After learning guitar at the age of 12, Scaggs met Steve Miller at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. In 1959, he became the vocalist for Miller's band The Marksmen. The pair later attended the University of Wisconsin together, playing in blues bands like The Ardells and The Fabulous Knight Trains. Leaving school, Scaggs briefly left Texas to join the burgeoning rhythm and blues scene in London. After singing in bands such as The Wigs and Mother Earth, he recorded his first solo album Boz in 1965, which was not a commercial success. He traveled to Sweden as a solo performer and did a brief stint with the band The Other Side with fellow American Jack Downing and Brit Mac MacLeod.
Returning to the US, Scaggs promptly headed for the booming psychedelic music center of San Francisco in 1967. Linking up with Steve Miller again, he appeared on the Steve Miller Band's first two albums Children of the Future and Sailor, which won over critical reviews. After being spotted by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, Scaggs secured a solo contract with Atlantic Records in 1968. Despite good reviews, his first Atlantic album was met with lukewarm sales, as were followup albums on Columbia Records. In 1976, he linked up with session musicians who would later form Toto and recorded his smash album Silk Degrees. The album reached number 2 on the US charts and number 1 in a number of countries across the world, spawning three hit singles: "Lowdown", "Lido Shuffle", and "What Can I Say", as well as the MOR standard "We're All Alone", later a hit for Rita Coolidge. A sellout world tour followed, but his follow-up album, the 1977 Down Two Then Left, lacked the cohesion of Silk Degrees.
Scaggs' 1980 album Middle Man would spawn two top 20 hits, "Breakdown Dead Ahead" and "Jojo," and Scaggs would enjoy two more hits over 1980 and 1981 ("Look What You've Done to Me" from the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, and "Miss Sun" from a greatest hits set).
Scaggs continued to record and tour sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although he semi-retired from the music business and turned owner of the San Francisco nightclub Slim's. His lengthy hiatus from the music industry slowed his chart career down dramatically.
Scaggs recorded Other Roads in 1988, took another hiatus, and then came back in 1994 with Some Change. In the late 190s he released Come On Home, an album of blues, and My Time, an anthology. He garnered good reviews with Dig, although the CD, which was released on September 11, 2001, was lost in the post-911 melée. In May, 2003, Scaggs released But Beautiful, a collection of jazz standards that debuted at number 1 on the jazz charts.
In 2013 he released the album Memphis
Sierra
Boz Scaggs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Told me you couldn't be true
Somebody ought to have told me now
But that wouldn't be like you
No ones got to tell me
After all you put me through
You dropped me like a habit
Your scent is on the glass tonight
Swirling in the wine
Scrambling the back of my brain
The irony sublime
It's warm bouquet and pungent flame
Light this ancient street
The avenue of no name
I fall into its beat
Nobody loved like you
Time won't you let me be
After all that we've been through
I talk to myself cause I aint got nobody else
Nobody else but you
I've walked for miles
I've walked a long time
To get to the place that I've got to.. yeah
There's nothing left and nobody.. nobody
Nobody left but you
Time please set me free
Why couldn't you be true
I walk that walk.. yeah
I talk that talk
But there's nobody left but you.. you
Time won't you let me be
After all that we've been through
I talk to myself cause I aint got nobody else
Nobody left but you.. you
The lyrics of "Sierra" by Boz Scaggs tell the story of a man who has been betrayed by someone whom he loved deeply. He begins by expressing his disillusionment, suggesting that he wished someone had warned him that this person wasn't trustworthy. He then acknowledges that he was already aware of their true nature and how they had hurt him. However, he adds that he is still haunted by their scent, suggesting that he still longs for them despite the pain they have caused him. The irony of this situation is not lost on him, as he describes it as "sublime."
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "nobody left but you," emphasizing the sense of isolation and desperation that the singer is feeling. He speaks of having walked a long way to get where he is, suggesting that he has put in a lot of effort to reach this point, only to find that there is nothing left for him. He begs time to "set him free" and wonders why this person couldn't have been true to him. Ultimately, he resigns himself to the fact that he has no one but them, even if it means talking to himself to ease his loneliness.
Overall, "Sierra" is a poignant and reflective song that captures the emotional turmoil of a person who has been let down by someone they trusted. The use of sensory imagery, such as describing the scent of the person and the warmth of the wine, adds depth and nuance to the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Somebody ought to have told me
I wish someone told me before that you were incapable of being loyal to me
Told me you couldn't be true
I wish someone had warned me that you were not the person who could stay committed to me
Somebody ought to have told me now
It would have been better if someone had told me about your unfaithfulness at the beginning itself
But that wouldn't be like you
However, considering your character, it is not surprising that no one warned me about your lack of commitment
No ones got to tell me
I am aware of your disloyalty, no one needs to tell me about that
After all you put me through
After all the pain and suffering you caused me because of your unfaithfulness
You dropped me like a habit
You gave up on me easily, treated me as if I was just someone who you could discard without any second thought
Of which you had a few
You had a number of bad habits, dropping me was just one of them
Your scent is on the glass tonight
The memories of you that linger in my mind are particularly strong tonight
Swirling in the wine
As I drink wine, the memories of you are mixed in with the flavors
Scrambling the back of my brain
The memories of you are affecting my emotions and thoughts
The irony sublime
It's ironic that even though you caused me so much pain, I am still thinking about you tonight
It's warm bouquet and pungent flame
The feelings of love and passion that I experienced with you are still alive in my heart
Light this ancient street
My emotions for you have illuminated an old and forgotten part of me
The avenue of no name
This emotional journey that I am taking with you has no clear destination, no name or label
I fall into its beat
I am letting myself be consumed by my emotions for you
Nobody loved like you
Despite your flaws, there was no one like you when it came to the love and passion you were capable of showing
Time won't you let me be
I wish time would move on from my memories of you
I talk to myself cause I aint got nobody else
I am so consumed with thoughts of you that I have no one else to talk to about what I am feeling
To get to the place that I've got to.. yeah
I went through a lot of emotional turmoil to reach this state of acceptance and moving on from you
There's nothing left and nobody.. nobody
There is nothing tangible or emotional left after all that we have been through
Time please set me free
I want to move on from the memories of you
Why couldn't you be true
I wish you could have been loyal and committed in our relationship
I walk that walk.. yeah
I am taking the steps to move forward and leave behind the memories of you
I talk that talk
I am expressing my feelings and slowly coming to terms with them
But there's nobody left but you.. you
Despite my best efforts to move on, the memories of you are still prevalent in my mind
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: WILLIAM SCAGGS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@DagAndersEriks1
This popped up in my car on a road trip through a mountainous area in my home country. I had to stop the car and be silent for some time. Now it’s #1 on my favorite playlist.
I just love when such things happen: unexpected beauty, deep wisdom, surprised by joy.
@johntate5722
Great comment, dag
@wingmanjim6
Easily one of the most beautiful, yet under appreciated songs of all time.
@sandraruddick4581
Brings me to tears every time I hear it. Good old Terry Wogan often played it on Radio 2 and Ken Bruce has carried on the tradition today. My heart is melting !
@greezyrider4611
Just heard Brucie playing it today
@jaynelouise1969
@Greezy Rider it was one of my picks when Steve Wright chose my Golden Oldies on Radio 2 a couple of years ago, still got the badge he sent me somewhere...
@jasononeil3816
It was Ken Bruce that introduced me to it playing it after the conclusion of "Pop Master".❤😊
@MrJonpac
Missing Steve Wright xx
@carolrussell9300
You don't find music, it finds you and this song certainly did. Just beautiful....
@marcovandenberg6719
Armosphere of the song is worthy of a novel