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/
Progress Of Love
Joe Henry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You retreat just as my defeat finally nears
What's only to lose, myself I volunteer
So all of your spoils could be mine
Life takes root in the deepest dark ground
Where bones blood and honor have been trampled down
And beaten like ponies and driven to town
Your sailor is my lawyer
Your seamstress suits my king
But you are the mouth of the river
The star of my every dream
Some young punk cut a wire, the sun fell in the yard
We gathered round it, and we kicked it hard
We passed around flowers and wine and we cried oh Lord
Now here comes the night
Our every word now we talk in blues
A hymn to the life we're all bound to lose
We'd die for more but we still refuse
To live without a fight
Your sailor is my lawyer
Your seamstress suits my king
But you are the mouth of the river
At the start of my every dream
We say "never forget" and mean "never forgive"
No, never as long as ever we live
It offends all our dead to surrender this
To even think we might go on
And freedom doesn't need to be free when it sells
Like ocean waves offered from inside of shells
We bet the farm trying to ring its bells
While love still goes for a song
Your sailor is my lawyer
Your seamstress suits my king
But you are the mouth of the river
At the start of my every dream
In Joe Henry's song "Progress Of Love," the lyrics convey the difficulty and complexity of love. The first stanza describes the fear of the progress of love and the inevitability of defeat. The singer volunteers to lose themselves to gain what their love interest has, and they fear that they will never be able to fulfill their desire for love.
The second stanza describes the place where life takes root, where there is no honor, and reason is traded for rhyme. The third stanza is a vivid depiction of the singer's life, where everything is a struggle. They see their rival's possessions and resources as more significant than their own. The fourth stanza describes the aftermath of a wire being cut, and everything falling apart. They clasp on to memories and hold on to them tightly, always keeping their fight alive.
The recurring chorus of the song describes how the rival's resources become the singer's own. Your sailor is my lawyer, your seamstress suits my king, but you are the mouth of the river at the start of my every dream. It describes how every dream, every hope, and every aspiration starts with that one person who the singer yearns for.
Line by Line Meaning
This is the progress of love that I fear
I am afraid of how this love is progressing
You retreat just as my defeat finally nears
You back away when I am almost defeated
What's only to lose, myself I volunteer
I am willing to sacrifice myself for what I will lose
So all of your spoils could be mine
So I can have what you have earned
Life takes root in the deepest dark ground
Life begins in the darkest, most difficult places
Where bones blood and honor have been trampled down
Where people have been disrespected and treated unfairly
And beaten like ponies and driven to town
And forced to work hard and travel far
Where reason is traded for rhyme
Where logic is replaced by artistic expression
Your sailor is my lawyer
We share different people, but they serve similar purposes for us
Your seamstress suits my king
We have different people, but they have the same effect on us
But you are the mouth of the river
You are the source of everything I want and need
The star of my every dream
The center of all my hopes and aspirations
Some young punk cut a wire, the sun fell in the yard
Something unexpected and disastrous happened
We gathered round it, and we kicked it hard
We responded with anger and frustration
We passed around flowers and wine and we cried oh Lord
We sought comfort in each other's company and in religion
Now here comes the night
Now we are faced with darkness and uncertainty
Our every word now we talk in blues
Our every word is now filled with sadness and despair
A hymn to the life we're all bound to lose
A song mournfully acknowledging the inevitability of death
We'd die for more but we still refuse
We desire more in life, but we are not willing to compromise our values
To live without a fight
To accept less than we deserve without putting up a battle
We say, "never forget" and mean "never forgive"
We hold grudges and refuse to forgive those who have wronged us
No, never as long as ever we live
We will never let go of our anger and resentment
It offends all our dead to surrender this
It would dishonor our ancestors to give up on our principles
To even think we might go on
To even consider moving forward without resolving our issues
And freedom doesn't need to be free when it sells
Freedom can still be valuable, even when it is bought and sold
Like ocean waves offered from inside of shells
Like something beautiful and valuable that comes from an unexpected place
We bet the farm trying to ring its bells
We have risked everything to try and achieve that freedom
While love still goes for a song
While love is still undervalued and easily obtained
Your sailor is my lawyer
We share different people, but they serve similar purposes for us
Your seamstress suits my king
We have different people, but they have the same effect on us
But you are the mouth of the river
You are the source of everything I want and need
At the start of my every dream
At the beginning of every hope or goal I have
Contributed by Colton O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.