As a young girl, Myles competed as an equestrian in Canada's prestigious Royal Winter Fair later studying to be a graphic artist, actor, stunt model, make up artist and wardrobe stylist to pay for her true calling, music. Myles changed her surname from Byles at the age of 19, after deciding to pursue a career in entertainment. Between appearing in TV ads, modelling and local gigs which, due to her multi-tasking confused Canadian labels who continually rejected signing her as a recording artist, she financed two songs from her 1989 debut album with match financing from FACTOR and Much Music's Christopher Ward who wrote songs (Black Velvet), executive produced and helped manage her music career signed to Atlantic Records with worldwide international success.
Myles' first self titled album (1989) produced four Top 40 hits, “Love Is”, “Lover of Mine”, and “Still Got This Thing”, as well as the international classic hit, “Black Velvet”, won her a 1991 Grammy award for best female rock vocalist along with four Juno Awards, and a Diamond award for sales in excess of one million in Canada - the only debut artist to retain this status.
In 1991 America's ASCAP awarded the song, Black Velvet with a 'Millionaire Award' for the highest radio airplay in the world and again in 2005 for over five million radio plays of “Black Velvet”. Canada's SOCAN awarded the songs, “Black Velvet” and “Lover Of Mine” each with an award for over one hundred thousand plays in Canada in 2005 with her classically orchestrated ballad, international number one hit, “Song Instead Of A Kiss” to follow.
Her follow-up album; Rockinghorse (1992) received a Grammy nomination for best female rock vocalist and three Juno Awards. After sale of over eight million records on three albums Alannah concluded her alliance with Atlantic Records and signed with Miles Copeland's Ark 21 Records to release her fourth record, A Rival (1997) which produced the top 40 hit, 'Bad 4 You'. WMG released The Very Best Of Alannah Myles (1999) containing hits from four albums and newly recorded songs.
After a lengthy songwriting hiatus, Myles released her fifth studio album in 2009 containing 11 new studio recordings along with several new versions of her classic worldwide hit title track, 'Black Velvet'. Executive produced with co-producer Mike Borkosky from Toronto and Veronica Ferraro from Paris, France, world renown producer Terry Brown mixed one her finest audio CD recordings to date showcasing the same sultry rock blues we've grown accustomed to from Alannah.
After terminating a six-year lease with Canadian indie label Linus Entertainment in August 2013, Myles's "Black Velvet" album was retitled "85bpm", repackaged for her 25th Anniversary with new images photographed by fellow Canadian Deborah Samuel. A newly recorded song written by Anne Peebles, produced by Michael Borkosky, "Can't Stand the Rain" was added to "85bpm", featuring a solo played by Canadian guitarist Jeff Healey, re-released on Myles's independently owned label, Fascinate inc. The last track, Trouble, was written in Nashville and recorded in Toronto with a jug band.
You Break My Heart
Alannah Myles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Remembrance of you and I
Now I think I miss your smile
And I'm still ready to fight
Feeling you so sorry now, and all broken down
All I need is you around
Before you break my heartSo please try
Before you break my heart
Baby you and I could have been so nice
By now it might be too late
'cause all I wanna say tonight
I wanted you by my side
Things you said so far have no meaning to me anymore
Why can't we be like we were before
Could we make it last forever
So more
Stop ! Before you break my heart
All I want is a chance to believe
If you could understand me
Stop ! Before you bring me down
'Guess I'll never be your star
If you could understand me
'cause all I want, is you tonight...
All you can do for us
Is to give all you have
In your eyes, in your soul, in your mind...
All you can say by now
Will make it right...
Alannah Myles's song "You Break My Heart" is about the pain and regret of a failed relationship. The singer of the song is walking alone in the city, reflecting on memories of their relationship with someone they loved. The lyrics show that the singer still has feelings for this person, but is also ready to fight for their heart and their connection. While the singer once believed that everything the other person said had meaning, they now doubt if it is possible to go back to the way things were.
The chorus of the song repeatedly asks the other person to stop before they break the singer's heart, pleading for them to understand that all they want is to have a chance to believe things can still work out between them. The singer longs for the relationship to last forever and for the other person to understand and connect with them on a deeper level.
Overall, "You Break My Heart" is a powerful yet melancholic song about the pain of lost love and lamenting the lost chance of what could have been.
Line by Line Meaning
Walking all alone down the city tonight
I am walking alone tonight in the city and remembering you
Remembrance of you and I
My mind is filled with memories of the time we spent together
Now I think I miss your smile
I miss your smile and presence around me
And I'm still ready to fight
I am willing to fight for our relationship and do whatever it takes to make it work
Feeling you so sorry now, and all broken down
I am feeling sorry and sad now, and completely shattered emotionally
All I need is you around
All I need is your presence around me to feel better
Before you break my heart
Please stop hurting me before it breaks my heart
So please try
Please try to make things right between us
Baby you and I could have been so nice
We could have had a beautiful relationship if things had worked out differently
By now it might be too late
It might be too late to salvage our relationship by now
'cause all I wanna say tonight
All I want to say right now is that I miss you and wish things were different
I wanted you by my side
I wanted you to be with me by my side through thick and thin
Things you said so far have no meaning to me anymore
The things you said to me earlier do not hold any significance for me now
Why can't we be like we were before
Why can't we have the same beautiful relationship we had before
Could we make it last forever
Is it possible for us to have a long-lasting and happy relationship
So more
Please listen to me
Stop ! Before you break my heart
Please stop hurting me before it's too late
All I want is a chance to believe
All I want is a chance to believe in our relationship again
If you could understand me
If only you could understand my feelings and emotions
Stop ! Before you bring me down
Please stop doing things that make me feel down and disheartened
'Guess I'll never be your star
I guess I will never be the love of your life
'cause all I want, is you tonight...
All I want right now is your company and nothing else
All you can do for us
Please do everything that you possibly can to make our relationship work
Is to give all you have
Put in all your effort and give it your best shot
In your eyes, in your soul, in your mind...
I want to be everything that you think, feel, and want in life
All you can say by now
Whatever you say now holds the key to our future
Will make it right...
Your words can make everything right for us
Contributed by Abigail B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.