Eva Cassidy was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. From an early age, she displayed artistic and musical talent. When she was nine years old, her father taught her to play the guitar, and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.
While a student at Bowie High School, she did sing with a local band, called Stonehenge, and received considerable praise.
At the age of eighteen, Cassidy began her professional career, singing and playing guitar in a Washington, D.C., area band, called Easy Street. This band performed in a variety of styles, at weddings, corporate parties, and pubs.
During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar, six days per week, at Wild World, in Maryland. Her brother Dan was also a member of this working band.
Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with a number of other bands, including the soul and Motown-oriented band The Honeybees, and the techno-pop band Characters Without Names, later called Method Actor.
During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1986, she met (bassist and recording engineer) Chris Biondo, who encouraged her and helped her find work as a backup singer for various acts. In 1990, Biondo and Cassidy hired the so-called "Eva Cassidy Band", composed of Chris Biondo, Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes and Raice McLeod, and she began to perform frequently in the Washington area.
In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown. Best known as the "Godfather of Go-go", Brown is also a jazz and blues vocalist. This led to the first commercial recording of Cassidy, the duet album with Chuck Brown, The Other Side; which featured performances of classic songs such as "Fever", Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" and Cassidy's signature tune "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's Go-go albums. The duet CD attracted the attention of various record companies, but the offers all required Cassidy to pigeonhole herself within a single style (e.g., pop or jazz), something she adamantly refused to do.[citation needed]
In 1993 Eva Cassidy was first honored by the Washington area music community when she was awarded two Wammie awards for "Female Vocalist Roots/Traditional R&B" and "Vocalist Jazz/Traditional." The next year she was chosen to perform for the awards ceremony.
In January 1996, Cassidy recorded the album Live at Blues Alley, about which The Washington Post later commented that "she could sing anything and make it sound like the only music that mattered". [1] Cassidy was unhappy with her singing on the album, because she had a bad cold on the night of the recording; she began recording a studio album which was eventually released as Eva by Heart posthumously in 1997.
During a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley CD in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals. The pain persisted, and, a few weeks later, Cassidy was diagnosed with melanoma. By the time of her diagnosis, the cancer had spread throughout her body. Cassidy's health rapidly deteriorated, and her final performance was in September 1996. At the performance, she had used a walker to reach the stage, sang "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, and was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital.[citation needed]
Eva Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association.
Tall Trees in Georgia
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And sadly walking through the thicket I go
The sweetest love I ever had I left aside
Because I did not want to be any man's bride
But now I'm older and married I would be
I found my sweetheart but he would not marry me
When I was younger the boys all came around
But now I'm older and they've all settled down
Control your mind my girl and give your heart to one
For if you love all men you'll be surely left with none
Tall trees in Georgia they grow so high they shade me so
And sadly walking through the thicket I go
The lyrics of the song Tall Trees in Georgia by Eva Cassidy can be interpreted in different ways, but the most common one is to see it as a lament of a woman who is reflecting on her past decisions and the consequences they had on her life. The first verse talks about tall trees in Georgia that grow so high that they provide shade for the person walking through the thicket. This can be seen as a metaphor for the woman's life, where she is walking through the thicket of life and the tall trees represent the protection and comfort she seeks.
The second verse introduces the theme of love and relationships, where the woman reflects on leaving the sweetest love she ever had behind because she did not want to be any man's bride. The third verse talks about her desire to get married now that she is older and has found her sweetheart, but he would not marry her. The fourth verse contrasts her experiences with love when she was younger versus now when all the boys have settled down. The last verse is a reflection on the consequences of not being able to control one's heart and giving it to too many men, with the warning that it will leave her with none.
Overall, the song is a poignant and sad reflection on the consequences of our decisions and the importance of making the right choices in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Tall trees in Georgia they grow so high they shade me so
The trees in Georgia tower above me, providing shelter from the sun's rays as I traverse through the forest with a sense of sadness.
The sweetest love I ever had I left aside
I had a wonderful romantic relationship in the past, but chose to forego it because I did not wish to get married.
Because I did not want to be any man's bride
I opted out of pursuing marriage as I did not want to be bound to anyone.
But now I'm older and married I would be
As I've aged, I've realized I want to be married and have a committed partner.
I found my sweetheart but he would not marry me
Although I've found someone I care for deeply, he does not want to marry me and commit to a long-term relationship.
When I was younger the boys all came around
In my youth I was pursued by many young men interested in starting romantic relationships.
But now I'm older and they've all settled down
With time, the men who once pursued me have all moved on and committed to other people, leaving me alone.
Control your mind my girl and give your heart to one
One should focus their thoughts and feelings on one individual rather than spreading them out among many potential partners.
For if you love all men you'll be surely left with none
If you try to pursue romantic relationships with too many people at once, you'll likely end up with no one at all.
Tall trees in Georgia they grow so high they shade me so
Again, the towering trees of Georgia provide me with respite from the unrelenting sun as I continue my journey with a heavy heart.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Buffy Sainte-Marie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ron Rold
Tall trees in Georgia they grow so high they shade me so
And sadly walking through the thicket I go
The sweetest love I ever had I left aside
Because I did not want to be any man's bride
But now I'm older and married I would be
I found my sweetheart but he would not marry me
When I was younger the boys all came around
But now I'm older and they've all settled down
Control your mind my girl and give your heart to one
For if you love all men you'll be surely left with none
Tall trees in Georgia they grow so high they shade me so
And sadly walking through the thicket I go
2winlock
Tall trees in Georgia they grow so high they shade me so
And sadly walking through the thicket I go
The sweetest love I ever had I left aside
Because I did not want to be any man's bride
But now I'm older and married I would be
I found my sweetheart but he would not marry me
When I was younger the boys all came around
But now I'm older and they've all settled down
Control your mind my girl and give your heart to one
For if you love all men you'll be surely left with none
Tall trees in Georgia they grow so high they shade me so
And sadly walking through the thicket I go
Songwriters: Buffy Sainte-Mar
G. Neault
Tall trees in Georgia,
They grow so high
They shade me so
And sadly walking
Through the thicket I go
The sweetest love I ever had
I left aside
Because I did not want
To be any mans bride
But now I'm older
And married I would be
I found my sweetheart
But he would not marry me
When I was younger
The boys all came around
But now I'm older
And they've all settled down
Control your mind my girl
And give your heart to one
For if you love all men
You'll be surely left with none
Tall trees in Georgia,
They grow so high
They shade me so
And sadly walking
Through the thicket I go
rodsreel
This women stops my life in its tracks and makes me sit back and listen to her voice and words, almost hypnotic in form.
A real gem we can all treasure. A blessing to have her music always in our lives.
Robert Corbitt
So right!
Gotta DoMor
@rr: I compliment your comment - it says words I only wish I could have thought to write, thank you & Eva Cassidy too.
MiniLab
Stopped me like a truck. Beautiful.
Hush 2018
rodsreel really blessing....
Tom
I am glad that there are so many others who feel the same about this singer. It seems with time she only gets more popular (thanks to things like Youtube). I first heard Eva Cassidy's Songbird CD well over a decade ago and by luck I was alone and I was sitting down. Even then I nearly fell from the chair to the floor. I could not believe my ears. Every song was a storm of emotion, and every kind of bittersweetness flooded my living room. My core was washed away. No single singer has cut me open so thoroughly before, or since (save when I hear her over again). I love many different types of singers, mostly female, but this one, this lady was (and is) at the highest level of soulfulness and execution (execution meaning her performance rendered, and maybe her ability to kill with it the nonchalantness in any half-hearted listeners). I rarely get the same feeling listening to today's great sellers of song -- oh, maybe for a moment here and there, a song now and again.. I keep listening and I can always find something I like if I search. But with Eva the searching ends, there is nothing better beyond. Eva's voice is another level, another kind of never-before experienced instrument, one that somehow creates less distance between the willing listeners' hearts (and less distance from the single listeners mind and heart), and thusly our eyes are either opened for seemingly the first time, or closed in a blissful way, and we are left collectively floating hopelessly and happily in her melody and soulfulness. I was crestfallen after listening to her for the first time to learn that she had died in the nineties. She was born with the most perfect voice I've ever heard, and I'm not too young-- (well in my heart I am).
Marimin Setyowati
.
Gary Jaffe
Perfectly expressed.
samantha
I first listened to her over 20 years ago, and I feel the same xx
Nomadic Fenceman
Loren Heard that is very true... she is with our Father.