Natasha Bedingfield Biography
In the tradition of British female singer-songwriters Annie Lennox and Dido, Natasha Bedingfield brings lyrical honesty and vocal clarity to her music: not surprisingly, record buyers throughout Europe and beyond have responded to those qualities in droves. Album Unwritten - which Natasha described as ‘anthemic, quirky mixture of pop and soul’ - achieved triple platinum status in the UK, has gone double platinum in Ireland and gold in Singapore and South Africa while the infectious single These Words has been a major hit in almost a dozen countries from Australia to New Zealand (her parents native land). Natasha is also nominated for four coveted BRIT awards this year in the categories of British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Artist, Best single and Best Pop Act.
Natasha - younger sister of UK pop star Daniel Bedingfield (who achieved US success in 2002 with the hit ‘Gotta Get Through This’ and ‘If You’re Not the One’) takes the response in her stride: ‘I’m blown away by how well my first record has done. I think there’s an honesty in what I’m writing and singing about. I’d like to think that this is what the audiences relate to.’ With production by Patrick Leonard (Madonna), Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams) and the team of Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton and Wayne Wilkins, UNWRITTEN is an edgy, hip fusion of upbeat grooves, rhythmic pop with some heartfelt ballads thrown into the mix.
Titles like I Bruise Easily, We’re All Mad, Silent Movie and Size Matters gives an insight into the kind of songs Natasha writes. Based on personal experiences and observations, ‘Unwritten’ touches on a wide range of themes and emotions. ‘What do I want people to get from my music’ she ponders ‘ identify with it, be inspired by it, dance to it’.
Released in the fall of 2004 in the UK (where it debuted at no. 1) Unwritten is the culmination of years Natasha spent writing songs, making demos and preparing for what seemed like an inevitable career in music. ‘I came from a very musical family’, she shares. Her New Zealand born parents encouraged the creative impulses of Natasha and her siblings from the off…. Natasha admits they even sang to them in the womb! Listening to a diversity of artists (including Björk, Sting, U2, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, The Cranberries, The Beatles and Lauryn Hill) Natasha’s defined involvement with music took root when at the age of 12 she wrote her first song. By the time Natasha was in her mid teens ‘ I really got into the whole song-writing process. Working in music felt like the true and natural thing for me to do.’
After school Natasha was torn between art college and studying psychology at university. The art college, noting that she seemed to be more interested in the emotional content of her own paintings, advised her to study art therapy, she took this as a sign that psychology, and other people’s heads were where her head was at. ‘But even then, I was interested in psychology because I knew that’d make me a better songwriter. It’s given me a deeper insight into people. I was sick of empty music - people whip up a melody then any kind of words to fit. I’m not interested in lines that go ‘blah blah blah’. I want something that provokes me as well as the listeners.’ After a year of juggling studies and songwriting and singing Natasha left university to concentrate on her studio work. ‘I got to a place where I had to choose. I knew music was my passion and my parents were great about it. They encouraged me and I knew what it would take, having seen the ins and outs of the industry from such close proximity…’
It took a couple of years until Natasha had enough material she felt was representative of what she could do. She’d been told enough times that she had a good voice, but she also wanted good material of her own. ‘I didn’t want to be created by a record company. I know who I am, and I’m proud of what my talents are. So I waited until I was ready. I spent every spare moment in friends’ home studios, at my home, writing and recording and getting ready.’
Natasha’s perseverance paid off in 2003 she signed her first record deal and began working on her all-important debut. ‘It was very important to me to create something organic, different and real.’ There would be no moulding, shaping or styling of Natasha to fit some music biz pigeonhole. She is who she is and who she is will be what makes her an artist who is both excitingly of the moment and emphatically in it for the long haul. ‘I don’t want to be the next anyone. I just want to be me.’
Natasha is a Londoner with strong ties to the other side of the world, a city girl with a love of New Zealand’s great outdoors. She is natural, fresh and honest. Her attraction having nothing to do with how little clothes or how much slap she is wearing - that glamour is all well and good, but if you ain’t got soul…. Her go-getting sense of adventure is underpinned by wisdom and emotional maturity. She is intelligent emphatic and confident. As her first single to be released in the UK ‘Single’ suggests, she is unattached and independent. ‘Contrary to what some women’s magazines might tell you, you’re not incomplete if you don’t have a bloke. You don’t need a strong man to give you ’significance’. You don’t need anyone else to ’save’ ‘validate’ or make you ‘whole’. For me, being single, has made me stronger…’
‘These words’, Natasha’s second single to explode in the UK, debuted at no. 1 on the sales, airplay and download charts. In reaching no.1 with ‘These Words’ Natasha entered the Guinness Book of Records along with her brother Daniel, as the first siblings to have no 1 singles in UK Chart history. With its dash of humour the song definitely has an autobiographical flavour to it, referencing the pressure Natasha may have felt to come up with that elusive classic hit while preparing her all important debut album. Ironically the phrase ‘I love you’ became the song’s hook… ‘We can try so hard to be clever with words when expressing our emotions, but sometimes simplicity speaks more powerfully.”
Upon release in September 2004 Unwritten debuted at no 1 on the UK album sales chart and was platinum by its second week of release. This made Natasha one of only three female solo singers to debut at no 1 with her first album. The others were Bonnie Tyler and Annie Lennox. Speaking about the emotive slow jam ‘I Bruise Easily’ Natasha says. ‘Every relationship involves taking risks and love can definitely leave its mark’. Musing on ‘communication breakdown in a relationship”‘ the song Silent Movie is both reflective and real. While the standout We’re All Mad was written after a visit to Venice Beach in California and an encounter with a man who at first glance seemed ‘just a beachbum’. “Sometimes we miss out on life when we spend so much time judging others instead of just accepting that we are all different.”‘
With an instant appeal to her fellow single girlfriends ‘Frogs and Princes’ is Natasha’s way of revealing the frustration us girls have with the dating game! It’s pretty self-explanatory!’ ‘Unwritten’ is majestic and inspirational. Natasha wrote it for her teenage brother’s birthday. ‘It started as a poem about how your life is a blank page and you hold the pen. No one else is going to write it for you. Get out there and get on with it! That’s a theme to a lot of my songs - taking life, owning it, living it to the max’.
The past 18 months has certainly seen Natasha Bedingfield taking life, owning it, and living it to the max. With a European tour in the offing for the spring of 2005 and a growing list of accolades and accomplishments, Natasha is set to make her presence felt in the US and is signed to Epic Records. ‘I know it is hard for British artists to break through in The States Natasha says ‘understandably so - the standard here is very high. But I can assure you, I am very much looking forward to the challenge. I feel there’s a place for me here.
Natasha Bedingfield - I Wanna Have Your Babies Video and Lyrics
I Wanna Have Your Babies by Natasha Bedingfield , Music Video and Lyrics
“I Wanna Have Your Babies” (also known as “Babies”) is a pop song written by Natasha Bedingfield, Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton and Wayne Wilkins for Bedingfield’s second album, N.B. (2007).
The song was released as the album’s first single in the second quarter of 2007. The track received mixed reviews from pop music critics, who generally found it to be less impressive than past singles.
The music video was directed by Dave Meyers and filmed in Los Angeles, California in January 2007.
Natasha Bedingfield - I Wanna Have Your Babies Lyrics
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas
But what if it don’t?
What happens in my head stays in my head
But sometimes it won’t
What if you knew what I was thinkin
Would it make you like WOHHHHH!
Dont wanna risk puttin’ my foot in it
So ill keep my mouth closed!
All you hear is…
mmm mmm m m m m
Gonna button my lip So the truth dont slip
mmm mmm m m m m m
Gotta beep out what I really wanna shout
Woops Did I say it out loud, did you find out
I wanna have your babies
Get serious like crazy
I wanna have your babies
I see ‘em springin up like daisies
Some of my feelings keep escapin’
so I make it a joke
Nonchalant I keep on fakin’
So my heart dont get broke
Im in a big big big big ocean in a tiny little boat
Ill only put the idea out there If I know its gonna float
All you hear is…
mmm mmm m m m m m
Gonna button my lip
So the truth dont slip
mmm mmm m m m m m
Gotta beep out
What I really wanna shout
Woops Did I say it out loud
Did you find out
I wanna have your babies
Get serious like crazy
I wanna have your babies
I see ‘em springin up like daisy’s
In my head there’s a slot machine
And Im bettin’ you’re the one in my hopes and dreams
Trust me it would scare you if you knew what was goin’ on in my brain
Trust me it would scare you that I’ve picked out the church all the schools all the names
If you knew it was all about you every wish Every candle every coin in a fountain
Trust me it would scare you
Thats why I go…
mmm mmm m m m m m
mmm mmm m m m m m
Gonna button my lip
So the truth dont slip
mmm mmm m m m m m
Gotta beep out
What I really wanna shout
Woops Did I say it out loud
Did you find out
I wanna have your babies
Get serious like crazy
I wanna have your babies
I see ‘em springin up like daisy’s
mmm mmm m m m m m
Gonna button my lip
So the truth dont slip
mmm mmm m m m m m
Gotta beep out
What I really wanna shout
Woops Did I say it out loud
Did you find out
I wanna have your babies
Get serious like crazy
I wanna have your babies
I see ‘em springin up like daisy’s
mmm mmm m m m m m
Natasha Bedingfield - I Wanna Have Your Babies Song Info
Released April 2, 2007 (Digital download)
Recorded 2006
Genre Pop
Length 3:43
Label Sony BMG
Writer Natasha Bedingfield, Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton, Wayne Wilkins
Producer Bedingfield, Kipner, Frampton, Wilkins
Natasha Bedingfield - These Words Video and Lyrics
These Words by Natasha Bedingfield , Music Video and Lyrics
“These Words” (also known as “These Words (I Love You, I Love You)”) is a pop song written by Natasha Bedingfield, Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton and Wayne Wilkins for Bedingfield’s 2004 debut album Unwritten. The song is the album’s opening track, and was released as its second single. “These Words” details Bedingfield’s lack of inspiration and her reaction to pressure from her record label to produce a hit song.
“These Words” was released as the album’s second international single and as the lead single in North America. The single sold well, reached the top twenty in many countries, and topped the charts in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. It was certified platinum in the United States and Australia, and was nominated for Best British Single at the 2005 BRIT Awards. The song was very well received by music critics, and was frequently cited as a highlight of the album.
Two music videos were produced for the international and North American markets. The song’s international music video was directed by Scott Lyon and Sophie Muller and premiered in August 2004.
The North American music video was directed by Chris Milk and filmed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in March 2005.
Natasha Bedingfield - These Words Lyrics
These words are my own
Threw some chords together
The combination D-E-F
It’s who I am, it’s what I do
And I was gonna lay it down for you
Try to focus my attention
But I feel so A-D-D
I need some help, some inspiration
(But it’s not coming easily)
Whoah oh!
Trying to find the magic
Trying to write a classic
Don’t you know, don’t you know, don’t you know?
Waste-bin full of paper
Clever rhymes, see you later
These words are my own
From my heart flow
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you
There’s no other way
To better say
I love you, I love you…
Read some Byron, Shelly and Keats
Recited it over a Hip-Hop beat
I’m having trouble saying what I mean
With dead poets and drum machines
I know I had some studio time booked
But I couldn’t find a killer hook
Now you’ve gone & raised the bar right up
Nothing I write is ever good enough
These words are my own
From my heart flow
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you
There’s no other way
To better say
I love you, I love you!
I’m getting off my stage
The curtains pull away
No hyperbole to hide behind
My naked soul exposes
Whoah.. oh.. oh.. oh.. Whoah.. oh..
Trying to find the magic
Trying to write a classic
Waste-bin full of paper
Clever rhymes, see you later
These words are my own
From my heart flow
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you
That’s all I got to say,
Can’t think of a better way,
And that’s all I’ve got to say,
I love you, is that okay?
Natasha Bedingfield - These Words Song Info
Released September 13, 2004
Genre R&B
Length 3:36
Label Sony BMG
Writer Natasha Bedingfield, Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton, Wayne Wilkins
Producer Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton, Wayne Wilkins