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/
pieces
Gary Allan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I’ve loved holy, I’ve loved sin
I was rolling on the wind
It didn’t matter
I was so sure of who I didn’t want to be
Every smile and every fear
Every laugh and every tear
Pieces of my heart
Pieces of my soul
Pieces that I’m gonna be
I don’t even know
I gave a lot to lovers
Gave a lot to friends
Everything I took from them
Made me who I am
Pieces
We’ve all been lied to
We’ve all been liars
Nothing’s perfect in this world
Everybody’s been burned by the fire
Guess I’m learning
That what breaks you, makes you grow
But I’m not hiding where I’ve been
Gonna let the light shine in
What I don’t need
Gonna let that, let that, let that go
Pieces of my heart
Pieces of my soul
Pieces that I’m gonna be
I don’t even know
I gave a lot to lovers
Gave a lot to friends
Everything I took from them
Made me who I am
Pieces, the good and the bad
Pieces, the happy and sad
Pieces, the wrong and the right
Pieces, that’s my, that’s my, that’s my life
Pieces of my heart
Pieces of my soul
Pieces that I’m gonna be
I don’t even know
I gave a lot to lovers
Gave a lot to friends
Everything I took from them
Made me who I am
Pieces
Pieces, pieces
In Gary Allan's song "Pieces," he talks about his life experiences and the impact they have had on him. He describes feeling broken, torn, and scattered, but also loving both holy and sinful things. He reflects on his past and how it has shaped him into the person he is today. He talks about giving a lot to lovers and friends and how those experiences have contributed to who he is. In the end, he embraces all the pieces of his life, both good and bad, and recognizes that they have all made him who he is.
The lyrics can be interpreted as Allan coming to terms with his past and accepting himself for who he is. He acknowledges that he has made mistakes and been hurt before, but that those experiences have ultimately helped him grow as a person. He also recognizes that no one is perfect and that everyone has been burned by the fire of life. The overall message of the song is one of self-acceptance and embracing all the pieces of one's life.
Line by Line Meaning
I’ve been broken, torn and scattered
I have gone through difficult times and feel broken and disorganized.
I’ve loved holy, I’ve loved sin
I have experienced both pure and corrupt love.
I was rolling on the wind / It didn’t matter
I was going along with things without much thought or direction.
I was so sure of who I didn’t want to be / Every smile and every fear / Every laugh and every tear / It was all me, it was all me
I knew what I didn't want to become and everything I've done and experienced has shaped me into who I am today.
Pieces of my heart / Pieces of my soul / Pieces that I’m gonna be / I don’t even know
I am still figuring out who I am and what I'm meant to become, and everything I've gone through has contributed to that journey.
I gave a lot to lovers / Gave a lot to friends / Everything I took from them / Made me who I am
The people I've loved and been close to have influenced me and helped me grow as a person.
We’ve all been lied to / We’ve all been liars / Nothing’s perfect in this world / Everybody’s been burned by the fire
Everyone has experienced both deception and deceitfulness, and life is not always fair.
Guess I’m learning / That what breaks you, makes you grow
I am starting to realize that adversities and difficulties can help me develop and become a stronger person.
But I’m not hiding where I’ve been / Gonna let the light shine in / What I don’t need / Gonna let that, let that, let that go
I am choosing to be honest about my past experiences and move forward, letting go of anything that isn't serving me well.
Pieces, the good and the bad / Pieces, the happy and sad / Pieces, the wrong and the right / Pieces, that’s my, that’s my, that’s my life
My life has been comprised of both positive and negative experiences, but they are all part of who I am.
Pieces of my heart / Pieces of my soul / Pieces that I’m gonna be / I don’t even know
I am still discovering who I'll become and what experiences will make up my life.
Pieces, pieces
All of the experiences, good and bad, happy and sad, right and wrong, that make up who I am.
Lyrics © HIPGNOSIS SONGS GROUP, CRYSTAL BEACH MUSIC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GARY ALLAN, ODIE BLACKMON, SARAH BUXTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@taniagreer264
I love this song Gary Allan is my favorite singer I love his voice he's got a rare and unique gift 💜💜💜
@GrayAllanmusic509
Thanks so very much for your love and support towards me beautiful fan…. Where are you from
@deanna5823
This man gets even better, the older he gets,been hooked on his music for 19 years. Still going strong Gary, don't stop now.
Nice eye candy.🕇❤🕇
@diamondmoore5620
Hello Deanna
@diamondmoore5620
How are you doing today
@diamondmoore5620
@Deanna where are you from
@diamondmoore5620
@Deanna I am fine thanks for asking
@diamondmoore5620
@Deanna I reside in Washington DC but my roots hail from Germany, where are you from
@chrissheats911
Gary Allen is seriously amazing. Love him and his music so much. He definitely deserves more credit than he gets
@GrayAllanmusic509
Thanks so very much for your love and support towards me beautiful fan…. Where are you from