“I’m a passionate person,” declares the blonde-haired beauty, who once drew a picture in a diary when she was 13 that depicted her going to America. “Where I come from, it was a shame to show your emotions. You could never be too happy, because something bad might happen. I was always a passionate person. I wanted to live every moment. I looked around me, and it was beautiful, but I wanted something more.”

Ignoring material comforts and new clothes for lessons in singing, ballet, acting and classical piano, at fourteen Kerli entered and won Euroalaul, an annual televised competition to select a song to represent Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest. After the win, she decided to concentrate on singing. Island Def Jam Chairman Antonio “L.A.” Reid signed her on the spot after she auditioned for him.

Working with noted producer/mixer/songwriter David Maurice, whose credits include Garbage and JC Chasez, Kerli wrote the personal lyrics to all the songs, reflecting her amazing odyssey from a small town in Estonia across the sea from Scandanavia to major label recording artist.

“Being here has enabled me to grow as a person,” she says. “What I like here, which I never had in Estonia, is that people really do believe they can become whatever they want to become. My background has made me what I am, but it must be so much better to grow up in an environment where nobody tells you that you can’t do something. My dream of leaving and making music was my escape. I had no other options.”

That resolve comes across in songs like the rocking “I Want Nothing” and the vulnerability mixed with bravado of “Bulletproof,” while the hope of a better future comes across in the soulful R&B of “Beautiful Day” and the emotional moving “Butterfly Cry,” in which she reveals, “I used to believe there was no lights/But I found out/Life is far too short to fight/Lose yourself/Let go your pain/Taste the air you breathe/And kiss the sky.”

“I used to be suicidal and depressed when I was younger,” she says. “‘Butterfly Cry’ is about getting out of that. It was like my eyes were suddenly opened. It was a rebirth.”

That cycle of death and resurrection runs throughout Kerli’s dark-laced songs, from the title track, to the techno-rocking “Hurt Me,” a reflection of the mental abuse she suffered as a youngster, and the defiant harmonies of “Fragile,” marking the distance between where she came from and where she is now.

“It was hard for me to go back to my normal life in Estonia when I first started traveling,” she says of the inspiration for “Fragile.” “I felt like I didn’t really fit anymore. None of my family or friends could relate to what I was going through, and I couldn’t relate to what they were going through.”

She claims no musical influences, except for being a fan of Bjork. Kerli insists: “I’m just such a sponge that whenever I hear something beautiful, it touches me. When I was little, we didn’t have much access to western culture. I remember my cousin getting cable when she was five and it was the first time we’d ever seen MTV.”

And while Kerli has certainly made up for that lost time, she is adamant that pop stardom, fame and material success are not her goals, which she declares in the reggae rhythms of “Up Up Up” or the confessional “I Want Nothing.”

“I used to fantasize about being a pop star, but now my passion is for music,” she says. “I don’t care about attention. I just want people to hear this record. It’s not about me. Everything I do at this point is for the people and the hope somebody can relate to what I went through.”

“You think I’m more than you,” she sings in "Fragile. “You think you see me/You like the way I’m strong and stand by you/But I am fragile, too.”

“I haven’t had a single dream that hasn’t come true,” says Kerli of her remarkable path, which has led her to L.A. and N.Y. to record her debut. “The bigger the dream, the more time it takes to come true. The moment you really let go, that’s when something comes to you. The next level for me is to be totally untouchable. My dreams now are very spiritual, of personal growth. All I want is to be happy. I want to make love my armor so that nothing can hurt me.”

Love Is Dead is the next step in that voyage, which has taken her from a tiny village on the other side of the world to an opportunity to tell that story so that it inspires others.

“World’s turning round for you/There is no need to be afraid…Everything is on its way.”

“This is the way I feel all the time,” she says. “I open my eyes in the morning and I’m excited about my life. But I want to keep that darker part alive, too, because I find it very beautiful. I just want to show people that it is possible to come out of that dark hole. I was as deep as you can get, but I came out. Everybody can. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s my message. I’m a storyteller, a messenger, a friend, a helper on a very basic, simple, human level. I’m a voice for the outsiders, because I’m one, too.”

“Life is my creation/My best friend,” she sings in “The Creationist” of the way she has invented and then transformed herself and her life. “Whatever happened/Was meant that way.”

On Love Is Dead, Kerli is ready to share her amazing journey with the rest of the world.

ALBUM LYRICS

LOVE IS DEAD
This is the hardest part when you
Feel like fading
All that you had is become unreal
Collapsing and aching

Love don’t live here anymore
Love is dead, love is gone, love don’t live here anymore
Love don’t live here anymore
Love is dead, love is gone, love don’t live here anymore

I know that you think of me when you’re beside her, inside her
It must be so hard for you to fight it, deny it

Love don’t live here anymore
Love is dead, love is gone, love don’t live here anymore
Love don’t live here anymore
Love is dead, love is gone, love don’t live here anymore

WALKING ON AIR
There’s a little creepy house
In a little creepy place
Little creepy place
In a little creepy world
Little creepy girl with her little creepy face
Saying funny things that you have never heard
Do you know what it’s all about
Are you brave enough to figure out
Know that you can set your world on fire
If you are strong enough to leave your doubts

Feel it, breathe it, believe it
And you’ll be walking on air
Go try, go fly so high
And you’ll be walking on air
You feel it unless you kill it
Go on and you’re forgiven
I knew that, I could feel that
I feel like I am walking on air

She had a little creepy cat
And a little creepy bat
Little rocking chair
And an old blue hat
That little creepy girl
Oh she loves to sing
She has a little gift
An amazing thing
With her little funny eyes of hazel
With her little funny old blue hat
She will go and set the world on fire
No one ever thought she could do that

Feel it, breathe it, believe it
And you’ll be walking on air
Go try, go fly so high
And you’ll be walking on air
You feel it unless you kill it
Go on and you’re forgiven
I knew that, I could feel that
I feel like I am walking on air

Flitter up and hover down
Be all around
Be all around

You know that I love you
Go on

Feel it, breathe it, believe it
And you’ll be walking on air
Go try, go fly so high
And you’ll be walking on air
You feel it unless you kill it
Go on and you’re forgiven
I knew that, I could feel that
I feel like I am walking on air

THE CREATIONIST
This is an old and funny poem
I accidentally overheard
It keeps the little children playing
And bigger children spread the word
My memory is bad
So I always tend to forget how it goes
But

Life is my creation
Is my best friend
Imagination
Is my defense
And I’ll keep walking
When skies are grey
Whatever happens was meant that way

You’re no better or no worse than the others
We are all the same
And life is just a moment
You might as well enjoy this day
It’s time to start believing
That everything you want is on it’s way
And

Life is my creation
Is my best friend
Imagination
Is my defense
And I’ll keep walking
When skies are grey
Whatever happens was meant that way

We’ll be growing
Into knowing
While we’re floating
Keep on going

I WANT NOTHING
Having the time of your lives
Happy within your disguise
Watch how the child in you dies
Circles inside of your mind

There’s is more than meets the eye
Life is more than meets the eye

Strange how you got it but you’re still coming back for more
I want nothing
If you think that you got it why they’re treating you like a whore
And I want nothing from you
I want nothing from here
I want nothing

Faking it all of the time
Conscience it cuts like a knife
When will you start to realize
We don’t have time on our side

There is more than meets the eye
Hits you right between the eyes

Strange how you got it but you’re still coming back for more
I want nothing
If you think that you got it why they’re treating you like a whore
And I want nothing from you
I want nothing from here
I want nothing

UP UP UP
Congratulations
False expectations
Wrong destination
And realization

It is manifestation
Fake sensation
Just imitation
Endless frustration

It’s all the people going up, up, up, up
It’s all the people staying down, down, down,
It’s all the people going up, up, up, up
It’s all the people staying down, down, down

Imagination
Identification
And weak foundation
Is a bad combination

It’s all the people going up, up, up, up, up
It’s all the people staying down, down, down
It’s all the people going up, up, up, up
It’s all the people staying down, down, down

BULLETPROOF
Just a simple touch
Just a little glance
Makes me feel like flying
But where are you tonight
Something isn’t right
Can you please stop hiding

I am trying not to think about
All the things you did before
But sometimes it all just gets to me
I can’t take it anymore
I’ll stay with you but remember
Be careful what you do
Cause I’m not bulletproof

In your secret place
Staring into space
Leaves me feeling frozen
I just need to feel
That what we have is real
And I’m the one you’ve chosen

BEAUTIFUL DAY
Someone is born and someone dies
Whatever it is it’s alright
Someone is smiling, someone cries
Something is holding the light

It’s standing in the light now
Standing in the light now
Standing here right now
For you
Everything you do now
Everything you are now
Creating in right now
For you

It’s a beautiful day
The sun is coming up
The sun is going down for you
It’s a beautiful day
And everyone says
The world is turning around for you

There is no need to be afraid
There is no need to deny
That everything is on its way
And life is going on in your mind

It’s standing in the light now
Standing in the light now
Standing here right now
For you
Everything you do now
Everything you are now
Creating in right now
For you

It’s a beautiful day
The sun is coming up
The sun is going down for you
It’s a beautiful day
And everyone says
The world is turning around for you

CREEPSHOW
I’m from a land called secret Estonia
Nobody knows where it’s at
Nobody knows where it’s at
Nobody knows where it’s at
I’m from a land called secret Estonia
Nobody knows where it’s at
Nobody knows where it’s at
Nobody knows where it’s at

Welcome to the creepshow
Welcome to the creepshow
Welcome to the
Welcome to the
Welcome to the
Creepshow

I’m from a land called secret Estonia
Nobody knows where it’s at
Nobody knows where it’s at
Nobody knows where it’s at
I’m from a land called secret Estonia
Nobody knows where it’s at
Nobody knows where it’s at
Nobody knows where it’s at

Welcome to the creepshow
Welcome to the creepshow
Welcome to the
Welcome to the
Welcome to the
Creepshow

Põdral maja metsa sees
Väiksest aknast välja vaatab
Jänes jookseb kõigest väest
Lävel seisma jääb
Kopp-kopp lahti tee
Metsas kuri jahimees
Jänes tuppa tule sa
Anna käppa ka

(Translation)
A reindeer has a little house in the forest
He’s looking out from a small window
The rabbit is running towards the house
And he stops in the doorway
Knock-knock, open up
There’s an evil hunter in the forest
The reindeer says to the rabbit
Come inside and shake my hand

Welcome to the creepshow
Welcome to the creepshow
Welcome to the
Welcome to the
Welcome to the
Creepshow

HURT ME
So full of rage
The human race
Hold me while I’m falling down
Rearrange what you have found

Hurt me
You see me crawling on the floor
Is that what you’ve been longing for
Hurt me
Is this enough
Do you want more
Go on if it makes you soar

You hate my face
My sweet embrace
You hate me when I’m all around
Enjoy it when I’m burning down

Hurt me
You see me crawling on the floor
Is that what you’ve been longing for
Hurt me
Is this enough
Do you want more
Go on if it makes u soar

Hurt me
You see me crawling on the floor
Is that what you’ve been longing for
Hurt me
Is this enough
Do you want more
Go on if it makes you soar

BUTTERFLY CRY
Did I hurt you
Did I ever make you bleed inside
Did I kill you
I didn’t mean to make you hide yourself
Find you in you, beautiful
Do not grow the seeds of pain in you
Goodbye

Let the butterflies cry
Let them cry for you
You just dry your eyes
Because the world is wonderful
Let the butterflies cry
Let them cry for you
You just dry your eyes
Because the world is wonderful
Oh, cause the world is wonderful

I have been there
I used to believe there was no light
But I found out
Life is far too short to fight
Lose yourself,
Let go your pain
Taste the air you breathe
And touch the sky
Goodbye

Let the butterflies cry
Let them cry for you
You just dry your eyes
Because the world is wonderful
Let the butterflies cry
Let them cry for you
You just dry your eyes
Because the world is wonderful
Oh, cause the world is wonderful

STRANGE BOY
You should never leave me home alone
Heaven knows where I might wanna go
Everything I do is oh so wrong
That’s why you like it

When you ask if you could be my man
I say honey, thank you, come again

Strange boy
Innocent
You’re here
Magnificent
Strange boy
Innocent
You’re here
Magnificent

Should have told you ’bout the way I choose
Everything that we are gonna do
Everything that we are going through
Just how you like it

Strange boy
Innocent
You’re here
Magnificent
Strange boy
Innocent
You’re here
Magnificent

Baby don’t you realize
I’m not another foolish sacrifice
Oh no, no, no
You’re waiting for the world to pass you by
Living in a state of compromise
No, no, no, no
No, no, no

FRAGILE
You think you know me
And everything that you consider me
You think you know my name
You think you know me
And everything you get a chance to see
You think you know my face
You think you know my face

You think you see me
And everything that you consider me
You think I’m more than you
You think you see me
You like the way I’m strong and stand by you
But I am fragile too
I am fragile too

Yeah I will be fine
As the time goes by
It may hurt at nights
But I will be fine
Yeah I will be fine

They think they know me
And everything that they consider me
They think I never cry
They are thinking
While they’re making up their twisted lies
She won’t mind, she’s nice
She is cold as ice

You think you see me
and everything that you consider me
You think I’m more than you
You think you see me
You like the way I’m strong and stand by you
But I am fragile too
I am fragile too.. read less