Clay's first CD, Measure of a Man (Number One, Top 200), went triple platinum selling more than 613,000 copies in its first week. Including singles like "Invisible", "The Way," "I Will Carry You" and the Neil Sedaka cover "Solitaire," it was the subject of conflicting reviews. Billboard Magazine called it the best pop album of 2003. Many fans and some critics recognized and admired the pure pop sound ("so pure it floats") and top-notch production values while others heard only a manufactured sound, noting that the singer hadn't earned his musical chops but "merely" sang his way to the hearts of millions on television, a perceived unjust leap-frogging of "the true path of the true artist."
Aiken fronted a country band, Just By Chance, pre-Idol and recorded 3 demo CDs. As a young man he was a member of the Raleigh Boy's Choir and was in numerous musical productions in North Carolina Theater.
The National Inclusion Project (formerly the Bubel/Aiken Foundation) was launched in 2003, supporting the integration of children with disabilities into the life environment of their non-disabled peers. In November 2004, Clay was appointed as a National Ambassador for UNICEF, with a mission to help ensure that children everywhere are afforded a primary education.
In November 2004, Clay released Merry Christmas With Love (Number One, Top 200). His first Christmas album, it went platinum, won 2 Billboard Music Awards and spurred a yearly holiday tour and a follow-up EP, All Is Well - Songs for Christmas. 2004 was also the year Clay made #2 on the New York Times Best Seller List with his "inspirational memoir" titled Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life.
His next studio album, 2006's A Thousand Different Ways (Number Two, Top 200), was, through the direction of mega-producer Clive Davis, largely a covers CD. Ten of the fourteen cuts being well known melodic pop songs ranging from Richard Marx, Bryan Adams, Dolly Parton, Mister Mister, and Elton John. Two other songs, available only on digital versions of the album, are "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (through K-Mart.com) and "Lover All Alone" (through iTunes and co-written by Aiken himself). Many fans have wondered about the relative exclusion of the latter song, left languishing from the song list present on the physical CD, as its intimate emotional material and Aiken's own writing handiwork produce a spellbinding effect.
In May of 2008 Aiken released On My Way Here (Number Four, Top 200), his first album of original material since his 2003 chart-topping debut Measure of A Man. While searching for songs for this album, he fell in love with a song written by OneRepublic front man Ryan "Alias" Tedder called "On My Way Here." The message of the lyrics -- how the lessons we learn while growing up shape us into who we become as adults -- struck such a deep chord with Clay that it wound up inspiring the theme (and title) of his new collection. In addition to enlisting Grammy-Award winning British songwriter and producer Kipper, On My Way Here also included the talented musicians of none other then the Steely Dan band.
A fifth album, The Very Best of Clay Aiken, was released at the end of March 2009 on Sony's Legacy Recordings Playlist Series.
To date, Aiken has headlined 8 tours., one of them co-headlining with Kelly Clarkson.
Aiken made his Broadway debut playing the role of Sir Robin in Monty Python's Spamalot in January 2008. His first run ended in May. He rejoined the cast as Sir Robin in September and remained through January 4, 2009.
In August of 2008 Clay became a father to Parker Foster Aiken with producer Jaymes Foster, the sister of record producer David Foster.
Clay will release a brand new album, titled "Tried and True", on June 1, 2010 on the Decca Records label.
Clay also has made numerous TV appearances, guest-starring on everything from Scrubs to Days of Our Lives to the season finale of the popular show 30 Rock. He has earned a place on such talk-shows as Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show, Late Night With David Letterman, Tyra Banks, Rachel Ray, Ellen and has cooked with both Martha Stewart and Paula Deen.
Though clearly, based on his television and concert appeal, a performing artist whose live presentations show consummate showmanship, bringing surprising dynamism to studio songs, Aiken has had to endure a persistent hammering from entertainment critics and a tenacious (not to say malevolent) interest on the part of some in the media relating to questions about his personal life.
Always full of surprises, fans look forward to the continued ways in which this multi-talented artist expresses himself and uses his voice in ways that will expand his appeal in and beyond the US.
Broken Wings
Clay Aiken Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why we can't just hold on
To each other's hands
This time might be the last time I fear
Unless I make it all so clear
I need you so
Even when one moves without the other
Different pages from the same story
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again, learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up and let us in
Take these broken wings
Baby, I think tonight
We can take what was wrong
And make it right
This aching is familiar
It's something I remember
We can't touch without feeling
Can't heal without healing
Baby, it's all I know
That you're half of the flesh
And blood that makes me whole
I need you so
Only the young could fall so hard
Can be so careless, and ignorance costs
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again, learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up and let us in
Take these broken wings
Let us in
So you've moved out of the way this time
Making room for each other
One without the other
We are broken but we are moving still
Take these broken wings
And learn to fly again, learn to live so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up and let us in
Take these broken wings
We're in this life together
Even when one moves without the other
You got to learn to fly, learn to live that love so free
And when we hear the voices sing
The book of love will open up for us and let us in
We are broken but we are moving still
A thousand different ways
The lyrics to Clay Aiken's song Broken Wings are about a couple trying to hold on to their relationship. The singer doesn't understand why they can't just hold on to each other's hands, and they fear that this might be the last time they will be together unless they make everything clear. They acknowledge their brokenness, but despite that, they commit to working on their relationship together. They believe that, just as the book of love will open up and let them in, they can learn to fly again and live so freely.
The lines "We can't touch without feeling, can't heal without healing" highlight the importance of acknowledging one's emotions and the need for vulnerability in a relationship. Additionally, the line "Only the young could fall so hard, can be so careless, and ignorance costs" is a reflection of the naivete of youth and how mistakes made out of ignorance can have consequences.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby, I don't understand
I'm confused about how we got to this point
Why we can't just hold on
Why can't we just stay together?
To each other's hands
We need to support each other
This time might be the last time I fear
I'm scared that our relationship is coming to an end
Unless I make it all so clear
I need to communicate how I feel
I need you so
I can't imagine my life without you
We're in this life together
We're both navigating life's challenges
Even when one moves without the other
We may be separate but we're still connected
Different pages from the same story
We have different perspectives but we're still part of the same narrative
Take these broken wings
Let me help you heal
And learn to fly again, learn to live so free
You can overcome your struggles and be happy
And when we hear the voices sing
When we listen to our hearts
The book of love will open up and let us in
Our love can be rekindled
Baby, I think tonight
We can work through our problems
We can take what was wrong
We can fix what was broken
And make it right
And make our relationship better
This aching is familiar
This pain is something I've felt before
It's something I remember
I can empathize with how you're feeling
We can't touch without feeling
Our love is still strong
Can't heal without healing
We need to work together to overcome our troubles
Baby, it's all I know
All I know is that I love you
That you're half of the flesh
You complete me
And blood that makes me whole
Our love connects us on a fundamental level
Only the young could fall so hard
We were young and naive when we fell in love
Can be so careless, and ignorance costs
Our youthful inexperience led to mistakes that we're paying for now
Let us in
Let us reconcile and move forward together
So you've moved out of the way this time
You're making an effort to open up to me
Making room for each other
We're both willing to compromise
One without the other
We can't survive on our own
We are broken but we are moving still
We're working to mend our relationship
You got to learn to fly, learn to live that love so free
We need to take control of our lives and love each other openly
And when we hear the voices sing
When we're in touch with our emotions
The book of love will open up for us and let us in
Our love can be renewed and strengthened
We are broken but we are moving still
We may be struggling, but we haven't given up
A thousand different ways
There are countless paths to happiness, we just need to work together to find them
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John Ross Lang, Richard James Page, Steve George
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind