John Weldon Cale (5 December 1938 – 26 July 2013), known as JJ Cale or J.… Read Full Bio ↴John Weldon Cale (5 December 1938 – 26 July 2013), known as JJ Cale or J.J. Cale, was a Grammy Award-winning American singer, musician, and songwriter. Cale was one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back".

His songs have been performed by a number of other musicians including "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton,"Cajun Moon" by Randy Crawford, "Clyde" and "Louisiana Women" by Waylon Jennings, "Magnolia" by Jai, "Bringing It Back" by Kansas, "Call Me the Breeze" and "I Got the Same Old Blues" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "I'd Like to Love You, Baby" by Tom Petty, "Travelin' Light" and "Ride Me High" by Widespread Panic, "Tijuana" by Harry Manx, "Sensitive Kind" by Carlos Santana, "Cajun Moon" by Herbie Mann with Cissy Houston, and "Same Old Blues" by Captain Beefheart.

Cale was born on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was raised in Tulsa and graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1956. Along with a number of other young Tulsa musicians, Cale moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he first worked as a studio engineer.
The Leathercoated Minds was a 1966-67 psychedelic studio-based band masterminded largely by Snuff Garrett and J J Cale. The band produced one album, A Trip down the Sunset Strip, co-produced by Cale and Garrett
Finding little success as a recording artist, he later returned to Tulsa and was considering giving up the music business until Clapton recorded "After Midnight" in 1970. His first album, Naturally, established his style, described by Los Angeles Times writer Richard Cromelin as a "unique hybrid of blues, folk and jazz, marked by relaxed grooves and Cale's fluid guitar and laconic vocals. His early use of drum machines and his unconventional mixes lend a distinctive and timeless quality to his work and set him apart from the pack of Americana roots-music purists."

Some sources incorrectly give his real name as "Jean-Jacques Cale". In the 2006 documentary, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J.J. Cale, Cale talks about Elmer Valentine, co-owner of the Sunset Strip nightclub Whisky à GoGo, who employed him in the mid-1960s, being the one that came up with the "JJ" moniker to avoid confusion with the Velvet Underground's John Cale. Rocky Frisco tells the same version of the story mentioning the other John Cale but without further detail.

His biggest U.S. hit single, Crazy Mama, peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972. During the 2006 documentary film To Tulsa and Back Cale recounts the story of being offered the opportunity to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand to promote the song, which would have moved the song higher on the charts. Cale declined when told he could not bring his band to the taping and would be required to lip-sync the words to the song.

Cale died on Friday, July 26, 2013, at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, California, after suffering a heart attack.

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Lies
J.J. Cale Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You told me this,
You told me that
You try to tell me,
Tell me where it's at
You said you loved me,
I can see through that
Lies, lies, lies
You left me hangin',
Hangin' from a limb
You said you loved me,
Then you left with him
Lord, you did it to me,
I see it in your eyes
Lies, lies, lies
Tell me baby,
Why you take my time
You get a thrill off
Playing with my mind
Lord, you did it to me,
I see it in your eyes
Lies, lies, lies

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of “Lies” by J.J. Cale depict a person who has been misled and hurt by their lover through constant lies. At the beginning of the song, the singer suggests that his lover constantly tells him things that are not true. They try to convince him that what they’re saying is real by telling him where it's at. However, the singer doesn't believe his lover's words since he can see through their lies.

Later in the song, the singer reveals that his lover left him hanging on a limb and ran off with another person after telling him that she loved him. The singer realizes that his former lover is a liar and can see it in her eyes. The singer asks why his lover played with his mind and got a thrill out of wasting his time.

Overall, “Lies” is a song about the aftermath of a toxic relationship that ended because lies were told without any regard for the other person's feelings. Cale's resilient voice and the simple structure of the song allow the lyrics to shine through, delivering his message of caution about false promises.

Line by Line Meaning

You told me this,
You made a statement to me,

You told me that
You made another statement to me,

You try to tell me,
You attempted to communicate something to me,

Tell me where it's at
You attempted to inform me about the location of something,

You said you loved me,
You professed your affection for me,

I can see through that
I am able to recognize that it is not genuine,

Lies, lies, lies
You are being untruthful,

You left me hangin',
You abandoned me,

Hangin' from a limb
In a vulnerable and precarious position,

You said you loved me,
You claimed to have feelings of love towards me,

Then you left with him
But you ultimately chose to be with someone else,