Hootie & the Blowfish formed in 1986. The quartet met when they were freshmen at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Bryan heard Rucker singing in the showers of the dorm they shared and was impressed by his vocal ability. They began playing cover tunes as The Wolf Brothers; eventually they collaborated with Felber, a former high school bandmate of Bryan's, and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld as Hootie & the Blowfish.
Brantley Smith was the original drummer for the band. He left the group to pursue music ministry, but he has made scattered guest appearances with the band (he played cello on their MTV Unplugged performance in 1996, and played drums at Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas, on June 27, 2008).
The group independently released two cassette demo EPs in 1991 and 1992. In 1993, they pressed 50,000 copies of a self-released EP, Kootchypop. Their mainstream debut album was Cracked Rear View (1994). It was an instant success, ultimately going platinum 16 times in the U.S. and becoming the best-selling album of 1995. The album was propelled by four hits, "Hold My Hand" (U.S. #10), "Let Her Cry" (U.S. #9), "Only Wanna Be with You" (U.S. #6), and "Time" (U.S. #14). Miami Dolphins' Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino appeared in the band's video for the song "Only Wanna Be with You", along with several other athletes.
The band won the "Best New Artist" award at the 1996 Grammy Awards. Hootie & the Blowfish appeared on MTV Unplugged on the eve of the release of their second album, 1996's Fairweather Johnson. Though sales began promisingly, and it contained the hit single "Old Man and Me" (U.S. #13), the album sold four million copies in the U.S.
In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish contributed the song "Hey Hey What Can I Do" to the Encomium tribute album to Led Zeppelin. Their cover of Canadian group 54-40's "I Go Blind", originally released on the soundtrack to the TV series Friends in 1995, did not appear on Cracked Rear View or Fairweather Johnson, but nevertheless became a hit at radio in 1996 after three singles from Fairweather Johnson had been released. Both "Hey Hey What Can I Do" and "I Go Blind" were later released on the collection Scattered, Smothered and Covered.
Hootie and the Blowfish started their own record label, Breaking Records, in 1996 as a subsidiary of Atlantic. They had planned to focus on signing local Carolina acts. Edwin McCain and Cravin' Melon were both associated with the label at one point, but did not release any material on it. Meat Puppets, Jump, Little Children, Treadmill Trackstar and Treehouse released one album each on Breaking Records. The label folded in 2000.
In 1998, they performed on Frank Wildhorn's concept album of the musical The Civil War.
In 200, the band released a B-sides and rarities compilation in 2000 entitled Scattered, Smothered and Covered.
The band covered the 1968 Orpheus hit "Can't Find the Time" in 2001 for the soundtrack of the Jim Carrey movie, Me, Myself and Irene. Orpheus leader Bruce Arnold performed the song with the band during several concerts on the West Coast of the United States in 2001.
In 2009, Hootie and the Blowfish performed live in a ballet which chronicled their rise and success in the 1990s.
In 2008, Rucker announced in an AOL Sessions interview that Hootie and the Blowfish would be going on hiatus so Rucker could pursue his solo career as a country music performer. Although the band will no longer be recording or touring, Rucker confirmed that they will still perform their scheduled charity concerts, stating, "We have four charity gigs every year and we will still do them, but we will not do a record or tour." Rucker also said that the split will last "for five or six years, or until I record three or four country albums". He later amended his statement, saying, "To be honest with you, we're not even split up right now, and we're not really thinking about splitting up."
Innocence
Hootie & The Blowfish Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the tears have all been wasted?
And the only voice you choose to hear
Sings the songs of our hearts breaking.
Say your dreams, they all have changed.
Well, my smiles, they all have faded.
And the thoughts that used to seem so pure in my heart,
Because I wanna feel like I did.
Yeah I wanna feel innocence.
What else can it be
'Cept this pride I'm sick of drinking.
Storm clouds all have gone away.
Can we stop this thing from sinking?
Because I wanna feel like I did.
Yeah I wanna feel innocence.
And I want you to know,
And to feel in your soul,
That someone has come and gone.
I'm stuck up here with you.
I never thought we'd get this high.
I used to be afraid of falling.
Now I'll spread my wings and I will fly.
I wanna feel like I did.
Yeah I wanna feel innocence.
I wanna feel like I did.
Oh, I wanna feel innocence, oh
I
nterpreting the lyrics of Hootie & The Blowfish's song Innocence, we see a person who is overwhelmed with sadness and helpless in the face of a broken relationship. They have shed all their tears and have run out of options to fix what's gone wrong. The only voice they hear is the one that sings songs of their hearts breaking. The dreams they once shared with their partner have changed and the happiness they once had has faded away. The purity they once felt in their heart is now clouded with feelings of disappointment and weariness.
However, through all this, the person still longs for the feeling of innocence. They want things to go back to the way they were before, to feel the purity and happiness they used to share with their partner. They are tired of drinking in their pride and want to stop things from sinking. They want their partner to know that someone special has come and gone, and they are stuck in this broken relationship. But instead of giving up or falling back to their old fears, they want to spread their wings and fly, taking control of their life once again.
Line by Line Meaning
What else can I do
I am at a loss in this situation
When the tears have all been wasted?
I have cried so much that it seems pointless now
And the only voice you choose to hear
You only want to listen to the person who tells you what you want to hear
Sings the songs of our hearts breaking.
Their words reflect the pain and hurt that we feel inside
Say your dreams, they all have changed.
Your hopes and aspirations are not the same anymore
Well, my smiles, they all have faded.
I used to be happy, but now I am not
And the thoughts that used to seem so pure in my heart,
My ideals and beliefs that were once so innocent and genuine
They now feel jaded.
Now seem tarnished and cynical
Because I wanna feel like I did.
I want to recapture the feeling of my past
Yeah I wanna feel innocence.
I want to feel like I did when I was naive and innocent
What else can it be
What else could be the cause
'Cept this pride I'm sick of drinking.
Except for this arrogance that I am tired of indulging in
Storm clouds all have gone away.
The problems and issues that we faced are now over
Can we stop this thing from sinking?
Can we prevent things from turning out worse than they already are
And I want you to know,
I need you to understand
And to feel in your soul,
I want you to experience it deeply, almost like a spiritual awakening
That someone has come and gone.
Someone important has left us
I'm stuck up here with you.
We are in this situation together, for better or for worse
I never thought we'd get this high.
I never expected us to come so far
I used to be afraid of falling.
I once feared failure and disappointment
Now I'll spread my wings and I will fly.
Now, I am ready to take risks and pursue my dreams
Oh, I wanna feel innocence, oh
I yearn to return to a time of purity and naivety
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: DARIUS RUCKER, DEAN FELBER, JIM SONEFELD, MARK BRYAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind