Dolby promoted himself as a kind of mad scientist, an egghead that had successfully harnessed the power of synthesizers and samplers, using them to make catchy pop and electro-funk. Before he launched his solo career, Dolby had already worked as a studio musician, technician, and songwriter. After starting out as a teenaged live sound man, mixing The Fall, The Members and others using a PA he built himself, he formed the arty post-punk band Camera Club (also known as Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club) with Bruce Woolley, Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn and Matthew Seligman. Within a year, he had left the group and joined Lene Lovich’s backing band and gave her his song "New Toy", which became a British hit in 1981. That same year, he released his first solo single, "Urges", on the English independent label Armageddon. By the autumn, he had signed with Parlophone and released "Europa and the Pirate Twins", which nearly cracked the UK Top 40.
Dolby started playing synthesizer on sessions for other artists in 1982. That year, he played keyboards on Def Leppard’s Pyromania and Joan Armatrading’s Walk Under Ladders. His most distinctive session credit is that keyboard line after the chorus on Foreigner’s "Waiting for a Girl Like You". In that eventful summer, Dolby also collaborating with New York rappers Whodini to create "Magic’s Wand" – a pivotal early hip hop track (the first rap single to shift 1 million copies), and it also single-handedly started the new jack swing movement.
Even with all of these achievements, 1982 was most noteworthy for the release of Dolby’s first solo album, The Golden Age of Wireless, in the summer of 1982, the landmark album reaching number 13. "Windpower", the first single from the record, became his first Top 40 UK hit in the late summer. Other cuts from the album include "The Airwaves", and "One of Our Submarines", a meditation on the futility of empire.
In January of 1983, Dolby released an EP, Blinded by Science, which includes what would become his most well-known track, "She Blinded Me with Science" featuring a cameo vocal appearance by the notorious British eccentric Magnus Pike, who also appeared in the song’s video. "She Blinded Me with Science" was a minor hit in England, but the EP and the single became a major American hit in 1983, thanks to MTV’s heavy airplay of the video. Eventually, the song reached number five on the US charts and it was included on a resequenced and reissued version of The Golden Age of Wireless, which peaked at number 13 in America.
The Flat Earth, Dolby's second album, appeared in early 1984, and harkens back to a time when songs mattered more than the video, even as MTV was discovering its strength. Opening with "Dissidents", conjuring up images of blacklisted authors and ugly snow, gray from oppression, with Matthew Seligman’s bass at the fore, lavish, growling, popping through octaves, funk-a-fied and twinkling with harmonics throughout the album. The title track is an R&B daydream of piano and Motown stabs of rhythm guitar. "Screen Kiss" has a similarly ethereal quality, and the lyrics are lush with imagery. The cover of Dan Hicks’ 1967 "I Scare Myself" is a balmy jazz club cocktail – faithfully nostalgic, right down to a bittersweet trombone solo from Peter Thomas. "Hyperactive" is one part bizarre to two parts infectious; guest vocalist Adele Bertei fuels the fire to what was already destined to be a memorable diversion beyond the reach of Top 40. The single became Thomas’ biggest UK hit, peaking at number 17.
During 1985, Dolby collaborated with artists including Stevie Wonder, Dusty Springfield and Herbie Hancock; and notched up some more high-concept production credits. George Clinton's Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends, Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen, and Joni Mitchell’s Dog Eat Dog were all midwifed by Dolby, who also was musical director for David Bowie at Live Aid. Also in 1985, he began composing film scores, starting with Fever Pitch. In 1986, he composed the scores for Gothic and Howard the Duck, for which he credited himself as Dolby's Cube. (That credit led to a lawsuit from the Dolby Labs, who eventually prohibited the musician from using the name "Dolby" in conjunction with any other name than "Thomas.")
Aliens Ate My Buick, Dolby's long-delayed third album, appeared in 1988 to a mixed reaction, although "Airhead" became a minor British hit. That same year, Dolby married actress Kathleen Beller. For the rest of the late 80s and early 90s, Dolby continued to score films, producing and building his own computer equipment.
1992’s Astronauts and Heretics, features guest stars such as Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Ofra Haza. The album opens with "I Love You Goodbye", one of Thomas’ most evocative songs, and ends with "Beauty of a Dream" which is also a contender for that honour. Highlights found inbetween include "Cruel" (a duet with Fairground Attraction’s Eddie Reader), "I Live in a Suitcase" and "Close But No Cigar".
The following year, Dolby founded the computer software company Headspace in Silicon Valley, releasing The Virtual String Quartet as its first program, and also pioneered technology for music on mobile phones. For the rest of the 90s, Headspace occupied most of Dolby's time and energy. In 1994, he released The Gate to the Mind’s Eye, a soundtrack to the animated short film Mind’s Eye. Also that year, Capitol released the greatest-hits collection, Retrospectacle.
Thirteen years after Astronauts and Heretics, Dolby returned to live performance in 2006 with his solo Sole Inhabitant tour, which covered North America and the UK, with Thomas recreating the highlights of his earlier work from scratch, with a camera mounted like a miner’s lamp on his head, and a big screen showing the view from the artist, turning what would be a fairly dull one-man-and-a-rack-of-synths into a fascinating audio visual experience and an unintended masterclass for music technology students.
UK indie label Invisible Hands Music released a CD and DVD box set recorded on the Sole Inhabitant tour. These fresh and modern reinterpretations of Thomas’ work to date precedes a new studio album due in 2008, which is as-yet untitled, but does include a song about Britney’s ex Kevin Federline (“K-Fed”) who used an uncleared sample from "She Blinded Me with Science" and did not respond to legal approaches until a ‘cease-and-desist’ was posted in the comments field of his MySpace page. That song is called "My Karma Hit Your Dogma", and bodes well for a mighty return to form, combining Thomas’ humour and intelligence with a unique musical vision.
2011 saw Dolby get busy by returning with a new studio album A Map of the Floating City on 29 October. The album is broken down into three genres of Urbanoia's tales of city experiences; Amerikana as Dolby's take on his years living in America and it's roots music; and Oceanea: songs of life by the sea in his home country of England. The music was debuted first as download EPs to Dolby's online community and then previewed by a transmedia interactive game also called the FloatingCity.com.
Thomas Dolby is taking the music back on tour as a solo artist and with varying line-ups of bands, doing two tours of the UK in 2011, and has his first trip to Australia in February 2012 followed by dates in Japan. In March Dolby kicks off the Time-Capsule.tv tour at the SxSW Festival in Austin playing dates in USA and Canada through April. He will have a trailer parked at venues on his tour where you can produce a 30 second video offering words of wisdom to whoever will be walking the earth in the future. Dolby wants to give people a chance to “explain to an alien visitor what went wrong with our civilization. Our species may not be around on this planet much longer, so you might as well leave a welcome message for the next guys.”
The Flat Earth
Thomas Dolby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Any shape at all
Dark and cold or bright and warm
Long or thin or small
But it's home and all I ever had
And maybe why for me the Earth is flat
Friends have often asked me why
I'm sensitive about my height
I would look around and say
Hmm, I thought I was immune
All my life I have waited
to be given any word
It was screaming to be heard
Please remember
The Earth can be any shape you want it
Any shape at all
Dark and cold or bright and warm
Long or thin or small
But it's home and all I ever had
and maybe why for me the Earth is flat
Turn the island to the storm tonight
Then when they spill the demon seed
Turn and face into the wind
All along you still believed
Believed you were immune
And if love is all you're missing
Look into your heart
Is anybody home?
Please remember
The Earth can be any shape you want it
Any in the world
But don't you point that raygun at me
I might just explode
There are stones buried in your soul
And only a fool would blame the death of rock and roll, yeah
And in time you'll come to understand
The flat old Earth is in your gentle hands
"The Flat Earth" by Thomas Dolby is a song that speaks to the underlying connection that exists between human beings and the world they inhabit. The lyrics speak to the idea that any shape and size can be assigned to the planet, but ultimately, it remains the only home that man has ever known, and it is this deep familiarity that makes it a special place. The line 'Maybe why for me the Earth is flat' is often interpreted as a cynical commentary on the lack of imagination shown by humanity when it comes to protecting the planet. It is a warning that humans have taken the Earth for granted, and their disregard for it could bring about their eventual destruction.
The second verse has Thomas Dolby drawing from his personal experiences in life. He reveals that he is self-conscious about his height, and he thought he was immune to being judged based on his appearance. However, he was wrong, and his vulnerability is something he has had to navigate through life. The line, "All my life I have waited to be given any word, it was screaming to be heard, please remember", can be interpreted as a plea to remember the importance of empathy and understanding between human beings. It is a call to be kind.
In conclusion, "The Flat Earth" is a song that highlights the bond between human beings and their planet. It is a plea to be kind, empathetic, and imaginative when it comes to protecting the environment. The lyrics reveal a deep-seated vulnerability that humans hide behind a veneer of strength, and Dolby's call to remember is an attempt to shatter that façade.
Line by Line Meaning
The Earth can be any shape you want it
The Earth is a versatile entity that can take any form based on your preference
Any shape at all
The Earth can be moulded into any conceivable form
Dark and cold or bright and warm
The Earth can be frigid and gloomy or vibrant and pleasant
Long or thin or small
The Earth can be expansive, slender or petite
But it's home and all I ever had
Earth is man's dwelling place, his permanent abode, and everything he's got
And maybe why for me the Earth is flat
For the singer, Earth is flat because it is his only true home
Friends have often asked me why
The singer has been asked multiple times by friends regarding his behavior and attitudes
I'm sensitive about my height
His physical stature is a matter of concern for him
I would look around and say
He has a tendency to avoid answering that question
Hmm, I thought I was immune
The artist believed he was impervious at some point
All my life I have waited
The singer has been waiting a long time
to be given any word
He has been eager for guidance, any sign of affection or approval from anyone
It was screaming to be heard
His desire for recognition and validation was so intense that it was like a scream coming from within him
Please remember
He is pleading with someone to recall something significant
Turn the island to the storm tonight
A call to action, urging the listener to face their fears
Then when they spill the demon seed
When the unsavory, wicked aspects of one's character become apparent
Turn and face into the wind
Facing adversity head-on, standing up to the elements, battling the odds in tempestuous times
All along you still believed
Despite all the challenges, the person in question has always maintained their sense of faith
Believed you were immune
They thought they were invincible, able to withstand anything
And if love is all you're missing
If the person in question lacks compassion and empathy
Look into your heart
An appeal to introspection, a plea for them to explore their feelings
Is anybody home?
An inquiry into whether there's still a capacity for love, care and concern
But don't you point that raygun at me
An admonishment to someone who is using dangerous methods or weapons to achieve their goals
I might just explode
An implicit warning that their actions may have severe consequences
There are stones buried in your soul
A way of informing someone that they are carrying a heavy burden, a deep-rooted trauma that they need to address
And only a fool would blame the death of rock and roll, yeah
An instance of figurative language, where the demise of rock and roll is symbolic of larger societal issues
And in time you'll come to understand
A belief that with patience and maturity, the person in question will come to see things in a different light
The flat old Earth is in your gentle hands
An indication that the Earth's fate is up to us, our responsibility to protect and preserve the planet
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Thomas Dolby
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind