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
Inverigo
Thea Gilmore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We are sticks we are stones we are broken bones we are hot air
We are under the guillotine trying to fix our hair
There's computers clicking binary genius into the night
There are formulas, remedies, reasons, there is hindsight
There's the smell of artillery, There's the sky alight
We are gathering pace we are thunder wrapped in cellophane
We are running from the storms of our youth into more of the same
There's a motorway service station on a January day
There's a lunchtime radio show there's the shit that they play
There's the percussion of buttons and keys in a cybercafe
We are some distant TV channel a lesson grown old
We are rhythm and rhyme, partners in crime we are fools gold
We are free as the wind through the trees or so we are told
There's some faded out manuscript paper and an old clarinet
There is cash on the table there's a tapestry alphabet
There's the moon and the tide and all the songs not written yet
There's the moon and the tide and all the songs not written yet
The first stanza of Thea Gilmore's song "Inverigo" paints an image of being lost - like a midnight train that has no destination. The singer, quite possibly a group of people, are described as being like broken sticks and stones. They are hot air underneath the guillotine, trying to fix their hair, as if they are about to be beheaded. The mention of a guillotine adds a sense of danger and impending doom. In this context, it seems that the "we" may refer to a society that is in crisis, but unsure how to fix their problems.
The second stanza introduces the concept of technology - computers clicking with binary genius, formulas, remedies, and hindsight. However, these inventions contrast sharply with the smell of artillery and the sky alight. It seems as though society is at war with itself, with the technology reminiscent of a cold, calculated, and isolated world while the artillery triggers chaos and destruction. The third stanza suggests that the "we" may be on the run, perhaps from their past or from their mistakes. They could be described as moving faster than ever before, but trapped in a never-ending cycle.
The fourth stanza blends together bits of the mundane - like a motorway service station and a lunchtime radio show - with the new world of cyber cafe. The final stanza brings the themes together and describes the "we" as a faded manuscript paper, an old clarinet, cash on the table, a tapestry alphabet, and the moon and tide. These suggest both the past and the present, and offer a sense of hope and opportunity - possibilities for the "we" to move forward.
Line by Line Meaning
We are late like a midnight train that's running nowhere
We are behind schedule like a train that moves at midnight and has no destination
We are sticks we are stones we are broken bones we are hot air
We are frail, we are inanimate, we are injured, we are empty promises
We are under the guillotine trying to fix our hair
We are in a dire situation but still taking time to care about our appearance
There's computers clicking binary genius into the night
There are machines working tirelessly, creating innovative solutions all night long
There are formulas, remedies, reasons, there is hindsight
There are established solutions, cures, and explanations, and the ability to learn from past mistakes
There's the smell of artillery, There's the sky alight
There is the scent of weapons and the sky is brightly lit as a result of a conflict
We are bedrock we're underground we are sharp as the rain
We are steady, deep-rooted and enduring, swift and penetrating
We are gathering pace we are thunder wrapped in cellophane
We are increasing momentum and strength, with a sense of fragility
We are running from the storms of our youth into more of the same
We are trying to escape the difficulties of our past, only to encounter similar problems in the present
There's a motorway service station on a January day
There is a rest stop on a cold winter day along a major highway
There's a lunchtime radio show there's the shit that they play
There is a radio show during the lunch hour that plays terrible music
There's the percussion of buttons and keys in a cybercafe
There is the sound of people pressing buttons and typing in a place where people access the Internet
We are some distant TV channel a lesson grown old
We are like an outdated television program that no one watches anymore, and our message is no longer relevant
We are rhythm and rhyme, partners in crime we are fools gold
We are poetic and harmonious, working together but ultimately valueless
We are free as the wind through the trees or so we are told
We are said to be unencumbered and unrestricted like the breeze through the leaves, but it may not be entirely true
There's some faded out manuscript paper and an old clarinet
There are pages of music that have become worn out over time and an old musical instrument
There is cash on the table there's a tapestry alphabet
There is money lying on a surface along with a decorative textile displaying a set of letters
There's the moon and the tide and all the songs not written yet
There is the natural rhythm of the tides, the moon in the sky, and the infinite potential for new music creations
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
SuzzyStohelit
Well done! Impressive, beautiful-from a big fan!
routeoz02
Ah! Beautiful.
Ian Scott
Quite a pleasant voice and tune but what ghastly lyrics!!
Tearloch
Lyrics are so many things to so many people .. take from it what you will .. but your words strike me as much more ghastly than anything she has ever said .. ghastly is as ghastly does, I suppose .. I love her voice, cherish the way it wraps round my soul ..