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.
Stood Up
John Hiatt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I was just eleven months old
And ever since that day, my mama said
I never done what I was told
I never stood for nothing too much
All through my schooling years
But I stood as much as I could stand
Yes, and...
[Chorus:]
I stood up
When love called my name, baby
I stood up
Even when that love was all in vain, baby
I got stood up once
And left out in the pouring rain, baby
But I stood up
And I'd do it again
I guess she never understood what she could do
With all her flaming red hair
But I could not stand the heat in her kitchen
So, Jack, I got out of there
I stood up to get a pack of cigarettes
Down at the corner store
Now she's standing in some corner of my heart
Behind the kitchen screen door
[Chorus]
I don't know about you
But there's a lot of things I never stood up to
Even as I turned and walked away
I guess that's why I'm standing on my own
Two feet today
Now they gave last call for alcohol
And no one has to carry me home
You see, I only work here now, man
My drinking days are long gone
I couldn't stand up after one, no
Till twenty had me down on the floor
Now the first one doesn't get me
Even though I'm still the last one out the door
[Chorus]
In John Hiatt's song "Stood Up," he talks about standing up for himself in various situations throughout his life. The song opens with him stating that he stood up for the first time when he was just eleven months old. From that moment, his mother said that he never did what he was told. As he grew up, he never really stood for anything, but he stood as much as he could.
In the chorus, Hiatt sings about standing up when love came into his life, even when it was all in vain. He talks about getting stood up once and left out in the pouring rain, but he stood up and would do it again. He then talks about a woman he was with who had "flaming red hair," but he couldn't handle her heat, so he left her. He talks about standing up to go get cigarettes and how she's still in his heart behind the kitchen screen door.
Towards the end of the song, Hiatt reflects that there are a lot of things he didn't stand up to in life, but he's standing on his own two feet today. He no longer drinks like he used to, but he used to drink so much that he wouldn't be able to stand up after one drink. However, now he's the last one out of the door.
Line by Line Meaning
I stood up for the first time
I was able to stand on my own two feet for the first time when I was just eleven months old
And ever since that day, my mama said
My mother always reminded me that I never obeyed her after I stood up for the first time
I never done what I was told
I never obeyed my mother's orders
I never stood for nothing too much
I never took a strong stand on anything during my schooling years
All through my schooling years
During my school life
But I stood as much as I could stand
I stood my ground whenever possible
I guess that's why I'm still standing here
I think that's why I am still alive today
Yes, and...
And now...
I stood up
I stood up for love
When love called my name, baby
When I fell in love with someone, I stood up for it
I stood up
I stood up for love, even when it was painful
Even when that love was all in vain, baby
Even when that love was not reciprocated
I got stood up once
Someone left me hanging once
And left out in the pouring rain, baby
They left me in the rain by myself
But I stood up
But I still had the strength to persevere
And I'd do it again
And I would do it all over again if I had to
I guess she never understood what she could do
The person I cared about never realized what they were capable of accomplishing
With all her flaming red hair
Despite her appearance and personality
But I could not stand the heat in her kitchen
I couldn't handle being in a relationship with her anymore
So, Jack, I got out of there
So I left the situation
I stood up to get a pack of cigarettes
I stood up to leave and get cigarettes
Down at the corner store
At a nearby store
Now she's standing in some corner of my heart
Now she's still in my thoughts
Behind the kitchen screen door
Like she's behind a screen door in the kitchen
I don't know about you
I don't know if you can relate to this
But there's a lot of things I never stood up to
But there are many things that I never fought against
Even as I turned and walked away
Even though I left the situation behind
I guess that's why I'm standing on my own
That's probably why I am able to stand on my own
Two feet today
And be independent today
Now they gave last call for alcohol
Now that the bar is closing
And no one has to carry me home
I can get home all by myself
You see, I only work here now, man
I'm just an employee at this bar now, nothing more
My drinking days are long gone
I don't drink too much anymore
I couldn't stand up after one, no
I couldn't handle drinking much after only one drink
Till twenty had me down on the floor
Except until I drank twenty drinks, which made me pass out on the floor
Now the first one doesn't get me
Now one drink doesn't make me drunk
Even though I'm still the last one out the door
Despite this, I'm still one of the last ones to leave the bar
[Chorus]
The repetition of the chorus
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN HIATT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Deekster246
Never tire of that tune, that voice and words. Genius
Marcus husky
Fantastische artiest, helaas niet zo bekend in Nederland. Love your music John Hiatt.
Marcel Versteeg
Ik ben al fan sinds de jaren 80 van de vorige eeuw...geweldige singer/songwriter en muzikant. Een pareltje in de muziek en met een heel eigen sound. THUMBS UP!
Guy Macandrew
Fantastic song in every way 😊
jan krijnen
one of my fav all time songs
Al Thibeault
fantastic song and album
Jim Balliett
Such a great song!!
Rhubarb 68
I stood up
When love called my name, baby
I stood up
Even when that love was all in vain ..
Darkiane Ferreira
Awesome!
Rev Eddro
a musician's musician