James “Laid” Lyrics Meaning

James’ “Laid” is speaking to a toxic romance the singer is engaged in or, perhaps more accurately put, his inability to escape from such with the addressee. The latter is someone whom even the singer’s therapist has concluded is no good for him. 

And he has dedicated ample effort to getting away from this person including, as implied in the fourth verse, moving out of their shared residence. But the addressee is not giving up that easily. And yes, the presumption would be that said individual is a female, even though she likes to ‘dress up’ the vocalist “in women’s clothes”. 

So maybe part of the reason Tim is perturbed with this relationship is because he doesn’t like ‘messing around with gender roles’ like that. Or in any event, the singer has obviously concluded that his romance with the addressee and further along those lines, as insinuated in the third verse, violent even.

But all lyrics considered, said conclusion would not be the thesis sentiment of this piece. Instead, that would be, once again, the vocalist’s inability to separate himself from the addressee. In other words, no matter what he may resolve beforehand, even running away as he sees fit, once she shows up on the scene, Tim once again finds himself back at square one, i.e. “sleeping next” to her. 

This may be the concept upon which the title is based, as “laid” is a colloquial term for having sex. That is to say that at the end of the, day it appears that the vocalist’s addiction to the addressee, if you will, is largely sexually based.

James

James is the moniker of a crew of rockers from Manchester who have been around since the early 1980s. It was during the 1990s that the band really hit their stride, as five of the six studio albums they put out during that decade scored within the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. 

“Laid” served as the title track of one of those projects, also being its second single and being issued as such on 1 November 1993, via Fontana Records. 

On top of said album being the only in their catalog to receive RIAA (gold) certification, the song itself also marks one of James’s biggest hits.

As of this writing there are nine members of James. Back when this song was dropped, they were a little less deep, at six formal participants. And to note five of said individuals – Tim Booth, Mark Hunter, Jim Glennie, Saul Davies and David Baynton-Power – are still down for the cause. And back then they were joined by Larry Gott, who left the act in 2015. 

Achievements of “Laid”

“Laid” has been certified platinum by the BPI. Additionally, it also reached third place on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart stateside. Moreover, this tune has been utilized quite a few times within the context of the American Pie film series, which commenced in 1999.

Credits for “Laid”

The band’s frontman Booth, bassist Glennie and former guitarist Gott are the ones credited with writing this song, with its producer being the renowned Brian Eno.

James’ “Laid” Album

“Laid” is an album by English rock band James. Released on 27th of September, 1993, the album was released as their 5th studio album. It shares the same name with its second single, “Laid”. The said song was one of two singles, released into the public domain prior to the official release of the album. “Laid” has been listed as track No. 11 on the album.

The English band recorded their “Laid” album in two UK based recording studios, Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, located in Wiltshire and The Windings, a recording studio in Wrexham, Wales.

Production was successfully done by renowned British record producer, musician and songwriter, Brian Eno. The album was released through Fontana Records, a record label based in Los Angeles, California.

“Laid” made appearances on a number of charts including the OCC and the Billboard 200 in the UK and US respectively. It peaked at No. 3 on the former and No. 72 on the latter.

The album received positive reviews and rankings from various music pundits and publications including British music magazines NME and Select. The former placed “Laid” at No. 28 on their list, “20 Years On: Albums of The Year 1993” while the latter’s list, “Albums of the Year” of 1993, had it featured at No. 26. French magazine Les Inrockuptibles also placed the album at the 28th position on their list, “Albums of the Year” for 1993.

“Laid” recorded impressive sales, earning it Gold certifications from the BPI and the RIAA in the UK and the US respectively.