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.
http://www.joehenrylovesyoumadly.com/
Lead Me On
Joe Henry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pulls the thread of your frayed lace undone,
It falls like the evenings
That charm then devour their young—
The face of the moon
On the river will shiver and run,
From belief to surrender
And I want you to lead me on
The quiet of midnight
Is bright and it sounds an alarm
As men from the county line
Get down and take up their arms—
No one you can name
Is just that one thing they have shown,
You speak from the shadows
And I want you to lead me on
The deep valley falls and it
Rises with blood in its eyes.
The sharp mountain crawls into clouds,
Wears a blade-thin disguise—
The hour is hung on a ladder rung
Cut from my bone—
You move high above me
And I want you to move me on...
This is my body-
Already broken for thee,
The black coal at my soul not a diamond
But cracked open and free—
The dark rushing river sweeps
Pushing away and along,
Like light through the pines
And I want you to lead me on
In Joe Henry's song Lead Me On, the lyrics suggest a sense of urgency for someone to lead the singer on to the next phase of life, a sort of surrender to the unknown. The opening line sets a melancholy tone as the day draws to an end, and the image of frayed lace undone symbolizes the unraveling of life's fragile threads. The moon's reflection on the river conveys the transient nature of life, constantly shifting from belief to surrender. The singer asks someone to lead him on, suggesting a desire for guidance through the uncertainty of life.
The song then takes on a darker tone, with a reference to midnight sounding an alarm and men from the county line taking up arms. The singer acknowledges that nobody can be defined by a single thing they have shown, and speaks from the shadows, further emphasizing the theme of uncertain and unknown paths. The deep valley is described as rising with blood in its eyes, while the sharp mountain crawls into clouds with a blade-thin disguise. The hour is hung on a ladder rung, cut from the singer's bone, indicating a sense of profound sacrifice.
In the final stanza, the singer offers a sense of vulnerability as he speaks of his "broken" body, his "cracked" soul, and the "dark rushing river" sweeping him away. However, the image of light shining through the pines suggests a sense of hope and optimism. The song ends with the simple plea of wanting someone to lead him on.
Line by Line Meaning
The day draws a shade
The end of another day is marked by the onset of darkness
Pulls the thread of your frayed lace undone
The day's end is like an unraveling thread, unraveling our lives
It falls like the evenings
The darkness descends slowly and inevitably
That charm then devour their young—
The darkness can be alluring, but it's also deadly
The face of the moon
The moon, a symbol of change, is present during this time of darkness
On the river will shiver and run,
The reflection of the moon on the river is constantly moving
From belief to surrender
The darkness can make us question our beliefs and sometimes leads us to give up
And I want you to lead me on
The artist wants someone to guide them through this difficult time
The quiet of midnight
Midnight, another symbol of darkness, is a time of stillness
Is bright and it sounds an alarm
Despite its quietness, midnight can be startling and alarming
As men from the county line
People from all different walks of life are affected by the darkness
Get down and take up their arms—
People are often driven to violence because of fear and uncertainty
No one you can name
People are more complicated than they seem
Is just that one thing they have shown,
People often contain multitudes and are not easily defined
You speak from the shadows
The darkness can make it hard to see who is speaking or what is true
And I want you to lead me on
The artist wants someone to help them sort through the darkness and find the truth
The deep valley falls and it
The darkness can feel oppressive and overwhelming
Rises with blood in its eyes.
The darkness can be violent and threatening
The sharp mountain crawls into clouds,
Even the landscape is changed by the darkness
Wears a blade-thin disguise—
Things may not be what they seem in the darkness
The hour is hung on a ladder rung
Time seems to be moving linearly, like climbing a ladder
Cut from my bone—
The artist feels a deep connection to the passing of time and darkness
You move high above me
The darkness can make us feel small and powerless
And I want you to move me on...
The artist wants someone to help them move past this feeling of powerlessness and out of the darkness
This is my body-
The singer is referring to the Eucharist
Already broken for thee,
The Eucharist represents Jesus' sacrifice and his willingness to be broken for others
The black coal at my soul not a diamond
The singer's soul is dark and not valuable
But cracked open and free—
The artist's soul is damaged but open to change
The dark rushing river sweeps
The darkness can pull us along like a fast-moving river
Pushing away and along,
The darkness can be relentless and unforgiving
Like light through the pines
Even in the darkness, there is still the possibility of beauty and hope
And I want you to lead me on
The artist is searching for someone to guide them towards this hope
Writer(s): HENRY JOSEPH LEE
Contributed by Kaelyn G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.