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.
Real Fine Love
John Hiatt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I did not have the luck
Stole out of Indiana
On the back of a pickup truck
No education higher
Than the streets of my hometown
I went looking for a fire just to burn it all down
You got a real fine love
You got a real fine love
One I am unworthy of
You got a real fine love, girl
Thought I had a line of something
Baby, no one else could say
They couldn't find it in their hearts to just get out my way
And out of nowhere, and for nothing
You came into my life
I've seen an angel or two before
But I never asked one to be my wife
[Chorus]
You can sprinkle all your teardrops
Across the evening sky
But you cannot hide that twinkle
Starlight in your eye
I left my map way back there, baby
I don't know where we are
But I'm gonna pull my pony up
Hitch my wagon to your star
[Chorus]
Well, now the babies are sleeping
And the twilight's giving in
She looks like you
He looks like her
And we all look like him
Well, maybe it's just a little thing
The way I feel tonight
A little joy, a little love, and a whole lot of light
[Chorus]
In John Hiatt's song "Real Fine Love," the singer starts off by sharing his lack of formal education, having not gone to college and only having knowledge from the streets of his hometown. Despite this, he has a desire to burn down whatever he finds in his way, perhaps due to the frustration and limitations he feels. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, a woman enters his life and changes everything. He believes that she has a real fine love, one he feels undeserving of, and he is grateful for her presence. He likens her to an angel and recognizes her as someone he wants to be with forever.
The chorus affirms the woman's value and the singer's awareness of his own unworthiness of her love. When he sees the twinkle in her eye, he struggles to contain his feelings of admiration and affection. He follows her lead, even without a map, hitching his wagon to her star. The final verse describes a moment of peaceful calm as the baby sleeps and the singer takes in the happy family around him. He talks about the light and love that he feels in this moment, and again affirms the woman's importance in his life with the repeated chorus.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, now I never went to college, babe
I did not receive higher education.
I did not have the luck
I was not fortunate enough to attend college.
Stole out of Indiana
I left Indiana without permission.
On the back of a pickup truck
I left Indiana in a vehicle typically used for transporting cargo or farm supplies.
No education higher
I have not pursued a post-secondary education.
Than the streets of my hometown
My only education came from my experiences on the streets of my hometown.
I went looking for a fire just to burn it all down
I sought out something exciting and destructive to escape the monotony of my life.
[Chorus:]
Refrain
You got a real fine love
You have a special and wonderful love.
One I am unworthy of
I do not feel deserving of this kind of love.
Thought I had a line of something
I thought I had a unique idea or plan.
Baby, no one else could say
No one else thought of it before.
They couldn't find it in their hearts to just get out my way
Others were not supportive or did not understand my ideas.
And out of nowhere, and for nothing
Unexpectedly and without any apparent reason.
You came into my life
You entered my life and changed it for the better.
I've seen an angel or two before
I have encountered kind-hearted and compassionate people in the past.
But I never asked one to be my wife
I never expected or believed I could have such a great partner in life.
[Chorus]
Refrain
You can sprinkle all your teardrops
You can cry as much as you want.
Across the evening sky
In the night sky that is starting to darken.
But you cannot hide that twinkle
You cannot conceal the brightness or liveliness in your eyes.
Starlight in your eye
A metaphor for the spark or twinkle in your eyes.
I left my map way back there, baby
I did not plan for the future or create a roadmap for success.
I don't know where we are
I am unsure of the direction my life is taking.
But I'm gonna pull my pony up
But I will take control of my life and make the best of it.
Hitch my wagon to your star
I will attach myself to you and follow your lead towards a brighter future.
[Chorus]
Refrain
Well, now the babies are sleeping
The children are asleep.
And the twilight's giving in
The evening is coming to an end.
She looks like you
Our daughter resembles you.
He looks like her
Our son resembles me.
And we all look like him
Our children are a combination of both of us.
Well, maybe it's just a little thing
It may seem small or insignificant.
The way I feel tonight
But I am overwhelmed with emotion tonight.
A little joy, a little love, and a whole lot of light
I am feeling happy, loved and filled with hope for the future.
[Chorus]
Refrain
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN HIATT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@marymccarty9932
I realize this is very late, but I wanted to say that this will always be the song that reminds me of when I met the love of my life. 13 years later we are still going strong.
@JeffMountainPicker
That's wonderful - it made me cry.
Same with me and my wonderful darling wife 💕, rest her soul.
Met by chance at a music festival, September 1999.
My love, my life, my partner, my wife!
Cancer took her from us in July 2023.
@marymccarty9932
I totally get the bitter/sweetness of how you must feel when you listen to this song. Hugs and care to you wherever you may be. @@JeffMountainPicker
@jeffstram5666
@@marymccarty9932 Thank you for the kind words, Mary.
His lyrics really hit the bullseye:
"... I've seen an angel or two before, but I never asked one to be my wife..."
She was just amazing, beautiful, wise, & sincere; I was blessed.
Sorrow will fade over time; Fantastic memories, not so much.🥺
Resting in the Boise area, thinking I'll head back "home" to N California. (The word in quotes is in mid-transformation. It'll take a while.)
Thanks, and give lots of hugs to the ones you love!
@JamesFaasse-tk4oy
Reminds me of Shannon! Loved her 35 years
@saulbennett4677
I honestly think this is one of the best songs ever written.
@jaimemartinez276
One of my favorites from Mr. Hiatt...
@DavidSmith-ne1zp
Another Hiatt masterpiece. Perfection.
@dwightrenfield8670
I was just cruising down a gravel road in the Mississippi Delta after I got off a work this afternoon and the song came up on my news feed randomly and I gave it a try. Always love John Hiatt songs but this one really struck me .
@Staylogical
This guy is an American treasure.Bring the Family is one of the best American albums of the last 30 years.