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.
Thank You Girl
John Hiatt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But that's all right
You stood by me, baby
When I didn't think we'd ever see daylight
Rolled out of California
Like a couple of thieves
Now we're rolling in clover, babe
My fate was sealed before I met you, darling
I was halfway down a shallow grave
So little room for you to catch me falling
Still, you took the little love I saved
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
It's a matter of opinion
But I think you're fine
As a matter of fact, babe
They couldn't hold a candle to your kind
If all men are equal
This must be against the law
'Cause I can't help but feeling
I'm one up on my brother when night falls
'Cause in your arms I get the real love story
No fairy tale from somewhere back in time
In the dawn, you're like a morning glory
Opening up for my sweet light to shine
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
In the song Thank You Girl by John Hiatt, the singer expresses his gratitude towards his significant other for being a constant source of support and inspiration. He acknowledges her physical appearance, acknowledging that she may be considered thin, but reassures her that it is not an issue for him. He reflects on how he and his partner had to leave California to start anew, however, they made it work despite the odds against them. He expresses how he was on the verge of giving up before his partner came along and saved him. Despite having little love to offer, his partner accepted it wholeheartedly, solidifying their relationship.
The singer thinks his partner is fine and considers her to be the best thing that has ever happened to him. He feels that he's one up on his brother at night time, maybe indicating that his partner is physically attractive, but more likely that she completes him emotionally in a way that his brother's partner does not. The singer emphasises the genuine love he receives from his partner, which he feels surpasses the fairy tale love stories. He compares his partner to a morning glory, saying that she opens up to his light to shine, indicating that he's much happier and optimistic than before he met her.
Line by Line Meaning
You're a little on the thin side
Although you might not seem perfect to others, I still appreciate you
But that's all right
Your supposed flaws don't matter to me
You stood by me, baby
You supported and remained loyal to me
When I didn't think we'd ever see daylight
During a difficult time, when I believed there was no hope, you were there for me
Rolled out of California
We left our past behind in search of something better
Like a couple of thieves
We may have felt like outsiders, but we were determined to make our way
Now we're rolling in clover, babe
Finally, we are experiencing prosperity and good fortune
We didn't read this in no tea leaves
Our success is the result of our hard work and perseverance
My fate was sealed before I met you, darling
Before I met you, I thought I was destined to fail
I was halfway down a shallow grave
I was close to giving up and accepting my fate
So little room for you to catch me falling
I had very little to offer you, yet you still took a chance on me
Still, you took the little love I saved
You accepted my love, no matter how small it may have been
I want to thank you, girl
I am grateful for you
It's a matter of opinion
Everyone has different tastes and preferences
But I think you're fine
I find you attractive and wonderful
As a matter of fact, babe
In fact, I feel strongly about it
They couldn't hold a candle to your kind
Others pale in comparison to you
If all men are equal
In theory, everyone should be on the same level
This must be against the law
But it seems unfair that I am so lucky to have you
Cause I can't help but feeling
I cannot help but feel
I'm one up on my brother when night falls
I feel like I am one step ahead of my peers when I am with you
In your arms I get the real love story
The love we share is authentic and genuine
No fairy tale from somewhere back in time
Our love is not a fictional tale of the past; it is real and present
In the dawn, you're like a morning glory
When the day begins, you are full of life and beauty
Opening up for my sweet light to shine
You bring out the best in me
I want to thank you, girl
Again, I am grateful for you
I want to thank you, girl
Once more, thank you
I want to thank you, girl
Above all else, thank you
I want to thank you, girl
Thank you for everything
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN HIATT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dale Gillingham
You're a little on the thin side
But that's all right
You stood by me, baby
When I didn't think we'd ever see daylight
Rolled out of California
Like a couple of thieves
Now we're rolling in clover, babe
We didn't read this in no tea leaves
My fate was sealed before I met you, darling
I was halfway down a shallow grave
So little room for you to catch me falling
Still, you took the little love I saved
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
It's a matter of opinion
But I think you're fine
As a matter of fact, babe
They couldn't hold a candle to your kind
If all men are equal
This must be against the law
'Cause I can't help but feeling
I'm one up on my brother when night falls
'Cause in your arms I get the real love story
No fairy tale from somewhere back in time
In the dawn, you're like a morning glory
Opening up for my sweet light to shine
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
I want to thank you, girl
beccahday
one of my favorite songs. great tune, great voice.
JA White
“Thank the ladies!” indeed, been saved by their wisdom, grace and kindness more than once
John Edmondson
One of my all time favorite songs of all time!
DuneAquaViva
One of Ry Cooder's Greatest Performances in the Studio Sometimes a Tune Just Let's you let it all Hang Out..!
Joe Roberts
If this song doesn't put a smile on your face nothing will. Thanx for that song
Juan Emiliano Gallegos
The best hard rocking love song of the 1980's
Santiago Rodriguez Mendez
love this song
John Parrot
Well beyond having your heart on your sleeve. This is art.
DuneAquaViva
Some of Ry Cooder's most Rockin Slide guitar ever recorded..
Donna Bledsoe
Love him!