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.
The Water is Wide
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
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And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row my love and I
O love is handsome and love is fine
And love's a jewel when it's first new
But love grows old and waxes gold
There is a ship it's sailing the sea
It's loaded deep as deep can be
But not so deep as my love for him
I know not if I sink or swim
The water is wide I can not get o'er
And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row my love and I
And both shall row my love and I
The lyrics to Eva Cassidy's song The Water Is Wide reflect a deep longing for love and the challenges that often come with it. The first lines of the song, "The water is wide I can not get o'er, And neither have I wings to fly," speak to the idea of being stuck in a place that is difficult to leave or move on from. It's as if the singer is saying that they are trapped in a situation where they cannot move forward, and they don't have the means to escape it.
In the following lines, the singer asks for a boat that will carry two, which suggests that they are not alone in their struggle. Maybe they are looking for a partner to row the boat with, someone to help them navigate the rough waters ahead. The song's chorus repeats this idea, emphasizing the need for a vessel that can carry both the singer and their love.
As the song progresses, the lyrics reflect on the nature of love itself. The singer describes how love can be beautiful and precious, like a jewel when it's new. But over time, love can age and lose its luster, fading away like morning dew. The final verse introduces the image of a ship sailing the sea, loaded down with cargo. But the singer asserts that the love they feel is more profound and heavier than any freight on that ship. They don't know if they will sink or swim, but they are willing to take that risk for the sake of love.
Overall, The Water Is Wide is a poignant reflection on the complexities of love and the challenges that come with pursuing it. The song suggests that love can be both beautiful and painful, a journey that requires strength, courage, and a willingness to take risks.
Line by Line Meaning
The water is wide I can not get o'er
I am faced with a great obstacle that seems impossible to overcome.
And neither have I wings to fly
I do not possess magical powers to enable me to effortlessly soar over the obstacle.
Give me a boat that will carry two
I am requesting for a vessel that can accommodate both me and my loved one to take us safely across the obstacle.
O love is handsome and love is fine
Love is a beautiful and exquisite feeling that brings joy and hope to the heart.
And love's a jewel when it's first new
At the beginning, love is a precious and invaluable treasure that glitters brightly and brings immense happiness.
But love grows old then waxes gold
As time passes, love matures and becomes even more valuable, just like gold that increases in worth and shine with age.
And fades away like morning dew
Unfortunately, love can also gradually lose its luster and beauty until it eventually disappears like morning dew that dissolves as the day progresses.
There is a ship it's sailing the sea
There exists a vessel that is navigating the vast ocean.
It's loaded deep as deep can be
The ship is heavily laden with cargo and is sailing as deep as its draft will allow.
But not so deep as the love I'm in
Despite the immense depth of the ship's loading, it is nowhere near as deep as the intensity of my love.
I know not if I sink or swim
I am uncertain whether I will succumb to the weight of my love or be able to rise above it and thrive.
And both shall row my love and I
As we face the obstacle together, we will work as a team to overcome it and to navigate the journey of our love.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Bob Dylan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind