Songs From The Road
Released 11/11/2014 on Ruf Records
… Read Full Bio ↴Dana Fuchs
Songs From The Road
Released 11/11/2014 on Ruf Records
The road has led Dana Fuchs everywhere. But when it came to choosing a
location for Songs From The Road, it had to be New York. The singer and the
city have history. Almost two decades have passed since Dana left her home
in rural Florida and beat a path to the Big Apple. Stepping onto the mean
streets of the Lower East Side aged 19, she was an unknown singer with a
voice and a dream, ready to slug it out on the city’s bearpit jam-circuit.
Since then, New York has been the backdrop to Dana’s meteoric rise.
There were the early buzz-sets in the city’s late-night sweatboxes. The off-
Broadway musical Love, Janis, which saw the multi-talented performer play
the iconic Janis Joplin. Followed by the endless shows and sessions all across
town. No wonder, then, that for Songs From The Road, the Highline Ballroom
on West 16th Street was the perfect fit – and the singer was received like a
local hero.
Released in 2014 on Ruf Records, Songs From The Road is the latest in
the German label’s famous series of live albums, with Dana following in the
hallowed footsteps of legends including Luther Allison, Jeff Healey and the
Royal Southern Brotherhood. As ever, the Songs From The Road concept isn’t
about overdubs, Auto-Tune or opulent production, but the honest bottling of
the two-way energy that only occurs when great artists go nose-to-nose with
their fans. It’s hard to imagine a performer who deserves the treatment more
than Dana: a vocalist who means every note, every night.
A live show by the Dana Fuchs Band is an assault on all the senses. As
such, comprised in Songs From The Road’s two-disc pack, you’ll find an audio
CD capturing the soul power of that classic set on March 14th, 2014, plus a
DVD, directed by Kevin Mackall. Prowling the stage, pouring her heart into
the microphone and owning every song on the setlist, you won’t question the
wisdom of the UK’s Classic Rock Magazine, who famously declared Dana’s
once-in-a-generation voice as “juke-joint dirty and illicit, evoking Janis Joplin,
Mick Jagger and a cigarette butt bobbing in a glass of bourbon…”
You won’t take your eyes/ears off her, but Songs From The Road is far
from a one-woman show. At the Highline Ballroom, Dana’s performance was
taken to even greater heights by her stellar cast of players. On guitar and
backing vocals, give a big hand to long-time wingman and co-songwriter, Jon
Diamond: the former session ace who gave the singer an engine-room shortly
after her arrival in New York. Matt Beck (guitars), Jack Daley (bass), Pete
Levin (keys) and Joe Daley (drums) provide the thrilling musical canvass,
while the so-called Screaming Sirens (aka. Elaine Caswell, Nicki Richards and
Bette Sussman) dovetail with Dana’s lead vocal to create a wall of sound that
rattles your speakers.
Yet it’s the songs that are the true stars on the night. By this point, three
studio albums into their writing partnership, Dana and Jon have amassed a
solid-gold back catalogue, and Songs From The Road mines some of their very
best nuggets. Long-term fans will be delighted to get reacquainted with Tell
Me I’m Not Drinking and Sad Salvation: formative songs that date back to the
Dana Fuchs’ Band’s 2003 debut album, Lonely For A Lifetime. Film nuts who
caught Dana’s feted turn as Sadie in Julie Taymor’s highly acclaimed Beatles
movie, Across The Universe, will adore the closing cover of Don’t Let Me Down.
Those who came onboard with 2011’s Love To Beg, meanwhile, will be
thrilled to find cuts from that album including Set It On Fire, Summersong and
a cover of Otis Redding’s I’ve Been Loving You Too Long. And of course, the
Highline setlist had to have a healthy smattering from 2013’s Bliss Avenue: the
career-best third album that Dana once noted “really purged my soul in a
starker, more naked way, both lyrically and musically”. You won’t dispute
that after hearing the band’s powerhouse live readings of those classic songs,
which include Livin’ On Sunday, Handful Too Many, So Hard To Move and
Vagabond Wind.
Since the noisy birth of rock ‘n’ roll, New York has hosted hundreds of
were-you-there concerts by a roll-call of favourite sons, from The Ramones at
CBGBs to The Velvet Underground at The Factory. Now, with Songs From The
Road, Dana Fuchs has chalked up another entry in the NYC annals and staked
her claim as the city’s most exciting adopted daughter. So start spreading the
news. You’ll want to be a part of it…
-Henry Yates
Classic Rock Magazine
External Links:
http://www.last.fm/music/Dana+Fuchs+Band
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Dana+Fuchs+Band
https://www.facebook.com/danafuchsverified
https://www.youtube.com/user/allmack
https://twitter.com/DanaFuchsTweet
Officlal Website:
http://www.danafuchs.com/
So Hard To Move
Dana Fuchs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
but you were too tired of livin to fight for a lie you knew you'd been given
now the sun has gone and closed his eyes - a blood shot moon cries a lullaby
it's so hard to move - when you feel like you're only gonna lose
and it's so hard to stay - when you fear everything's gonna be taken
taken away
you were too tired to smile - so i washed you in tears, held your hand for a while
you're a million miles next to me - i'm way too close i don't wanna leave...
cuz it's so hard to move - when you feel like you're only gonna lose
and it's so hard to stay - when you fear everything's gonna be taken
taken away
time never heals regret - take the good with the bad & whatever's left
sweet memories together - they're gonna live in my heart forever and ever
now the sun has opened up my eyes - the blood shot moon has heard my cry
that it's so hard to move - when you feel like you only gonna lose
and it's so hard to stay - when you fear everything's gonna be taken, taken
oh it's so hard to move when you feel like, you feel like you're only gonna lose
but it's so hard to stay when you fear everything's gonna be taken
taken away
The song So Hard to Move by Dana Fuchs is about the aftermath of a failed relationship. The lyrics describe how the singer gets the news from a friend that the lover is coming back, but now the lover is too tired to go back to a life that was based on a lie. The song also talks about how hard it is to move on and to stay when everything seems like they're going to be taken away. The line 'time never heals regret' is a statement that suggests no matter how long it has been since the relationship ended, the feeling of regret still lingers. The ending of the song is hopeful because the sun has opened the singer's eyes, and the blood-shot moon has heard their cry. The singer is now ready to move on and to accept that everything may not always stay the same.
The use of metaphors and imagery in the lyrics is noteworthy. The blood-shot moon crying a lullaby and opening up the singer's eyes depicts hope and closure. The singer is way too close to the lover, yet it feels like they are a million miles away describe the emotional distance between the two. The use of washing the lover in tears instead of saying crying for the partner is also impactful.
Line by Line Meaning
i got the news from a friend - sayin you'd come back to me again
I received news from a friend that you'll return back to me again.
but you were too tired of livin to fight for a lie you knew you'd been given
You were exhausted with life and didn't want to fight for a pretend reality that you were aware of.
now the sun has gone and closed his eyes - a blood shot moon cries a lullaby
The sun has set and the moon, looking bloodshot, is crying a lullaby.
it's so hard to move - when you feel like you're only gonna lose
Moving forward becomes extremely difficult when you believe that you're only going to face defeat.
and it's so hard to stay - when you fear everything's gonna be taken
taken away
Sticking around becomes difficult when the fear of losing everything haunts you.
i still remember what you said - the day you left me with a heavy breath
I vividly recall what you said, the day you left me with great difficulty breathing.
you were too tired to smile - so i washed you in tears, held your hand for a while
You were too drained to smile, so I cried and comforted you by holding your hand for some time.
you're a million miles next to me - i'm way too close i don't wanna leave...
You're very distant, but I feel extremely close to you and don't want to leave.
cuz it's so hard to move - when you feel like you're only gonna lose
and it's so hard to stay - when you fear everything's gonna be taken
taken away
Moving forward becomes extremely difficult when you believe that you're only going to face defeat, and sticking around becomes difficult when the fear of losing everything haunts you.
time never heals regret - take the good with the bad & whatever's left
sweet memories together - they're gonna live in my heart forever and ever
Time can't heal the pain of regret; instead, we should appreciate the good and bad experiences we had and cherish the sweet memories that'll stay with us forever.
now the sun has opened up my eyes - the blood shot moon has heard my cry
The sunrise has brought me some clarity and hope, and the crying moon seems to sympathize with my mourning.
oh it's so hard to move when you feel like, you feel like you're only gonna lose
but it's so hard to stay when you fear everything's gonna be taken
taken away
Moving forward becomes extremely difficult when you believe that you're only going to face defeat, and sticking around becomes difficult when the fear of losing everything haunts you.
Contributed by Micah M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.