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.
How Long
David Wilcox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the sound of the train on the tracks
Where the rails run alongside the river
And the water can never come back
And the headlight is scanning the valley
As the valley runs South from town
And it wakes me where I have been sleeping
If my window's a mile from the river
And if the engine sounds deep and low
Then how long 'till I feel any closer
To what's rumbling in my soul?
How Long? Feeling it every day
How Long? It's always a ways away
How deep is the river that's flowing?
How strong is the pull downstream?
How far is the train engine going?
How long have I had the same dream?
Is there something that moves like a river
Is there something that pulls like a train
Is there something that rumbles in darkness
And I don't even know it by name
Is there some way to measure the distance
Was it close to my heart all along
And what is the voice that keeps asking
How strong, how far, how long
The opening lines of the song set the tone for the introspective journey that the singer is taking. As the singer hears the sound of the train on tracks, he is carried along in a way that is tantalizing and makes him question his own existence. The sound of the train and the movement of the rails alongside the river becomes symbolic of the transient nature of life, and how time seems to move on. The train itself, along with the valley south of town, becomes symbolic of the journey we all take in life, sometimes hurtling forward at a fast pace that can be difficult to comprehend.
The singer’s questioning of the distance between him and what he feels in his soul is poignant and relatable. He wonders if listening to the train will bring him any closer to what is rumbling inside of him, and how long it will take for him to get there. The repetition of the question “How Long?” throughout the song underscores the singer’s need for answers, and his desire to find meaning in his journey.
Overall, the lyrics of “How Long” are a meditation on the passage of time, the journey of life, and the search for meaning. The imagery evoked by the train, the river, and the valley all contribute to the sense of movement and change that we all experience in our lives. The singer’s questioning of his own existence, and his desire to understand the forces that propel him forward, are universal themes that resonates with listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
I get carried along after midnight
I am swept away by my thoughts late at night
In the sound of the train on the tracks
The sound of the train on the tracks is what triggers my thoughts
Where the rails run alongside the river
The train tracks run parallel to a river
And the water can never come back
The river water flows in one direction and cannot be reversed
And the headlight is scanning the valley
The train's headlight illuminates the valley as it passes by
As the valley runs South from town
The valley stretches south from the town
And it wakes me where I have been sleeping
The train's sound awakens me from my sleep
With my window shade pulled down
My window shade is closed, but I can still hear the train
If my window's a mile from the river
If my window is located a distance away from the river
And if the engine sounds deep and low
And if the train engine makes a deep, low sound
Then how long 'till I feel any closer
How much time will have to pass until I feel a sense of connection?
To what's rumbling in my soul?
To the deep, indescribable sensations that stir within me?
How Long? Feeling it every day
How long will this feeling persist and haunt me every day?
How Long? It's always a ways away
This feeling always seems out of reach and distant, no matter how close I get
How deep is the river that's flowing?
Exactly how deep is the constantly flowing river?
How strong is the pull downstream?
What is the intensity of the river's downstream current?
How far is the train engine going?
How great is the distance that the train has yet to travel?
How long have I had the same dream?
How long has this yearning persisted, unchanged and unfulfilled?
Is there something that moves like a river
Is there something else that flows relentlessly forward, like a river?
Is there something that pulls like a train
Is there something else that pulls me along, like a train?
Is there something that rumbles in darkness
Is there something else that stirs within me, even in the darkness of the night?
And I don't even know it by name
Despite feeling it constantly, I cannot even put a name on this sensation
Is there some way to measure the distance
Is there a concrete way to calculate the physical or metaphorical distance between me and what I am searching for?
Was it close to my heart all along
Was the thing I have been searching for always very close to me, perhaps even within me?
And what is the voice that keeps asking
What is the source of this incessant questioning and yearning?
How strong, how far, how long
How intense is my desire, how great is the distance I must cross, and how long will this yearning persist?
Contributed by Eli P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
SherriSLC
Nice! I almost forgot how much I love to hear your voice.