LaFave began school down the road from Wills Point in Mesquite and by Junior High was making music perched behind his Sears & Roebuck drum kit. It was in this landscape that he began to define his sound and soak up a combination of his experiences among authentic songwriters from the tradition of Woody Guthrie. Before leaving Oklahoma for Austin, Jimmy did some independent recording and toured the southwest with the first version of his band Night Tribe.
In an article published in The Austin Chronicle in April 2017, LaFave announced publicly that he was battling myxofibrosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that had been diagnosed one year earlier. After various treatments failed, doctors advised LaFave that there was nothing else the medical profession could provide. During the course of his illness leading up to this announcement, LaFave continued to perform – not cancelling even one show. In addition, he continued to record new songs that he hoped would add to his legacy.
At the time of the public announcement, The Austin Statesman announced that a concert to honor LaFave would be held at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas on May 18, 2017. LaFave helped in the selection of friends and musicians who would perform that night. LaFave also selected charities that would benefit from a crowdfunding effort set up in his honor. A crowdfunding effort "Celebrating Jimmy LaFave" was set up via GoFundMe and received about $55,000 in donations.
LaFave died of cancer at his home in Austin, Texas, at the age of 61. His death came just three days after making an appearance at the Paramount Theater tribute show in Austin. According to The Austin Statesman: "A sold-out audience heard artists ranging from Austin artists including Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves and Ruthie Foster, plus some from out-of-state including Nashville’s Gretchen Peters, Boston’s Ellis Paul and Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter Sarah Lee Guthrie, primarily playing songs that LaFave wrote or were part of his repertoire."
Within 24 hours, LaFave's death was reported in numerous newspapers throughout Texas and Oklahoma, in The New York Times and as far away as England, where he often performed
He moved to Austin in 1986, where he continued to write songs and to develop his musical ideas. Shortly after arriving he was asked to help launch the songwriter nights at the new performance venue Chicago House. In 1988 he recorded his self–produced tape, Highway Angels...Full Moon Rain, which won the Austin Chronicle Reader’s Poll Tape of the Year Award. This led to a recording contract with a small independent label and allowed LaFave the opportunity to work with Bob Johnston, producer of several of LaFave’s favorite albums including Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline.
His second album, Highway Trance was released in 1994 followed by his third CD, Buffalo Return to the Plains, in 1995.
The grass roots demand and critical acclaim for LaFave’s music, which led to extensive touring in the United States and Europe, was recognized in 1996 when he was asked to tape a performance for the PBS musical series Austin City Limits, and was invited by Nora Guthrie to appear in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute to Woody Guthrie. That same year LaFave won his second consecutive Austin Music Award for Best Singer–Songwriter. His fourth CD, Road Novel, which was released in early 1997, received many glowing reviews. That year he was asked by Nora Guthrie to speak and perform at the induction of Woody Guthrie into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
In 2001, LaFave released Texoma, a celebration of the Americana spirit with a heartfelt valentine to the heartland. KGSR Program Director, Jody Denberg called it a “phenomenon.” Denberg said, “the phones lit up immediately after it was added to the playlist, and they stayed lit.” Since the release of Texoma, Jimmy combined his solo dates with the Woody Guthrie tribute tour titled “The Ribbon of Highway – Endless Skyway,” featuring a rotating cast of Americana musicians that has included such notables as Eliza Gilkyson, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Tom Russell and Slaid Cleaves. The two–disc live album Ribbon of Highway Endless Skyway is a collection of the tour’s live performances that features some of Jimmy’s interpretations of Woody Guthrie classics.
Encouraged by his friend, fellow Austin artist Eliza Gilkyson, LaFave signed with indie label Red House records, and in 2005 released Blue Nightfall. This stunningly soulful album was LaFave’s first in 4 years and won him much critical attention. LaFave’s album Cimarron Manifesto finds LaFave taking a more country road, with sweet and mournful songs about life and loss and special guest appearances by Carrie Rodriguez, Ruthie Foster and Kacy Crowley. Following the release of this album, LaFave toured across North America.
Revival
Jimmy LaFave Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Out on tupelo street
All the way to the county line
I heard a sidewalk sermon
And a blind man preach
And written on a cardboard sign
This lamb has gone astray
Revival revival
Gonna wash my sins away
I've done everything that I know to do
But you left a hole here I just can't fill
And if god can forgive me, why can't you?
I guess you never will
You were my weakness, and my saving grace
My salvation and my sin
And I would do anything just to see your face
Just to see your face again
Revival revival
This lamb has gone astray
Revival revival
Gotta wash my sins away
The lyrics to Jimmy LaFave's song "Revival" are about a person who is seeking redemption and forgiveness after a tumultuous relationship. The singer went walking on Tupelo Street and heard a sidewalk sermon by a blind man preaching. He saw a cardboard sign that read "Revival, Revival, this lamb has gone astray." The singer realizes that he has tried everything he knows to do, but he still feels an emptiness that cannot be filled. He seeks to wash away his sins and find forgiveness through a spiritual revival.
The lyrics express a deep sense of longing and regret, as the singer sings about his former love who was both his weakness and his salvation. He would do anything to see her again, but also acknowledges that God may be the only one who can truly forgive him. The use of the metaphor of a lamb going astray emphasizes the singer's feelings of being lost and needing to be guided back to the right path.
Overall, "Revival" is a powerful reflection on the human desire for redemption and forgiveness in the face of past mistakes and regrets.
Line by Line Meaning
I went walking last night
Last night, I took a walk.
Out on tupelo street
I walked onto Tupelo street.
All the way to the county line
I walked all the way to the county line.
I heard a sidewalk sermon
While I was walking, I heard someone preaching on the sidewalk.
And a blind man preach
The preacher was a blind man.
And written on a cardboard sign
There was a message written on a cardboard sign.
Revival revival
The message was about a revival.
This lamb has gone astray
The person speaking felt lost, like a lamb that has strayed from its flock.
Revival revival
The message of the revival was repeated.
Gonna wash my sins away
Attending the revival was seen as a way to cleanse oneself of sin.
I've done everything that I know to do
The singer has tried everything they can think of.
But you left a hole here I just can't fill
Despite their efforts, there is still a void in their life that cannot be filled.
And if god can forgive me, why can't you?
The singer wonders why the person they're addressing can't forgive them, when God supposedly can.
I guess you never will
The person the singer is addressing will never forgive them.
You were my weakness, and my saving grace
The person the singer is addressing was both their downfall and their savior.
My salvation and my sin
This person was both what saved the artist and caused them to sin.
And I would do anything just to see your face
The artist longs to see this person again, so much that they would do anything for that opportunity.
Revival revival
The message of the revival is repeated again.
This lamb has gone astray
The singer repeats their feeling of being lost.
Revival revival
The artist hopes that attending the revival can help them find their way again.
Gotta wash my sins away
The artist believes that washing away their sins is crucial for them to move on.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: PETERS, Gretchen Peters
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind