Escovedo's family tree includes former Santana percussionist Pete Escovedo and Pete's daughter, Sheila E (also Prince's former drummer and later a pop star). He began his music career with the Nuns, a mid-'70s punk band based in San Francisco. He co-founded the pioneering cowpunk band Rank and File in 1979, which moved to Austin, Texas, in 1981 after a stint in New York City. The band released Sundown on Slash Records in 1982, but shortly after, Escovedo left to form the True Believers with brother Javier. The band recorded two albums for EMI and toured the country, often as an opening act for Los Lobos. However, EMI opted not to release the second album, which eventually led to the group's break-up. (It eventually surfaced as a bonus item when Rykodisc reissued the first set on CD in 1994.)
Escovedo released a solo album in 1992 on Watermelon Records, Gravity, uniting his wide variety of styles; the album was produced by Stephen Bruton of Bonnie Raitt's band. Escovedo also began gigging periodically with the band Buick MacKane, who fused old-school punk with 70's glam rock; after Rykodisc released Escovedo's With These Hands in 1996, they followed it up with Buick MacKane's long-awaited album. After Escovedo parted ways with Rykodisc, he signed with the Chicago-based alt-country label Bloodshot in 1998, who released the live album More Miles Than Money: Live 1994-1996 and the acclaimed studio set A Man Under The Influence.
In April of 2003, Escovedo collapsed following a show in Phoenix, AZ, and he was subsequently diagnosed with Hepatitis C. An outpouring of support from musicians led to a series of successful benefit concerts to help pay Escovedo's medical expenses and keep his music before the public, followed by a tribute album, Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo, which was released in 2004.
In June 2010, Escovedo released Street Songs of Love.
She Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Alejandro Escovedo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I take your smile for a ride
I awake to a bad dream rising
Your kiss it frames the sky
Your footsteps echo in the hallway
Your picture hangs above,
The faucet dripping in the kitchen
We used to talk about these days
We used to say they'd never happen
Well, now that they've happened
It makes no difference who I am
I close my eyes and waste a wish
You know I gave you my very best
But it wasn't good enough
You took forever and all that
Could ever be
CHORUS:
She doesn't live here anymore
We used to talk about these days
We used to say they'd never happen
Well, now that they've happened
It makes no difference who I am
CHORUS
The lyrics of Alejandro Escovedo's song "She Doesn't Live Here Anymore" are marked by a deep sense of loss and longing. The singer is grappling with the absence of someone who seemed to be a central figure in his life, but who has now vanished. The opening lines establish the extent to which this person has been missed - the singer paints her picture to his front door and takes her smile for a ride. These actions suggest a desperate attempt to cling to whatever memories and images he has of her, to make her presence felt in some way.
As the song progresses, the singer describes how the absence of this person has seeped into everyday routines and spaces - her footsteps echo in the hallway, her picture hangs above, and the dripping faucet in the kitchen seems to take on a melancholic significance. These details evoke a sense of loss that is palpable and all-encompassing. At the same time, the singer acknowledges that they had talked about this day - the day when she would no longer be there - and yet it has still come as a surprise. There is a sense of acceptance that has seeped into his despair - "it makes no difference who I am" - and a recognition that there is nothing that can bring her back.
The chorus of the song is a refrain that delivers a final, devastating blow - "she doesn't live here anymore". It leaves no room for hope or redemption, no chance for a reunion or reconciliation. The repetition of the line underscores the finality of the loss and the sense of emptiness that pervades the singer's life in the wake of it. The song ends with a last sigh of regret - "but it wasn't good enough, you took forever and all that could ever be" - a recognition that, regardless of the depth of feeling, it was not enough to keep the person from leaving.
Line by Line Meaning
I paint your picture to my front door
I try to keep you near me by painting a picture of you and placing it outside my house, but it's just a futile attempt to hold on to something I've lost.
I take your smile for a ride
I cling to memories of your smile, trying to relive them, but it's just a temporary escape from the reality that you're gone.
I awake to a bad dream rising
Every day I wake up and realize that you're not here, and it feels like a never-ending nightmare.
Your kiss it frames the sky
Even though you're not here, the memory of our love and the passion we once shared still feels like it fills the world around me.
Your footsteps echo in the hallway
I can still hear the sound of your footsteps, even though you're not here anymore.
Your picture hangs above,
I keep a picture of you up in my house as a reminder of what we once had, but it's just a painful remnant of a love that's no longer there.
The faucet dripping in the kitchen
The sound of the dripping faucet stands in for the rhythm of the blues, emblematic of the sadness that permeates everything in my life after you left.
It's just the rhythm of the blues
The sadness and pain that I'm feeling is just a part of the human experience, a universal emotion that's often expressed in music and poetry.
We used to talk about these days
We used to imagine what our future might look like, and thought these days might never come. Now they have, and it's not what we expected.
We used to say they'd never happen
We thought that our love would last forever, and that we'd always be happy. But life intervened, and we were proven wrong.
Well, now that they've happened
Despite our best intentions, life has brought us to this moment, where our love has died and we're left to pick up the pieces.
It makes no difference who I am
Without you, my identity feels incomplete and meaningless. Nothing I do or say can restore what we once had.
I close my eyes and waste a wish
I yearn for the past and for the love we shared, but it's just a futile wish that will never come true again.
You know I gave you my very best
I loved you with all my heart and gave you everything I had, but it still wasn't enough to keep you by my side.
But it wasn't good enough
Despite my best efforts, I couldn't make our love work. I'm left alone with nothing but my memories and regrets.
You took forever and all that
You left me waiting for so long, and by the time you came back, it was too late. You took everything I had, and now I'm left with nothing but pain and sorrow.
She doesn't live here anymore
You're gone, and there's nothing I can do to bring you back. I'm left alone in a world that feels emptier and colder than before.
CHORUS
The chorus emphasizes the theme of the song, encapsulating the despair and heartbreak of a love that's been lost and can never come back.
Contributed by Samantha H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.