Allan was born and raised in La Mirada, California, to Harley and Mary Herzberg. To ensure that the family would focus on music, Allan's mother insisted that the family's guitars would always remain visible in the home. At age thirteen, Allan began playing in honky tonks with his father. Two years later, he was offered his first recording contract, from A&M Records, but rejected the deal. His parents wanted him to finish his education and his father felt that Allan had yet to develop his own distinctive style. Despite his commitment to finishing school, Allan reflects that he was rarely alert in class. "I played the bars at night, I was half asleep when I got to school. I thought sleep was what you did when you got to school." After finishing school, he continued to play in the bars with his band, the Honky Tonk Wranglers. Many of the venues they played were packed, and promoters often tried to move them to larger clubs. The moves would have required him to stop playing some of the older country music, such as covers of George Jones songs, so Allan refused.
Allan was introduced to songwriter/producer Byron Hill on August 28, 1993 by a mutual friend and talent-scout Jim Seal at a bar called the Lion D'or in Downey, California, where Allan was already regularly performing. Seal and Hill had asked Allan if they could showcase an unsigned act that they were developing there. Hill had arranged to bring the head of A&R from a major label to the show to see this other act perform. Allan kindly let them use his stage for the event, giving the new act the opening performance slot that night. Hill promised Gary that they would make sure the A&R person remained there to see his portion of the show. Everyone was knocked out with Allan's performance, and very impressed with his voice. From that point on, Hill began sending Allan songs. Without any serious funding at the time, Hill arranged for Allan to go into Seal's small studio in California to try his vocals on some of existing demo tracks that Hill had sent to Allan from Nashville, Tennessee. Meanwhile, Hill became head of A&R at BNA Entertainment on October 29 of that same year and immediately wanted to sign Allan to BNA, but the then current roster conditions and other circumstances related to the planned restructuring of RCA/BNA Nashville stood in the way.
In the meantime, Allan took a job selling cars. He left a demo tape in the glove box of a car purchased by a wealthy couple. When the couple discovered that he was the singer, they wrote him a check for $12,000. This independent funding allowed Allan to go to Nashville to record some of the songs that were on that early demo tape with Hill as producer. On September 11, 1995, they worked at Javelina Studios for a couple of days on the four songs that Hill immediately showed to labels. Allan's recordings brought serious responses from several labels including Mercury, RCA, and Decca. A meeting was then held at a Nashville hotel among Hill, Allan, and friend of Allan's, who was a program director for a radio station in California, to arrange two showcases in Los Angeles, California, to put Allan on stage at two of the radio station's regular nights at a local club. Byron arranged for staffers at the Nashville office of Decca Records to attend the first showcase held on November 1, 1995. Decca immediately wanted to sign Allan, and knowing that Byron was lining up other labels to see Gary, Decca asked them to cancel the second showcase. A rep from RCA was already booked to see the second showcase the following week, but the "bird-in-hand" deal offer was too tempting for both Hill and Allan, so they committed to the Decca offer.
His first deal, with Decca Records Nashville, produced the 1996 album Used Heart for Sale. The album was named "Best of the Month" by Stereo Review. It advanced to the top 20 of the charts, and produced a Top 10 country hit with the track Her Man (previously recorded by Waylon Jennings). Other tracks from the album, however, proved less successful.
His second album, It Would Be You, was released in 1998. Although Allan had been writing songs since he was a teenager, he does not hesitate to bump his work from his albums in favor of those written by other songwriters he respects. For his second album, Allan replaced one of his songs with No Judgement Day, written by Allen Shamblin. Although the song was a hidden acoustic track, radio stations began giving it heavy airplay. The song tells the story of a shopkeeper in Texas, whose children killed him in search of money. The title track of the album became Allan's second top 10 hit of the year, remaining in the top 10 after 21 weeks of radio play, "way beyond the tenure of most disposable radio hits." At the beginning of 1999, Decca Records folded, and when Allan moved to the parent label, MCA Nashville, It Would Be You was left in limbo.
In 1999, Allan released Smoke Rings in the Dark, an album he recorded while in the midst of a divorce from his second wife, Versace model Danette Day, after only seven months of marriage. Unlike his first two albums, Smoke Rings in the Dark made fuller use of background singers and stringed instruments, "resulting in a lusher, fuller sound." The new album avoided the "devil-may-care brashness" of the first two, instead presenting a tone balanced between youthful optimism and "the knowledge that some of life's experiences exact a high toll." Smoke Rings in the Dark was certified platinum, and it included two successful singles.
