He started his production career working in his own studio, Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton, Ontario. He worked with a number of local bands, most notably Martha and the Muffins, for whom his sister Jocelyne played bass, Ray Materick, as well as the Canadian children's singer Raffi.
After being discovered by Brian Eno and working collaboratively with him on some of Eno's own projects, his career was given a huge boost when Eno invited him to co-produce U2's album The Unforgettable Fire. Along with Eno, he went on to produce U2's The Joshua Tree, the 1987 Grammy Winner for Album of the Year. Bono of U2 recommended Lanois to Bob Dylan in the late 1980s; in 1989 Lanois produced Dylan's Oh Mercy, widely considered one of Dylan's greatest later albums. Eight years later Dylan and Lanois worked together on Time Out of Mind, Dylan's first studio album of original material since 1990, which won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1997.
Wrecking Ball, his 1995 collaboration with Emmylou Harris, received almost unanimous critical praise (many critics placed the album on their year-end "best albums of the year" lists), and revived the aging country artist's career, bringing her to the attention of much younger rock audiences.
As well as being a producer, singer and songwriter, Daniel Lanois plays the guitar, pedal steel and drums. His desire is to bring out the best in the artists he works with and produces, with his wide range of talents and musical ideas. He often leaves an atmospheric and emotionally resonant sound on the projects he produces, which some say has become his 'signature sound'.
Daniel founded Red Floor Records to release his own music albums and DVD films that he sells direct to consumers from his website in high resolution downloads and traditional formats: www.DanielLanois.com
After completing production work on U2's latest album "No Line In The Horizon" in 2009, Daniel has built a new recording studio in Toronto, which he has named "The Temple", as it is located on the site of a former Buddhist Temple. He recently completed producing Neil Young's latest 2010 release, "Le Noise". However, on June 5th, 2010, while working on Young's album, Daniel was in a serious motorcycle accident near his Silver Lake area home of Los Angeles, and he had to postpone his latest personal priority project, Black Dub which features Daniel on guitars, world renown drummer/percussionist Brian Blade, bassist and harmony vocalist Daryl Johnson, and lead vocalist/keyboardist Trixie Whitley (the daughter of the late Chris Whitley).
Black Dub have been signed to Jive Records and they are expected to commence a world tour in early 2011 supporting their debut self titled release, and they are currently doing special engagements throughout November and early December 2010 across the USA.
Daniel has recently written an autobiographical memoir entitled "Soul Mining, A Musical Life" that can be pre-ordered and is expected to be officially released through traditional book store channels in late November 2010.
Sometimes
Daniel Lanois Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sometimes I feel like I'm playin' on the radio
Sometimes I feel like I'm on a travelin' road show
Sometimes I got the power of the will and I know my song is gonna to be alright
Sometimes I feel like I'm on a freight train
Forever rescued by the mystery rain
Sometimes I'm just out for a thrill, she always said 'Baby, you're gonna be alright'
The sun gonna come shining down; push it all away, make it alright
Sometimes in the heart of a long, cold night
It's all too far out of sight, out of sight
Hard to know everything's going to be alright
Everyone thinks you got everything you want
Hard to have and then have not
Hard to have and then have not
Sometimes I wanna take a pill and hide
Sometimes I wanna shut down and ride
And go where no man should go
Go where no man should go
Go where no man should go
Go where no man should go
Could it be, every really be, alright
The lyrics to Daniel Lanois's song Sometimes captures the complex emotions of someone struggling with success, while simultaneously also experiencing the insecurities that come along with it. The repeated "sometimes" throughout the song emphasizes the unpredictability of life and the human experience. The opening lines, "Sometimes, sometimes / Sometimes I feel like I'm playing on the radio" expresses the desire for the artist to have their music heard and acknowledged. Even with the potential for fame and success, it can be a lonely road to travel. The artist's feeling of being on the road, captured in the next line "Sometimes I feel like I'm on a traveling road show" amplifies the sense of moving forward against all odds while feeling alone.
