Thea Gilmore: Old Soul

SONG Old Soul

SONGWRITER Thea Gilmore

APPEARS ON Liejacker (2008)

There's no older tradition in popular music than a girl looking for a boy and vice versa. British singer-songerwriter Thea Gilmore turns that tradition movingly on its head as she pleads for, not a boy, but an old soul. "Old Soul" is one of those songs where the rewards of the quest are made as apparent by an anthemic melody and determined performance as much as by the lyrics.

Gilmore is not looking for anyone already disillusioned by life ("I don't want the worldly wise) and would just as soon stay age appropriate ("I'll need a young heart"). Moreover, she's wary of the older man with a Peter Pan syndrome ("I don't want a good disguise"). What she does want is that "white light" and the "right song."

While Gilmore seems skeptical that she'll actually find her old soulmate ("Where am I gonna go?...Does anybody know"), she's resolved not to settle ("Don't want the shooting stars/Don't want the passing cars") because the rewards of finding a soul mate are great ("The sweetest idea of home"). After all, no one ever said that finding true love was easy.

LYRICS

Well, I’m looking for an old soul
Where am I gonna go?
I’m looking for an old soul
Does anybody know?
I don’t want the worldly wise
I don’t want a good disguise
Just looking for an old soul

And I’m looking for a white light
Where am I gonna go?
And I’m looking for a white light
Does anybody know?
Don’t want the shooting stars
Don’t want the passing cars
Just looking for a white light

‘Cause when the days grow old
And the nights get cold
I’ll need a young heart
But an old soul

And I’m looking for the right song
Where am I gonna go?
I’m looking for the right song
Does anybody know?
Don’t want to hear the blues
Don’t want some wild chanteuse
Just looking for the right song

‘Cause when the days grow old
And the night gets cold
I’ll need a young heart
But an old soul

Where am I gonna go?
I’m looking for an old soul
Does anybody know?
Its gotta be flesh and bone
The sweetest idea of home
It’s gotta be an old soul
It’s gotta be an old soul
It’s gotta be an old soul

Old Soul (Album Version) - Thea Gilmore

On "The Lower Road," another track from Liejacker, Joan Baez joins Gilmore: