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.
For Real
David Wilcox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On a highway with a drunk at the wheel
She told me, "Keep your clean hands off the laundry he left,
And don't tell me you know how I feel."
She had a tape that he'd sent her from a Holiday Inn
That she never played much in the day.
But when I heard him say, "I love you"
Through the window at night
There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life
So the lawyers and the prophets say
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
Gonna ever make it go away.
And now there's too much darkness
In an endless night
To be afraid of the way we feel.
Let's be kind to each other
Not forever, but for real.
My father never put his parachute on
In the Pacific back in World War Two
He said he'd rather go down in familiar flame
Than get lost in the endless blue.
Well, some of that blue got into my eyes
And we never stopped fighting that war
'Til I first understood about endlessness,
Then I loved him like never before.
There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life
So the lawyers and the prophets say
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
Gonna ever make it go away.
And now there's too much darkness
In an endless night
To be ashamed of the way we feel.
Let's be kind to each other
Not forever, but for real.
Lucky my daughter got her mother's nose
And just a little of her father's eyes.
And we got just enough love
That when the longing takes me,
It takes me by surprise.
I remember that longing from my highway days
When I never could give it a name.
And it's lucky I discovered in the nick of time
That the woman and the child weren't to blame
For the hole in the middle of a pretty good life
I only face it 'cause it's here to stay
Not my father nor my mother
Nor my daughter nor my lover nor the highway made it go away
But now's there too much darkness in an endless night
To be afraid of the way I feel
I'll be kind to my loved ones,
Not forever, but for real.
Some say God is lover
Some say it's an endless void
Some say both, some say She's angry
Some say, just annoyed
But if God felt a hammer in the palm of His hand
Then God knows the way we feel
And then love lasts forever, forever and for real
The song "For Real" by David Wilcox is a poignant song about life, love, and loss. The first verse describes a neighbor whose husband died due to a drunk driver. She warns the singer not to interfere with her late husband's laundry and not to claim to understand how she feels. The neighbor holds onto a tape that her late husband sent her from a hotel, but she rarely listens to it. The singer hears the voice of the deceased husband saying, "I love you," during the night, but decides to stay away from the neighbor due to the emotional weight of the situation.
The second verse talks about the singer's father, a World War II veteran, who refused to wear a parachute in the Pacific. The father believed it was better to die in the familiarity of a crash than to risk getting lost in the vastness of the ocean. The singer acknowledges the generational trauma that came with fighting in wars and continues to affect them. The song then returns to the chorus, which speaks to the understanding that life is not a fairy tale ending, but rather, there is a "hole in the middle of the prettiest life." Nevertheless, the singer concludes by saying that during the time they have on this Earth, they will be kind to others, namely, their loved ones.
Line by Line Meaning
Death took the husband of a neighbor of mine
My neighbor's husband died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver
On a highway with a drunk at the wheel
The car accident that killed my neighbor's husband happened on a highway and was caused by a drunk driver
She told me, "Keep your clean hands off the laundry he left,
My neighbor asked me not to touch the laundry her husband left behind
And don't tell me you know how I feel."
My neighbor doesn't want to hear me say that I know how she feels because I haven't experienced the same thing
She had a tape that he'd sent her from a Holiday Inn
My neighbor had a tape that her husband had sent her from a Holiday Inn
That she never played much in the day.
She didn't listen to the tape very often during the day
But when I heard him say, "I love you"
I heard her husband say "I love you" on the tape
Through the window at night
I heard the tape playing from her window at night
I just stayed the hell away.
I avoided my neighbor after hearing the tape because I didn't know how to comfort her
There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life
Even beautiful lives have sadness and loss
So the lawyers and the prophets say
This is a common sentiment among both legal and religious professions
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
No one -- not even your closest family or significant other -- is immune from experiencing sadness and pain
Gonna ever make it go away.
No one can make the sadness and pain go away completely
And now there's too much darkness
There is too much sadness and pain
In an endless night
It feels like the sadness and pain will last forever
To be afraid of the way we feel.
We shouldn't be afraid to acknowledge and express our sadness and pain
Let's be kind to each other
We should be compassionate and understanding towards each other
Not forever, but for real.
We don't have to pretend that everything is okay forever, but we should be genuine in our kindness to each other
My father never put his parachute on
My father was in the military and never wore a parachute during a time when doing so would have been beneficial
In the Pacific back in World War Two
This happened during World War Two in the Pacific Ocean
He said he'd rather go down in familiar flame
My father preferred to die in a way that he was comfortable with
Than get lost in the endless blue.
He didn't want to die in a way that would make him feel lost
Well, some of that blue got into my eyes
I inherited my father's fears and anxieties
And we never stopped fighting that war
Our family continued to struggle with those fears and anxieties
'Til I first understood about endlessness,
Eventually, I understood the concept of something feeling endless
Then I loved him like never before.
After understanding his struggle, I felt a deeper love for my father
Lucky my daughter got her mother's nose
My daughter has physical traits from her mother
And just a little of her father's eyes.
She has a small physical resemblance to me as well
And we got just enough love
Our family has just enough love to get us through tough times
That when the longing takes me,
When I'm feeling particularly sad or nostalgic
It takes me by surprise.
Those feelings can come on unexpectedly
I remember that longing from my highway days
I have felt that sadness before, during a time when I was often on the road
When I never could give it a name.
I couldn't define or articulate that feeling at the time
And it's lucky I discovered in the nick of time
I'm fortunate that I eventually learned
That the woman and the child weren't to blame
I realized that my family wasn't the cause of my sadness
For the hole in the middle of a pretty good life
Even my good life doesn't shield me from sadness
I only face it 'cause it's here to stay
I acknowledge the sadness and pain because it's a part of my life now
Not my father nor my mother
My parents can't make the sadness go away
Nor my daughter nor my lover nor the highway made it go away
Neither my family nor my time on the road could protect me from sadness
But now's there too much darkness in an endless night
I'm experiencing a lot of sadness that feels never-ending
To be ashamed of the way I feel
I shouldn't feel shame or embarrassment about my sadness
I'll be kind to my loved ones,
I'll be compassionate and understanding towards my family
Not forever, but for real.
I'll be genuine in my kindness, even if the sadness doesn't go away
Some say God is lover
Some people believe that God embodies love
Some say it's an endless void
Others believe that God is an infinite, empty space
Some say both, some say She's angry
There are many different views on God's nature and emotions
Some say, just annoyed
Some people believe that God is simply irritated with humanity
But if God felt a hammer in the palm of His hand
If God experienced physical pain
Then God knows the way we feel
Then God understands the sadness and pain that we experience
And then love lasts forever, forever and for real
If God experiences our pain and understands our struggles, then love is eternal and genuine
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