Henry was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, but grew up in the Detroit area where he met Melanie Ciccone, Madonna's sister, whom he married in 1987. In 1985 he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he played at small clubs. His debut album Talk of Heaven came out in 1986. He signed to A&M Records and released two albums, Murder of Crows (1989) and Shuffletown (1990)
After Henry and his wife moved to Los Angeles in 1990, he left A&M in 1992 to join the independent label Mammoth, located in North Carolina. He released Short Man's Room and Kindness of the World, on which members of the Jayhawks provided instrumental backing.
In the mid-1990s Henry decided "to do something decidedly more eclectic" instead of continuing with country-rock. He turned to producer Patrick McCarthy, in making his next album Trampoline (1996). Trampoline also employed metal guitarist Page Hamilton, who demonstrated his own eagerness to stretch by collaborating on the album.
Asked to contribute a song to a benefit album for singer Vic Chesnutt in 1996, Henry also collaborated with his famous sister-in-law on a cover of Chesnutt's "Guilty by Association" (Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, The Songs of Vic Chesnutt, 1996).
In 1999 Henry released the experimental album Fuse with trip hop shadings. His eighth album, Scar, followed in 2001. The band on the record consisted mainly of jazz musicians (Marc Ribot, Brian Blade and Brad Mehldau among others) and Jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman guesting on the track "Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation".
In 2001, Henry sang on the song "Alleluia" from Julia Fordham's album, Concrete Love. His self-produced album Tiny Voices appeared on Epitaph's Anti label in 2003.
Henry produced Teddy Thompson's 2000 album Teddy Thompson, a critically acclaimed album from the son of British folk legends, Linda Thompson and Richard Thompson. Henry also produced Solomon Burke's 2002 album Don't Give Up On Me, which won Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 2003 Grammy Awards. 2005 releases produced by Henry include Ani DiFranco's Knuckle Down, Aimee Mann's 1970s concept album The Forgotten Arm, and Bettye LaVette's I've Got My Own Hell to Raise.
He also produced the multi-artist album I Believe to My Soul, which featured Allen Toussaint, Mavis Staples, Ann Peebles, Irma Thomas and Billy Preston.
In 2006, Henry teamed with Toussaint, producing his collaborative album with Elvis Costello, The River in Reverse.
In September of 2006, Henry and his longtime hero Loudon Wainwright III began composing the music for the Judd Apatow movie Knocked Up. Snippets of instrumentals were used as background score for the film, but the full versions of the songs make up Wainwright's 2007 album Strange Weirdos. Henry produced Mary Gauthier's 2007 album Between Daylight and Dark.
Henry's 10th album, "Civilians," was released in 2007 on the Anti label. His 11th album, Blood From Stars, followed in 2009, and his 12th, Reverie, was released in 2011.
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Great Lake
Joe Henry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shakes her coat off
And I just can't bear to look
Anymore I hear somebody laughing
I just figure, I've been took
She stands right behind me
With one hand on my back
My eyes are closed
But when I hear him say, "Hi"
I say, "oh"
Oh, oh, oh
Here come the angels talking sweet to me
Just like the thought that I was dumb
Like I don't hear the talk from town
Like I don't know what's 'bout to come
Everybody knows they left Paul without his clothes
Behind the barn in tears
Now we can't get him off that God damned horse
He's been there for years
Years, years, years
It's ten o'clock the tv's on my bed
The news is on, it's never good
I'm up, I'm up, I'm getting up, I will
I know I really should
This lake is too big for me Jesus
Don't hold me to anything I do
If I surrender now and let it swallow me
Don't think they won't blame you
You, you, you, you
Don't think they won't blame you
Don't think they won't blame you
The lyrics of Joe Henry's song Great Lake are full of introspection and self-doubt. The opening lines describe Teri coming in and laughing, and the singer not wanting to look. He hears someone else laughing and feels as though he's been "took," suggesting he's feeling vulnerable and insecure. When Teri stands behind him and says "hi" to someone else, it is the final straw, and he lets out an "oh" of frustration and hurt.
The second verse takes on a more poetic and abstract quality than the first, with talk of angels and the singer feeling dumb. He speaks of everyone knowing about Paul being left without his clothes and crying behind a barn, while he can't get off a horse he's been on for years. This verse feels more like a stream of consciousness than a clear narrative, with the lines weaving in and out of each other in a way that feels dreamlike.
The final verse brings the song back to reality, with the singer watching the news on TV and feeling overwhelmed by the size of the lake. He asks Jesus not to hold him accountable for what he might do and warns that people will blame him if he surrenders to the water. This verse feels heavy with resignation, with the singer seeming to view himself as a victim of circumstances beyond his control.
Overall, the lyrics of Great Lake paint a picture of someone who is struggling with their place in the world and feeling as though they are constantly being let down by those around them. The imagery of the lake as an all-encompassing force that could consume the singer feels like a metaphor for the feelings of helplessness and despair that permeate the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Teri comes in laughing
A person named Teri enters the scene laughing
Shakes her coat off
Teri removes her coat and shakes it off
And I just can't bear to look
The singer feels uncomfortable watching Teri for some reason
Anymore I hear somebody laughing
The artist hears another person laughing
I just figure, I've been took
The artist feels like they have been deceived or cheated in some way
She stands right behind me
Teri is standing behind the singer
With one hand on my back
Teri has one hand resting on the singer's back
My eyes are closed
The artist has their eyes closed
At first I think she speaks to me
The artist initially thinks Teri is speaking to them
But when I hear him say, "Hi"
The artist realizes that Teri is talking to someone else, likely a man
I say, "oh"
The singer reacts with surprise
Here come the angels talking sweet to me
The artist feels like they are being lied to, or people are being too nice to them
Just like the thought that I was dumb
The singer feels like people are treating them like they are stupid
Like I don't hear the talk from town
The singer is aware of rumors or gossip about them
Like I don't know what's 'bout to come
The singer is aware that something bad is about to happen
Everybody knows they left Paul without his clothes
The characters in the story are aware of something embarrassing happening to someone named Paul
Behind the barn in tears
Paul was crying behind a barn when the incident occurred
Now we can't get him off that God damned horse
Paul is now stuck on a horse and unable to get off
He's been there for years
Paul has been stuck on the horse for a long time
It's ten o'clock the tv's on my bed
The artist is in their bedroom with the TV on
The news is on, it's never good
The news being broadcast is negative or depressing
I'm up, I'm up, I'm getting up, I will
The artist is getting out of bed or preparing to do so
I know I really should
The singer knows that they should get up and face their problems
This lake is too big for me Jesus
The difficulties the artist is facing are overwhelming and they do not feel capable of handling them
Don't hold me to anything I do
The singer is asking Jesus not to judge them for their actions
If I surrender now and let it swallow me
The singer is considering giving up and succumbing to their problems
Don't think they won't blame you
The singer is warning Jesus that they will be blamed or punished for their actions
Contributed by Sebastian G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.