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)
Night And Day
Tom Helsen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know the drill
The cab won't wait
I'll call you soon
You know I will
I'm running late
And I,
Don't Like goodbyes
I never cared for
Anyone but you
Everytime I close my heart
You feel it too
But I,
Can't say goodbye
Night and Day
I'll keep you waiting
All alone, all alone
Night and Day
I'll keep you waiting
All alone, all alone again
Alone again
In a room
I don't know why
I am hiding
Don't need to scream
Don't need to cry out
Don't need to tell you why
Don't like good byes
Night and Day
I'll keep you waiting
All alone, all alone
Night and Day
I'll keep you waiting
All alone, all alone again
Alone again
I'm turning in
It's 5 am
And I still wonder
How've you been
Are you ok
I should have called
But I,
Can't say good bye
Night and Day
I'll keep you waiting
All alone, all alone
Night and Day
I'll keep you waiting
All alone, all alone again
Alone again
The lyrics of "Night and Day" by Tom Helsen describe a painful feeling of love and separation. The singer of the song has to leave his lover abruptly as the cab won't wait, and he assures her he'll call soon despite he's running late. He never liked goodbyes, and he never loved or cared for anyone but her. However, every time he closes his heart, she feels it too. The singer seems confused and disconnected from his feelings as he repeats that he doesn't like goodbyes.
The song takes a turn in the second verse, where the singer mentions hiding in a room without the need to scream or cry out about his sadness. Even though he doesn't want to say goodbye, he's turning in at 5 am and wondering how she's been. He wishes he had called, but again, he can't say goodbye. The chorus repeats, emphasizing how he keeps his lover waiting alone night and day.
The song portrays a relationship where the singer recognizes his partner's importance but struggles with vulnerability and communication. He doesn't want to let go but finds it hard to express his feelings, leading to a sense of loneliness and uncertainty between them.
Line by Line Meaning
I gotta go
I need to leave
You know the drill
You're aware of what's happening
The cab won't wait
The taxi is on a schedule
I'll call you soon
I'll contact you in the near future
You know I will
You're aware of my intentions
I'm running late
I'm behind schedule
And I,
As for me,
Don't like goodbyes
I dislike farewells
I never loved
I never had romantic feelings for anyone
I never cared for
I never took an interest in
Anyone but you
Only you caught my attention
Everytime I close my heart
Whenever I shut down emotionally
You feel it too
You sense it as well
But I,
However, I
Can't say goodbye
I'm unable to bid farewell
Night and Day
Both during nighttime and daytime
I'll keep you waiting
I'll make you wait
All alone, all alone
By yourself, solely
Alone again
Lonely once more
In a room
Inside a space
I don't know why
I'm unsure of the reason
I am hiding
I'm concealing myself
Don't need to scream
No need to shout
Don't need to cry out
No need to weep loudly
Don't need to tell you why
No need to explain the reasoning
Night and Day
Both during nighttime and daytime
I'll keep you waiting
I'll make you wait
All alone, all alone
By yourself, solely
Alone again
Lonely once more
I'm turning in
I'm going to bed
It's 5 am
The current time is 5 o'clock in the morning
And I still wonder
And I'm still thinking about
How've you been
How have you been doing?
Are you ok
Are you doing well?
I should have called
I ought to have contacted you
But I,
However, I
Can't say goodbye
I'm unable to bid farewell
Contributed by Lucas D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@oswaldosanchezr6149
Espectacular Amigo!!!
Todo un hitt.
@rudyfillee692
Geweldige schijf van Regi en Tom Helsen. Perfecte combinatie. En nu pas ontdekt.
@elke4553
,,,blijkbaar 13 jaar oud "" maar nog steeds mijne oppepper bedankt @regi en @tomhelsen
@benjaminvanschandevijl7365
This song is amazingπ
@dagobertoprado7559
Love this tune a lot.
@CaptainOnoma
To siΔ nazywa pereΕka :) JuΕΌ daaaaawno nie byΕo takieego utworu :)
@JanVerheyen-cl2md
Prachtig! Het zou fijn zijn als deze klassieker eens op 12" vinyl werd uitgebracht.
@van_valdis
rocks in 2020
@jocksoff
FANTASTIC TUNE!
@lordhawksmoor
i cant say goodbye to this song :p