The term Various Artists is used in the record industry when numerous singers and musicians collaborate on a song or collection of songs. Most often on Last.fm, compilation album tracks appear under the name of Various Artists erroneously because the individual artist is not listed in the album's ID3 information.
Compilation albums, for example.
Sometimes, single releases may be credited to Various Artists when their profits are going to charity and, usually in high-profile cases, are sometimes known by a group name. Examples include Band Aid with their releases of Do They Know It's Christmas? and USA for Africa with We Are The World.
Various Artists is also an actual performance name for Torsten Pröfrock, who runs the German DIN label. Torsten performs also as Dynamo, Erosion, Resilent, Traktor besides some others. He's a good friend of Robert Henke and since the Fall of 2004, he is a member of Monolake.
Various Artists was also a short-lived Bristol punk band formed by brothers Jonjo and Robin Key (originally from Birmingham). Other members were also simultaneously in Art Objects who went on to become The Blue Aeroplanes, the latter the Key brothers also co-wrote some songs and were involved in. When Various Artists imploded, the Key brothers went on to form Either / Or.
Various Artists also appear on tracks from musical theater soundtracks, due to the nature of having many cast members on one song, as well as an ensemble in some cases.
What Is and What Should Never Be
Various Artists Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take My Hand Child Come With Me
It's To A Castle I Will Take You
Where What's To Be They Say Will Be
Catch The Wind See Us Spin
Sail Away Leave Today
Way Up High In The Sky
But The Wind Won't Blow
It Only Goes To Show
That You Will Be Mine
By Takin' Our Time Ooh!
And If You Say To Me Tomorrow
Oh What Fun It All Would Be
Then What's To Stop Us Pretty Baby
But What Is And What Should Never Be
So If You Wake Up With The Sunrise
And All Your Dreams Are Still As New
And Happiness Is What You Need So Bad
Girl The Answer Lies With You Yeah
Hey Oh
Oh The Wind Wont Blow And We Really Shouldn't Go
And It Only Goes To Showowow
Catch The Wind We're Gonna See It Spin
We're Gonnasail Little Girl
Do Do Do Bop Bop A Dooh
My My My My My My Yeah
Everybody I Know Seems To Know Me Well
But Does Anybody Know I'm Gonna Move Like Hell
But They're Never Gonna Know Cause I Move Like Hell
(Pick Oneheh)
The lyrics of "What Is and What Should Never Be" by Various Artists display a sense of escapism and the desire to break free from societal norms and expectations. The opening lines "And If I Say To You Tomorrow, Take My Hand Child Come With Me" suggest an invitation to escape from reality and all its limitations. The use of "castle" in the next line represents a place of refuge, where they can be themselves and not be judged by the world. The lyrics "Where What's To Be They Say Will Be" display a fatalistic attitude, as if the future is already mapped out, and there is no use in striving to change it.
The second stanza, "So If You Wake Up With The Sunrise, And All Your Dreams Are Still As New, And Happiness Is What You Need So Bad, Girl The Answer Lies With You Yeah" highlights the fact that happiness lies within oneself, and it's up to the individual to take control of their lives and find their own path. In the final stanza, "My My My My My My Yeah, Everybody I Know Seems To Know Me Well, But Does Anybody Know I'm Gonna Move Like Hell, But They're Never Gonna Know Cause I Move Like Hell," the artist expresses their determination to break away from societal expectations and be true to themselves, regardless of what others might think.
Overall, "What Is and What Should Never Be" is a commentary on the desire to escape from societal norms and the importance of finding oneself and being true to one's desires.
Line by Line Meaning
And If I Say To You Tomorrow
If I were to tell you something that will happen tomorrow
Take My Hand Child Come With Me
Come with me, and take my hand, like a child would
It's To A Castle I Will Take You
I will take you to a castle
Where What's To Be They Say Will Be
They say that what will happen, will happen there
Catch The Wind See Us Spin
Let's experience the wind and spin around
Sail Away Leave Today
Let's sail away and leave this place today
Way Up High In The Sky
We will be high above in the sky
But The Wind Won't Blow
However, the wind won't blow
You Really Shouldn't Go
It's not a good idea to go
It Only Goes To Show
This is just proof that something is not right
That You Will Be Mine
I am possessive and want you all to myself
By Takin' Our Time Ooh!
We will take our time to achieve this
And If You Say To Me Tomorrow
If you were to tell me something that will happen tomorrow
Oh What Fun It All Would Be
It would be so much fun!
Then What's To Stop Us Pretty Baby
There's nothing stopping us, pretty baby
But What Is And What Should Never Be
However, we have to consider what is appropriate and shouldn't happen
So If You Wake Up With The Sunrise
If you wake up when the sun rises
And All Your Dreams Are Still As New
And all your dreams are new and fresh
And Happiness Is What You Need So Bad
And you desperately need to be happy
Girl The Answer Lies With You Yeah
The solution lies with you, girl
Hey Oh
An exclamation showing excitement
Oh The Wind Wont Blow And We Really Shouldn't Go
However, the wind won't blow and it's not a good idea to go
And It Only Goes To Showowow
This further proves that it's not appropriate to go
Catch The Wind We're Gonna See It Spin
Let's try to catch the wind and watch it spin
We're Gonnasail Little Girl
We will sail away, little girl
Do Do Do Bop Bop A Dooh
Nonsensical sounds set to a beat
My My My My My My Yeah
An exclamation of emphasis
Everybody I Know Seems To Know Me Well
Everyone I know thinks they know me well
But Does Anybody Know I'm Gonna Move Like Hell
But does anyone know that I'm going to move quickly and forcefully?
But They're Never Gonna Know Cause I Move Like Hell
No one will know, because I move so fast
(Pick Oneheh)
An unclear statement, possibly meant for comedic effect
Writer(s): Robert Anthony Plant, James Patrick Page
Contributed by Kaelyn G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.