Scott was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and raised in Detroit, an Italian hillbilly who worshipped Hank Williams, and became a rock and roll star. His first album, entitled Jack Scott. One of the first album recorded in stereo, it contained a mixture of rockabilly and ballads of which 10 were Scott's own compositions.
Recording for Carlton he came up with a rocking song about a friend in prison titled Leroy. The other side of the record was a sad ballad called My True Love.
Both songs were a smash in the Summer of 1958, the first going to #11 and the other as far as number 3 in Billboard's and made the Top Ten in Britain.
He followed it with Geraldine backed by With Your Love, the latter of which was a minor hit, With Your Love made Number 28 in the US later that year, Goodbye Baby peaked at Number 8 early in 1959 and was followed by The Way I Walk, a Top Forty hit that Robert Gordon revived in 1978.
Scott transferred to the new Top Rank label in 1959 and scored another huge success in the New Year with "What In The World's Come Over You." The song gave Scott his second gold disc, reaching Number 5 in the USA and Number 6 in the UK. Further successes followed Burning Bridge" (Number 3), Cool Water"/"It Only Happened Yesterday" but Scott was by then being steered towards a mainstream country style.
Listen and compare his "Blues stay away from me" with Bob Dylan’s, "Rainy Day Woman Numbers 12 and 35".
Burning Bridges
Jack Scott Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They told of the love we once knew
Now they're gone I burned them to ashes
Don't want nothing to remind me of you
Burning bridges behind me
It's too late to turn back now
Burning bridges behind me
Sold the house we once planned together
Said goodbye to the folks we once knew
Then I moved to a far away city
Tried so hard to forget about you
Burning bridges behind me
It's too late to turn back now
Burning bridges behind me
All I want is to forget you somehow
In Jack Scott's song "Burning Bridges," the singer discovers letters he received from his former love and decides to burn them in order to move on from her. The lyrics describe how he has already sold the house they planned on living in together, said goodbye to mutual acquaintances, and moved to a new city in an attempt to forget about her. However, he realizes that he must burn every bridge connecting him to their past relationship in order to truly let go of his love for her. The chorus emphasizes this, as he sings about burning the bridges behind him and acknowledges that it is too late to turn back now.
The lyrics of this song convey the intense pain and difficulty of letting go of a past love. The singer is willing to get rid of everything that is connected to his former relationship in an effort to move on, yet he still struggles to forget about her completely. He also acknowledges that his actions cannot be undone - hence the refrain "it's too late to turn back now" - which may leave some listeners with a sense of sadness or regret.
Line by Line Meaning
Found some letters you wrote me this morning
I discovered letters you wrote me today
They told of the love we once knew
Those letters spoke of the past love we shared
Now they're gone I burned them to ashes
I burned those letters to ashes to remove any memory of you
Don't want nothing to remind me of you
I don't want anything to remind me of you or our past love
Burning bridges behind me
I'm destroying any path that leads back to our past together
It's too late to turn back now
I've gone too far to change my mind or return to you
All I want is to forget you somehow
My only desire now is to forget you completely
Sold the house we once planned together
I sold the home we once planned to live in together
Said goodbye to the folks we once knew
I parted ways with the people we both knew
Then I moved to a far away city
I relocated to a distant city
Tried so hard to forget about you
I made a conscious effort to erase all memories of you and our past love
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Walter Scott
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ryan
Found some letters you wrote me this morning
And they told of the love we once knew
Now they're gone I'd burned them to ashes
Don't want nothing to remind me of you
Burning bridges behind me it's too late to turn back now
Burning bridges behind me all I want is to forget you somehow
Sold the house we once planned together said goodbye to the friends we once knew
Then I moved to a faraway city trying hard to forget about you
Burning bridges behind me
Huggy1959
I saw him last night (9/27/08) at the city festival in Warren, MI. After all these years he's still got it! He explained the history behind this song...when he performed it he had a strep throat and a 103 fever. He recorded it anyway and gave it his best shot. After he was feeling better he wanted to go back and re-record it, but they told him it was fine. He didn't agree, but it went on to become a big hit.
Paul Henry Dallaire
listening to Jack gets me away from this crazy world if only for a few minutes. Love this man.
TheMan FromAspen
wow I hear this song in my mind every now and then I was lucky enough to have lived as a young man when this song was released
Aram Melikian
Precisely .. asa teenager his music and others like him in the 50 s have been unforgettable
Jessica Romero
This was one of my Dad's favorite songs. He was born in '45. How I miss him so
Pagano
Yes sir you were.. lucky!
mr. warmth
me too sir i planted the redwoods
bill miller
I agree that jack scott was not given the credit he deserved. I was a radio djin those days and played his music loud!
Ed Wiles
i was just entering my teens when he was popular.....sometimes, when longing to go back to those days, I will listen to his songs. With your backdround, you probably remember that this was a time
of great variety in pop music.....so very many great songs and singers came out of these day!
hobby gamer
a radio djin. whyd you stop ?