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."

We Walk
The Ting Tings Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You never alter
You're always you
Everything's breaking
But I don't care
Smash the rest up
Burn it down
Put us in the corner 'cause we're into ideas

Take these edges
They're inside out
No one will notice
They're looking elsewhere
We can't be honest
We call it off
We got the choice if it all goes wrong

We walk, we walk
We walk, we walk

You see the changes
In things that come
It's how you deal with it
When switching off
Make a decision
A precondition
We got the choice if it all goes wrong

We walk, we walk
We walk, we walk

When nothing makes you feel good
Then nothing makes you feel good

Overall Meaning

The Ting Tings's song We Walk is a catchy and upbeat anthem about self-acceptance and staying true to oneself. The verses highlight the chaos of the world around the singer, with everything breaking and being smashed up. However, despite this, the singer remains steadfast in their identity, declaring "You're always you." They acknowledge that they may be perceived as unconventional or outliers by society, being put into "the corner" for their ideas.

The chorus then kicks in with the repetition of "We walk, we walk," which is a nod to the idea of moving forward, no matter the circumstances. The bridge talks about how change is inevitable, and it's all about how one deals with it. Making a decision and having the ability to call it off are important tools for navigating the uncertain waters of life. The song ends with the bittersweet line, "When nothing makes you feel good, then nothing makes you feel good," which is both despairing and uplifting at the same time. It speaks to the idea of accepting sadness or hardships as a natural part of life and finding solace in that acceptance.

Overall, the song is an empowering reminder to stay true to oneself and not be afraid to go against the norm. Despite the chaos and uncertainty of life, the only constant is ourselves, and we hold the power to make choices and move forward.

Line by Line Meaning

You never alter
You remain true to yourself and don't change for others.

You're always you
You stay unique and true to who you are.

Everything's breaking
Everything seems to be falling apart.

But I don't care
But it doesn't affect me, I am still unaffected.

Smash the rest up
Destroy everything else around us.

Burn it down
Set everything on fire.

Put us in the corner 'cause we're into ideas
Others may ignore us, but we continue to generate new ideas.

Take these edges
Take these flaws.

They're inside out
They're flaws that are very noticeable.

No one will notice
But no one will take notice.

They're looking elsewhere
Everyone else is looking somewhere else.

We can't be honest
We can't be truthful.

We call it off
We end it all.

We got the choice if it all goes wrong
We can choose what to do if things don't work out.

We walk, we walk
We keep moving forward.

You see the changes
You notice the changes in your environment.

In things that come
In the things that happen around you.

It's how you deal with it
It's how you cope with the changes that matter.

When switching off
When disconnecting from the world.

Make a decision
Decide what you want to do.

A precondition
Something you need to do first.

When nothing makes you feel good
When nothing seems to make you happy.

Then nothing makes you feel good
And you feel completely dissatisfied.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Katie White, Jules De Martino

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS