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.
Who Knows Where the Time Goes
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh but then you know it was time for them to go
By the winter fire I will still be dreaming
I do not count the time
For who knows where the time goes
Who knows where the time goes
Sad deserted shore your fickle friends are leaving
Oh but then you know it was time for them to go
But I will still be here I have no thought of leaving
I have no fear of time
For who knows where the time goes
Who knows where the time goes
I know I'm not alone while my love is near me
I know that it's all until it's time to go
All the storms in winter and the birds in spring again
I do not count the time
For who knows where the time goes
Who knows where the time goes
Who knows where the time goes
Who knows where the time goes
The lyrics to Eva Cassidy's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" convey a sense of timelessness and impermanence, as the singer muses about the passing of time and the fleetingness of life. The opening lines describe a sense of melancholy as the birds leave the evening sky, signaling the end of a season or perhaps the end of a particular moment in time. The singer is left alone with her dreams, keeping the fire burning and pondering the mysteries of time.
The second verse takes the same theme of transition, using the metaphor of a deserted shore where friends have left, emphasizing that nothing is permanent in life. Despite this, the singer remains steadfast and unafraid, having no thought of leaving, as time passes them by.
The final verse expands on this idea, recognizing that while time passes and seasons change, love endures. The singer finds comfort in the fact that they are not alone as long as there is love in their life, even though all things must eventually come to an end. The repeated refrain of "who knows where the time goes" echoes this sense of mystery and impermanence, inviting the listener to contemplate the greater forces at work in life.
Overall, the lyrics of "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" speak to the transience of human experience, while also finding moments of beauty and connection in the midst of it all.
Line by Line Meaning
Across the evening sky all the birds are leaving
The birds are flying away while the sunset takes over.
Oh but then you know it was time for them to go
It is natural for them to leave at this time.
By the winter fire I will still be dreaming
I will still be living in my dreams for the future while the fire keeps me warm.
I do not count the time
I am not aware of the time that has passed.
For who knows where the time goes
No one really knows where time goes, it's a mystery.
Sad deserted shore your fickle friends are leaving
Your fair-weather friends are abandoning you on this lonely shore.
But I will still be here I have no thought of leaving
I will stay even though everyone has left, I am not considering to leave.
I have no fear of time
I am not afraid of how time passes.
I know I'm not alone while my love is near me
My significant other is present, I feel their love, and I know I am not alone.
I know that it's all until it's time to go
It's all temporary until we have to depart.
All the storms in winter and the birds in spring again
Seasons come and go, both stormy ones and calm ones.
I do not count the time
I am not concerned about the time flying by.
For who knows where the time goes
Nobody really knows where time goes.
Who knows where the time goes
Where does time go? It's still a mystery.
Lyrics Β© Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: SANDY DENNY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
GΓΆran Lindh
Across the evening sky,all the birds are leaving
Oh but then you know, it was time for them to go
By the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I do not count the time
for who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
Sad,deserted shore
your fickle friends are leaving
oh, but then you know it was time for them to go
But I will still be here
I have no thought of leaving
I do not count the time
for who knows where the time goes?
I know I'm not alone
while my love is near me
I know that its so until its time to go
All the storms in Winter and the birds in Spring again
I do not count the time
For who knows where the time goes?
who knows where the time goes?
who knows where the time goes?
μ΄λμ
Who Knows Where The Time Goes?
- Eva Cassidy -
Across the evening sky,all the birds are leaving
Oh but then you know, it was time for them to go
By the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I do not count the time
for who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
Sad,deserted shore
your fickle friends are leaving
oh, but then you know it was time for them to go
But I will still be here
I have no thought of leaving
I do not count the time
for who knows where the time goes?
I know I'm not alone
while my love is near me
I know that its so until its time to go
All the storms in Winter and the birds in Spring again
I do not count the time
For who knows where the time goes?
who knows where the time goes?
who knows where the time goes?
Janette Davis
I absolutely love this song. Eva was a Splendid Singer but this is my favourite of her ballads. What a Voice!
R.I.P. Eva Thank you for the music.
Jon Palombi
Sweet musical genius, unadorned by any artifice or hype. Her pure tone, impeccable phrasing and sheer melodic sensitivity were pure gold! I so miss her... but I am equally, so grateful for her magnificent body of work.
Julia Miller
β‘ sweet as can be. I miss her too
Laura Weaver
Our little Songbird..gone but never forgotten β‘
Karen Gale
Thank you Jon, you wrote the exact words my heart was feeling. beautiful comments. x
TimD9804
Well said, Jon. I miss her as well. A short lived treasure.
λ°°μ±ν
Thank you guys... good words ~~
Long ago, i watched " Nightline " that how recognized her.
Bought all cds and books.
John Oakes
πβ€οΈPhew!! This angel never leaves us all! Thank you Eva for your time on this earthπββοΈ!
Alejandra MGuerrero
Always come back to Eva and this song .. beautiful song made even more beautiful by her beautiful voice . β€
crackhanger
That voice and range is just....devastatingly beautiful. Very few people can evoke such feeling with just a voice.