In 1984 Hornsby formed Bruce Hornsby & the Range, who were signed to RCA Records in 1985. Besides Hornsby, Range members were David Mansfield (guitar, mandolin, violin), George Marinelli (guitars and backing vocals), Joe Puerta (bass guitar and backing vocals), and John Molo (drums).
During the 1990s he toured with the Grateful Dead, and released four albums, including A Night on the Town (1990) after which he split from The Range. Harbor Lights (1993) was his first solo album and signaled Hornsby was moving in a new jazz-influenced direction, whilst retaining elements of rock and pop. Later releases include Hot House (1995) and Spirit Trail (1998).
His experimental album Big Swing Face (2002) attracted much criticism as it veered away from his piano-based style. Despite these criticisms, he returned with his next studio album, shrugging off RCA and signing to Sony Music Entertainment. Halcyon Days, released in 2004, saw a return to the piano as the key instrument; this album also became the premise for his world tour the same year.
Hornsby continues to tour with his live band "The Noisemakers", in addition to solo shows and his progressive bluegrass performances with Ricky Skaggs.
In 2007 he released Camp Meeting, his first total jazz album as The Bruce Hornsby Trio, which involved jazz giants, Jack DeJohnette and Christian McBride with whom he made live appearances with throughout 2007.
In March 2007 Hornsby teamed with bluegrass player Ricky Skaggs to produce a bluegrass album, Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, and played several tour dates together. The seeds for the album had been sown in 2000 when the pair collaborated on "Darlin' Cory", a track on the Big Mon Bill Monroe bluegrass tribute album and then proposed recording an album together. Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby, featuring the duo backed by Skaggs's band Kentucky Thunder, combined bluegrass, traditional country, "a tinge of Hornsby's jazzy piano and a splash of humor" on a spectrum of songs from the traditional to new compositions such as the opening track "The Dreaded Spoon," "a humorous tale of a youthful ice cream heist. The pair also reinvented Hornsby's hit "Mandolin Rain" as a minor key acoustic ballad and "give his cautionary tale of backwoods violence", "A Night On the Town," a treatment highlighting the "Appalachian storytelling tradition that was always at the song's heart. The album ended with a surprise cover of Rick James's funk hit "Super Freak" in a bluegrass arrangement. Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby topped Billboard's bluegrass charts for several weeks. The album showed Hornsby carving out a place for piano within traditional bluegrass, disproving the notion that the piano is not compatible with "string-oriented" bluegrass.
Concurrently with the bluegrass project, Hornsby recorded a jazz album, Camp Meeting. with Christian McBride (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums). Alongside original compositions by Hornsby, the trio delivered "newly reharmonized versions" of tunes by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, a previously unrecorded Ornette Coleman work ("Questions and Answers") and an early Keith Jarrett composition ("Death and the Flower.") The trio made a series of appearances in the summer of 2007, including the Playboy Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival and at the Hollywood Bowl.
On January 4, 2007, former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart reunited along with Hornsby, Mike Gordon (of Phish and the Rhythm Devils) and Warren Haynes to play two sets. including Dead classics, at a post-inauguration fundraising party for Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House in the United States Congress.
Hornsby wrote songs for a Broadway Musical, titled "SCKBSTD"; one song from this project, a playful biographical tune about real-estate tycoon Donald Trump titled "The Don of Dons," made several appearances in setlists during his early-2007 solo piano performances. He also composed the score for Spike Lee's ESPN documentary, Kobe Doin' Work, about NBA star Kobe Bryant and his MVP season.
Outside of music composition and performance, Hornsby has taken an ownership interest in Williamsburg area radio station "The Tide," WTYD 92.3 FM, and he has endowed the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program at University of Miami's Frost School of Music, encouraging the study of songwriting broadly across traditional genres. Hornsby played himself in a cameo role in the Robin Williams movie World's Greatest Dad, in which Williams' character is a Bruce Hornsby fan.
He has also been honored by piano makers Steinway & Sons with their Limited Edition Signature Piano Series. Hornsby selected ten Model B Steinway Grands to be featured in this collection, each one personalized with his signature. Hornsby owns three 9-foot Model D Steinway Grands himself.
