Gibson was born in Shelby, North Carolina into a poor working-class family, he dropped out of school in the second grade.
Gibson's first band was called Sons of the Soil, with whom he made his first recording in 1948. Among his greatest hits were "Oh Lonesome Me" (later recorded by both Ray Charles and Neil Young) and "Blue Blue Day" (both No. 1 hits in 1958); "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" (1959); "Sea of Heartbreak" (1961); "Lonesome No. 1" and "I Can Mend Your Broken Heart" (1962); and "Woman (Sensuous Woman)" (a No. 1 hit in 1972).
Gibson recorded a series of successful duets with Dottie West in the late 1960s, the most successful of which were the No. 2 country hit "Rings of Gold" (1969) and the top 10 hit "There's a Story Goin' Round" (1970). In 1957, Gibson travelled back to Nashville to record "Oh Lonesome Me" for RCA. He and producer Chet Atkins decided to abandon the traditional steel guitar and fiddle and use a new sound featuring only guitars, a piano, a drummer, upright bass, and background singers. It became one of the first examples of what would be called the Nashville Sound and won Gibson a #1 hit; it also set the pattern for a long series of other RCA hits, including “Blue Blue Day” (1958).
A talented songwriter, Gibson was nicknamed "the sad poet" because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love. He wrote and sang "I Can't Stop Loving You", a song that would be recorded by more than 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles with a pop version in 1962. He also wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams" that would become a major 1963 crossover hit for Patsy Cline. A great fan, in 1967 Roy Orbison recorded an album of his songs simply titled: Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson.
Don Gibson was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and in 2001 into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
On his passing in 2003, he was interred in the Sunset Cemetery, in his hometown of Shelby, North Carolina.
What Now My Love
Don Gibson Lyrics
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Now that you left me
How can I live through another day
Watching my dreams turn into ashes
And all my hopes into bits of clay
Once I could see, once I could feel
Now I am numb
I've become unreal
I walk the night, oh, without a goal
Stripped of my heart, my soul
What now my love
Now that it's over
I feel the world closing in on me
Here come the stars
Tumbling around me
And there's the sky where the sea should be
What now my love
Now that you're gone
I'd be a fool to go on and on
No one would care, no one would cry
If I should live or die
What now my love
Now there is nothing
Only my last goodbye
Only my last goodbye
The lyrics to Don Gibson's song, "What Now My Love," express the feeling of heartbreak, hopelessness, and despair. The singer is addressing their partner, who has left them, asking what they should do now. The opening line, "What now my love, now that you left me," sets the tone for the rest of the song. The singer expresses how difficult it is to face each day without their partner, watching their dreams turn to ashes and hopes into bits of clay. This is a metaphor for how the singer's aspirations and plans for the future have been destroyed since their partner's departure.
The singer then describes their current emotional state, stating that they were once able to see and feel, but now they are numb and have become unreal. They walk aimlessly through the night, a hollow shell of their former self, stripped of their heart and soul by this loss. The sky above appears wrong or out of place, with stars tumbling around them and no sea in sight. This reinforces the singer's feeling of disorientation and confusion.
Towards the end of the song, the singer accepts that their relationship is over and that they are alone with their last goodbye. They feel that no one would care or cry if they were to die, as they have lost all sense of connection and purpose. The song concludes with the repeated line, "Only my last goodbye," which highlights the finality and loneliness of the singer's situation.
Line by Line Meaning
What now my love
What am I supposed to do next without you?
Now that you left me
You're gone and I'm left alone.
How can I live through another day
How could I possibly survive without you?
Watching my dreams turn into ashes
My hopes and dreams for our future have been destroyed.
And all my hopes into bits of clay
Things that once seemed attainable now seem impossible.
Once I could see, once I could feel
I used to be able to see a future and feel happy about it.
Now I am numb
But now I can't feel anything at all.
I've become unreal
I feel like I'm living in a nightmare.
I walk the night, oh, without a goal
I'm wandering without purpose or direction.
Stripped of my heart, my soul
I feel like I've lost everything that made me who I am.
Now that it's over
Our relationship has come to an end.
I feel the world closing in on me
Everything seems to be getting smaller and suffocating me.
Here come the stars
I'm feeling overwhelmed by my emotions and everything around me.
Tumbling around me
My thoughts and feelings are spinning out of control.
And there's the sky where the sea should be
Everything that used to be beautiful and familiar now seems strange and foreign.
Now that you're gone
I'm feeling lost and alone without you.
I'd be a fool to go on and on
It would be pointless for me to continue living without you.
No one would care, no one would cry
No one would notice or care if I lived or died.
If I should live or die
My life feels meaningless without you.
Now there is nothing
Everything seems to have been taken from me.
Only my last goodbye
All I have left to give is a final farewell.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BALANDRAS EDITIONS, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Carl Sigman, Gilbert Becaud, Pierre Delanoe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind