As well, it nearly took him that long to find his own style. Hiatt began his solo career in 1974, and over the next decade he ran through a number of different styles from rock & roll to new wave-esque pop before he finally settled on a rootsy fusion of rock, country, blues, and folk with his 1987 album 'Bring the Family'. Though the album didn't set the charts on fire, it became his first album to gain some major commercial success, and several of the songs on the record became hits for other artists, including the aforementioned Raitt and Milsap. Following its success, Hiatt became a reliable hit songwriter for other artists, and he developed a strong cult following that continued to gain strength into the mid-90s.
While he was growing up in his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, Hiatt played in a number of garage bands. Initially, he was inspired by the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, and the music of those two artists would echo strongly throughout his work. Out of all the bar bands he played with in the late 60s, a group called The White Ducks was the one that received the most attention. Following his high-school graduation, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 18, where he landed a job as a songwriter for Tree Publishing.
For the next several years, he wrote and performed at local clubs and hotels. Within a few years, his songs were being recorded by several different artists, including Conway Twitty, Tracy Nelson, and Three Dog Night, who took Hiatt's "Sure as I'm Sittin' Here" to number 16 in the summer of 1974. Eventually, his manager secured him an audition at Epic Records, and the label signed him in 1974, releasing his debut album, Hangin' Around the Observatory, later that year. Despite their critical acclaim, neither Hangin' Around the Observatory nor its 1975 follow-up Overcoats sold many copies, and he was dropped by the label. By the end of the year, Tree Publishing had let him go as well.
Following his failure in Nashville, Hiatt moved out to California. By the summer of 1978 he had settled in Los Angeles, where began playing in clubs, opening for folk musicians including Leo Kottke. With Kottke's assistance, Hiatt hired a new manager, Denny Bruce, who helped him secure a record contract with MCA Records. Slug Line, his first record for MCA, was released in the summer of 1979. Where his first two records were straight-ahead rock & roll and folk-rock, Slug Line was in the new wave vein of angry English singer/songwriters like Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and Joe Jackson, as if Hiatt was vying for the role of the American angry young man. The new approach earned some strong reviews, yet it failed to generate any sales. Two Bit Monsters, his second MCA album, faced the same situation. Although it was well-received critically upon its 1980 release, it made no impression on the charts, and the label dropped him.
Apart from working on Two Bit Monsters, Hiatt spent most of 1980 as a member of Ry Cooder's backing band, playing rhythm guitar on the Borderline album and touring with the guitarist. Hiatt stayed with Cooder throughout 1981, signing a new contract with Geffen Records by the end of the year. Produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex), his Geffen debut All of A Sudden was released in 1982, followed by the Nick Lowe/Scott Matthews & Ron Nagel-produced Riding With the King in 1983. As with his previous records for Epic and MCA, neither of his first two Geffen releases sold well. By this time, Hiatt's personal life was beginning to spin out of control as he was sinking deep into alcoholism. Around the time he completed 1985's Warming Up to the Ice Age, his second wife committed suicide. Following the release of Warming Up to the Ice Age, Hiatt was dropped by Geffen. By the end of 1985, he had entered a rehabilitation program. During 1986, he remarried and signed a new deal with A&M Records.
For his A&M debut, Hiatt assembled a small band comprising his former associates Ry Cooder (guitar), Nick Lowe (bass), and Jim Keltner (drums). Recorded over the course of a handful of days, the resulting album, Bring the Family, had a direct, stripped-down rootsy sound that differed greatly from his earlier albums. Upon its summer 1987 release, Bring the Family received the best reviews of his career and, for once, the reviews began to pay off, as the album turned into a cult hit, peaking at 107 on the U.S. charts; it was his first charting album. Hiatt attempted to record a follow-up with Cooder, Lowe, and Keltner, but the musicians failed to agree on the financial terms for the sessions. Undaunted, he recorded an album with John Doe, David Lindley, and Dave Mattacks, but he scrapped the completed project, deciding that the result was too forced. Hiatt's final attempt at recording the follow-up to Bring the Family was orchestrated by veteran producer Glyn Johns, who had him record with his touring band, the Goners. Despite all of the behind-the-scenes troubles behind its recording, the follow-up album, Slow Turning, actually appeared rather quickly, appearing in the summer of 1988.
Slow Turning, like Bring the Family before it, received nearly unanimous positive reviews and it was fairly well-received commercially, spending 31 weeks on the U.S. charts and peaking at 98. Within the next year, Hiatt successfully toured throughout America and Europe, strengthening his fan base along the way. Inspired by the success of Hiatt's two A&M albums, Geffen released the compilation Y' All Caught? The Ones That Got Away 1979-85 in 1989. That same year, other artists began digging through Hiatt's catalog of songs, most notably Bonnie Raitt, who covered "Thing Called Love" for her multi-platinum comeback album, Nick of Time.
In 1990, Hiatt returned with Stolen Moments, which was nearly as successful as Slow Turning, both critically and commercially. "Bring Back Your Love to Me," an album track from Stolen Moments that was also recorded by Earl Thomas Conley, won BMI's 1991 Country Music Award. By the time "Bring Back Your Love to Me" won that award, it had become a standard practice for artists to cover Hiatt's songs, as artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Ronnie Milsap, Suzy Bogguss, and Iggy Pop all covered his songs in the early '90s. In 1993, Rhino Records released Love Gets Strange: The Songs of John Hiatt, which collected many of the cover versions that were recorded during the '80s and '90s.
During 1991, the group that recorded Bring the Family — Hiatt, Cooder, Lowe, and Keltner — re-formed as a band called Little Village, releasing their eponymous debut in early 1992. Based on the success of Bring the Family and Hiatt's A&M albums, expectations for Little Village were quite high, yet the record and its supporting tour were considered a major disappointment. Later, the individual members would agree that the band was a failure, mainly due to conflicting egos.
Hiatt decided to back away from the superstar nature of Little Village for his next album, 1993's Perfectly Good Guitar. Recorded in just two weeks with a backing band comprised of members of alternative rock bands School of Fish and Wire Train, the album was looser than any record since Bring the Family, but it didn't quite have the staying power of its two predecessors, spending only 11 weeks on the charts and peaking at number 47. The following year, he released his first live album, Hiatt Comes Alive at Budokan? Hiatt left A&M Records after the release of the record, signing with Capitol Records the following year.
Walk On, Hiatt's first Capitol album, was recorded during his supporting tour for Perfectly Good Guitar and featured guest appearances by the Jayhawks and Bonnie Raitt. Walk On entered the charts at 48, but slipped off the charts in nine weeks, indicating that his audience had settled into a dedicated cult following. Fittingly, after 1997's Little Head quickly came and went in the marketplace, Hiatt parted ways with Capitol, and his next album, 2000's Crossing Muddy Waters was released on the established independent imprint Vanguard Records. After a second album with Vanguard, The Tiki Bar Is Open, Hiatt alligned himself with another independent label, New West, for the release of his 2003 set Beneath This Gruff Exterior. Master of Disaster, along with CD and DVD versions of Live from Austin, TX followed in 2005.
Same Old Man followed in 2008; then The Open Road in 2010.
Cry Love
John Hiatt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Did he say goodbye to you, or did you kick him out
I know you're not afraid to go alone
But this was a marriage of spirit, flesh and bone
Now what you gonna do when the planets shift
What you gonna do, gonna slit your wrists
Bleed all over the milky way
[Chorus]
Cry love, cry love
The tears of an angel
The tears of a dove
Spilling all over
Your heart from above
Cry love, cry love
The trust of a woman in his hand
But he was a little boy, not a man
You loved him stronger than he could feel
But he was wrapped up in himself like an orange peel
Now what you gonna do with the bruise and the blush
What you gonna do when there's no rush
Cop a little misery at the corner store
Well one day that train of pain won't stop no more
[Chorus]
Throwing up ashes on the floor
If this is a lesson in love, well what's it for
The heart won't remember the burning fire
The next time you feel the flame of desire
[Chorus: x2]
Cry love, cry love, cry love
The song “Cry Love” by John Hiatt is a powerful reflection on the complexities of love and relationships. The opening lines describe a moment of tension and conflict – a “moment of steel” – in a relationship that has broken down. The singer questions whether the breakup was a mutual decision or whether one partner was forced out. The following lines speak to the strength of the person left behind, acknowledging that she is not afraid to go it alone. However, the singer reminds her that the relationship was not just a matter of convenience but a marriage of spirit, flesh and bone.
The second verse takes on a more bitter tone, describing a man who has betrayed the trust of his partner. Despite her love and devotion, he remains immature and wrapped up in himself. The singer again acknowledges the strength of the woman left behind, but also notes the pain and bruising that she will inevitably experience as a result of the breakup. The chorus is a powerful call to emotion, urging the listener to “cry love” and let the tears of the angels and doves spill over their heart from above.
The final verse is a darker reflection on the nature of love and relationships – it can hurt us deeply, leave us with nothing but ashes and teach us harsh lessons that we might rather forget. But in the end, our hearts will always remember the flame of desire and we will find ourselves once again caught up in the complexities of love.
Line by Line Meaning
A moment of steel, a dry eyed house
A tense, emotionless silence filled the house for a moment.
Did he say goodbye to you, or did you kick him out
Was the end of your relationship his choice or yours?
I know you're not afraid to go alone
I know you're a strong, independent person who can handle being single.
But this was a marriage of spirit, flesh and bone
But your relationship was a deep, intense connection on every level.
Now what you gonna do when the planets shift
What will you do when things change and you feel lost?
What you gonna do, gonna slit your wrists
Will you harm yourself when you're overwhelmed by pain?
Bleed all over the milky way
Will your suffering spread to the entire universe?
The stars in your eyes look red today
Your eyes are filled with tears and sadness.
Cry love, cry love
Express your pain with tears of love.
The tears of an angel
Your tears are pure and innocent.
The tears of a dove
Your tears are gentle and peaceful.
Spilling all over
Your tears are overflowing.
Your heart from above
You're crying from the depths of your heart.
The trust of a woman in his hand
You trusted him completely and gave him your heart.
But he was a little boy, not a man
He acted immaturely and couldn't handle the weight of your trust.
You loved him stronger than he could feel
You loved him more deeply than he was capable of understanding.
But he was wrapped up in himself like an orange peel
He was self-absorbed and unable to see beyond his own needs.
Now what you gonna do with the bruise and the blush
What will you do with the physical evidence of your heartbreak?
What you gonna do when there's no rush
What will you do when you have no immediate distractions from your pain?
Cop a little misery at the corner store
Will you try to numb your pain with unhealthy coping mechanisms?
Well one day that train of pain won't stop no more
Someday, you won't be able to ignore or avoid your pain anymore.
Throwing up ashes on the floor
Your heartache is making you sick to your stomach.
If this is a lesson in love, well what's it for
If your heartbreak is a way to learn about love, what's the lesson?
The heart won't remember the burning fire
Your heart will eventually forget the intensity of your passion.
The next time you feel the flame of desire
When you fall in love again and feel passion, what will you do?
Cry love, cry love, cry love
Allow your heart to grieve with tears of love and pain.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN HIATT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lukewarmmess
Thank you, Arrested Development, for this gem that will undoubtedly get stuck in my head at inopportune moments for years to come.
@abdehash
i KNOW Right!...thumps up 2 this guy above if you agree!
[][:-)
@DanielNYR
Yup. Nearly a decade later.. this show..
@benzell4
Singer, songwriter;
John Hiatt!
‘Nuff said...
@jaybone2321
This could’ve been George Michael’s and Egg’s wedding song
@anthonyventurini3751
B
@tevinlandry1885
"She's not 'that Mexican' Mom, she's my Mexican. And she's Columbian or something, I think."
@brandonbarber2204
.......I've made a huge mistake..
@stevewarren3448
lol.....awesome
@Everlaughing
Damn! I wanted to make that comment!