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.
Rose
John Hiatt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Holds her tired face up to the mirror.
She sees a younger woman there she thought she would forget,
And it hurts her now that no one comes to see her.
She used to go to parties and a-dancing with her beau.
Beneath the southern moon they found their places.
But now she's tired all the time and she got no where to go,
So she finds her dressing table and she puts on all of her clothes,
And she cries when she's realized she's just an old Rose.
Rose walks to the kitchen then she fills her coffee cup.
And thinks of how the mornings used to greet her.
But now it's just another day and harder to get up,
And it breaks her heart to think that no one needs her.
And she wants to start all over but she ain't got far to go,
So she cries when she's realized she's just an old Rose.
Rose puts on her stockings and she lights a cigarette.
Holds her tired face up to the mirror.
She sees a younger woman there she thought she would forget,
And it hurts her now that no one comes to see her.
The song "Rose" by John Hiatt is a poignant portrayal of a woman named Rose who reminisces about her past life while feeling the pain of loneliness and abandonment in her old age. The opening verse of the song has Rose putting on her stockings and lighting a cigarette. She looks at herself in the mirror and sees a younger version of herself that she had thought she had forgotten. The lyrics convey the sense that Rose is now alone and isolated, with no one coming to see her.
The second verse talks about the memories of the past that keep showing up as faces. This is a reference to the fact that Rose's friends and acquaintances of the past are now no more, and she has to live with the memories of them alone. She used to go to parties and dance with her beau under the moon, but now she is alone, tired all the time, and has nowhere to go. This sense of isolation and loneliness is conveyed well in the music and lyrics of the song.
The third verse has Rose walking to the kitchen to fill her coffee cup, and as she does so, she remembers how the mornings used to greet her. However, now she finds it harder to get up, and it breaks her heart to think that no one needs her. She cries as she realizes that she is just an old Rose. The song concludes with Rose putting on her stockings and lighting a cigarette, looking at herself in the mirror, and feeling the pain of loneliness as no one comes to see her.
Overall, the song is a heart-wrenching portrayal of loneliness and isolation in old age, and it shows that even though Rose is still alive, in many ways, she feels like she is already dead.
Line by Line Meaning
Rose puts on her stockings and she lights a cigarette.
Rose begins her day by getting dressed and smoking a cigarette, possibly to find some pleasure in her otherwise mundane life.
Holds her tired face up to the mirror.
Rose looks at her reflection and sees a tired, aged woman staring back at her, which makes her feel hopeless and depressed.
She sees a younger woman there she thought she would forget,
Rose remembers a time when she was young and full of life, but that memory brings her pain because it contrasts with her current state.
And it hurts her now that no one comes to see her.
Rose feels lonely and forgotten by the people she used to know and love, which adds to her feelings of hopelessness and sadness.
She used to go to parties and a-dancing with her beau.
Rose used to be young and in love, and they used to go out and enjoy themselves together, but those days are long gone.
But now she's tired all the time and she got no where to go,
Rose is now old and tired, and she doesn't have anyone to go out with or any particular place to go.
And the memories keep showing up in faces.
Although Rose tries to forget her past, memories of her youth and happier times continue to come to mind and haunt her.
So she finds her dressing table and she puts on all of her clothes,
Perhaps as a way to lift her spirits or forget her depression, Rose puts on her finest clothes in an effort to feel beautiful and young again.
And she cries when she's realized she's just an old Rose.
Despite her efforts to relive her youth, Rose is reminded of her age and feels sad and defeated.
Rose walks to the kitchen then she fills her coffee cup.
Rose moves on with her day and goes to the kitchen to make coffee, a routine she has probably done countless times.
And thinks of how the mornings used to greet her.
As Rose sips her coffee, she thinks about how mornings used to be exciting and full of promise, but now they are just a reminder of her age and loneliness.
But now it's just another day and harder to get up,
Each new day feels like a challenge to Rose, and it's harder for her to find the motivation to get out of bed.
And it breaks her heart to think that no one needs her.
Rose feels useless and unwanted, which is one of the most heartbreaking things anyone can experience.
And she wants to start all over but she ain't got far to go,
Rose wishes she could turn back time and start over, but she is too old to do so and feels like her options are limited.
So she cries when she's realized she's just an old Rose.
Rose is overwhelmed by her emotions and begins to cry as she realizes that she can't change her circumstances and must accept her fate as an old woman.
Rose puts on her stockings and she lights a cigarette.
At the end of the day, Rose repeats her routine of putting on stockings and smoking a cigarette, perhaps finding comfort in the familiarity of her actions.
Holds her tired face up to the mirror.
As she looks at herself in the mirror again, Rose is reminded of her age and mortality, which is a constant source of sadness for her.
She sees a younger woman there she thought she would forget,
As before, Rose is reminded of her youth and beauty, which is all the more painful because of how much she has aged since then.
And it hurts her now that no one comes to see her.
Finally, Rose realizes that she is alone and that no one is coming to visit her, which is the ultimate source of her sadness and despair.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: HIATT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind