Later, he told this episode to Knack as: "When I entered the Rock Rally, I even hardly knew what that was. I thought it was a presentation of big bands that already have at least one cd. I had little material then, a few hoempapa-tunes, but my brother said : "you've got at least one song that kicks ass, take that". I then recorded a tape and sent it in, without expectations. And then I ended up becoming second in the final, I went crazy. But well, since then I've been doing my homework and I realised what has happened to all the bands that have come second in the history of the rock rally: none of them has any stature now. So it doesn't hurt to put things into perspective."
As a promotion of his one-man band, he recorded a first single in the fall of 1996 (Like her vacation), and did a number of performances, alone in clubs and on a small tour with the The Sands & Sheffield Wednesday. Somewhere in the middle of all that, he grew tired of the idea of being looked upon as a rocking troubadour (the belgian Billy Bragg, was the most often heard comparison) and realized the solo-formula had some serious limitations. "It was never my intention of remaining a solo-artist forever. I only wanted to try out the songs on my own. I was finding myself, and I know that it was not a bad idea to continue on my own in the slipstream of the rock-rally publicity. Until I grew tired of the limitations. Unless you have a very well-known repertoire, it obviously is almost impossible to keep the audience interesed for more than 10 minutes."
In March of 1997, he found in Desmond van Weddingen on drums and in Wim Janssens on the bass two "compagnons de route", and together they started working on a first CD: Tom Helsen had become a band. The attention to the song-material had remained, but with the trio-formula the sound had of course changed completely, and almost all of the songs from the solo-period had been swept overboard. As it was said in in the bio in 1998: "Gone is the Billy Bragg of the Low Countries, instead here's a band that brings you crystal clear guitarpopsongs in the rich tradition of for example Buffalo Tom". Another commenter said "nice melodic songs with a tasteful accompaniment of guitar, bass and rums. If you want to stick a label onto it, Tom Helsen is the perfect crossbreed of The Counting Crows and Buffalo Tom". Or as gvn said in Humo : "The debut of Tom Helsen is not the world-class album that will put your senses into "astonishing"-mode, but it just contains 11 fragile songs (of which at least 7 will not lose their appeal by next month), which are played with an enthusiasm that makes you suspect they will be even better live. And then you hear Tom Helsen live - that voice! - and you are certain. It's that kind of an album. At least that's something". The songs "All you broken homers" & "Great American Sex Scandal" also were released a single, but didn't cause much upheaval.
Very calmly, the band (nowa quartet with Geert Peeters on bass) continued working on a second CD, that was released with much delays in the fall of 2000. In the meantime, the only sign of life had been the beautiful single "Tom is doing Great", and that also became the title of the full-CD. The reason for the delay was that a number of the songs had been totally re-arranged with the aid and cooperation of Joost Zweegers of Novastar. The single "When Marvin Calls" had all the quality that cooperation promised, and became the breaktrough for the band. Tom about this in Humo : "Joost has taught me that I was focusing on the wrong thing in songwriting: I was writing stories with a beginning and an end, but I neglected the struchtur of the songs ... I've been making music in a very naieve way from the start : I just did it, without thinking. The best is to combine these two ways as Joost does: to make music that is very sensitive and has the goal to touch people, but also: knowing how to do that and how to bring about those effects". The result was an album with 10 storng songs with a rather melancholic undertone, and with more evidence of a unique voice than on the first cd.
The ambition : "When the first album came out, I really had the urge to score, to have success and sell a lot of records so I would be able to live off my music and do 100% what I wanted to. Now I have a part-time job so I can make music in a much more relaxed manner. If I gain something from a gig or so, it's a nice extra. ... I only would really like to have a really huge budget for my next album, to make everything sound exactly as I want it to ... I've been on a melancholic trip for the past two years, but these last times I've really felt like starting to rock again".
Band members :
- Tom Helsen (vocals, guitar, piano)
- Wim Janssens (vocals, guitar, keyboard)
- Geert Peeters (bass)
- Desmond van Weddingen (drums)
Every Little Thing
Tom Helsen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You 'n I gonna get close enough tonight
Gotta make sure to everyone
I'll keep you satisfied
I wanna be more than just a number
Oh, I gotta be more than just a face
I wanna be just like the ones you said
And I want you
And you told me
Not to worry about
Every little, every little thing
You see, it's no good for me
But you will never know, never know
I gotta be smart enough to make it
I gotta be working to the bone
I gotta be faster than lightning
So I better go
I gotta be more than just a...
I gotta put everything in place
I wanna make sure that you and everyone
Get the bourne these days
And I want you
You told me
Not to worry about
Every little, every little thing
You see, it's no good for me
But you will never know, never know
Gotta be rich enough to kiss, yeah yeah
I gonna get close enough tonight, yeah
It's gonna be stranger than fiction, oh
And now you know, ey
And I want you
You told me
Not to worry about
Every little, every little thing
You see, it's no good for me
You see, it's no good for me yeah,
And I want you
You told me
Not to worry about
Every little, every little thing
Every little thing you see
The song "Every Little Thing" by Tom Helsen seems to be about the pressures of trying to impress someone and be the best version of yourself that you can be. The singer wants to be more than just a number or a face, and he is determined to work hard to make sure that he can provide for the person he is trying to impress. He feels the pressure to be wealthy, smart, and successful so that he can kiss this person and get close to them. He also wants to make sure that he keeps this person satisfied and that everyone else sees him in a positive light.
Despite the pressures, the person that he wants to impress tells him not to worry about every little thing. It seems like this person may not care about all of the external factors that the singer feels the need to focus on. Despite this encouragement, the singer is still determined to be the best version of himself that he can be, likely because he wants to impress this person so badly.
Overall, the song seems to be a commentary on the pressures of trying to impress someone and the lengths that people will go to in order to be perceived in the best possible light. It suggests that sometimes, external factors don't matter as much as we think they do, and that we should focus on being true to ourselves rather than trying to be something that we're not.
Line by Line Meaning
Gotta be rich enough to kiss
I need to have enough money to impress you and show you I'm worthy of your affection
You 'n I gonna get close enough tonight
Tonight is the chance to get physically intimate and form a closer bond
Gotta make sure to everyone I'll keep you satisfied
I have to prove to everyone, including you, that I can satisfy your needs and make you happy
I wanna be more than just a number
I don't want to be just another person in your life with no significance
Oh, I gotta be more than just a face
I don't want my looks to be the only thing you appreciate about me
I wanna be just like the ones you said With everything in place
I want to live up to your standards and be the kind of person you find desirable
And I want you
I desire your love and attention
And you told me Not to worry about Every little, every little thing
You reassured me that every minor detail doesn't matter and I should focus on the bigger picture
You see, it's no good for me
I understand that obsessing over every little thing is not healthy for me
But you will never know, never know
Despite this, I will continue to worry about every little thing because I can't help it
I gotta be smart enough to make it
I need to be intelligent and capable to succeed in life
I gotta be working to the bone
I have to work extremely hard and make sacrifices to achieve my goals
I gotta be faster than lightning
I need to be quick and efficient in everything I do in order to accomplish my dreams
So I better go
I need to get started on working hard and pursuing my goals
I gotta put everything in place
I need to have my life in order and make sure everything is going according to plan
I wanna make sure that you and everyone Get the bourne these days
I want to impress you and make sure you, as well as others, notice my success and accomplishments
Gonna be stranger than fiction, oh
My life will be unique and exciting, like something out of a novel
And now you know, ey
You are now aware of my ambitious goals and desires
You see, it's no good for me yeah,
Again, I understand that worrying about everything is not productive or healthy for me
Every little thing you see
Despite this understanding, I still feel the need to worry over every little detail
Contributed by Jason W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.