Every little kiss
Bruce Hornsby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everyone sees the long day through
Well what would I do without the nights
And the phone
And the chance just to talk to you
A thousand miles away
What I wouldn't give for only one night
A little relief in sight
When the day goes down on the
Water town
When the sun sinks low all around
That's when I know I need you now
You're what I miss
Every little kiss
Everybody here's a number, not a name
But I guess that's all right with me
As I sit alone after a long day
In the absence of company
Oh I let my mind wander,
A thousand miles away
What I wouldn't give for only one night
A little relief in sight
Or someday when times weren't so tight
When the day goes down on the
Water town
When the sun sinks low all around
That's when I know I need you now
You're what I miss
Every little kiss
The opening lines of Bruce Hornsby & the Range's song Every Little Kiss create a vivid and palpable image of a hardworking dock worker out in the open sea, yearning for his lover's voice and companionship. The song talks about how everyone sees the seemingly unending and grueling shift through, but it's the nights, the phone and the chance to just talk to someone special that makes it a little bit bearable. The singer talks about how he is situated thousands of miles away from his loved one and how he would give anything for a little relief or even just one night with them. The constant grinding and endless cycle of work has become soul-crushing for the singer, but he finds solace in the possibility of a brighter future when the times aren't as tight and demanding.
As the verse progresses, the singer finds himself reminiscing about his lover and how they have become his only constant source of solace after an exhausting day. The monotony and drudgery of the work life have made the people around him just mere numbers and statistics, but in the absence of company, he lets his mind wander and thinks about his lover. The chorus of the song brings forth the emotive core of the lyrics where the singer describes how he needs his lover's every little kiss to make him feel better. The lines, "When the day goes down on the Water town, when the sun sinks low around, that's when I know I need you now," are poignant and encapsulate the longing and desire of the singer to be with their lover, particularly when the day draws to an end, and the sea is calm.
Line by Line Meaning
Way out here, working on the docks
I'm far from everything, doing manual labor.
Everyone sees the long day through
The days are tedious and everyone is a bit worn out.
Well what would I do without the nights
The only reprieve from the labor is time alone at night.
And the phone
Communicating with loved ones is important to keep spirits up.
And the chance just to talk to you
Being able to talk to a loved one is a true relief.
A thousand miles away
This distance only makes the need for communication stronger.
What I wouldn't give for only one night
I would do anything to get a break from this challenging work.
A little relief in sight
I need some hope, some sign that this will get easier.
Or someday when times weren't so tight
Maybe one day things will improve, and work won't be so hard.
When the day goes down on the
At the end of the day, when work is finally done,
Water town
this place, probably near the water where boats dock.
When the sun sinks low all around
As the sun sets, signaling the end of the day.
That's when I know I need you now
This is when I feel how much I miss being close to my loved one.
You're what I miss
I'm longing for you above all else.
Every little kiss
Even the smallest gesture of closeness would be appreciated.
Everybody here's a number, not a name
The work environment is impersonal and dehumanizing.
But I guess that's all right with me
I don't like it, but I can tolerate it if it means I can keep working.
As I sit alone after a long day
After everyone else has left, I'm left with my thoughts.
In the absence of company
There's no one else to take my mind off things.
Oh I let my mind wander,
My thoughts drift towards better times and hope for the future.
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: BRUCE HORNSBY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@robnewson6262
Speaking as an Englishman...this whole album is a pretty great snapshot of what America was. Especially for those who never experienced it. Bruce is a great story songwriter. Best listened to at sunset.
@joshuasilverman1281
Thank you. Speaking as an American - this is very kind. I sincerely wish we still were as you refer to.
@sroevukasroevuka
Watching the sun go down or sitting around a fire with friends just enjoying life.
@derms8621
I do wonder how many of us English men there are still listening to Bruce.
@faczia
Well said!!
@derms8621
@Rick S enjoy America, im also in Lancashire, Rossendale, just above Bury and Greater Manchester
@saywhen2383
I remember the warm summer days, playing in the park, neighbors talking laughing and grilling outside, the world wasn’t so aggressive then, my mom and dad were still together back then, such an innocent and stress free time, and this playing in the neighbors back yard as the sun was going down. Kids today will never know what they missed out on.
@mr.mojorisin6402
Damn. It's like you pulled a memory right out of my head. You nailed it with this comment.
@timedwards1220
You said it best! 😁
@jimbusby663
Don´t worry for today´s kids. They will develop their own nostalgia just like every generation.