In 1976, Chapman played with a rock and pop group called "Harmony" in Montgomery, Alabama, effectively replacing Tommy Shaw who had just left to join Styx. She played acoustic guitar and piano as well as providing vocals for the group in a locally-popular bowling alley bar called Kegler's Kove and has returned to play in the area on an infrequent basis ever since.
Chapman has had several popular songs on the Adult-Contemporary charts in the 1990's, such as "I Keep Coming Back To You", "Walk My Way", "The Moment You Were Mine" and "All I Have". In 1993, she sang a popular duet with Paul Carrack, "In The Time It Takes". In early 2010 Chapman's "Back To Love" album was #1 on the UK itunes country charts.
Co-songwriter of Faith Hill's hit song, "This Kiss", many other singers have interpreted her songs: Trisha Yearwood ("Down On My Knees"), Martina McBride ("Happy Girl"), Willie Nelson (“Nothing I Can Do About it Now”), Tanya Tucker (“Strong Enough to Bend”), Lorrie Morgan (“Five Minutes”), Mary Chapin Carpenter (“Almost Home”), Bette Midler ("The Color of Roses") and others.
Bonnie Raitt has sung background vocals on several songs, including "Shake My Soul".
Chapman's husband Ernest Chapman died of cancer in 1994. In 2000, Beth experienced her own battle with breast cancer. The song "Sand And Water" was written after Ernest's death; Elton John performed this song during his 1997 World Tour.
Discography
* Hearing It First (1980)
* Beth Nielsen Chapman (1990)
* You Hold the Key (1993)
* Sand and Water (1997)
* Greatest Hits (1999)
* Deeper Still (2002)
* Hymns (2004)
* Look (2005)
* Prism (2007)
Shadows
Beth Nielsen Chapman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everything remembering
Its own time
Every wave surrenders
At the shoreline
Time peels back the sky
And the clouds
Oh, yes
Pay no mind to me
It's only hopeless
By a small degree
Let's watch the sunset
Slide into the sea
While the clouds
Hurl shadows at the wind
And love is still
A word held in my heart
A candle for the times
The world goes dark
Left, right
I don't know these steps
And there's a spot light
Screaming through my head
Oh, hold me so tight
We'll dance until we're dead
While the clouds
Hurl shadows at the wind
And love is still
A word held in my heart
My candle for the times
The world goes dark
Dream daze, ending in a sigh
And it's the same haze
Hung up in that sky
I'm singing both sides, now
It helps me cry
While the clouds
Hurl shadows at the wind
(I've looked at clouds from both sides)
While the clouds
Hurl shadows at the wind
The lyrics of Beth Nielsen Chapman's song "Shadows" portrays a contemplative and reflective mood about the passage of time and the transience of life. The opening lines "Fine, fine, Everything remembering its own time, Every wave surrenders at the shoreline" suggest that everything has its own time to come and go, just like the waves that eventually come to an end at the shore. The subsequent lines, "Time peels back the sky And the clouds Hurl shadows at the wind", add to the reflective mood by acknowledging how time changes everything, and how it can have an impact on the psyche, much like the shadows of the clouds hurled at the wind in a tumultuous spectacle.
The chorus "And love is still A word held in my heart A candle for the times The world goes dark" reinforces this theme of reflection by emphasizing how love is the one constant that remains in the midst of uncertainty and change, like a candle that brings light in the darkness. The next verses describe a dance between two people, where one is lost and hesitant, and the other is holding onto hope and commitment. The lines "Left, right I don't know these steps And there's a spotlight Screaming through my head" suggest the feeling of being out of sync and overwhelmed while trying to face life's challenges. It is only by holding each other tight and dancing until they are dead that they can find comfort amidst the uncertainties of life.
In the final verse, the singer admits to being in a dreamlike state, caught between the different aspects of life, and yet singing both sides, helping to let go of the emotional weight that can be hard to bear. Ultimately, the song ends as it begins, with the clouds still hurling shadows at the wind, suggesting an endless cycle of life and change.
Line by Line Meaning
Fine, fine
Everything is okay, no need to worry
Everything remembering
Memories of everything still exist
Its own time
Memories come back in their own time
Every wave surrenders
The waves come to the shore and slow down
At the shoreline
The waves stop at the beach
Time peels back the sky
Time moves the clouds and reveals the sky
And the clouds
The clouds in the sky
Hurl shadows at the wind
The clouds cast shadows on the ground as they move
Oh, yes
Yes
Pay no mind to me
Ignore me
It's only hopeless
It's not completely hopeless
By a small degree
Only by a little bit
Let's watch the sunset
Let's enjoy the sunset together
Slide into the sea
The sun going down over the ocean
And love is still
Love still exists
A word held in my heart
Love is still important to me
A candle for the times
A light to guide us through dark times
The world goes dark
During difficult times it feels like everything is going wrong
Left, right
Uncertainty of which direction to go in
I don't know these steps
Feeling lost and unsure
And there's a spot light
Feeling exposed and vulnerable
Screaming through my head
Feeling overwhelmed and confused
Oh, hold me so tight
Holding onto someone for comfort and support
We'll dance until we're dead
We will keep going until the end
Dream daze, ending in a sigh
Feeling lost and uncertain about the future
And it's the same haze
The confusion and uncertainty continues
Hung up in that sky
The unknown is up in the sky
I'm singing both sides, now
Feeling torn between two options
It helps me cry
Expressing emotions can be helpful
While the clouds
As the clouds
Hurl shadows at the wind
Casting shadows all around us
Contributed by Max T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.