Born in Pasadena, California, Carnes pursued a songwriting career from an early age. She was a member of the New Christy Minstrels from 1966 to 1970. Kenny Rogers was also a member, and during this time Carnes met and married Dave Ellingson, with whom she would write most of her songs. For a short while in the early 1970s, she and Ellingson formed the folk duo Kim and Dave. Their track "Nobody Knows"" features on the Vanishing Point soundtrack, alongside another Carnes-Ellison track, "Sing Out for Jesus", performed by Big Mama Thornton.
Carnes began releasing solo music in the early 1970s. Her self-titled album in 1975 contained her first hit, You're a Part of Me" – later re-recorded as a duet with Gene Cotton. Carnes recorded her third album, Sailin', with producer Jerry Wexler. One track, "Love Comes From Unexpected Places", won best song at the 1977 American Song Festival and gained some additional notice after it was recorded by Barbra Streisand on her 1977 album, Superman.
In 1980, Carnes and Ellingson were invited to write a concept album for Kenny Rogers. Gideon follows the story of a fictional cowboy, with each track focusing on a moment in his life. Rogers asked Carnes to record "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" as a duet, and it became a major hit on the country and pop charts. Her cover version of the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles song "More Love" became her first solo hit single in 1980 when it reached the U.S. Top 10.
In 1981 she recorded the Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss song "Bette Davis Eyes". As the first single released from the album Mistaken Identity, it spent 9 weeks at number one on the US singles charts and became a worldwide hit. The single went on to become the #1 bestseller for the year and won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. It is second only to Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" (released later in 1981 and late enough to be the number one single of 1982), which spent 10 weeks at number one, as the biggest hit of the entire decade of the 1980s. In 1986, she recorded "Room Enough For Two," theme to CBS sitcom "My Sister Sam" starring Pam Dawber and the late Rebecca Schaeffer.
It is ironic that Carnes' best known and most popular song "Bette Davis Eyes" written in 1974 was originally rejected by Carnes. It was only after a new instrumental arrangement was done by Bill Cuomo that Carnes agreed to record it and it became a huge hit. Bette Davis admitted to being a fan of the song and approached Carnes and the songwriters to thank them. Davis wrote to Carnes after the song was released and stated that she was very pleased with the song as it made her seem very up to date with her grandson. She had Carnes sing the song live for her at a tribute held just before her death.
Carnes continued to record and released several albums into the 1990s. These releases failed to reach the level of success of "Bette Davis Eyes", but by this time she was a highly respected songwriter, and collaborated with such artists as Barbra Streisand. Carnes has written three number one country songs: “The Heart Won’t Lie”, a hit duet for Reba McEntire and Vince Gill, “Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer”, a huge hit duet she performed with Kenny Rogers, and “Make No Mistake She’s Mine”, a duet performed by Kenny Rogers and Ronnie Milsap. The latter song was originally "Make No Mistake, He's Mine," a No. 51 Pop hit in 1984 for Carnes and Streisand featured on Streisand's album Emotion. Also in 1984, Carnes sang on the No. 1 Adult Contemporary hit "What About Me?" with Rogers and James Ingram.
Co-writing with others, Carnes has had songs covered by such country stars as Deana Carter, Kevin Sharp, Sawyer Brown, Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis and Tanya Tucker. She wrote "You Don't Love Me Anymore," a hit song on Tim McGraw's album A Place In The Sun.
In 2004, she re-appeared with a self-released album Chasin' Wild Trains.
In August 2005, her 1981 single “Draw Of The Cards” hit #1 on the internet radio request site FreezeFrameRadio.com.
She currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Discography
* Rest on Me (1972)
* Kim Carnes (1975)
* Sailin' (1976)
* St Vincent's Court (1979)
* Romance Dance (1980) US #57
* Mistaken Identity (1981) US #1
* Voyeur (1982) US #49
* Cafe Racers (1983) US #97
* Barking at Airplanes (1985) US #48
* Light House (1986) US #116
* View from the House (1988)
* Checking Out The Ghosts (1991)
* Gypsy Honeymoon: Best of Kim Carnes (1993)
* Chasin' Wild Trains' (2004)
It Hurts So Bad
Kim Carnes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You got to let go
Can't let him know that he's really gotten to ya
And it hurts so bad
When you're all alone
Those ol' memories
Keep goin' through ya
And you want to act nonchalant
But you can't
Cause he keeps on haunting you
And when it hurts so bad
You gotta try and pretend
He's just a casual friend
Who never meant a thing to ya
Well you can fool your friends
And you can laugh a lot
It's all a coverup
Of what he really means to ya
And you try and act nonchalant
But you can't
'Cause he keeps on haunting you
And it hurts so bad
How can it hurt this bad
When it was never planned
But you stole my heart
And here I am
I'm possessed by you
I'm obsessed with you
Guess what I tryin' to say
Is I love you
Now how can I act nonchalant
When all I want is to spend the night with you
The lyrics to Kim Carnes's song "It Hurts So Bad" depict the universal theme of heartbreak and the struggle to move on from a relationship that has ended. The first verse suggests that it is important to let go of the person causing the pain, even though it may be difficult to do so. The second verse highlights the loneliness that arises after a breakup and the incessant memories that keep resurfacing, making it impossible to pretend that everything is okay. In the chorus, the singer acknowledges the difficulty in pretending to be unaffected by the situation, while the haunting presence of the ex-partner lingers on.
The third verse reveals how one may attempt to hide their true feelings from their friends by acting nonchalant, but deep inside, the memories and feelings are still very present. It is ironic that the more one tries to suppress their feelings, the stronger they become. The final verse expresses the singer's struggle to hide her true desires, which is to be with the person who caused the pain, yet they cannot act nonchalant when they are around. The chorus repeats the same sentiment that it hurts so bad to be in this state of heartbreak.
Overall, the message is that heartbreak is a painful and inevitable part of life, but it is important to acknowledge the hurt and eventually move forward, even though it may be a difficult process.
Line by Line Meaning
When it hurts so bad
The feeling of unbearable pain is experienced
You got to let go
It is necessary to let go of the person causing the pain
Can't let him know that he's really gotten to ya
One must hide their true emotions from the person causing the pain
And when it hurts so bad
The feeling of unbearable pain is experienced again
When you're all alone
The feeling of pain is even more intense when there is nobody around
Those ol' memories
Past memories keep coming back and adding to the pain
Keep goin' through ya
The memories are causing the pain to persist
And you want to act nonchalant
One desires to conceal their true feelings and appear indifferent
But you can't
It is difficult to hide one's true feelings
Cause he keeps on haunting you
The person causing the pain is always on one's mind
You gotta try and pretend
One tries to fake their emotions
He's just a casual friend
One tries to convince themselves that the person causing the pain is just a friend
Who never meant a thing to ya
One tries to convince themselves that the person causing the pain has no significance
Well you can fool your friends
One can deceive their friends through their actions and words
And you can laugh a lot
One can fake laughter and pretend to be happy
It's all a coverup
All the pretending is just hiding the true feelings
Of what he really means to ya
The person causing the pain is very important and has deep meaning to the individual
How can it hurt this bad
The feeling of pain is so intense that it is difficult to comprehend
When it was never planned
The pain was not expected or intended
But you stole my heart
The person causing the pain has captured the individual's heart
And here I am
The individual is now in the current situation of pain
I'm possessed by you
The person causing the pain has complete control over the individual
I'm obsessed with you
The individual's fixation on the person causing the pain is intense
Guess what I tryin' to say
What the individual is attempting to express is
Is I love you
The individual is still deeply in love with the person causing the pain
Now how can I act nonchalant
It is even more difficult to pretend to be indifferent when the feeling of love is still present
When all I want is to spend the night with you
The individual desires to be with the person causing the pain despite the feeling of hurt
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KIM CARNES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
France Rivard
on Bette Davis Eyes
tres tres bon..souvenirs des années 80 et plusieurs autres..on en a pour tous les gouts..Yesss