Thomas was raised in and around Houston, Texas, graduating from Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg. Before his solo career, he sang in a church choir as a teenager, then joined the musical group The Triumphs. During his senior year he made friends with Roy Head of Roy Head and The Traits. The Traits and the Triumphs held several Battle of the Bands events in the early 1960s.
In 1966, B.J. Thomas and The Triumphs released the album I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Pacemaker Records). It featured a hit cover of the Hank Williams song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". The single sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The follow-up single, "Mama", peaked at No. 22. In the same year, Thomas released a solo album of the same name on the Scepter Records label.
Thomas came back to achieve mainstream success again in 1968, first with "The Eyes of a New York Woman", then five months later with the much bigger "Hooked on a Feeling", which featured the sound of Reggie Young's electric sitar and was first released on the album On My Way (Scepter Records). "Hooked on a Feeling" became Thomas's second million-selling record. A year later Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid featured Thomas performing the Bacharach/David song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", which won the Academy Award for best original song that year and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1970. Sales of it also exceeded one million copies, with Thomas being awarded his third gold record. The song was also released on an album of the same name. Other hits of the 1970s were "Everybody's Out of Town", "I Just Can't Help Believing" (No. 9 in 1970, covered by Elvis Presley), "No Love at All", "Mighty Clouds of Joy", and "Rock and Roll Lullaby".
Thomas's earlier hits were with Scepter Records, his label for six years. He left Scepter Records in 1972 and spent a short period, in 1973 and 1974, with Paramount Records, during which time he released two albums, Songs (1973) and Longhorns & Londonbridges (1974).
In 1975, Thomas released the album Reunion on ABC Records, which had absorbed the Paramount label; it contained "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" (the longest titled No. 1 hit ever on the Hot 100). It was Thomas's first big hit since 1972 and secured him his fourth gold record. It won the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Country Song, awarded to its songwriters, Larry Butler and Chips Moman.
In 1976, Thomas released Home Where I Belong, produced by Chris Christian on Myrrh Records, the first of several gospel albums. It was the first Christian album to go platinum, and Thomas became the biggest contemporary Christian artist of the period.
On MCA Records, Thomas and Chris Christian recorded what would be his last Top 40 hit single, "Don't Worry Baby", on his last pop album, which also included the Adult Contemporary hit "Still the Lovin' Is Fun".
During the 1980s, his success on the pop charts began to wane, but many of his singles reached the upper regions on the country singles chart, including two 1983 chart toppers, "Whatever Happened to Old-Fashioned Love" and "New Looks from an Old Lover" (see 1984 in music), as well as "Two Car Garage", which reached No. 3. In 1981, on his 39th birthday, Thomas became the 60th member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Thomas scored another hit, recording "As Long As We Got Each Other", the theme to Growing Pains, with Jennifer Warnes. A later version, used for the show's fourth season, was recorded with British singer Dusty Springfield. Thomas first released this track on his 1985 album Throwing Rocks at the Moon (Columbia Records).
Thomas has also authored two books including the autobiography Home Where I Belong, and starred in the movies Jory and "Jake's Corner". Several commercial jingles including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Bell, have featured his singing voice and music. On December 31, 2011, Thomas was the featured halftime performer at the 2011 Hyundai Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
On April 2, 2013, Thomas released The Living Room Sessions, an album with acoustic arrangements of well known hits. It features guest appearances with established and emerging vocalists accompanying Thomas on seven of twelve tracks.
On December 3, 2013, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced that his 1969 single "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" would be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Thomas was married to singer-songwriter Gloria Richardson since December 1968. They had three daughters: Paige (born 1970), Nora (adopted from Korea in 1978), and Erin (born in 1979). Shortly after Thomas's career began, he became dependent on drugs and alcohol which led to his marriage nearly ending and himself even coming close to death. Gloria became a Christian in 1975, and less than a month later, so did B.J.; most press sources indicate that Thomas had been sober since their separation was reconciled in 1976.
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
B.J. Thomas Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train
Is whining low
And I'm so lonesome I could cry
Did you ever see
A night so long
The moon just went
Behind a cloud
And I'm so lonesome I could cry
Did you ever see
A robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
That means he's lost
The will to live
And I'm so lonesome I could cry
The silence of
A fallin' star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry
Yeah, I could cry
I could cry
I could cry
I could cry, oh
I could cry, I could cry
In B.J. Thomas's song "I'm so lonesome I could cry," the singer is expressing feelings of loneliness and despair. The song begins with the question "Did you hear the lonesome whippoorwill?" The whippoorwill is a nocturnal bird with a distinctive mournful call. The bird's sound is usually associated with sadness, and in this song, he sounds too blue to fly. The midnight train's sound is also described as whining low, which adds to the mood of the song.
The second verse describes a long and slow-moving night, where time seems to stand still. The moon disappears, leaving the singer in the dark with his thoughts. The third verse compares the singer's sadness to that of a robin weeping when the leaves begin to die. The robin has lost his will to live, just as the singer has lost his will to be happy.
The fourth verse describes the beauty of a falling star lighting up the sky. However, instead of being able to appreciate the moment, the singer is consumed with thoughts of loneliness and wondering where his loved one is. The chorus repeats the line "I'm so lonesome I could cry" several times, emphasizing the depth of the singer's sadness.
Overall, the song captures a feeling of isolation, helplessness and sadness, which is accentuated by the imagery used in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Did you hear the lonesome whippoorwill?
Did you ever notice that sad, alone bird, singing a melody too heavy for his wings?
He sounds too blue to fly
The sound makes you feel like even if he could fly, he doesn't seem too interested anymore.
The midnight train
The train that only rolls in the dead of night.
Is whining low
The sound of its whistle is melancholy and sorrowful.
And I'm so lonesome I could cry
At this juncture, the singer envisions everything happening, and now the train's sound only accentuates how bummed he feels.
Did you ever see
Have you paid close attention to that deep sadness that seems to last an eternity?
A night so long
An endless night that just keeps slipping away as life crawls on.
When time goes crawlin' by?
Time stretches out and all the minutes seem like hours.
The moon just went
The light has left.
Behind a cloud
All that's left is the heavy clouds and the darkness that it brings.
And I'm so lonesome I could cry
The image amplifies his lonely moonlit nights, and he's on the verge of crying from the weight of it all.
Did you ever see
Have you ever noticed the feeling of the animal kingdom, too?
A robin weep
A bird in mourning, crying tears too hard to bare.
When leaves begin to die?
When life changes in seasons, and it inflicts pain that comes with accepting the death of things that were once beautiful.
That means he's lost
It's a strong, drastic loss beyond what humans could ever know.
The will to live
The will to live, love, and maintain his passion has disappeared.
And I'm so lonesome I could cry
The pain is shared by all around us, and he reflects on this mortality and resounding loneliness.
The silence of
The absence of sound.
A falling star
A celestial object's light shining brightly that falls without a sound.
Lights up a purple sky
The melancholy that fills the sky is illuminated by the diminishing light of the falling star.
And as I wonder where you are
He's lost in thoughts about the whereabouts of whoever he's mourning, and it causes reflection on the loneliness he's living in at the moment.
I'm so lonesome I could cry
It's cruelty to experience that heartache, and he can't help to express the depths of his sorrow.
Yeah, I could cry
He can't help but cry, it's an emotional release of the pain inside.
I could cry
He feels the need to cry.
I could cry
He repeats that he feels an intense need to cry.
I could cry, oh
He feels pulled towards that painful release, and he can't bear the ache anymore.
I could cry, I could cry
He inevitably breaks down and recognizes the uncontrollable urge to cry, acknowledging his feelings of solitude.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Hank Williams, Sr.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@susanberner5177
His voice and this song makes the room hush. No one sounds like BJ and no one ever will. Thank you for your music, Mr. Thomas. It will be enjoyed forever.
@danconner504
This guy doesn't need a bunch of musical instruments to back him, he is the total package of the musicial industry
@zhifaraandhara4125
👍
@margowakefield3295
Now singing with the Angels. 💖
@trishhappel5095
Exactly 💯
@bellalugo2230
Yes that's right
@michaelmarsh2133
Great voice
@ehardin54
This video brought me to tears. 😓 Today BJ Thomas would have been 80 years old. For me, his voice is still the most distinctive and wonderful male vocalist in music history. I'm 68 years old and I had the privilege of seeing and listening to him for the first time when I was 18. It's saddened me so much last May when he passed away. End up until he had to start his cancer treatments, his voice remained the same without change. 💯 Thank you for all of your beautiful music BJ Thomas. 🎵🎙️🎼❤️ And Happy Heavenly Birthday.🎈🎈🎈
@larrybill9141
Hello patty how are you doing!!
@oviedoc5454
I wouldn't dare disagree with you because BJ truly was a once in a generation talent; however, I would hasten to add: Keith Whitley was right up there with him.