I. David Wilcox i… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least two artists named David Wilcox.
I. David Wilcox is a Canadian rock and blues musician.
II. David Wilcox is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter guitarist.
I. More than three decades into his career, singer/songwriter David Wilcox continues to push himself, just as he always has. Wilcox, by so many measures, is a quintessential folk singer, telling stories full of heart, humor, and hope, substance, searching, and style. His innate sense of adventure and authenticity is why critics and colleagues, alike, have always praised not just his artistry, but his humanity, as well.
That's not by accident; it's very much by design. It's the result of a man giving himself over in gratitude and service to something bigger than himself. “I'm grateful to music,” he says. “I have a life that feels deeply good, but when I started playing music, nothing in my life felt that good. I started to write songs because I wanted to find a way to make my life feel as good as I felt when I heard a great song. I don't think I'd be alive now if it had not been for music.”
An early '80s move to Warren Wilson College in North Carolina set his wheels in motion, as he started playing guitar and writing songs, processing his own inner workings and accessing his own inner wisdom. In 1987, within a couple of years of graduating, Wilcox had released his first independent album, The Nightshift Watchman. A year later, he won the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Award and, in 1989, he signed with A&M Records, selling more than 100,000 copies of his A&M debut, How Did You Find Me Here.
In the 30 years and more than 20 records since — whether with a major label, an indie company, or his own imprint — Wilcox has continued to hone his craft, pairing thoughtful insights with his warm baritone, open tunings, and deft technique. He's also kept up a brisk and thorough tour itinerary, performing 80 to 100 shows a year throughout the U.S., and regularly deploying his talents by improvising a “Musical Medicine” song for an audience member in need. In recent years he’s taken that process a step further, carefully writing and recording dozens of his “Custom Songs” for long-time fans who seek his help in commemorating and explaining the key milestones in their lives.
Lest anyone think that he's lost his touch, Wilcox pulled no punches on his most recent release, 2018's The View From the Edge. Not only does the song cycle find him delving into mental health, family legacies, spiritual contemplations, and topical concerns, the song “We Make the Way By Walking" also won him the Grand Prize in the 2018 USA Songwriting Contest.
"I think the coolest thing about this kind of music is that, if you listen to a night's worth of music, you should know that person,” he explains. “If you're hearing a performer sing all these songs, you should know not only where he gets his joy and what he loves, but you should know what pisses him off and what frightens him and what runs him off the rails, what takes him apart and what puts him back together.”
To attain that level of revelatory honesty, Wilcox follows a song to its deepest truth, even when it haunts him, a practice which demands the strength of vulnerability that he has sought since his teen years. That honesty is why Rolling Stone has written that his “ongoing musical journey is compelling and richly deserving of a listen.” It's also why Blue Ridge Public Radio has noted that, “The connection people feel with David’s music is also the connection they feel with each other.”
But Wilcox's unique brand of storytelling doesn't come easily. And it doesn't come quickly. “I could always think of a lot of possible ways the song could go, but the trick was recognizing truth amidst all the cleverness,” he confesses. “The more time I took, the more my deep heart could speak to me through the process of songwriting. I could gradually craft a song that felt like it was coming from the place I was going. If you decide to trust heart over cleverness, you not only get a song that moves you, you get a song that moves you toward being who you want to be. The time you spend immersed in the emotion of a song changes you. The song shows you the world through a particular point of view. Once you have seen the world that way, you can't un-see it.”
Website: David Wilcox
II. The American David Wilcox was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His work features lyrical insight, asmooth baritone voice, virtuosic guitar chops, and creative open tunings. He released an independent album in 1987, won the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk award in 1988, and by 1989 he had signed with A&M Records. His first release on the label, ‘How Did You Find Me Here’, sold over 100,000 copies its first year. 17 albums later his songs have been covered by artists such as k.d. lang and many others.
