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Tanita Tikaram — Twist In My Sobriety
Album: Ancient Heart
Avg rating:
7.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 4632









Released: 1988
Length: 4:43
Plays (last 30 days): 3
All God's children need travelling shoes
Drive your problems from here
All good people read good books
Now your conscience is clear
I hear you talk girl
Now your conscience is clear

In the morning when I wipe my brow
Wipe the miles away
I like to think I can be so willed
And never do what you say
I'll never hear you
And never do what you say

Look my eyes are just holograms
Look your love has drawn red from my hands
From my hands you know you'll never be
More than twist in my sobriety
More than twist in my sobriety
More than twist in my sobriety

We've just poked a little empty pie
For the fun that people had at night
Late at night don't need hostility
The timid smile and pause to free

I don't care about their different thoughts
Different thoughts are good for me
Up in arms and chaste and whole
All God's children took their toll

Look my eyes are just holograms
Look your love has drawn red from my hands
From my hands you know you'll never be
More than twist in my sobriety
More than twist in my sobriety
More than twist in my sobriety

Cup of tea, takes time to think, yeah
Time to risk a life, a life, a life
Sweet and handsome
Soft and porky
You pig out 'til you've seen the light
Pig out 'til you've seen the light

Half the people read the papers
Read them good and well
Pretty people, nervous people
People have got to sell
News you have to sell

Look my eyes are just holograms
Look your love has drawn red from my hands
From my hands you know you'll never be
More than twist in my sobriety
More than twist in my sobriety
More than twist in my sobriety
Comments (342)add comment
 Johnny_Alpha wrote:

I first met Tanita back in the 80s - I would just take the time to say she is still charming

Mellowed and matured, we are coaxing her back to a mic



Oh please do!
Just goddess-like. Still is after all these years. And what an album!
Play more of Tanita. this is a great song
I love that voice. Great song.
 thewiseking wrote:

here we go with that whiny Kenny G style sax again. Is there anything worse?



Love this song!  Hate Kenny G!  No comparison!
oh, wow, never knew she was Fijian!  awesome. 
 maxvonevil wrote:

"Look my eyes are just holograms" πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜†

Holograms!?! I might be an aging 80's kid, but I'm pretty sure it's Hallowed Grounds.



I always thought it was "hollowed rounds". 
 maxvonevil wrote:

"Look my eyes are just holograms" πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜†

Holograms!?! I might be an aging 80's kid, but I'm pretty sure it's Hallowed Grounds.



I always thought it was hallowed grounds too. Such a great heartbreak, moving on song. Got me through it back in the day!
 Aazara wrote:

She was so young when she wrote and recorded this song. The album was released when she was 19 years old and I believe she wrote the song a couple of years earlier. Such a mature song for one so young.



Agree
She was so young when she wrote and recorded this song. The album was released when she was 19 years old and I believe she wrote the song a couple of years earlier. Such a mature song for one so young.
One of my favorite 80s songs.  My dad beat it into me 😍
 hellsgardener wrote:

Twisting my sobriety and Hallowed Grounds not Holograms.. as far as I know




The second part yes, the first no.
Half the people read the papers
Read them good and well
 
Man, how times have changed.
hello  I'm Gianni from Italy listening to my favourite radio station after  all these years.
Good job friends  RP is always  a various radio station,easy and complete.
Tanita Tikaram  killed me a little  with this track but I was excited to hear this beatiful .
Rod Argent produced a miracle.
ps: I'm a radio dee jay from Italy( famous dee jay)
congrats.
Twisting my sobriety and Hallowed Grounds not Holograms.. as far as I know
That line is nowhere near as clever as she thinks it is
 Alastair wrote:


You're alone with that one. 


A Very young Elton.
It's really hard to twist to this.
 maxvonevil wrote:

"Look my eyes are just holograms" πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜†

Holograms!?! I might be an aging 80's kid, but I'm pretty sure it's Hallowed Grounds.


Exactly this.
I first met Tanita back in the 80s - I would just take the time to say she is still charming

Mellowed and matured, we are coaxing her back to a mic
This album was the soundtrack of my final year at Uni. 
 rocklandlove wrote:

Some songs really hold up. This is one of those. 

Also, how many New Wave hits featured a lead oboe solo? 



an oboe, not to be confused with a bassoon 
isn't it supposed to be twisting my sobriety? I could be wrong always thought that's what is was
This is now grinding on me; the oboe is getting a little Musaky. Are there other choices from this artist?
Always loved the melody of this song. A gem from the eighties.
 joejennings wrote:

Nice! Somebody else that I never heard of before! Thank You RP!



You just aged yourself to be a younger generation than Generation X.
amazing album
Nice! Somebody else that I never heard of before! Thank You RP!
 Cueburned wrote:

Sounds a bit like a young Elton John to me.  



You're alone with that one. 
Sounds a bit like a young Elton John to me.  
 Johnny_Alpha wrote:


"neoliberal exploitation" - really?



With reference to what? Exploitation is what neoliberalism is all about. 


"neoliberal exploitation" - really?

"Look my eyes are just holograms" πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜†

Holograms!?! I might be an aging 80's kid, but I'm pretty sure it's Hallowed Grounds.
Always remember this song. Perfect soundtrack for a drive I did through Eastern Germany on my way to Berlin West
 rocklandlove wrote:

. . . how many New Wave hits featured a lead oboe solo? 


Played by a hobo; it was a hobo oboe solo.
No letters please.
one of those songs that stays with you, once you hear it, for the rest of your life.  First heard this when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana in 1990 and it has remained with me over these past 30 years.  
Is this the only pop song with an oboe in it?   bright eyes from Simon and Garfunkel?
 thewiseking wrote:
here we go with that whiny Kenny G style sax again. Is there anything worse?
 

Your musical appreciation is worse. Go back to sleep...nothing to see here.
Still holds up....Prophetic in more ways than one...

Sobriety...What's that?
 petersteward wrote:
How many fecking times can you play this?

I do like it but she did do other tracks as well.
 
Agree.  She is amazing. But I have noticed the same tracks are getting repeated (for many artists).
Try :
"World Outside your window"
"Cathedral Song"
How many fecking times can you play this?

I do like it but she did do other tracks as well.
This is totally "groovey" tune. Not that "groovey" is in common usage anymore but it definitely has a solid groove. Can't stop moving.....
I believe her name is pronounced Ticker im,  Not Tick arem.  Pronunciation is an interesting subject.  Either way, a great album.  Heard her first on the radio in London.
 rocklandlove wrote:
Some songs really hold up. This is one of those. 

Also, how many New Wave hits featured a lead oboe solo? 
 
This.
Not enough oboe solos in modern music.
 thewiseking wrote:
 
 
That's an oboe, you cretin.
 OneinAUS wrote:

Your post
 

And it's an oboe, not a sax. 
 thewiseking wrote:
here we go with that whiny Kenny G style sax again. Is there anything worse?
 
Your post
wow, i m really surprised to hear one of my favourite 80 s song on rp
great choice
Mellows me out every time I hear it!
The oboe is a great contrast to the sultry voice.
A great debut album!!!!!!!! Although Cathedral Song was a huge hit at the time, I think she didn't get the attention she deserved with her following albums... specially "Lovers In the City"
I like this tune. Sax and all. Its got a killer groove. Reminds me of Maryanne Faithful.
here we go with that whiny Kenny G style sax again. Is there anything worse?
I can hear Tom Jones singing sex bomb in the introΒ΄s phrasing
If we can fly to a Space Station & land on the moon how come we can't go back to the 80's?  A cure for Covid & a Time Machine are in order.
Ageless, and so is Tanita. A gf was into her in the 80's and she doesn't look any different now.
So good, so long ago...where did the time go?....great tune RP ! 
 dwhayslett wrote:

Coincidentally, the word that came to my mind when I read your post starts with "semi-".
 
Well she has this tom boy approach to this song but it is  beautiful woman
 ginger wrote:
This always reminds me of when I bought this album in a "record store" when they had just switched over to CDs. I typically bought 3 or 4 albums at a time, sound unheard, as was the case with this one. The checkout clerk complimented my selections that day, which of course made me feel like a superior being. At that store, they always commented positively on my choices, which just makes me wonder if they did so for everyone, all the time.   Anyway, I don't pull this one out so often anymore, but it's still really good!
 

I hear this song so little but when I do what a trip
 thewiseking wrote:
These vocals fall to the level of Nico. Remember her? The whiny Kenny G style horns aren't helping either.
 
Read Nico's biography and all I could think of was the (purportedly) Chinese "curse",
"May you live in interesting times."

Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
This always reminds me of when I bought this album in a "record store" when they had just switched over to CDs. I typically bought 3 or 4 albums at a time, sound unheard, as was the case with this one. The checkout clerk complimented my selections that day, which of course made me feel like a superior being. At that store, they always commented positively on my choices, which just makes me wonder if they did so for everyone, all the time.   Anyway, I don't pull this one out so often anymore, but it's still really good!
These vocals fall to the level of Nico. Remember her? The whiny Kenny G style horns aren't helping either.
Sweet!
Ende September 2019 Konzert in Augsburg, sehr sympathisch und mit guter Band.
Years since I last heard this, what a blast from the past and doesn't it stand the test of time well!
 maboleth wrote:
Always thought it was a man singing it... now I hear semi-woman. Huh...
 
Coincidentally, the word that came to my mind when I read your post starts with "semi-".
Always thought it was a man singing it... now I hear semi-woman. Huh...
went from a 5 to an 8! love this one!
I was in love at the time and she loved this song! It's a great song, always good to hear it again.
Another genius segue... from Jesca Hoop to this... BRAVO!
I played this song to death when it came out. Good singer-songerwriter stuff still. Sometimes I look back at the 80s songs I loved as a teenager and I think, yikes. This one still hits me.
twist
so
awesome
{#Bananajam}
I love her music. Been a fan for years.
Some songs really hold up. This is one of those. 

Also, how many New Wave hits featured a lead oboe solo? 
this and Smooth Operator take me back
 On_The_Beach wrote:
 fredriley wrote:
That's what the winsome Kate Bush, with her lovely soft SE accent, was saying in an interview on a radio arts programme two evenings ago. She was lamenting that albums are a dying art form, and I share that lament. I can't help seeing it as akin to news items on TV being now condensed to 10-second 'sound bites', tweeting, texting and the like. Not 'dumbing down', as the reactionaries would have it, but a fragmentation of lived experience driven by an increasingly frenetic 24/7 'lifestyle' where we only have short snatches of time in which to 'consume' music or art or news, itself a product of individualistic atomisation driven by consumer and finance capitalism. Or maybe I'm abstracting too much and reaching for connections. Whatever, we seem to have less and less time to enjoy things.
To quote the cartoonist Steve Bell, himself paraphrasing the poet William Henry Davies:
What is this life, full of care
If we have no time
to stand around like farts in a trance, john

Fred, no time to read all this.
Pls edit down to 20 words or less, max 3-sylable words.
Thx
- OTB

 
That perfect comment, and the insightful observation it refers to, are each worth at least 10+... :-)


 luv4music wrote:

I believe that it's an oboe. 

 
Those are the mournful eyes done in oboe.....nice
I remember getting a taped recording of this album from my younger brother. I loved it. Great collection of songs with the right degree of over-earnest, singer-songwriter hubris.
She was 18 when she record this song. Pretty amazing.
A solid 9.
 Chatto63 wrote:
Beautiful song, heard it first years ago when I was using drugs and it still resonates 21 years into recovery today
 
Hope you're now celebrating 22 years, and yes, it is a beautiful song.
 passsion8 wrote:
It's that mournful clarinet that worms its way in. 

 
I believe that it's an oboe. 
this is a damn fine "fuck y'all" to all those soft and porkies running too many things 
It's that mournful clarinet that worms its way in. 
 sine-quinn-non wrote:
CRAZY flash from the past.  I had gotten out of the habit of listening to radioparadise (despite owning quite a number of items purchased from the radioparadise store) and I need to git back to it!!!!
 

 
This post is so funny because I came back over yesterday for the first time in a long time. RP really shaped my music listening for a long, long time - and I am actually a regular supporter but have not listened a lot for the past year or so. Came over again today and heard this song which truly is a blast from my past days of listening to RP every day, all day at work. 
CRAZY flash from the past.  I had gotten out of the habit of listening to radioparadise (despite owning quite a number of items purchased from the radioparadise store) and I need to git back to it!!!!
 
 fredriley wrote:
That's what the winsome Kate Bush, with her lovely soft SE accent, was saying in an interview on a radio arts programme two evenings ago. She was lamenting that albums are a dying art form, and I share that lament. I can't help seeing it as akin to news items on TV being now condensed to 10-second 'sound bites', tweeting, texting and the like. Not 'dumbing down', as the reactionaries would have it, but a fragmentation of lived experience driven by an increasingly frenetic 24/7 'lifestyle' where we only have short snatches of time in which to 'consume' music or art or news, itself a product of individualistic atomisation driven by consumer and finance capitalism. Or maybe I'm abstracting too much and reaching for connections. Whatever, we seem to have less and less time to enjoy things.
To quote the cartoonist Steve Bell, himself paraphrasing the poet William Henry Davies:
What is this life, full of care
If we have no time
to stand around like farts in a trance, john

Fred, no time to read all this.
Pls edit down to 20 words or less, max 3-sylable words.
Thx
- OTB
 fredriley wrote:

That's what the winsome Kate Bush, with her lovely soft SE accent, was saying in an interview on a radio arts programme two evenings ago. She was lamenting that albums are a dying art form, and I share that lament. I can't help seeing it as akin to news items on TV being now condensed to 10-second 'sound bites', tweeting, texting and the like. Not 'dumbing down', as the reactionaries would have it, but a fragmentation of lived experience driven by an increasingly frenetic 24/7 'lifestyle' where we only have short snatches of time in which to 'consume' music or art or news, itself a product of individualistic atomisation driven by consumer and finance capitalism. Or maybe I'm abstracting too much and reaching for connections. Whatever, we seem to have less and less time to enjoy things.

 
True, and well spoken too. Adorno would be proud!

RP in itself is this little floating raft, beautifully held together by idealism and a sense of humanity, but frail and always on the brink of sinking in the harsh seas of a pityless, neoliberal exploitation system. The perfect, and quite possbly one of the last places left where music is played because of the music, not because of the profit margin one could scrape off of it. It saddens me that formats like this are under constant attack by the music industry. What a perverted world this has become.
 Chatto63 wrote:
Beautiful song, heard it first years ago when I was using drugs and it still resonates 21 years into recovery today
 
Congrats glad to hear you find peace in music. 
 Chatto63 wrote:
Beautiful song, heard it first years ago when I was using drugs and it still resonates 21 years into recovery today
 
I can see it still resonates...
Beautiful song, heard it first years ago when I was using drugs and it still resonates 21 years into recovery today
So bears a similarity, even if in my case it's a rarity.
I'm surprised I've never come across a cover of this.
 
One of the few albums I can honestly sounds better on vinyl.
A great voice presenting a wicked song of serious introspection with a "fuck off" tilt
 fredriley wrote:

That's what the winsome Kate Bush, with her lovely soft SE accent, was saying in an interview on a radio arts programme two evenings ago. She was lamenting that albums are a dying art form, and I share that lament. I can't help seeing it as akin to news items on TV being now condensed to 10-second 'sound bites', tweeting, texting and the like. Not 'dumbing down', as the reactionaries would have it, but a fragmentation of lived experience driven by an increasingly frenetic 24/7 'lifestyle' where we only have short snatches of time in which to 'consume' music or art or news, itself a product of individualistic atomisation driven by consumer and finance capitalism. Or maybe I'm abstracting too much and reaching for connections. Whatever, we seem to have less and less time to enjoy things.

To quote the cartoonist Steve Bell, himself paraphrasing the poet William Henry Davies:

What is this life, full of care
If we have no time
to stand around like farts in a trance, john
 
Fred,
That's definitely the first time I have heard a SE accent described as "lovely soft" and I thank you for it.
Me Dad bought my pram in Bexleyheath after a 4 mile walk and in time I had to walk past St Jo's (KB's school) every day for years until i learned how to jump the fence and board the train for free.
The rest of your post is a tad esoteric and, well, perfect. So much so, that a T shirt with the poem is in the works!
Ta. 
 Grammarcop wrote:
I will always associate this song with the late Dave Dixon, who used to play this on his mid-day program on WDET here in Detroit. Dixon used to argue with himself on the air over the the pronunciation of the singer's last name. Was it TIK-a-ram or ti-KAR-am? Even funnier were his attempts to pronounce the name of another singer he used to play, Basia Trzetrzelewska.

 
Dave Dixon was a great DJ. WDET was a great radio station even though they fired Dixon for insisting to play tunes by the Butt Hole Surfers. WDET was still great right up until they changed formats in 2006 I think it was.
 Naomi84 wrote:
I have no idea why, but until this day I always thought that this was a song by Annie Lennox. 

 
Wow, good call. I can totally see why one would think that.
She had MUCH better songs, and MANY of them...but still - this is a goody :)
 garycha wrote:


Me too. It's dreary and absent of any beautiful melancholy.
 

I think it  HAS perfectly beautiful melancholy, perhaps the weaving in and out of the oboe.  Very mystical sounding.
Lovely, lovely song from the girl with South Pacific origins... shame her early success didn't translate into the long term, but I loved this song then and love it now
 Grammarcop wrote:
I will always associate this song with the late Dave Dixon, who used to play this on his mid-day program on WDET here in Detroit. Dixon used to argue with himself on the air over the the pronunciation of the singer's last name. Was it TIK-a-ram or ti-KAR-am? Even funnier were his attempts to pronounce the name of another singer he used to play, Basia Trzetrzelewska.

 
{#Roflol}

I think it's the second pronunciation. This song is bleak but it's also beautiful to me. 

Dave Dixon sounded like a pretty funny guy. Remember when FM djs were interesting, with actual personalities? Haven't listened to FM in years. 

Did a cat walk across the keyboard for Basia's last name?  Reminds me of the running joke in the 70s TV police comedy "Barney Miller": there was a character whose last name sounded something like "Wojohowitz." People would ask him how his name was spelled, he'd say, "Like it sounds"...and their eyes would glaze over. 

Had to look it up: it was spelled "Wojciehowicz". A-HEM

This one really grabs me for some reason.  No rational reason I should give it a 9, but there is where it is for me.
 NeuroGeek wrote:

Oboe or another double-reed or related animal.  If that's a classical clarinet, then IMHO that musician should be fired (except for gigs like this). 

 
There is an oboe player listed on the album credits.
I have no idea why, but until this day I always thought that this was a song by Annie Lennox. 
 pankman wrote:
Hated this one back in the days and there has not been any improvement today.

 

Me too. It's dreary and absent of any beautiful melancholy.
Hated this one back in the days and there has not been any improvement today.
I love this as a great psd, it's a fabulous cure for the bland forgettable songs that creep in 
 unclehud wrote:

I vote oboe instead of clarinet, but synths have gotten sooooooo sophisticated that it's very difficult to distinguish them from the real McCoy.

 
Oboe or another double-reed or related animal.  If that's a classical clarinet, then IMHO that musician should be fired (except for gigs like this). 
 ThePoose wrote:
You mean Leonard Cohen singing in a contralto voice and slightly uptempo.

 
badstudent wrote:
This song seems to nod to Marianne Faithful.

   

Maybe both? One of the great things about trying to figure out influences is finding multiples in one song, indeed a single phrase--like looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing a little bit of your mother and a little bit of the milkman.
I want to vote 11!!!
Danced the rhumba to this with my wife. Just the right tempo!
 Ah yes, that was when WDET was a great radio station.
Grammarcop wrote:
I will always associate this song with the late Dave Dixon, who used to play this on his mid-day program on WDET here in Detroit. Dixon used to argue with himself on the air over the the pronunciation of the singer's last name. Was it TIK-a-ram or ti-KAR-am? Even funnier were his attempts to pronounce the name of another singer he used to play, Basia Trzetrzelewska.

 


You mean Leonard Cohen singing in a contralto voice and slightly uptempo.

 
badstudent wrote:
This song seems to nod to Marianne Faithful.

 




 iTuner wrote:
Don't think I've heard it since 1988. So it was okay today. Has that 80s cheese factor to it. Is that a clarinet or a synthesizer?
 
I vote oboe instead of clarinet, but synths have gotten sooooooo sophisticated that it's very difficult to distinguish them from the real McCoy.
Effectively used on this soundtrack ...


I will always associate this song with the late Dave Dixon, who used to play this on his mid-day program on WDET here in Detroit. Dixon used to argue with himself on the air over the the pronunciation of the singer's last name. Was it TIK-a-ram or ti-KAR-am? Even funnier were his attempts to pronounce the name of another singer he used to play, Basia Trzetrzelewska.
Always turn this one up!
I'd forgotten all about TT and this song. Thanks for bringing this one back to me. Such haunting oboe ~ love it!