Gilmore is said to have become interested in music as a result of her father's record collection, which included work by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, and Tom Waits, among others. At 16 she left home and began working in a recording studio where she was discovered by her now long-time collaborator, producer and sometime co-songwriter Nigel Stonier, who became her husband in a ceremony in October 2005.
Thea recorded her debut album aged just 17 and then entered a spell of productivity which, in the four and a half years from January 1999 to August 2003, saw her record and release six albums including four "official" releases and two cult albums which were only intended for internet release but which have long since been available in the shops. In 2001, with the release of Rules For Jokers, she hit some kind of national nerve and garnered some attendant airplay but it wasn't until 2003's Avalanche that Thea finally began to make significant waves. Avalanche became Radio 2's Album Of The Week and spawned two hit singles including her first certifiable Top 40 hit Juliet. Thea has gathered countless plaudits over the years - "the best British singer songwriter of the last ten years - and then some" (Uncut), "so good its scary" (Mojo), and "Gilmore is already in a league of her own" (Q) immediately spring to mind - but Avalanche was truly a quantum leap forward and "a breakthrough record" (Times) to boot. And you can bet that Thea remains the only artiste to have her under-$50 video shown on Top Of The Pops.
Increasing radio support and acclaim from the music press led to a lucrative tour of the US in 2004, in support of legendary folksinger Joan Baez. During this time, Gilmore was diagnosed with clinical depression and also split from her personal relationship with Nigel Stonier after seven years, although they continued touring and working together.
In 2005, Gilmore continued touring commitments, for the first time not releasing a new album (the covers collection Loft Music was widely released during 2004). In October 2005, she and Stonier, who, in the light of Gilmore's depression diagnosis, re-started their personal relationship, married in a ceremony near their home in Cheshire.
Gilmore finally returned to recording with the release of Harpo's Ghost in August 2006, after a three-year absence of new material. The album was once again acclaimed in the music press and UK radio lent their support to the single "Cheap Tricks." Gilmore has been touted by Uncut magazine as "the best British singer-songwriter of the last 10 years...and then some" and has gained steady acclaim for each of her albums.
On November 14th, 2006, Gilmore gave birth to her first child with Stonier, a son named Egan, having conducted a UK tour in the autumn while heavily pregnant.
Thea Gilmore writes lyrics that somehow combine awesome poetic grace together with a 21st century barbed undercurrent. She also delivers razor sharp missives on life, love, sex, death, politics and wars (both personal and global) and all with an achingly-beautiful delivery which melts hearts in an instant. Someone once remarked that Thea is a hellraiser with a voice like honey and if you get to meet her you will know what this means. Barely out of her teenage daze, Thea was being compared to everyone from Joni Mitchell to Ryan Adams and Tom Waits and now at 31, Thea is going to make you think sweet somethings all over again.
www.theagilmore.net
Concrete
Thea Gilmore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The sound of babies crying in a hospital ward
Oh, like a bed of rushes, they spread love out on the concrete floor
Names, and dates, and faces I really can't remember anymore
We could hardly tell the difference between one year and another
Sun like pouring whiskey, snow like shedding skins of lovers
And, I grew up with magic; free and wild as bindweed
I'm the girl that bought a round-trip cross the Rubicon
And I'm not sure that even I know where I'm coming from
Sentimental tango when I was just fourteen
I could hear Astaire and Rogers tap their way across the screen
Oh, bullied and belittled, until the sun set in the concrete
I wore my sister's black skirt, all dressed up for Halloween
We could hardly tell the difference between the shouting and the quiet
It was the path of least resistance to stage my own private riot
And the walls tumbled like Babel, down around my feet
Rhyme came in deliverance rising through the wreckage and the concrete
I'm the girl that bought a round-trip cross the Rubicon
I'm not sure that even I know where I'm coming from
For a girl who loves her words, yeah, she loves her silence more
Found a better example of what hearts and tongues are for
There is truth in your arm's love, there is truth in this song
There is truth in the concrete and the nails that our lives are built upon
Thea Gilmore's song "Concrete" is a poignant reflection on the passing of time, the loss of memory, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. The opening lines, "November in a rainstorm, the truest truth I ever heard, the sound of babies crying in a hospital ward," set the tone for the rest of the song. It is a deeply personal and emotional track that speaks to the universality of human experience. The image of spreading love on a concrete floor is a powerful metaphor for the fragility of life and the need for connection in a sometimes harsh world.
The second verse, "We could hardly tell the difference between one year and another, sun like pouring whiskey, snow like shedding skins of lovers, and I grew up with magic; free and wild as bindweed, pushing for the boundary, pushing through the edges of the concrete," speaks to the sense of timelessness and transience that runs throughout the song. Thea speaks to the idea of growing up with a sense of wonder and possibility, even in the face of hardship and adversity. This theme is further explored in the bridge, "I'm the girl that bought a round-trip cross the Rubicon, and I'm not sure that even I know where I'm coming from," which speaks to the idea of taking risks and living life on your own terms, even if the outcome is uncertain.
Overall, "Concrete" is a song that speaks to the human experience in a profound and moving way. It is a testament to Thea Gilmore's talent as a songwriter and her ability to connect with her audience on a deep and emotional level.
Line by Line Meaning
November in a rainstorm, the truest truth I ever heard
I heard the truest truth I've ever heard during a November rainstorm.
The sound of babies crying in a hospital ward
I heard the sound of babies crying in a hospital ward.
Oh, like a bed of rushes, they spread love out on the concrete floor
They spread love out on the concrete floor like it was a bed of rushes.
Names, and dates, and faces I really can't remember anymore
I can't remember the names, dates, and faces anymore.
We could hardly tell the difference between one year and another
It was hard to distinguish between one year and another.
Sun like pouring whiskey, snow like shedding skins of lovers
The sun was like pouring whiskey, and the snow was like shedding skins of lovers.
And, I grew up with magic; free and wild as bindweed
I grew up feeling free and magical, like wild bindweed.
Pushing for the boundary, pushing through the edges of the concrete
I pushed for the boundary, breaking through the edges of the concrete.
I'm the girl that bought a round-trip cross the Rubicon
I'm the girl who bought a round-trip ticket crossing the Rubicon.
And I'm not sure that even I know where I'm coming from
I'm not even sure where I come from.
Sentimental tango when I was just fourteen
I danced a sentimental tango when I was only fourteen years old.
I could hear Astaire and Rogers tap their way across the screen
I could hear Astaire and Rogers tapping their way across the screen.
Oh, bullied and belittled, until the sun set in the concrete
I was bullied and belittled until the sun set in the concrete.
I wore my sister's black skirt, all dressed up for Halloween
I dressed up for Halloween wearing my sister's black skirt.
We could hardly tell the difference between the shouting and the quiet
It was hard to tell the difference between shouting and quiet.
It was the path of least resistance to stage my own private riot
It was easy to stage my own private riot.
And the walls tumbled like Babel, down around my feet
The walls tumbled like Babel, falling down around my feet.
Rhyme came in deliverance rising through the wreckage and the concrete
Rhyme came as a deliverance through the wreckage and concrete.
For a girl who loves her words, yeah, she loves her silence more
As a girl who loves words, she loves her silence even more.
Found a better example of what hearts and tongues are for
She found a better example of what hearts and tongues are for.
There is truth in your arm's love, there is truth in this song
There is truth in the love of your arms and in this song.
There is truth in the concrete and the nails that our lives are built upon
There is truth in the concrete and nails that our lives are built upon.
Contributed by Abigail H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.