The LA Times said in January 2007 'David Ford digs down deep in the heart-and-soul tradition: an English and male Lucinda Williams? He puts everything into every note, every word.'
Ford recorded his debut album 'I Sincerely Apologise For All the Trouble I've Caused' on his own in his cellar flat in Eastbourne during 2005 thinking he was just "doing a bunch of demos". However, the strength of these recordings led to magnoliaMAM taking him on for management and shortly thereafter licensing the 'demos' as a finished album to Independiente for the UK and then, in April 2006, to Columbia Records in New York for the USA and the 'rest of the world'.
The album was widely acclaimed and featured in the best of lists for 2006 in the LA Times, The Sunday Times, The New York Post, The Word and The Toronto Star - who said 'you have to go back to Dylan's 'Idiot Wind'/'Blood on the Tracks' to find such an impressively sustained, bile-soaked round of invective'.
Ford toured extensively in the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia during 2006. When performing live, Ford makes use of a 'looping pedal' which allows him to build up layers of vocals, guitars, percussion and keyboards to create extremely powerful and beautiful layers of sound; most notably when playing the song "State Of The Union". (live footage can be seen on both his myspace page and his old archived web site - www.myspace.com/davidford & www.davidford.mu - current website is at www.davidfordmusic.com)
2007 saw the release of his critically-aclaimed, yet widely ignored, album Songs For The Road. Ford spent the most of 2008 in the US promoting it.
February 2010 saw the release of his album, Let The Hard Times Roll, coinciding with a tour of the UK, with dates in the US too.
In April 2011 Ford released his autobiography, I Choose This, covering his musical experience from high school through to touring the United States as a solo artist.
Ford's musical honesty and passionately melodic songwriting has seen him compared to the likes of Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, James Taylor and Elton John.
Missouri
David Ford Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
1,000 miles to the sea
A sea that’ll take me back home again
It’s a long, long way from Missouri
It’s a long, long way from Missouri
David Ford's song "Missouri" tells the story of a person who is far away from their home state of Missouri and misses it terribly. The singer of the song is on a journey, having traveled 1,000 miles away from the state and is now standing by a river that leads to the sea. Despite the distance, the river represents a pathway that would eventually lead the singer back home again.
The lyrics of the song are incredibly evocative, painting a picture of longing and nostalgia for the familiar sights and sounds of home. The distance between the singer and Missouri serves as a metaphor for the distance between who they are now and who they were when they lived in the state. The song captures the sense of displacement and yearning for connection that can often come with moving away from home.
Line by Line Meaning
Tonight I’ll stop by the river
This evening, I plan on visiting the river
1,000 miles to the sea
The river I plan on visiting is 1,000 miles away from the ocean
A sea that’ll take me back home again
The sea at the end of the river will bring me back to my hometown
It’s a long, long way from Missouri
Missouri is far away from my current location
It’s a long, long way from Missouri
Missouri is far away from my current location
Contributed by Adalyn L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.