songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire also includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism.
In 1997, she founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans. She has won recognition and many awards and honours for both her music and her work in education and social activism.
Buffy Sainte-Marie was born in 1941 on the Piapot Plains Cree First Nation Reserve in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was later adopted, growing up in Massachusetts, with parents Albert and Winifred Sainte-Marie. She attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, earning degrees in teaching and Oriental philosophy and graduating in the top ten of her class. She went on to earn a Ph.D in Fine Art from the University of Massachusetts.
In 1964, on a return trip to the Piapot Cree reserve in Canada for a powwow she was welcomed and (in a Cree Nation context) adopted by the youngest son of Chief Piapot, Emile Piapot and his wife, who added to Sainte-Marie's cultural value of, and place in, native culture.
In 1968, she married surfing teacher Dewain Bugbee of Hawaii; they divorced in 1971. She married Sheldon Wolfchild from Minnesota in 1975; they have a son, Dakota "Cody" Starblanket Wolfchild. That union also ended in divorce. She married her co-writer for "Up Where We Belong," Jack Nitzsche, on March 19, 1982. He died from a heart attack on August 25, 2000. As of 2007, she lives in Hawaii.
Although not a Bahá'í herself, she became an active friend of the Bahá'í Faith by the mid-1970s when she is said to have appeared in the 1973 Third National Bahá'í Youth Conference at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has continued to appear at concerts, conferences and conventions of that religion since then. In 1992, she appeared in the musical event prelude to the Bahá'í World Congress, a double concert "Live Unity: The Sound of the World" in 1992 with video broadcast and documentary. In the video documentary of the event Sainte-Marie is seen on the Dini Petty Show explaining the Bahá'í teaching of progressive revelation. She also appears in the 1985 video "Mona With The Children" by Douglas John Cameron. However, while she supports a universal sense of religion, she does not subscribe to any particular religion.
Sainte-Marie claimed in a 2008 interview at the National Museum of the American Indian that she had been blacklisted by American radio stations and that she, along with Native Americans and other native people in the Red Power movements, were put out of business in the 1970s.
In a 1999 interview at Diné College with a staff writer with the Indian Country Today, Sainte-Marie said "I found out 10 years later, in the 1980s, that President Lyndon B. Johnson had been writing letters on White House stationery praising radio stations for suppressing my music" and "In the 1970s, not only was the protest movement put out of business, but the Native American movement was attacked."
As a result of this blacklisting led by (among others) Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Nashville disc jockey Ralph Emery (following the release of I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again), Sainte-Marie said "I was put out of business in the United States".
Too Much Is Never Enough
Buffy Sainte-Marie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And he's the one supposed to tame it
A restless heart out on patrol
He was in love but he couldn't name it
And Baby comes to lay his heart down
When his tough is wearing thin
When the world has had enough of him
He knows just what I'll say
Too much is never enough
When it comes to loving you
You'll see
Too much is never enough
I'll be there
All the way to where forever goes
Our world just suddenly went so dark
Whatever was there, we couldn't read it
I saw his dreams go up in smoke
He only said, "I just don't need it"
And then he held me to his heart
Although his world was falling down
He dried my tears and he held me close
And he said, "We'll make it Baby"
Too much is never enough
When it comes to loving you
You'll see
Too much is never enough
I'll be there
All the way to where forever goes
The song “Too Much Is Never Enough” by Buffy Sainte‑Marie is a romantic love ballad which speaks to the dangerous and uncertain times we live in. The use of contrasting imagery showcases the chaotic, reckless and out of control world that the singer lives in, alongside with the fragility of love and relationships in such a world. The singer is portrayed as a protector and guardian, with a restless heart that he couldn't name. The world around him is dark and reckless, but he strives to bring love, comfort and security to those he cares about.
The opening lines speak to the singer’s role as a healer and caretaker in a world that is spiraling out of control. The lyrics “A reckless world out of control and he's the one supposed to tame it, a restless heart out on patrol, he was in love but he couldn't name it” shows that he is the one person who tries to maintain a sense of normalcy and caring in a world that is out of control. The rest of the lyrics go on to describe how the singer remains steadfast in his love, even when faced with an uncertain future. The chorus “Too much is never enough when it comes to loving you, You'll see, Too much is never enough, I'll be there, all the way to where forever goes” speaks to the intensity of his love and how his nature is to protect and care for his loved one, even in the darkest of times.
Line by Line Meaning
A reckless world out of control
The world is acting erratically and recklessly.
And he's the one supposed to tame it
He is expected to fix the world.
A restless heart out on patrol
He is always on the move, looking for something.
He was in love but he couldn't name it
He was in love but couldn't express it.
And Baby comes to lay his heart down
He opens up to me.
When his tough is wearing thin
When he's feeling vulnerable or weak.
When the world has had enough of him
When he's at his lowest point.
He knows just what I'll say
He knows I will be there to support him.
Our world just suddenly went so dark
Our lives have become uncertain and unpredictable.
Whatever was there, we couldn't read it
The future seemed unclear and unknown.
I saw his dreams go up in smoke
I witnessed his aspirations come to an end.
He only said, "I just don't need it"
He decided to let go of his dreams.
And then he held me to his heart
He comforted me even though he was going through his own struggles.
Although his world was falling down
Even though everything was going wrong for him.
He dried my tears and he held me close
He took care of me.
And he said, "We'll make it Baby"
He promised me that we would get through it together.
Too much is never enough
My love for him is limitless.
When it comes to loving you
In terms of my feelings for him.
You'll see
He will eventually understand my love for him is genuine.
I'll be there
I will always be by his side.
All the way to where forever goes
I will be there for him no matter what happens in the future.
Contributed by Sophia K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
stephan omarr
QUEEN Buffy St.Marie, musical genuine at it's finest, Canada's gift to the World COMMUNITY, CAN I GET a WITNESS.....???
VelvetGal5
What a beautiful song! I'm connecting to this song, & YES, I totally agree - Too much is never enough. Yep! I'm blown away how this woman's lyrics are so deep, clear, wise, mature, experienced, understanding, raw, real, & genuine from the heart. She just gets it. She knows. I feel like she was reading my mind even though she recorded her songs many years ago. It's just weird how we can stumble upon songs for 1st time & go "Wow! There's someone else out there who thinks similar thoughts as me!"
Daniel Duhaime
she touches my heart like no one else
Reidun Feldt
beautiful song and Buffy is a great singer :)
David Graham
Fab lady! Can't wait to see her live in London this Saturday :)
guyglowmore1
love this song. have loved buffy since the start but this one goes to new heights for sure. one of the best in a very rich history. great etherically endless words. pure un buffered music from a glowing heart. the more i hear this the more i like it. thanks
Chris Robinson
and when it comes to listening to this beautiful song, too much is never enough, too.