Producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion grew up in a musi… Read Full Bio ↴Producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion grew up in a musical family: his father was director of the Yale concert and marching bands, his mother sang in jazz bands, and his siblings, Randy (a conductor/arranger in L.A.) and Laurie (a violinist), were both avid music students. Young Jon didn't deal with instruction or practice well, but his natural affinity for improvisation and melody more than made up for his impatience. Unwilling to conform to the conventional school system, Brion attended special education class at Hamden High School in New Haven, CT, and the day he turned 17, he left school for good. Moving to Boston in 1987, the young musician formed many bonds that he would keep long into his professional career, including producer Mike Denneen (owner of Q Division, Boston's premier studio and record label) and 'Til Tuesday vocalist Aimee Mann. Also while there, Brion tuned his improvisational musical abilities: "I used to watch TV with an unplugged electric guitar, on the couch, and commercials would come on and I'd try to play along. It was one of the prime things I concerned myself with for several years, getting to the point where if I heard it, I could play it. Then I started working on getting my brain to do multiple things at once. And having my hands translate them." This proficiency led to increasingly frequent studio work on the West Coast, eventually resulting in his move to L.A. While in California, he and Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner formed the Grays, an underground superstar group which released the 1994 album Ro Sham Bo, before quickly fading as the other members (Falkner, Dan McCarroll, and Buddy Judge) went on to individual musical success. Throughout the '90s, Brion found himself increasingly in demand in the studio, producing and collaborating on albums by Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright, David Byrne, and the Eels and soundtracks including the Grammy-nominated Magnolia.
Recently, Brion experimented Hip-Hop style as producer on Kanye West last album, "Late Registration". The result is brilliant, with real-life instruments mashed up with heavy beats. To complete this mutation, Kanye West did a live recording of his record at the mythic Abbey Road Studio, Jon Brion being the missing link between Hip Hop and The Beatles pop music.

In addition to his prolific studio work, he also has held a long-term position as "the house band" Friday nights at the high-profile Hollywood nightclub Largo. At his live shows, the crowd can expect anything from guest appearances by Aimee Mann, Michael Stipe, Elvis Costello, T-Bone Burnett, or Grant Lee Phillips, and Brion is infamous for making up songs on the spot (often from titles shouted from the audience). He also is beloved for his quirky cover versions of songs by Cheap Trick, the Beatles, and Cole Porter, proudly likening his on-stage antics to "spraying musical Raid on the classics, until each dying song flips on its back and wiggles its little musical legs in surrender." Whatever music he was involved in, his eclectic touch undeniably shaped the sound of many progressive alternative musicians throughout the '90s.

Strings That Tie To You
Jon Brion Lyrics

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From the wrinkles on my forehead
To the mud upon my shoe
Everything's a memory
With strings that tie to you

In my dream I'm often running
To the place that's out of you
Of every kind of memory

With strings that tie to you

Though a change has taken place
And I no longer do adore her
Still every God forsaken place is always
Right around the corner

Now I know it's either them or me
So I'll bury every clue
And every kind of memory
With strings that tie to you

And every kind of memory
With strings that tie to you

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Jon Brion's song Strings That Tie To You explore the idea of memories and their strong connections to another person. The first verse talks about how everything, from the wrinkles on his forehead to the mud on his shoe, is a memory that is tied to this other person. The second verse describes how the singer dreams of running away from the memories, but they have strings that continue to tie him to this person. The chorus emphasizes this idea, with the repeated phrase “every kind of memory with strings that tie to you.”

The third verse hints at a change in the relationship between the singer and the person he is tied to. Although he used to adore her, something has changed and he now sees the relationship as less than ideal. Despite this, the memories still haunt him, with every place reminding him of her. The final verse emphasizes the singer's determination to break free of the memories and the person they are tied to. He plans to bury every clue and every memory with strings that tie to her.

Overall, the lyrics to Strings That Tie To You explore the strong connections we have to people and the memories we share with them. They show how memories can be both comforting and painful, and how they can keep us tied to people and places even when we want to move on.

Line by Line Meaning

From the wrinkles on my forehead
Starting from my face showing signs of aging

To the mud upon my shoe
All the way down to the dirt on my shoe

Everything's a memory
Every experience in life lasts as a memory

With strings that tie to you
All those memories are associated with you

In my dream I'm often running
I often dream of escaping

To the place that's out of you
To somewhere that is disconnected from you

Of every kind of memory
All types of memories haunt me

With strings that tie to you
All those memories still relate back to you

Though a change has taken place
Even though things have changed

And I no longer do adore her
And I no longer adore her anymore

Still every God forsaken place is always
Every place I go to is still