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.
Into One
David Wilcox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now the window's broken
Turn out the light
Pray they're safe from the war
Swallow the fright
Felt but never spoken
This is the terror
Now the dark time comes
What is this world going though?
The children are fed, asleep in their bed
Dreaming their dream of worlds ahead
Dreaming of this world
That we are turning in
Turning into dawn
Into light, into love, into one
Lives are lost
Once more a building shatters
Count up the cost
Know it won't be the last
Fear is the boss
It's war and nothing matters
Except the children growing up fast
Now the dark time comes
Fierce is the red, white and blue
But long overdue
The peace that we knew
So sleep, little babes, your dream is true
Dreaming of this world
That we are turning in
Turning into dawn
Into light, into love, into one
David Wilcox's song "Into One" is a poignant reflection on the horrors and terrors of war and the impact it has on families, particularly children. The opening lines "Say goodnight, Now the window's broken, Turn out the light, Pray they're safe from the war" paint a picture of the aftermath of a war zone, where windows are shattered and families must pray for safety. The song then highlights a universal experience of swallowing fear and terror, things that are felt deeply but are never spoken aloud.
The rest of the song is a call for peace and a better tomorrow, one where children can go to sleep without fear and dream of a better world. Along with the lines "Dreaming of this world, That we are turning in, Turning into dawn, Into light, into love, into one," Wilcox paints a vision of a world that is peaceful and full of love. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the promise of a better tomorrow.
Overall, "Into One" is a powerful call for peace, reflecting the pain of war and the hope that we can create a better world for ourselves and our children.
Line by Line Meaning
Say goodnight
Endings are upon us.
Now the window's broken
Fractures appearing beyond repair.
Turn out the light
Hope is fading along with the light.
Pray they're safe from the war
Worrying about the whys and ifs of war and what it brings.
Swallow the fright
Fear is understood, yet hidden.
Felt but never spoken
The trauma no one dares voice.
This is the terror
The unbearable horrors that have come to life.
We learn to endure
The acquired ability to handle the struggles of life.
Now the dark time comes
Going through a much harder time.
What is this world going though?
Pondering on what the world is turning into.
The children are fed, asleep in their bed
The invisible blessings of children's contentment.
Dreaming their dream of worlds ahead
The children's peaceful outlook on the future.
Dreaming of this world
What the world could become in harmony and love.
That we are turning in
The process of making a better world.
Turning into dawn
Transformation will surface, and it starts with dawn.
Into light, into love, into one
A world of unity, warmth, and love will prevail.
Lives are lost
The unbearable pain of losing oneself, and others.
Once more a building shatters
The pattern of reusing, rebuilding, and tearing down.
Count up the cost
Taking inventory of life's costs and sacrifices.
Know it won't be the last
Bracing oneself for life's constant pattern of destruction.
Fear is the boss
Fear reigns over everything else in war.
It's war and nothing matters
The fact that life is around war.
Except the children growing up fast
Focusing on the future generation is crucial since they will inherit the world.
Fierce is the red, white and blue
Powerful is the representation of the country's flag.
But long overdue
The peace that the world has been waiting for has taken too long.
The peace that we knew
The peace of a time before war has been long gone, and people miss it.
So sleep, little babes, your dream is true
Children can sleep peacefully because their dreams of a perfect world could become a reality.
Lyrics © SOROKA MUSIC LTD.
Written by: DAVID WILCOX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sixthof7
Once again, David nails it in capturing the perfect marriage between emotion, lyric and performance and I'm sure he planted the seed in one or two of those grade 7 and 8's. Hopefully they look back on this day will when they begin dating, remember this lesson and save themselves from years of grief!
@grandcarriage1
Truth in this song
@torontolarrivee7965
Those children learned an important lesson about how to avoid a costly divorce.