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
We Built A Monster
Thea Gilmore Lyrics
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In the corner of the city where the markets crashed
There are boxes of the lonely here and fires of hope
We built a monster
We built a monster
You can take a bit of red a bit of white and blue
From across the Atlantic laying trails to you
We built a monster
We built a monster
This thing can cross oceans in its seven league boots
It can chew the money tree right down to its roots
The ship of a state can go under in minutes
You don't know the flood is coming until you're swimming in it.
It ain't come from the hungry, it ain't come from the bored
It ain't tramping out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
It spins like a tequila worm inside all of us
We built a monster
We built a monster
It can breathe its greed into innocent souls
It can raise up armies, it can blow 'em full of holes
It can dress for occasion if occasion demands
There is power in the chase, there is power in the hand
So the city flickers on like a reeperbahn night
Hissing like a wildcat just about to fight
And it mutters that we rule by ladders of degree
We built a monster
We built a monster
We built a monster
We built a monster
Thea Gilmore's song "We Built a Monster" describes the creation of a monstrous entity that has taken over the world. The song is a commentary on the greed and corrupt nature of society, which has led to the creation of this monster. The lyrics suggest that the monster has been built through a combination of ambition, power, and manipulation, and is now consuming everything in its path.
The opening lines describe the scene in a city where everything has come crashing down. The boxes of lonely people and fires of hope suggest a bleak and desperate situation. The lyrics then refer to the creation of the monster, using imagery of red, white, and blue trails stretching across the Atlantic. The song suggests that the monster has been built through a combination of brute force and charm, and that it has the power to cross oceans in its seven-league boots.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become increasingly ominous. The monster is described as being capable of "chewing the money tree right down to its roots" and "breathing its greed into innocent souls." It can raise armies and "blow 'em full of holes," and is dressed for occasion if occasion demands. The lyrics suggest that the monster is all-encompassing and has the power to consume anything in its path.
The last verse of the song gives a sense of the world that the monster has created. The city is described as flickering like a reeperbahn night and hissing like a wildcat just about to fight. The lyrics suggest that the monster has created a society ruled by ladders of degree, where power and position are everything. The final repetition of the phrase "We built a monster" suggests a sense of hopelessness, as if the monster has taken on a life of its own and cannot be tamed.
Line by Line Meaning
Stretched between the lamplight and the cigarette ash
In the dark and depressed corner of the city, with just a flickering light and ash from a cigarette, we started something
In the corner of the city where the markets crashed
Our monster was created in a place of economic turmoil
There are boxes of the lonely here and fires of hope
We came from a place of despair, but with a spark of hope
We built a monster
We created something dangerous and powerful
You can take a bit of red a bit of white and blue
We took ingredients from different places and cultures
From across the Atlantic laying trails to you
We brought these ingredients from far away lands to create something new
A little flash of lightning and some bully boy charm
We added some aggression and charisma to our creation
This thing can cross oceans in its seven league boots
Our creation is so powerful it can overcome great obstacles with ease
It can chew the money tree right down to its roots
Our creation can destroy the foundation of wealth and power
The ship of a state can go under in minutes
Our creation has the power to bring down established systems and institutions
You don't know the flood is coming until you're swimming in it.
Our creation can bring about disasters and chaos that are hard to predict and control
It ain't come from the hungry, it ain't come from the bored
Our creation is not a result of poverty or idleness
It ain't tramping out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
Our creation is not a product of hardship and suffering
It spins like a tequila worm inside all of us
Our creation is a part of human nature, lurking inside everyone
We built a monster
We are responsible for the creation of something dangerous and powerful
It can breathe its greed into innocent souls
Our creation can corrupt even the purest of hearts and souls
It can raise up armies, it can blow 'em full of holes
Our creation has the power to create armies and destroy them with ease
It can dress for occasion if occasion demands
Our creation can adapt and change its form to suit its needs
There is power in the chase, there is power in the hand
Our creation is driven by the desire for power and control
So the city flickers on like a reeperbahn night
The city continues on, like a night on the Reeperbahn, full of chaos and energy
Hissing like a wildcat just about to fight
The city is full of tension and aggression, ready to erupt into violence
And it mutters that we rule by ladders of degree
Society is obsessed with hierarchy and status
We built a monster
We are responsible for the creation of something dangerous and powerful
We built a monster
We are responsible for the creation of something dangerous and powerful
We built a monster
We are responsible for the creation of something dangerous and powerful
We built a monster
We are responsible for the creation of something dangerous and powerful
Lyrics © Global Talent Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: MIKE SCOTT, THEA GILMORE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind