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Rating: The start of this album has a heavy rhythm and aggressive lyrics: "Go, find what you're looking for / Go, you've lost me for sure / I don't even want you as a friend" ("Go!"). Melanie C herself knows she needs to go, to "find another direction". This record tells us about some of the moments when the relationship between two people deteriorates: "I won't let you ruin another day / You say you're into me, but where were you last night? / I don't have time for bitterness, I want to get away from all this" ("Be the One") and the age of innocence already seems over.
Released in 1999, "Northern Star" is the first solo album by Melanie Chisholm, who was still part of the Spice Girls at that time, the band she joined at twenty, achieving worldwide success from the first single. But success sometimes comes at a cost, and Melanie would pay it with bulimia and by damaging her sporty, peppery physique. Like a premonition of what was soon to happen, "Northern Star" is an attempt to find the course, as ancient sailors did by orienting themselves with the North Star.
The title track is a melancholy ballad, with sadness lurking deep in the piece: "They buy your dreams so they can sell your soul / Is it any wonder we've lost control?". And "Goin' Down" serves to vent the anger over another relationship gone wrong: "How could I not realize you were making fun of me? / What can I do to get revenge?", and Melanie's voice is no longer the same, distorted in the studio, damaged as well.
This album retains its dual nature; it can be listened to as a collection of hits (there are at least five or six) or viewed as a personal diary where feelings, even the raw and painful ones, are laid bare without false modesty or hypocrisy. The range is broad, there's also room for looking at others, as in "If That Were Me," a song that describes the condition of the homeless with delicate yet effective strokes, and whose proceeds were donated to a homeless charity. It was the fifth single from the album: a successful album for Melanie, and an important milestone in her personal journey to find direction.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Northern Star (04:41)
They tried to catch a falling star.
Thinking that she had gone too far.
She did but kept it hidden well.
Until she cracked and then she fell.
If all the history is true.
She's gonna end up just like you.
You made it to the other side.
But tell me who will be my guide.
They build you up so they can tear you down.
Trust the ocean you'll never drown.
Who is next? Who's gonna steal your crown?
You'll see.
I have learnt my lesson well.
The truth is out there I can tell.
Don't look back and don't give in to their lies and goodbyes.
Northern Star.
Fulfil the longing in your heart.
Then we will never be apart.
And if they dare to question you.
Just tell them that our love is true.
They buy your dreams so they can sell your soul.
Is it any wonder we've lost control?
Feelings come, feelings go.
I have learnt my lesson well.
The truth is out there I can tell.
Don't look back and don't succumb to their lies and goodbyes.
Live your life without regret.
Don't be someone who they forget.
When you're lost reach out for me.
And you'll see she's not far.
Northern Star.
Northern Star.
I have learnt my lesson well.
The truth is out there I can tell.
Don't look back and don't succumb to their lies and goodbyes.
Live your life without regret.
Don't be someone who they forget.
When you're lost reach out for me.
And you'll see she's not far.
Northern Star.
Northern Star.
Northern Star.
(Melanie Chisholm/Rick Nowels)
03 I Turn to You (06:01)
When the world is darker than I can understand.
When nothing turns out the way I planned.
When the sky turns grey and there's no end in sight.
When I can't sleep through the lonely night.
I turn to you. Like a flower leaning toward the sun.
I turn to you. 'Cos you're the only one.
Who can turn me around when I'm upside down.
I turn to you.
When my insides are wracked with anxiety.
You have the touch that will quiet me.
You lift my spirit. You melt the ice.
When I need inspiration, when I need advice.
I turn to you. Like a flower leaning toward the sun.
I turn to you. 'Cos you're the only one.
Who can turn me around when I'm upside down.
I turn to you.
Where would I be? What would I do?
If you'd never helped me through.
I hope someday if you've lost your way.
You could turn to me like I turn to you.
I turn to you. Like a flower leaning toward the sun.
I turn to you. 'Cos you're the only one.
Who can turn me around when I'm upside down.
I turn to you.
I turn to you. When fear tells me to turn around.
I turn to you. 'Cos you're the only one.
Who can turn me around when I'm upside down.
I turn to you. I turn to you. I turn to you.
(Melanie Chisholm/Rick Nowels/Billy Steinberg)
06 Ga Ga (03:50)
I don't want your adoration.
Don't want your train stoppin' at my station.
You hurt me and I'm grateful.
I never ever felt anything stranger.
Ga ga. Crazy.
Foolish for wanting you.
Stupid Cupid.
He's a drag he's not like you.
People say that it's insane.
We love to feel the pain.
And it hurts. Yes it hurts.
Let it hurt.
I don't want emotional hassle.
I just want another bite of the apple.
Dark thoughts need satisfaction.
We're gonna crash. Let's make it happen.
Ga ga. Crazy.
Foolish for wanting you.
Stupid Cupid.
He's a drag he's not like you.
People say that it's insane.
We always go for pain.
And it hurts. Yes it hurts.
Let it hurt.
This will never be over.
And you will always be mine.
You've gotta feed my hunger baby.
I am ready to dine.
Ga ga. Crazy.
Foolish for wanting you.
Stupid Cupid.
He's a drag he's not like you.
Ga ga (Ga ga). Crazy (Crazy).
Foolish for wanting you.
Ga ga (Ga ga). Crazy (And I'm crazy).
Foolish for wanting you.
And it hurts. And it hurts.
Let it hurt.
And it hurts. And it hurts.
Let it hurt.
And it hurts. And it hurts.
Let it hurt.
And it hurts. And it hurts.
Let it hurt.
And it hurts.
(Melanie Chisholm/Phil Thornalley/Dave Munday)
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