Ben Rector (born November 6, 1986) is a singer/songwriter from Tulsa, Oklah… Read Full Bio ↴Ben Rector (born November 6, 1986) is a singer/songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma, US now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Rector’s stylistic influences include pop, rock, and folk music.

Rector took piano lessons as a small child but did not begin playing music seriously until he picked up the guitar in high school. He began writing songs in tenth grade and formed a band called Euromart the following year. Euromart made an EP and played club shows in Tulsa, but dissolved when the members left for college.

After high school, Rector attended the University of Arkansas where he studied marketing. During his freshman year he recorded a self-titled EP that featured the song “Conversation”, which won the Grand Prize in the pop category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2006. He is the youngest person ever to win the award for the pop category. The EP grew popular in surrounding states, and by his sophomore year, Rector began touring frequently on weekends and during breaks in the school year. In 2008 Rector released his first full-length record, Twenty Tomorrow, followed by Songs That Duke Wrote in 2009. In 2009 Rector was given the NAMA award for best singer songwriter in Northwest Arkansas. During his college career at the University of Arkansas he played approximately 200 shows.

In June 2009 Rector moved to Nashville with his wife to pursue songwriting and to continue his career as an artist. On November 28, 2009 he released Jingles and Bells, a Christmas album composed of classic Christmas songs. Rector arranged the songs and played all the instruments on the album. He released his most recent album Into The Morning on February 16, 2010. Through word of mouth, the record peaked at #5 on the iTunes pop chart, #10 on the iTunes overall chart, and #11 on Billboard Heatseekers.[3] Immediately following the release, Rector co-headlined the “Three Amigos” tour throughout the eastern half of the United States with fellow Nashvillians Steve Moakler and Andrew Ripp. Later in the spring of 2010 he toured with both Dave Barnes and Five for Fighting.

His song “After All” was used in the June 15, 2010 episode of the ABC Family show Pretty Little Liars.

Albums
Year Title
2007 Twenty Tomorrow
2008 Songs That Duke Wrote
2010 Into the Morning
2011 Something like This

EPs
Year Title
2006 Ben Rector
2009 Jingles and Bells

Singles
Year Title
2010 Summer Candy

Autumn
Ben Rector Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

So I knew a girl once
She was the one I adored
So I fell in love once
With the girl that I mentioned before

And I'm giving up slowly
Giving up slowly
Giving slowly love

And so I'm giving up slowly
Giving up slowly
Learning how to love someone

So look what you did to me
Look what you did to me
Look what you did to me autumn
I'm a leaf that's gone falling free
Beneath all the maple trees
In front of your house to the bottom

So I watched the leaves fall
All of the way to the ground
And I knew that that was what love was
To die so that it could be found

And they're giving up slowly
Giving up slowly
Giving slowly now
And so they're giving up slowly
Giving up slowly
Learning how to love someone

They say look what you did to me
Look what you did to me
Look what you did to me autumn
I'm a leaf that's gone falling free
Beneath oh the maple trees
In front of this house to the bottom

Winter's chill won't leave until
I let it lay me down
And you can't see the spring
Til you're like the leaves
Here on the autumn ground

And so I'm giving up slowly
Giving up slowly
Giving up slowly love
And so I'm giving up

So look what you did to me
Look what you did to me
Look what you did to me autumn
I'm a leaf that's gone falling free
Beneath oh the maple trees
In front of your house to the bottom

Yeah winter's gone
Spring has come
Love is here can't you see
Like the autumn leaves

Bring me to the spring
Show me how to love someone

Overall Meaning

The song "Autumn" by Ben Rector is a melancholic love song about how the idea of love can lead to heartbreak and the uncertainty that can result. The first verse introduces the girl whom the singer once adored and the fact that he fell in love with her. However, the love shared between them is now fading away gradually, and the singer is learning to love someone else slowly. The following stanza describes how the singer feels an association between his love and the leaves that are falling all around him.

The chorus repeats the phrase "look what you did to me" and juxtaposes an image of the falling leaves and the singer being like a leaf that has fallen beneath the maple trees. It conveys the idea that love, like autumn, can be both beautiful and painful. Winter's chill won't leave him until he lets it lay him down, and the message is that he won't experience spring and love anew until he is like the leaves lay on the autumn ground. The end of the song brings light at the end of the tunnel with the arrival of spring, but the change also brings a question of whether the singer is ready to love someone else.

Overall, the song gives a sensitive portrayal of love that can be taken in many ways, but its themes remain enduring and meaningful. It's a song that can leave a lasting memory long after it's over.

Line by Line Meaning

So I knew a girl once
There was a girl I used to know

She was the one I adored
I loved her very much

So I fell in love once
I've only fallen in love once

With the girl that I mentioned before
It was with that same girl I knew before

And I'm giving up slowly
I'm slowly giving up

Giving up slowly
Continuously giving up

Giving slowly love
I'm slowly losing my ability to love

Learning how to love someone
I'm still figuring out how to love someone

So look what you did to me
See what you did to me

Look what you did to me
See what you've done to me

Look what you did to me autumn
Autumn reminds me of what you did