Veda Hille (born in Vancouver on 11 August 1968) is a Canadian singer-songw… Read Full Bio ↴Veda Hille (born in Vancouver on 11 August 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, keyboardist and tenor guitar player. As well as solo albums, she has released an album as Veda Hille & Christof Migone.

Hille began playing piano when she was 6 at her own insistence. Her family moved around a lot, from the city to the country and back again. She first played classical music, then came pop music, and a few years of jazz. She attended art school studying sculpture, film, and performance art. She began writing music in 1990.

Hille put out an indie cassette, 'Songs About People and Buildings', in 1992. People liked it and she started playing around town. She slowly started the business of touring Canada, and also began a long relationship with the Canadian modern dance scene. In 1994 she released her first CD, and has released an album roughly every 18 months since then. By the time she started working with her current band (assembled in 1997) she was regularly touring Canada, the US, and Germany.

Hille plays piano and tenor guitar, dabbles in banjo, accordion, and protocols, and has a new love affair going on with a nord electro keyboard and a handful of casios. She writes about the natural world, the trickiness of love, the constant threat of tragedy, as well as very Vancouver subjects such as the late painter Emily Carr ('Here Is A Picture') and the missing women of the Downtown Eastside ('Return of the Kildeer's 'Liza Jane').

Veda has been a member of two bands: Duplex! (rock music for kids) and The Fits (vaudeville duets). She continues to make her own records, and does so in cahoots with Ape Records, run by XTC’s Andy Partridge. She is the in-house composer for Theatre Replacement and collaborates with them on at least one show per year. She scored Bonnie Klein’s new NFB film Shameless: The ART of Disability, and has been producing records for other musicians as well. A large part of 2006 was set aside for writing new songs as commissioned by The Push Festival (Vancouver) that premiered in January 2007.

In 2009, Hille independently released Do You Want What I Have Got?, a collection of live recordings of songs from Hille's theatre scores. Then in 2011 she released Young Saint Marie, a collection of songs written by Buffy Sainte Marie and Neil Young, recorded live and in studio with the CBC Radio Orchestra and her band, with arrangements by Giorgio Magnanensi of Vancouver New Music Society.

She wrote the songs for the 2011 Leaky Heaven/NeWorld theatre production of Peter Panties, written by Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef, which lead to the release of Peter Panties , a live studio soundtrack of the songs, performed by Hille and the local band The Bank Dogs.

Hille's 20th album, Love Waves , was written in Berlin and recorded in East Van with John Collins of the New Pornographers. It was released in 2016

Three
Veda Hille Lyrics

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One, two

Three, crazy at a bus stop
Three, in a shifting bed
Three, congregated at the church of midnight madness

Three, entwined
Three, divine

Three, embrace to stave off sadness

And who are we, noisy fools
Who laugh and bend the rules
Is this a word that can be spoken?
The solace that we seek
With grasping becomes weak
We must love each other whole or broken

Three, footprints in sand
Our hearts, in three hands
Three, desires fill the air with water

Three, filling holes
Three, playing roles
Am I mother, am I daughter?

And who are we, noisy fools
Who laugh and bend the rules
Is this a word that can be spoken?
The solace that we seek
With grasping becomes weak
We must love each other whole or broken, broken, broken

Is it true, is it true?
Is it true, is it true?
Could we marry and bear children?
Is it true, is it true?
Is it true, are we true?
How many blanks are there still to fill in?

(Guitar solo)

Three, silent speak
Of hell and heaven
Three, dance with fear inside

Three, brush eyes
Three goodbyes
Three, touch caught in timeless tide

And who are we, noisy fools
Who laugh and bend the rules
Is this a word that can be spoken?
The solace that we seek
With grasping becomes weak
We must love each other whole or broken

Love each other whole or broken
Love each other whole or broken, broken, broken

Overall Meaning

The song "Three" by Veda Hille tells the story of three individuals who are struggling with their own personal demons and have found solace in each other. They meet at a bus stop, in a shifting bed, and at the "church of midnight madness," which can be interpreted as a place where the three come together to escape their troubles. The repeated phrase "Three, entwined / Three, divine / Three, embrace to stave off sadness" suggests that the three have formed a bond that is stronger than their individual struggles.

The lyrics also explore the question of identity and the complexities of relationships. The line "Am I mother, am I daughter?" highlights the blur between roles and the idea that the three individuals may be caring for one another in ways that transcend traditional familial relationships. The repeated question "Is it true?" speaks to the uncertainty and ambiguity that surrounds their relationship.

The song concludes with the message that the three must love each other "whole or broken." This phrase encapsulates the idea that love should not be contingent on perfection but should instead be given unconditionally, flaws and all.

Line by Line Meaning

One, two
Counting off, starting with one and then followed by two

Three, crazy at a bus stop
A group of three people who appear to be restless and eccentric while waiting for a bus

Three, in a shifting bed
A trio of people who share a bed that appears to be unstable or constantly in motion

Three, congregated at the church of midnight madness
A gathering of three individuals who have come together at a location of chaotic and extreme behavior

Three, entwined
Three people who are intertwined or closely connected with each other

Three, divine
A trio of people who have a divine or spiritual connection with each other

Three, embrace to stave off sadness
The three individuals embrace in order to prevent feeling sadness or loneliness

And who are we, noisy fools
This is a rhetorical question asking about the identity and nature of the artist and their companions

Who laugh and bend the rules
The group of people who find humor in breaking conventional expectations or limits

Is this a word that can be spoken?
Questioning whether a particular concept or feeling can be expressed or communicated through language

The solace that we seek
A sense of comfort or reassurance that the group of people are searching for

With grasping becomes weak
The more one tries to cling onto something or someone, the less effective their efforts become

We must love each other whole or broken
The group of people need to accept and appreciate each other's faults and imperfections in order to maintain a strong bond

Three, footprints in sand
Three sets of footprints left in the sand, possibly as a symbol of a journey undertaken together

Our hearts, in three hands
Each person in the trio holds a piece of each other's heart

Three, desires fill the air with water
Each of the three has desires and aspirations that are overwhelming and abundant like water

Three, filling holes
The trio's presence fills a void or emptiness within each other

Three, playing roles
Each person in the three is fulfilling a certain role or function within the group

Am I mother, am I daughter?
One of the group members questions their identity or role within the group

Is it true, is it true?
A repeated question that expresses doubt or uncertainty

Could we marry and bear children?
A hypothetical question about the potential future of the group's relationship

Is it true, are we true?
Questioning the sincerity and authenticity of their bond

How many blanks are there still to fill in?
Wondering how much more there is to uncover or explore within the group's relationship

Three, silent speak
The trio communicates without words or sound

Of hell and heaven
The unspoken communication is about dark and light, good and evil

Three, dance with fear inside
Each person in the trio has a sense of fear they are grappling with

Three, brush eyes
The trio makes eye contact with each other

Three goodbyes
The group members are preparing to part ways

Three, touch caught in timeless tide
Their connection is strong and enduring, like being caught in an unstoppable wave

Love each other whole or broken
A repeated refrain emphasizing the importance of accepting and embracing one another despite flaws and imperfections

broken, broken, broken
A repetition of 'broken' which reflects the idea that the group's bond may be imperfect or damaged, but still worth fighting for

Contributed by Eli V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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