's green
The room is painted green

It's got writing on the wall
There's some writing on the wall

It's got one chair
There's only one chair in the room

It's kinda small
The room is quite small

Dirty shoes
There are some dirty shoes

Running past the door.
Someone is running past the door

And then you go round
You walk around

Beat yourself up,
You blame yourself

Ten minutes to go,
There are ten minutes left

And I wanna go home
I want to go home

And the air, it don't feel clear
The air feels heavy or uncomfortable

Everybody disappear, you're
Everyone leaves, and you are left alone

In it on your own
You are on your own

Fourteen,
A person is 14 years old

Intimidated, and she's just fourteen
She feels scared, and she's only 14

She's getting pulled from the opposite side,
She's caught in the middle of two opposing forces

Until it breaks down
Until something collapses

Blame it on the wrong crowd
Attribute the problem to the wrong group of people

Stay, more make up, hair dye
She stays and tries to improve her appearance with more makeup and hair dye

You can't sleep,
You can't fall asleep

You know it's over but you just can?t sleep
You realize something is finished, but you still can't sleep

Gotta go outside
You need to go outside

And do the day-walk
You need to go outside and keep yourself busy

Living with the lights off,
Life is dark or depressing

Ain't nobody home
Nobody is home

Keep your head
Stay positive

Just keep your head
Keep your head up

You wanna keep, ah
You want to maintain

Keep it on the right side
Make sure you do things the right way

If you know your gonna be coming off
If you know you're going to fail

It's gonna make you open your eyes
It will help you see the reality of the situation

You wanna keep, ah
You want to maintain

Keep it on the low side
Don't draw too much attention to yourself

Yes you gonna see ten minutes to go
You're going to see ten minutes left

And your keeping it heads up
You're staying positive

Keep it low, be right
Stay calm and do the right thing

Push it kinda low
Take it easy

So, open your eyes.
So, pay attention to what's happening around you.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KIRK FRANKLIN, PHILLIP BAILEY, MAURICE WHITE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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