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.
What Kind Of Man
John Hiatt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I cheated on my taxes
Burned bridges
Ground axes
I stole cars
I stole dope
Left scars
What kind of man do you think I am
One twist and I'd do it all again
What kind of man got these holes in his mind
Do the same thing over and over again
Expecting something different this time
What kind of man do you think I am
I'm living in your house
I'm holding your hand
Sleeping in your bed
Cooking in your pan
You see the man who loves you
You see the man you love
But I have hidden claws
Inside these gloves
What kind of man do you think I am
One twist and I'd do it all again
What kind of man got these holes in his mind
Do the same thing over and over again
Expecting it be different this time
What kind of man do you think I am
Come clean and stand tall
To thee thyne own self be true
But sometimes I don't know
Who's foolin' who
It's not my place to question
Not my place to know
Now tell me
What kind of man gonna run this kind of show
What kind of man do you think I am babe
Another thing comin' if you think I can babe
Pick you up every chance I get
Well, I broke your heart for no other reason
Than my mind was already set
Oh, what kind of man
What kind of man do you think I am
What kind of man do you think I am
Oh, what kind of man
The lyrics of John Hiatt's song, "What Kind Of Man," address a man's self-reflection and his acknowledgement of the wrongdoings he has committed. He starts by confessing that he cheated on his love and his taxes, burned bridges, and grounded axes; indicating that he has left a trail of destruction in his wake. He also goes on to reveal that he has stolen cars and dope, leaving scars and killed hope. Hiatt questions what kind of man he is to have done all these things and be willing to do them all over again with a twist. The repetition of certain phrases like "What kind of man do you think I am?" emphasizes his self-criticism and the magnitude of his actions.
The song's second part talks about the man's current state of being. He is now living in the house of the person he cheated on and holding their hand, sleeping in their bed and cooking in their pan. The person he's with sees the man who loves her, but he has hidden claws inside his gloves, implying that despite the façade he presents, he has ulterior motives. The last part shifts from asking what kind of man he is, and more on the lines of what he can do now. He questions whether he should "come clean" and be true to himself or accept that he sometimes doesn't know who's fooling who. In the end, he wonders what kind of man, who broke the heart of the one he loves, will run such a show.
Line by Line Meaning
I cheated on my love
I was unfaithful to my romantic partner
I cheated on my taxes
I committed tax fraud
Burned bridges
I deliberately destroyed relationships with people
Ground axes
I was involved in conflicts and arguments
I stole cars
I committed grand theft auto
I stole dope
I stole drugs
Left scars
I hurt people emotionally
Killed hope
I destroyed people's optimism and positivity
What kind of man do you think I am
I am asking for your opinion on my character
One twist and I'd do it all again
I am likely to repeat the same mistakes
What kind of man got these holes in his mind
I have flaws in my thought process
Do the same thing over and over again
I engage in repetitive negative behaviors
Expecting it be different this time
Despite history, I hope for a different outcome
I'm living in your house
I am staying in your home
I'm holding your hand
I am being physically intimate with you
Sleeping in your bed
I am sharing your sleeping space
Cooking in your pan
I am using your kitchen to prepare food
You see the man who loves you
You see someone who is affectionate towards you
You see the man you love
You see someone who you love
But I have hidden claws
I have hidden negative qualities
Inside these gloves
Disguised as good intentions
Come clean and stand tall
Confess and take responsibility for my actions
To thee thyne own self be true
Be honest with yourself
But sometimes I don't know
I am uncertain
Who's foolin' who
Who is tricking who
It's not my place to question
I don't have the authority to ask
Not my place to know
It is not my responsibility to find out
Now tell me
I am prompting for an answer
What kind of man gonna run this kind of show
What type of person is capable of taking charge and leading
Another thing comin' if you think I can babe
You are mistaken if you believe I am capable of that
Pick you up every chance I get
I show affection and attention often
Well, I broke your heart for no other reason
I hurt you without justification
Than my mind was already set
I was determined to cause harm
Oh, what kind of man
Reiteration of the initial question
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN R HIATT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind