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.
Language Of The Heart
David Wilcox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You took off your dress in the moonlight, to sleep beneath the sky
Your touch was a warm summer ocean
Your kiss made the whole mountain fly
And you looked deep with in me and smiled
At the tears in my eyes
Chorus
You can say that you always were honest
And your words were clear from the start
But its more than just words that got spoken
There was language of the heart
I won't keep on calling your number if you never have the time
I don't want to claim you or blame you, but you're always on my mind
You had no idea I would love you
It comes as a total surprise
And you shake your head slowly and smile
At the tears in my eyes
Chorus
Your eyes like an ocean of clear sunlit green
My eyes with the salt water
Wash me clean....again
And just imagine you whispered a secret that could take away my blues
And you let me believe it to please me, though it just wasn't true
You just meant to share with me pleasure
And your gifted at what you do
But your speaking an unspoken language
I thought that you knew
It's one that we all learn by heart
And our hearts think its true
The lyrics to David Wilcox's "Language of the Heart" tell a story about a passionate encounter between two people who find themselves in a meadow in the moonlight. The singer tells of how he and his partner made a warm bed out of blankets on the meadow and how she took off her dress to sleep beneath the sky. He describes her touch as a warm summer ocean and her kiss causing the whole mountain to fly. The encounter is so emotionally overwhelming that it brings tears to his eyes, and she looks deep within him and smiles.
The chorus of the song speaks to the relationship between the two lovers, where the singer acknowledges that the woman he loves spoke to him not only with words but with the language of the heart. He acknowledges that she had always been honest with him, but the language of the heart goes beyond just words. The song's final verse speaks to the unspoken language that we all learn by heart with our loved ones. It tells of how the woman whispers a secret that could take away the singer's blues, and even though it isn't true, it still brings them closer together. The language of the heart is a powerful force that can connect people beyond mere words.
Line by Line Meaning
We made our warm bed out of blankets in the meadow way up high
We created a comfortable space for ourselves using blankets in a high-altitude field.
You took off your dress in the moonlight, to sleep beneath the sky
You undressed under the moon's light and slept under the stars.
Your touch was a warm summer ocean
The feel of your skin was like that of a warm ocean in summer.
Your kiss made the whole mountain fly
Your kiss was so uplifting that it felt like the entire mountain lifted off the ground.
And you looked deep with in me and smiled / At the tears in my eyes
You gazed into my soul and smiled at the emotions that moved me to tears.
You can say that you always were honest / And your words were clear from the start / But its more than just words that got spoken / There was language of the heart
While your honesty and clarity are commendable, our connection goes beyond mere words; we spoke the language of the heart.
I won't keep on calling your number if you never have the time / I don't want to claim you or blame you, but you're always on my mind
I won't incessantly call you if you're not available, and I don't seek to possess or fault you, but I keep thinking about you.
You had no idea I would love you / It comes as a total surprise / And you shake your head slowly and smile / At the tears in my eyes
You didn't know that I would fall for you, making your realization a complete shock, and you kindly react to my emotional tears.
Your eyes like an ocean of clear sunlit green / My eyes with the salt water / Wash me clean....again
Your eyes remind me of a sunny, green-blue ocean, while my tears cleanse my eyes.
And just imagine you whispered a secret that could take away my blues / And you let me believe it to please me, though it just wasn't true / You just meant to share with me pleasure / And your gifted at what you do / But your speaking an unspoken language / I thought that you knew / It's one that we all learn by heart / And our hearts think its true
Suppose you told me a comforting lie that could alleviate my sadness, and let me believe in it even though it's inaccurate. You simply wanted to bring me pleasure, and you're talented at doing so. However, you spoke an unspoken language that I suspected you were aware of - one that we all understand emotionally and think is true.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVID PATRICK WILCOX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind