Founded on the talents of ex-Waterboys keyboard player Karl Wallinger (19 O… Read Full Bio ↴Founded on the talents of ex-Waterboys keyboard player Karl Wallinger (19 October 1957, Prestatyn, Wales), World Party had to work hard to shrug off comparisons with the leader of his former band, Mike Scott. This was a little unjust, bearing in mind Wallinger’s quite separate, but in many ways equal, songwriting abilities. Wallinger was born the son of an architect father and housewife mother. He was brought up in North Wales on a diet of 60s ephemera, from the Supremes, through the Spencer Davis Group, to Merseybeat. His first musical experience arrived in 1976 with Quasimodo, who would eventually lose their hump to become the Alarm. Later he moved to London to become a clerk for ATV/Northern Songs, who counted the Beatles’ catalogue among their acquisitions. He delved back into performance in his own time, eventually going on to become musical director of The Rocky Horror Show in the West End of London. A short residency with funk band the Out overlapped his liaison with the Waterboys. After he split amicably from Mike Scott, Wallinger set out on a solo career that would see him sign to Prince’s management. He also helped Sinéad O’Connor on her Lion And The Cobra set.

Wallinger recorded the first two World Party albums (Private Revolution and Goodbye Jumbo) practically single-handed. The former reached the US Top 40 and the single ‘Ship Of Fools’ broke into the Top 30 (it was hastily dropped by radio in his native Great Britain because of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster). Goodbye Jumbo took equal amounts of inspiration from the eco movement and the Beatles, and the highly catchy single ‘Message In The Box’ provided Wallinger with his first UK Top 40 hit.

Wallinger’s muse, a relaxed and melancholic take on mid-period Beatles, has not so much been updated as revitalized on his subsequent, sterling work, although a minor breakthrough was made with 1993’s Bang!, which featured Wallinger’s only UK Top 20 hit to date, ‘Is It Like Today’, and reached number 2 on the album charts. On Bang!, Wallinger was joined by Chris Sharrock (drums, ex-Icicle Works) and Dave Catlin-Birch (guitars/keyboards). Some of the reviews for 1997’s Egyptology were unnecessarily cruel (especially the New Musical Express). It was by his standards another good album, which, although still locked into the Beatles’ sound (this time circa 1968), featured some great moments, notably the gentle ‘She’s The One’ and the meatier ‘Curse Of The Mummy’s Tomb’. The former indirectly gave Wallinger a worthy chart-topping single, when Robbie Williams’ cover version reached the top of the UK singles chart in November 1999 (Williams’ songwriting partner Guy Chambers (b. 12 Jan 1963, England) was at one time a member of World Party).

The next World Party album, 2000’s Dumbing Up, retreated from the ambitions of Egyptology, and found Wallinger resorting to his pick ‘n’ mix style of songwriting. He is one of the best magpie songwriters around, and the strong influence of ELO, Bob Dylan (‘Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream’ in the shape of ‘Who Are You?’) and even Rare Bird (shades of ‘Sympathy’ in ‘All The Love That’s Wasted’) could be heard, in addition to strong memories of the Beatles’ ‘Dear Prudence’ and ‘Baby You’re A Rich Man’ in ‘Another 1000 Years’.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin.

Hollywood
World Party Lyrics

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There she is on a lifeboat
There she is setting sail
There she is in someone else's dreams

There she is looking beautiful
There she is again
There she is in a mountain stream

Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood
Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood

There she is in the kitchen
There she is out at sea
There she is enveloping me

She said she's just a mirror
Said she leads the way
Babble on and dooming me today

Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood
Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood

Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood
Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood

The sun it sighs
Wave upon wave
In the grass and dew
I dance

Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood
Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood

Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Hollywood
Hollywood
Hollywood

And in winter we shall ride
In a pink carriage with blue cushions
Kiss ran down your neck like a little spider

We will find it
Though it is a great traveler

Overall Meaning

In this song, World Party is singing about a woman who is constantly changing and moving through different scenery and situations. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of her in different places like on a lifeboat, in someone else's dreams, in the kitchen, out at sea, and even in a mountain stream. The repeated phrase "Hollywood, wouldn't she?" makes it seem like the woman is always on the move, seeking fame and fortune in a dreamland like Hollywood.

The lyrics also suggest that this woman is somewhat of an enigma, as she claims to be just a mirror but also leads the way and "dooms" the singer. There is a sense of both attraction and confusion in the way he describes her. The final lines of the song add another layer of mystery, with talk of riding in a pink carriage and a spider-like kiss. It all combines to create a dreamlike feeling that fits with the theme of Hollywood as a place of endless possibility and illusion.

Line by Line Meaning

There she is on a lifeboat
She seems to be floating away from her troubles

There she is setting sail
She's embarking on a new adventure

There she is in someone else's dreams
She's become an object of desire for others

There she is looking beautiful
She appears stunning and captivating

There she is again
She keeps showing up, as if she can't escape notice

There she is in a mountain stream
She's found her way to an idyllic, peaceful place

Hollywood, wouldn't she?
Isn't this the sort of place where she belongs?

Hollywood
A place of dreams and fantasy

There she is in the kitchen
She exists even in mundane, everyday settings

There she is out at sea
She's braving choppy waters and unknown dangers

There she is enveloping me
She's a force to be reckoned with, surrounding her admirers with her presence