Down Here
David Wilcox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Down in the dungeon where the weird are stored
All the different and the outcast sneak back home
After laughing in the bright lights all night long
I'm lucky to be down with the cast aside
Safe from the madness of the world we hide
With everybody free to come and go
Down here we always got each other
Down here and it's how we know
Down here that we're sister and brother
Down here in the land below
Down here we see you looking in
Down here with your longing stare
Down here we got a feeling of belonging
(Down here)
Because we're not up there
Because we're not up there
So you want to get close to the wild and strange
You want to stand at the edge of the river of change
(No)
You got a hungry soul but a cautious mind
So you can't quite leave your world behind
So you come for a visit but you lose your nerve
Out at the edges of the bell-shaped curve
But I saw your soul when you dropped your fear
You came walking in the world of the wild down here
Down here we always got each other
Down here and it's how we know
Down here that we're sister and brother
Down here in the land below
Down here we see you looking in
Down here with your longing stare
Down here we got a feeling of belonging
(Down here)
Because we're not up there
Because we're not up there
I was only 4 maybe she was 5
We were playing in the car parked in the drive
And it all started off with the one mistake
And that was the lever of the parking brake
At the bottom of the hill we cranked it hard
Missed all the bushes in the neighbor's yard
And then picking up speed, running out of time
We drove right into our lives of crime
Down here we always got each other
Down here and it's how we know
Down here that we're sister and brother
Down here in the land below
Down here we see you looking in
Down here with your longing stare
Down here we got a feeling of belonging
(Down, down here)
Because we're not up there
(Here)
'Cause we're not up there, there
The song "Down Here" by David Wilcox invites the listener to enter an alternate world, far from the madness of the one above. The song is set under a castle in the land of snore, down in the dungeon where the outcasts and different are stored. These outcasts sneak back home after laughing in the bright lights all night long. They are safe from the madness of the world they hide from, and everybody is free to come and go as they please. They are under the radar of the status quo, and here, they always have each other. In this world, they are sister and brother, united in their difference from the world they have left above.
The song goes on to describe how the curious visitors who come to the edge of this land of the weird and wild are hesitant to take the plunge. They have a hungry soul but a cautious mind, and so they can't quite leave their world behind. They come for a visit, but they lose their nerve at the edges of the bell-shaped curve. But some do take the plunge, and they find that down here, they belong. Even if they are not up there, they have found a sense of belonging in this alternate world. The song ends with a story of how the singer and a friend drove into a life of crime at the age of 4 and 5, showing how even in the moments of childhood recklessness, they were down here, united in their difference.
Line by Line Meaning
Under the castle in the land of snore
The place where the outcast and different people live
Down in the dungeon where the weird are stored
In the basement where unique and eccentric people go
All the different and the outcast sneak back home
These individuals slip back to their place of belonging
After laughing in the bright lights all night long
After having fun in a world that's not their own
I'm lucky to be down with the cast aside
I feel fortunate to be with the misfits
Safe from the madness of the world we hide
We are safe from the craziness of society
With everybody free to come and go
Everyone is welcome here, and can leave as they please
Under the radar of the status quo
We are outside of the traditional societal norms
Down here we always got each other
We have a strong sense of community and support
Down here and it's how we know
This is how we understand we belong in this world
Down here that we're sister and brother
We view each other like family
Down here in the land below
Here in our unique world
Down here we see you looking in
People are interested and curious about our community
Down here with your longing stare
People are intrigued by our way of life
Down here we got a feeling of belonging
We have a sense of togetherness and acceptance
(Down here)
Because we're not up there
We don't belong in the traditional world upstairs
Because we're not up there
We are different from those in the traditional world
So you want to get close to the wild and strange
If you want to experience something otherworldly
You want to stand at the edge of the river of change
You want to witness the transition of the new world
(No)
You got a hungry soul but a cautious mind
You desire new experiences but are hesitant
So you can't quite leave your world behind
You can't fully let go of your current way of life
So you come for a visit but you lose your nerve
You come to see us, but then back out
Out at the edges of the bell-shaped curve
At the boundaries of normalcy and beyond
But I saw your soul when you dropped your fear
I know that, deep down, you are interested
You came walking in the world of the wild down here
You were exploring this unique world
I was only 4 maybe she was 5
When I first became one of the outcasts
We were playing in the car parked in the drive
As friends, we found joy in doing things differently
And it all started off with the one mistake
Our journey began with one small fumble
And that was the lever of the parking brake
When we decided to release ourselves from the norm
At the bottom of the hill we cranked it hard
We fully embraced being different
Missed all the bushes in the neighbor's yard
We didn't achieve perfection, but that was never the point
And then picking up speed, running out of time
We could feel the momentum of the force we were creating
We drove right into our lives of crime
We chose to live outside of conventional morality
(Down, down here)
(Here)
'Cause we're not up there, there
We don't belong in the traditional world upstairs
Lyrics © SOROKA MUSIC LTD.
Written by: DAVID WILCOX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
jtripp66
still sounds better than anything i hear today...
Honey Bee
Magnificent
Lee Wells
I keep coming back to this song, so haunting.... modern day Morlocks?