Continuing on the theme of the artist's journey, Lanois references the willpower necessary to make it as a musician: "Sometimes I got the power of the will and I know my song is gonna to be alright." The power of will is a recurring motif in the lyrics, and it's interesting to note how it can be both a positive and negative force. Although it can help an artist succeed, it can also create insecurities and anxieties, as we see in the lines "hard to know everything's going to be alright / everyone thinks you got everything you want / hard to have and then have not" and "sometimes I wanna take a pill and hide / sometimes I wanna shut down and ride / and go where no man should go."
The song weaves together a powerful narrative about the complexities of an artist's journey, with all its triumphs and struggles, highs and lows, with a ultimately hopeful message that everything will eventually be alright.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes, sometimes
At times, I feel this certain way
Sometimes I feel like I'm playin' on the radio
I feel like I'm getting a lot of attention and recognition, like I'm on airwaves nationwide
Sometimes I feel like I'm on a travelin' road show
At times, I sense that I'm moving from place to place and everything becomes a blur
Sometimes I got the power of the will and I know my song is gonna to be alright
Occasionally, I have the willpower to believe that everything will turn out fine, and my music will not fail
Sometimes I feel like I'm on a freight train
At times, everything moves too fast and too hard, as though I were on a locomotive
Forever rescued by the mystery rain
The rain provides the subtle and necessary solution for every problem
Sometimes I'm just out for a thrill, she always said 'Baby, you're gonna be alright'
Once in a while, I do things purely for excitement, but my significant other would always reassure me that everything would be okay
The sun gonna come shining down; push it all away, make it alright
The sun will eventually come out and erase all the gloom and misery in life, making it okay again
Sometimes in the heart of a long, cold night
In the middle of the dark, long and lonely night
It's all too far out of sight, out of sight
Everything seems inaccessible and far away
Hard to know everything's going to be alright
It's difficult to believe and be sure that everything will turn out well
Everyone thinks you got everything you want
People assume that I have everything I need or desire
Hard to have and then have not
It's tough to have something and then lose it
Sometimes I wanna take a pill and hide
At times, I just want to block everything out and hide
Sometimes I wanna shut down and ride
Other times, I wish to stop and recharge myself, then ride on when I'm ready
And go where no man should go
I want to go somewhere that no one has ever gone before
Could it be, every really be, alright
Is it possible to have everything truly turn out well?
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: DANIEL LANOIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
colincoby
I listened to this song over and over after attending a funeral. Helped me mourn. Beautiful song.
Gabriel Figueiredo
This guy is incredible.. Tnx for post
Hallo Gallo
Love Daniel Lanois and "Sometimes" is a great tune from the album Shine, but you have posted the lyrics to the title track here.
Sometimes
Sometimes, sometimes
Sometimes I feel like I'm playin' on the radio
Sometimes I feel like I'm on a travelin' road show
Sometimes I got the power of the will and
I know my song is gonna to be alright
Sometimes I feel like I'm on a freight train
Forever rescued by the mystery rain
Sometimes I'm just out for a thrill, she always said
'Baby, you're gonna be alright'
The sun gonna come shining down
Push it all away, make it alright
Sometimes in the heart of a long, cold night
It's all too far out of sight, out of sight
Hard to know everything's going to be alright
Everyone thinks you got everything you want
Hard to have and then have not
Hard to have and then have not
Sometimes I wanna take a pill and hide
Sometimes I wanna shut down and ride
And go where no man should go
Go where no man should go
Go where no man should go
Go where no man should go
Could it be, ever really be, alright
JacqoTube
Could it be, ever really be alright? I so get that feeling...thank you Daniel, merci pour ton ame si sensible...
Hamish
Hell of a song, thank you
kc768
I think Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois should open for U2.
funkyskins
I think U2 should open for Daniel Lanois
Kurisu
greetings from Trujillo Peru we love u here