Combining elements of both rock and folk music, along with disturbingly personal sentiments, dark humor, and a voice able to channel both the falsetto highs of Neil Young and the wavering raspy low tones of Leonard Cohen, Toronto's Hayden Desser has spent his career creating uniquely affecting music.
The critically-acclaimed musician first appeared in the early '90s armed with only his four-track tape recorder, his unexpectedly low vocal range, and an extremely detuned guitar. Going simply by the name Hayden, he recorded his self-released cassette, In September, in 1994, and much of the material included evolved into his first proper LP, 1995's Everything I Long For. Initially self-released on his own Hardwood Records, the debut disc toed the line between beautiful and horrifying, touching on simple details of human interaction as well as delving into macabre tales that still retained an oddly personal edge. After a year of touring Canada, E.T.I.L.F. was picked up by Outpost Recordings (Geffen) and was released worldwide in early 1996. Tours of the U.S., Europe and Japan took up most of 1996, as well as writing and recording the title track to the Steve Buscemi-directed Tree’s Lounge. Hayden’s second full-length record. The Closer I Get (1998) was recorded in Toronto, Bearsville, N.Y., Seattle and Los Angeles. After another year of touring, Hayden closed the book on chapter one of his musical endeavors.
The next couple of years went by without any performances, but during 2000, Hayden began writing and recording in his Toronto home. The self-produced collection of songs was titled Skyscraper National Park and was released in 2001 to world–wide critical acclaim.
The following year, a live concert double CD was released, Live at Convocation Hall, a glimpse, for the listener, into what makes Hayden’s appearances such a favourite among his ever devoted fan base. His natural rapport with the crowd, along with an honest demeanour, has continued Hayden’s reputation as a unique and charming performer.
In 2004, Hayden released his 4th studio album. Elk-Lake Serenade continued in the direction of Skyscraper with it’s collection of warm and memorable recordings. 2004 also heralded Hayden’s return to the road with several tours that took him as far as Australia and New Zealand.
After a long period of writing and recording, Hayden returned in early 2008 with his 5th full-length studio record. In Field & Town is his most musically diverse and textured record to date. It captures his penchant for self-referential fiction and emotionally heavy songs and laces them with sharp hooks and smart lyrics. After supporting The National in Europe in November of ‘07, Hayden completed a sold-out theatre tour of Canada as well as spring and fall North American tours supporting Feist. In Field & Town was released on Fat Possum in the U.S.A. and November saw the release in Europe via the Affairs of the Heart label, combined with Nov./Dec. dates in the UK, France, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium and Germany.
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All In One Move
Hayden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Changed my way of thinking
Bopping away, all that kept me down
You were snowing when i walked in there
And the sun was so bright
It melted all away
Then, all in one move
You took back what you gave me
Forced the sun to leave, making snow
Fall down on more ice.
The lyrics of Hayden's song "All In One Move" are imbued with romantic and metaphorical language that speaks to the transformative power of love. The opening lines, "All in one move, you changed my way of thinking" capture the profound influence that one person can have on another, especially in terms of their outlook on life. The imagery of "bopping away, all that kept me down" suggests that this person's arrival has buoyed the singer's spirits and lifted them out of a state of sadness or depression.
The next lines, "You were snowing when I walked in there, and the sun was so bright it melted all away" introduces the theme of opposites - light and dark, hot and cold - that runs throughout the song. The idea here seems to be that the person who has entered the singer's life is both light and dark, and that their presence has a transformative effect on the world around them.
The final lines of the song, "You took back what you gave me, and clouds flourished, forced the sun to leave, making snow fall down on more ice" suggest that the relationship between the singer and this other person is not without its darker moments. There is a sense that the person can be both loving and cruel, able to give and take away at will. The metaphor of the sun and snow underscores this sense of duality, suggesting that even when things seem bright and happy, there is always the potential for darkness and coldness to creep in.
Overall, "All In One Move" is a poem about the highs and lows of love, about how one person can be both a source of great joy and great pain. The imagery and metaphor in the lyrics give the song a dreamlike quality that captures the sense of mystery and wonder that surrounds love.
Line by Line Meaning
All in one move, you
You were able to change everything with one action of your own.
Changed my way of thinking
You altered the way that I perceive things.
Bopping away, all that kept me down
You helped me get rid of all the negativity in my life.
You were snowing when I walked in there
When I first met you, you were distant and cold.
And the sun was so bright
My life was going well before I met you.
It melted all away
You caused all of the good things in my life to disappear.
Then, all in one move
Afterwards, you did something that erased all of the good things you had given me.
You took back what you gave me
You removed all the positive things you had given me.
And clouds flourished
This caused negativity and despair to take over.
Forced the sun to leave, making snow
You caused everything good to disappear, causing only coldness and despair.
Fall down on more ice.
This repeated process caused more and more negativity to fill my life.
Contributed by Nathaniel R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.