In 2001 the album Alright Guy was released. It contained the singles The One, Man of Me, and Man to Man, the latter of which became his first Billboard No. 1 hit. The same year, Allan married for the third time, to Angela, a flight attendant he met on an airplane.
Despite his previous success and eight years in the music business, Allan was nominated for the Country Music Association's Horizon Award, typically given to newcomers, in 2003. The same year he released his fifth album, See If I Care. Allan had to fight to keep the title, which he felt epitomized his attitude towards the music business, that he would continue to make the music that he wanted to make regardless of whether the record label chose to back him or people chose to buy the album. See If I Care included his second and third Number One singles, Tough Little Boys and Nothing On but the Radio. Songs About Rain was a top 15 hit.
In 2003, Allan and his wife, Angela Herzberg, moved to Tennessee from California. On October 25, 2004, Angela Herzberg committed suicide after suffering from depression and migraines. Allan initially put his career on hold, but soon turned to music to deal with the loss of his wife. This resulted in 2005's "heart-wrenchingly personal album," Tough All Over. He included several songs which he wrote or cowrote, including Puttin' Memories Away and I Just Got Back from Hell, which dealt directly with his grief. Several years later, Gary discussed his wife's suicide on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Tough All Over sold over 99,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the magazine's Top Country Albums chart. It was subsequently certified gold by the RIAA as of December 20, 2006, and contained the top 10 singles Best I Ever Had (written by Vertical Horizon's Matt Scannell) and Life Ain't Always Beautiful, co-written by country singer Cyndi Thomson (under the name Cyndi Goodman).
Allan's first Greatest Hits collection was released on March 6, 2007. A Number One album on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts, the album reprised the greatest hits from his first six albums, as well as two new songs. One of these, titled A Feelin' Like That, was co-written by David Lee Murphy and Ira Dean (the latter a former member of Trick Pony); the single peaked at #12 on the country singles charts.
Allan's album titled Living Hard, was released on October 23, 2007. Serving as its lead-off single was the song Watching Airplanes, which spent more than thirty weeks on the country charts, where it reached a peak of #2 and went #1 on the Mediabase Chart. The song's music video was filmed during live concerts, including one at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. Second single Learning How to Bend – co-written by Allan – quickly became another hit song, peaking at #13. The video was filmed during a live performance at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Following this song is third single She's So California, which Allan co-wrote with Jaime Hanna (of Hanna-McEuen) and Jon Randall, and it peaked at #24, becoming his first single to miss the top 20 since Lovin' You Against My Will in 2000.
Today was released on June 12, 2009, serving as the lead-off single to Allan's studio album, Get Off on the Pain, which was released on March 9, 2010. Title track, Get Off on the Pain, was the album's second single. It debuted at #42 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the highest-debuting single of his career. Kiss Me When I'm Down the album's third single released to radio in 2010. It debuted at #52 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
http://www.garyallan.com/pain/
Life Ain't Always Beautiful
Gary Allan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sometimes it's just plain hard
Life can knock you down
It can break your heart.
Life ain't always beautiful
You think you're on your way
And it's just a dead end road
But the struggles make you stronger
And the changes make you wise
And happiness has it's own way
Of taking it's own sweet time.
No, life ain't always beautiful
Tears will fall sometimes
Life ain't always beautiful
But it's a beautiful ride.
Life ain't always beautiful
Some days I miss your smile
I get tired of walking
All these lonely miles.
And wish for just one minute
That I could see your pretty face
Guess, I can dream
But life don't work that way.
But the struggles make me stronger
And the changes make me wise
And happiness has it's own way
Of taking it's sweet time.
No, life ain't always beautiful
But I know I'll be fine
Life ain't always beautiful
But it's a beautiful ride.
What a beautiful ride
The lyrics of Gary Allan's song 'Life Ain't Always Beautiful' portray the difficult realities of life while still staying hopeful. The first verse speaks of how life can be challenging, and it can bring you down, but it also highlights the strength that can come from these struggles. The second verse talks about how life is not always fair and how losing someone makes the journey even more challenging. Despite this, the hope is never lost, and the changes caused by life's trials help one gain wisdom and perspective. Happiness comes in its own time, and the ride is not always beautiful, but it is still a ride worth taking. The lyrics end on a hopeful and positive note that underscores the beauty of the journey through life.
The overall message of the song is that life will have its ups and downs, and it will not always be beautiful, but that is what makes it worth living. People can be knocked down, hit hard, and left alone, but these experiences will make them stronger. The road of life may not always lead to the desired destination, but it's the journey that is important. The lyrics emphasize that life is a precious gift, and one should cherish every moment with courage, hope, and resilience.
Line by Line Meaning
Life ain't always beautiful
Life isn't always easy and happy.
Sometimes it's just plain hard
Sometimes life can be very difficult.
Life can knock you down
Life can make you feel defeated and hopeless.
It can break your heart.
Life can cause emotional pain and sadness.
You think you're on your way
You believe you are making progress in life.
And it's just a dead end road
However, your efforts might not lead you anywhere.
At the end of the day.
After everything is said and done.
But the struggles make you stronger
Challenges can help you become more capable.
And the changes make you wise
Experiences, both good and bad, teach you valuable lessons.
And happiness has it's own way
Positive outcomes in life are unpredictable.
Of taking it's own sweet time.
They might happen gradually and slowly.
Tears will fall sometimes
Emotional pain can cause you to cry.
Some days I miss your smile
The absence of someone you loved makes you sad.
I get tired of walking
Continuing to move on with issues weighing on you can be exhausting.
All these lonely miles.
It can feel like you are journeying through life alone.
And wish for just one minute
Thinking about the past and wishing you could be with someone you lost.
That I could see your pretty face
So that you can experience the joy of being with them again
Guess, I can dream
To imagine a reality that isn't possible.
But life don't work that way.
Even if you wish something wasn't so, it doesn't change reality
But I know I'll be fine
Despite hardships, you will find solace and endure.
Life ain't always beautiful
Life is filled with ups and downs.
But it's a beautiful ride.
But in the end, it is a beautiful journey.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: TOMMY LEE JAMES, CYNTHIA EVELYN THOMSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@oliviaandersen8226
LYRICS💕
Life ain't always beautiful
Sometimes it's just plain hard
Life can knock you down
It can break your heart.
Life ain't always beautiful
You think you're on your way
And it's just a dead end road
At the end of the day.
But the struggles make you stronger
And the changes make you wise
And happiness has it's own way
Of taking it's own sweet time.
No, life ain't always beautiful
Tears will fall sometimes
Life ain't always beautiful
But it's a beautiful ride.
Life ain't always beautiful
Some days I miss your smile
I get tired of walking
All these lonely miles.
And wish for just one minute
That I could see your pretty face
Guess, I can dream
But life don't work that way.
But the struggles make me stronger
And the changes make me wise
And happiness has it's own way
Of taking it's sweet time.
No, life ain't always beautiful
But I know I'll be fine
Life ain't always beautiful
But it's a beautiful ride.
What a beautiful ride
@frankbeck4116
My wife died unexpectedly earlier this year. It's beautiful song but it makes me cry.
@Stick0413
You can see the hurt in his eyes. This man has been through a lot and I think he uses his singing/songwriting to release some of the stress and his songs have so much meaning. He is one of the few singer/songwriters left with that ability.
@J_Bard
I love hearing his songs... I don't know how he does it. Being able to hold it together while he sings these songs. I have so much respect for this man..
@aerilyaa2818
Stick0413 Taylor swift is one, but she does take it to extreme sometimes...
@daltonjones4534
Madison Bonafede don't compare Taylor swift to Garry Allen like good god have you lost your mind
@aerilyaa2818
Dalton Jones I was saying a opinion and good god when did you learn manners...
@tammynichols7650
Stick0413 yes he's been through this, his wife shot herself and he was downstairs in the house and he said he knew she was a little depressed but not that!! I seen his interview on Oprah and music is healing, I have been through alot of storms and they keep coming, BUT thank you Jesus for a good song to give hope or let out some anger,and knowing that every one goes through storms, falls,I decide if you are going to get up or drown in this life!!
@laurafrost705
I'm suffering from depression and schizophornia and this song is a medicine to me Gary Allan spoke about his depression many times
@skittazbro
yeah that shit sucks
@breesechick
I does hurt 💔❤️