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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Suit On A Frame
Joe Henry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Stitched all together by a murmur of words
That hang like a moon in the thread of the air
And speak with the sound of my every prayer
There's a light at the end of the evenings that bring
A fire that only such hour can sing
It slips off the tongue in the trees going bare
The past is a dark foreign country that calls
That you whisper regret into the cracks of its walls
That rise at the border of love and despair
And fall when they've heard our every prayer
An old woman stands up in a boat with a fan
Signals the shore with a wave of her hand
To a town disappeared and a boy unaware
That he wades into reeds with her every prayer
Now there's a cut on my cheek that I can't leave alone
I reach it to find just how close to the bone
Does my skin and my blood allow me to dare
To live in the word of my every prayer?
My every prayer
"Suit On A Frame" by Joe Henry is a song about memory and the weight it carries. The lyrics of the song talk about how the passage of time brings change and how one carries the past with all its imperfections. The first verse talks about how the singer's suit is like a shadow of birds, stitched together by a murmur of words. The suit represents the singer's memories and how they are all made up of words and conversations that keep running through his mind, making him reflect on the past. The words hanging in the air are like a moon, bright and illuminating, speaking with the sound of every prayer.
The second verse talks about how the singer finds solace in the evening, where there is a light at the end, bringing a fire that only such hour can sing. The words, like the falling leaves, are inaudible to others but speak volumes to the singer. He finds that the trees are eager to listen and share in every prayer he has. In the third verse, the singer reflects that the past is like a dark foreign country that pulls us back. It's a place where he whispers his regrets to the cracks of its walls, where he leans in to hear his every prayer.
In conclusion, "Suit On A Frame" is a song about memory, reflection, and how time shapes and reshapes our perspectives, as well as how we carry the weight of our memories with us, always. The singer finds comfort in the fact that he can reflect on his past and find a soothing peace in the words of his every prayer.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a suit on my frame like a shadow of birds
I am clothed in a suit that feels like a weight of uncertainty, like the presence of a large flock of birds casting a looming shadow.
Stitched all together by a murmur of words
The pieces of my life are connected by words that whisper instead of shout, and yet they are strong enough to hold me together.
That hang like a moon in the thread of the air
These words float around me, suspended in the atmosphere like a shining moon, comforting but intangible.
And speak with the sound of my every prayer
These words are personal and intimate, like prayers that are exclusive to my consciousness, and yet they have a voice of their own that echoes in my head.
There's a light at the end of the evenings that bring
Despite the heavy weight of my doubts, there's a ray of hope at the end of each day that brings the promise of good things to come.
A fire that only such hour can sing
This hope is fueled by the unique ambiance of the night, an energy that can only be described as a kind of warmth that unlocks joy.
It slips off the tongue in the trees going bare
This light flows from me like a serenade, carried by the branches of trees shedding their leaves.
That lean in to hear your every prayer
Nature echoes my innermost thoughts, attentively listening and responding to my every unspoken plea.
The past is a dark foreign country that calls
The past sometimes tugs at me like a faraway land, one that is shrouded in mystery and yet calls me back despite the darkness it holds.
That you whisper regret into the cracks of its walls
The regrets that come with nostalgia are whispered into the walls of the past, as if telling secrets to an unresponsive listener.
That rise at the border of love and despair
These regrets are born from the tumultuous intersection of love and despair, the two emotions that define my past experiences.
And fall when they've heard our every prayer
These regrets tend to diminish when confronted with the power of our collective hopes and prayers, the ones we share with those who we've loved and lost.
An old woman stands up in a boat with a fan
An image of a serene, elderly woman comes to my mind, standing proud in her boat, fanning herself to dispel the heat of her youth.
Signals the shore with a wave of her hand
This woman says goodbye to the figurative and literal shores of her childhood with a wave of her hand, ending one journey and beginning another.
To a town disappeared and a boy unaware
This woman leaves behind a town she once knew, filled with people and memories that have long since disappeared, and yet a young boy plays on the shore nearby, complete unaware of her significance.
That he wades into reeds with her every prayer
The woman watches as this boy wades through the reeds of life, her every hope and prayer echoing in his surroundings and his future.
Now there's a cut on my cheek that I can't leave alone
I am physically aware of a wound on my cheek, one that's hard to ignore or forget.
I reach it to find just how close to the bone
I check this wound to see how deep it goes, its proximity to my bones serving as a metaphor for how much closer to my soul it is.
Does my skin and my blood allow me to dare
I question whether my skin and blood enables me to handle such deep injuries, whether I'm brave enough to face my emotional wounds and desires.
To live in the word of my every prayer?
Will I have the courage to exist in a world where my every hope and dream is alive and possible, or will I fall into despair like I have so many times before?
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JOSEPH LEE HENRY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind