Jen Foster is an award-winning singer/songwriter influenced heavily by clas… Read Full Bio ↴Jen Foster is an award-winning singer/songwriter influenced heavily by classic artists such as the Rolling Stones, U2, and Bob Dylan. In 2009 Foster has spent the last several months in a Nashville recording studio working on her third album. Foster, along with co-producer, Greg Droman, put together an all-star group of musicians, including Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow), Rami Jaffee (The Wallflowers), Sean Hurley (Vertical Horizon), and Fred Eltringham (The Wallflowers, Dixie Chicks, The Wreckers). Embodying a blend of sounds which range from soft, lazy-day melodies to more raucous guitar-driven tracks, the forthcoming new collection includes two tracks (“Closer To Nowhere” and “Venice Beach”) which have recently garnered nominations in the International Songwriting Competition.

Foster started her own label – now called Fosterchild Records - in 2003. Her debut release, Everybody’s Girl, garnered national radio success at the Triple A format, as well as positive reviews, praising her no-frills, unfiltered lyrics. Songwriting awards followed and she has also secured some impressive Film/TV placements, with songs placed in the popular television soap opera All My Children as well as a recent placement in an American Pie movie sequel.

The title track of Foster’s 2006 sophomore CD, The Underdogs, won “Song of the Year” at the Out Music Awards. Foster grew up in a very conservative, Houston, TX, suburb.

Foster credits another outsider, Ani DiFranco, for inspiration in her business model. “Ani did it her way, and she inspired me to do it my way. I’ve created a fairly unique situation. I’ve built a team of people I trust at my label and also, a community of fans,” Foster proudly notes. “It’s always challenging to take off the artist hat and put on the business hat, but it’s a challenge I embrace. My music means too much to me to blindly put it in someone else’s hands.”

Foster’s new album, "Thirty-Nine," was slated for a 2009 release, and a four-song EP, "Songs From Thirty-Nine," is currently available. The video for the single "Closer To Nowhere" recently reached #1 on the LOGO Channel (MTV Network) charts.

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SONGWRITING AWARDS

1) "CLOSER TO NOWHERE" - WINNER, TRIPLE A CATEGORY, INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITING COMPETITION
2) "TAKING BOB DYLAN" - GRAND PRIZE, INTERNATIONAL ACOUSTIC MUSIC AWARDS

3) "TAKING BOB DYLAN" - BEST FEMALE ARTIST, INTERNATIONAL ACOUSTIC MUSIC AWARDS

4) "THE UNDERDOGS" - SONG OF THE YEAR, OUT MUSIC AWARDS

5) "AMEN" - WINNER, GOSPEL CATEGORY, USA SONGWRITING CONTEST

6) "SHE" - WINNER, POP CATEGORY, 2001, JOHN LENNON SONGWRITING CONTEST

7) "SHE" - WINNER, POP CATEGORY, 2001, GREAT AMERICAN SONGWRITING CONTEST

8) "EVERYBODY'S GIRL" (FULL RECORD) - WINNER, BEST DEBUT RECORDING - FEMALE, 2004, OUT MUSIC AWARDS

9) "IN BETWEEN POSES" - WINNER, 1st ANNUAL AWARDS, BEST FEMALE ARTIST, INTERNATIONAL ACOUSTIC MUSIC AWARDS 10) "TAKING BOB DYLAN" - WINNER, NASHVILLE SONG & LYRIC CONTEST

Water In Your Hands
Jen Foster Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Here I come, you better watch out
I'm falling like the rain
On the run from all of the clouds
They're chasing me away
I wish I could stay
But I am just not built that way, yeah
I'm water in your hands now
I'm slipping

I'm caught up in the moment, soon I will be going
You can't keep water in your hands
Don't be sad, Baby, don't cry
This is just the way that life goes
Just like that, hello and goodbye
What we catch we really can't hold
I wish you could see
I'm like the rain, I'm falling free, yeah
I'm water in your hands now
I'm slipping
I'm caught up in the moment, soon I will be going
You can't keep water in your hands
And before I slip away
I'll leave you with a trace of?
Water in your hands
I'm slipping
I'm caught up in the moment, soon I will be going
You can't keep water in your hands
Water in your hands

I'm slipping, slipping
I'm caught up in the moment, soon I will be going

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Jen Foster's "Water In Your Hands" speak to the transient nature of life and human relationships. The song likens the singer to "water in your hands" - a metaphor for someone who is fleeting and cannot be grasped or held onto. The opening lyrics suggest a sense of danger and anticipation as the singer falls like rain and tries to outrun the clouds. However, the inevitability of life's transitions is acknowledged in the lines "Don't be sad, Baby, don't cry/ This is just the way that life goes".

Throughout the song, the singer acknowledges that she is not built to stay - she is like the rain, falling free and slipping away. The bridge offers a moment of pause before the final chorus, with the singer imploring the listener to see the trace of her presence before she slips away. The repetition of the phrase "water in your hands" highlights the temporality of the singer's presence and the futility of trying to hold onto something that is meant to move on.

Overall, "Water In Your Hands" is a poignant reflection on the transient nature of life and relationships, with a powerful metaphor that speaks to the inherent instability and ephemerality of these experiences.

Line by Line Meaning

Here I come, you better watch out
I am approaching you fast, be ready to receive me

I'm falling like the rain
I am descending upon you like a shower of water

On the run from all of the clouds
I am escaping the group that I used to belong to

They're chasing me away
They are following my tracks and forcing me out

I wish I could stay
I would prefer to remain here

But I am just not built that way, yeah
Unfortunately, that is not my nature

I'm water in your hands now
You have control over me

I'm caught up in the moment, soon I will be going
I am completely absorbed in the present, but I will be leaving shortly

You can't keep water in your hands
It is impossible to hold onto something that is fluid and changing

Don't be sad, Baby, don't cry
Please do not feel sorrow or shed tears

This is just the way that life goes
Life is characterized by flux and change