Diana Krall was born into a musical family in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Ca… Read Full Bio ↴Diana Krall was born into a musical family in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada (on November 16, 1964). She began learning the piano at the age of four. In high school, she started playing in a small jazz group. At the age of fifteen, she started playing regularly in several Nanaimo restaurants. She also spent some time in Toronto studying with Canadian Jazz great, Don Thompson (Bass/Piano) and with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts she moved to the U.S to continue studies and develop her career.

Her playing attracted the attention of bass player Ray Brown, who brought her into touch with influential teachers and producers. At the age of seventeen, she won a scholarship from the Vancouver Jazz Festival to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After three terms she moved to Los Angeles to study with Jimmy Rowles, with whom she also began to sing. In 1990, Krall relocated to New York. She is married to British musician Elvis Costello.

There Ain’t No Sweet Man That's Worth The Salt Of My Tears
Diana Krall Lyrics

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Shaking like a leaf on a tree
That's coming loose from the stem
Shaking like a leaf on a tree
Because I'm coming loose from my man

I'm like a weeping willow
Weeping on my pillow
For years & years

There ain't no sweet man
That's worth the salt of my tears

Down & down he dragged me
Like a fiend he nagged me
For years & years
There ain't no sweet man
That's worth the salt of my tears

Although I may be blue
Still I'm through
I must tell him goodbye
Rather than have that man
Gonna lay me down & just die

So, broken hearted sisters
Aggravating misters
Lend me your ears
There ain't no sweet man
That's worth the salt of my tears

Although I may be blue
Still I'm through
I must tell him goodbye
Rather than have that man
Gonna lay me down & just die

So, broken hearted sisters
Aggravating misters

Lend me your ears
There ain't no sweet man

Overall Meaning

"That's worth the salt of my tears" is a lively jazz song about a woman who has finally decided to end a toxic relationship with an insincere man. The opening line of the song, "Shaking like a leaf on a tree, that's coming loose from the stem" sets up a powerful metaphor about how the singer feels like she's about to lose her grip on her partner. The woman has been with this man for years, but now she's realized that he's not worth the pain and tears she's poured into the relationship. She compares herself to a "weeping willow" in the next verse, a metaphor that adds to the emotional weight of the song.

The woman has been dragged down by her partner, who is described as a "fiend," suggesting that he's caused her a lot of anguish over the years. But she's finally made up her mind to tell him goodbye, in order to save herself. She asks for help from the "broken hearted sisters" and "aggravating misters" who have also suffered from bad relationships in their lives. In the end, the song is a powerful statement about the importance of self-preservation, and the value of one's emotional worth.

Line by Line Meaning

Shaking like a leaf on a tree
Trembling with fear and anxiety

That's coming loose from the stem
Because I'm losing my grip on my relationship

Because I'm coming loose from my man
My man is causing me to feel shaken and insecure

I'm like a weeping willow
I'm crying like a tree that droops down with heavy branches and leaves

Weeping on my pillow
Crying myself to sleep every night

There ain't no sweet man
There is no good or worthy man

That's worth the salt of my tears
That deserves the pain and sorrow I've endured for him

Down & down he dragged me
He pulled me down and made my life worse

Like a fiend he nagged me
Like a devil, he constantly bothered and harassed me

Although I may be blue
Even though I'm sad and depressed

Still I'm through
I'm done and have had enough