[edit] Biography
Watson was born in Palestine, Texas, in 1943 and began his music career in the early 1970s, performing in local clubs at night while working in a Houston auto body shop during the day. He only recorded for a few small, regional record labels until 1974, when Capitol Records picked up his album Love in the Hot Afternoon and released it nationally. The title track, a mid-tempo ballad in 3/4 time, was released in June 1975 and it quickly reached Number 3 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart.
Watson's national success continued throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, as he recorded several Billboard top-40 hits, including "Where Love Begins," "Paper Rosie," "Should I Go Home (or Should I Go Crazy)," "Nothing Sure Looked Good on You." and "Farewell Party" which was released in 1979 and quickly became Watson's signature song and soon allowed Watson to name his band after the tragic ballad.
In 1982, after switching to the MCA label, he recorded the only number-one hit of his career, "Fourteen Carat Mind." He followed up with several more hits in the early 1980s, including "Speak Softly (You're Talking to My Heart)," "You're Out Doing What I'm Here Doing Without" and "Got No Reason Now for Going Home." By the mid-1980s, he was recording for Epic Records, where his most notable hit was 1985's "Memories to Burn."
Watson never gave up his classical country style, even as he continued to record music throughout the 1980s. He signed with Warner Bros. and released two new albums in 1989 and 1991. He recorded his last album, From the Heart, under the Row Music Group label in 2001.
In 2005, Watson released his latest album, "Then & Now."
In May 2007, Gene Watson signed with the independent Shanachie Records & began work on his first album for the label, which will include new material, along with at least 3 covers of some of Gene's favourite classic country tunes including Merle Haggard's classic "Today I started Loving You Again". The new album, 'In a Perfect World', will be officially released on Tuesday 25 September 2007.
It was also in May 2007 (Saturday 5 May 2007) that the (all new) Gene Watson Site went 'live'. The site, which is owned & maintained by Sean Brady, is based in the Republic of Ireland & receives full support from Sarah Brosmer at Lytle Management in Nashville (Gene Watson's management team) & Gene Watson himself.
In September 2007 "In A Perfect World" was released to the public. The album was received by the country music industry as being one of the best recordings of the year.
[edit] External links
The Official Gene Watson Site
Gene Watson Site Based in Ireland
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Watson"
Categories: 1943 births | American country singers | American male singers | Living people | People from Anderson County, Texas | People from Houston, Texas
Though he can sing honky-tonk, Gene Watson built a reputation for soulful ballads in the classical country tradition. Born one of seven children in Palestine, TX, Watson married early and was working as an auto-body man when he began frequenting the clubs in Houston. He recorded for a few small-time regional labels during the early '70s like Wide World and Stoneway. Watson finally had success in 1974, when a steamy single for Resco "Love in the Hot Afternoon" was picked up for national distribution by Capitol Records, igniting a firestorm of national hits: "Where Love Begins," "Paper Rosie," "Farewell Party," "Should I Come Home (Or Should I Go Crazy)," and "Nothing Sure Looked Good on You." In 1982, shortly after moving to MCA, Watson recorded his only chart-topper, "Fourteen Carat Mind." A parade of Top Ten entries followed during the early '80s, including "Speak Softly (You're Talking to My Heart)" and "You're Out Doing What I'm Here Doing Without." Watson is a vocal stylist of considerable talent, and still owns his own body shop.
The Great Divide
Gene Watson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No one takes the blame but we both have to pay
Everything that once was ours now is yours or mine
I guess we finally made it across the great divide
And it sure hurts like hell to see you walk away
And there's nothin' I can do to make you want to stay
No one but you and I can know how hard we tried
Now we're standing in the doorway of a house we made a home
And it seems so cold and empty now that all our love is gone
We take one last look together before we say goodbye
Since we finally made it across the great divide
And it sure hurts like hell to see you walk away
And there's nothin' I can do to make you want to stay
No one but you and I can know how hard we tried
There's no turnin' back, we've crossed the great divide
There's just no turnin' back, we've crossed the great divide
The lyrics to Gene Watson's song The Great Divide tell the story of two people who have decided to end their relationship and go their separate ways. The decision is not an easy one, but it seems that it is the only way for them to move forward in their lives. The first verse expresses that no one is to take blame for the situation, but they both have to face the consequences of their actions. They must divide their possessions and assets and accept that what was once shared between them is now individually owned. The line "I guess we finally made it across the great divide" implies that this is not a sudden decision, and that there has been much thought and contemplation before arriving at this point.
The second verse expresses the pain and sorrow that both parties are feeling as they say goodbye. They have tried their best to make it work, but it seems that things have reached a breaking point, and there is no going back. The line "No one but you and I can know how hard we tried" emphasizes the fact that only they know the extent of their struggle and the amount of effort that they have put into the relationship. The chorus repeats the sentiment that there is no turning back now that they have crossed the proverbial "great divide." It is a final farewell, and they must each go their separate ways.
Overall, The Great Divide conveys a sense of sadness and acceptance that a once-thriving relationship has come to an end. The lyrics are simple yet poignant, and they effectively capture the emotions that come with the end of any relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
It's time for us to settle up and go our separate ways
We've come to the point where we need to go our separate ways and settle things between us.
No one takes the blame but we both have to pay
Neither of us is blaming the other, but we both have to face the consequences of our actions.
Everything that once was ours now is yours or mine
What we had together is now split, and we each have to take our share.
I guess we finally made it across the great divide
We've overcome this difficult situation and made it to the other side.
And it sure hurts like hell to see you walk away
It's painful to watch you leave.
And there's nothin' I can do to make you want to stay
I realize that there's nothing I can do to change your mind.
No one but you and I can know how hard we tried
Only we know how much effort we put into this relationship.
There's no turnin' back, we've crossed the great divide
There's no going back now that we've made this decision and moved on.
Now we're standing in the doorway of a house we made a home
We're standing in the entrance of the home we built together.
And it seems so cold and empty now that all our love is gone
The home feels empty and foreign since our love is no longer there.
We take one last look together before we say goodbye
We take one final moment to take a look at the life we built before we go our separate ways.
Since we finally made it across the great divide
Now that we've made it through this difficult time in our lives, we can move forward separately.
There's just no turnin' back, we've crossed the great divide
We've made our decision and there's no way to change it; we've moved on.
Contributed by Riley M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Alan Jackson
This is the real country - A real singer with real talent.
I'll bet you would like to turn on the radio today and hear real country music like this!
Susan R
Awesome
Homer Jarvis
Some Alan Jackson would be good also
MIKE BOYER
I have been a fan of Gene's for over 40 years. He is a great talent. It is awesome that he is still out there touring and in my opinion he sounds even better now than he did back then.
Marsha McDowell
Wish old country would make a comeback! These songs are priceless!
fabfrith
Gene is one of the greatest and best country singers ever.
George Moore
Man, this song just cuts to the soul. lived this.
mudslinger4721
This is one of the greatest songs ever sang.
nemesisgenius
This is one of Gene Watson's greatest songs of all time. I'm surprised this was not a top 5 hit for him!
olctrymtnman
How sad it is that more people don't find their way here and to others of those wonderful Gene Watson songs.