Williams has garnered considerable critical acclaim but her commercial success has been moderate. She has a reputation as a perfectionist and as a slow worker when it comes to recording; six years passed between the release of her second and third albums. However, she frequently makes guest appearances on other artists' albums and contributes to compilations and soundtracks. She has recorded with Elvis Costello, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, Leftover Salmon, and Steve Earle, among others. She has also opened concerts for artists such as Neil Young.
Early life
Williams was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the daughter of poet and literature professor Miller Williams. Her father worked as a visiting professor in Mexico and Chile as well as different parts of the American South, before settling at the University of Arkansas. His daughter showed an affinity for music at an early age, and was playing guitar at 12.
Career
By her early 20s, Williams was playing publicly in Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas, concentrating on a folk-rock-country blend. She moved to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1978 to record her first album, for Smithsonian/Folkways Records. Titled Ramblin', it was a collection of country and blues covers. She followed it up in 1980 with Happy Woman Blues, which consisted of her own material. Neither album received much attention.
In the 1980s Williams moved to Los Angeles, California (before finally settling in Nashville, TN), where -- performing both backed by a rock band and in acoustic settings -- she developed a following and a critical reputation. Nevertheless, it was not until 1988 that Rough Trade Records released the self-titled Lucinda Williams. The single "Changed the Locks", about a broken relationship, received radio play around the country and gained fans among music insiders, including Tom Petty, who would later cover the song.
Its follow-up, Sweet Old World (Chameleon, 1992), was a melancholy album dealing with themes of suicide and death. Williams's biggest success during the early '90s was as a songwriter. Mary Chapin Carpenter recorded a cover of "Passionate Kisses" (from Lucinda Williams) in 1992, and the song became a smash country hit for which Williams received the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1994.
Williams had garnered considerable critical acclaim, but her commercial success was moderate. Emmylou Harris said of Williams, "She is an example of the best of what country at least says it is. But, for some reason, she's completely out of the loop. And I feel strongly that that's country music's loss."
Williams also gained a reputation as a perfectionist and slow worker when it came to recording; six years would pass before her next album release, though she appeared as a guest on other artists' albums and contributed to several tribute compilations during this period.
The long-awaited release, 1998's Car Wheels on a Gravel Road was Williams' breakthrough to the mainstream. Containing the single "Still I Long for Your Kiss" from the Robert Redford film The Horse Whisperer, the album received wide critical notice and soon went gold. It received a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. She toured with Bob Dylan and on her own in support of the album.
Williams followed up the success of Car Wheels with Essence (2001). This release featured a less produced, more stripped-down approach both musically and lyrically, and moved Williams further from the country music establishment while winning fans in the alternative music world. She won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock performance for the single "Get Right With God", an atypically uptempo gospel-rock tune from the otherwise rather low-key release. The title track was co-written and co-recorded with alternative country musician Ryan Adams.
Her seventh album, World Without Tears, was released in 2003. A musically adventurous though lyrically downbeat album, this release found Williams experimenting with talking blues stylings and electric blues.
In 2006, Lucinda recorded a version of the John Hartford classic "Gentle On My Mind," which played over the closing credits of the Will Ferrell filmTalladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
Williams was a guest vocalist on the song "Factory Girls" from Irish punk-folk band Flogging Molly's 2004 album, "Within a Mile of Home", and appeared on Elvis Costello's The Delivery Man. She duetted with Steve Earle on the song "You're Still Standin' There" from his album I Feel Alright from 1996.
Williams released the album "West" on February 13, 2007, to mostly good reviews. The material is highly personal, chronicling the death of her mother and the breakup of a turbulent relationship.
Lucinda released her ninth studio album, "Little Honey", on October 14th.
Lines Around Your Eyes
Lucinda Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There are things about you that make me want to lock you out
But there's a little thing that drives me wild
Something that happens every time you smile
I can't get over the lines around your eyes
Lines around your eyes everytime you smile
And the way you touch me darlin' just drives me wild
But that don't mean we can't work things out
Cause I love you darlin' and the lines around your eyes
I put my car in gear and I headed down Highway 10
I was leavin' here, I was never comin' back again
I got about as far as the Texas line
I still couldn't get you off of my mind
Cause I can't get over the lines around your eyes
Lines around your eyes everytime you smile
And the way you touch me darlin' just drives me wild
Sometimes I don't know what we're fightin' about
But that don't mean we can't work things out
Cause I love you darlin' and the lines around your eyes
The lyrics of Lucinda Williams's song Lines Around Your Eyes describe a complicated and emotional relationship. The singer of the song is torn between feeling intense frustration and love towards their partner. There are several things about their partner that irritate the singer to the point of wanting to scream and lock them out. However, despite this, there is something about their partner that drives the singer wild - the lines around their eyes every time they smile. This detail hints at the fact that the relationship may have once been a happy one, and the singer is still holding onto that memory.
The second verse of the song adds more complexity to the lyrics. The singer describes a moment when they almost left their partner and never looked back, yet they couldn't shake the memory of their partner's smile and the lines around their eyes. This suggests that the relationship has had its ups and downs, but something about their partner's love and the memories they share keeps them attached. The chorus repeats the idea that the lines around their partner's eyes are driving them wild and that their love can overcome their fights and disagreements.
Overall, the lyrics of Lines Around Your Eyes paint a vivid picture of a relationship filled with love, frustration and complexity. The song suggests that even when relationships are difficult, memories and love are powerful things that keep people together.
Line by Line Meaning
There are things about you that make me want to scream and shout
There are aspects of your personality that anger me to the extent that I feel like yelling and freaking out.
There are things about you that make me want to lock you out
There are elements of your being that make me want to keep you out and exclude you from my life.
But there's a little thing that drives me wild
Regardless of the issues I have with you, one small thing involving you gives me immense passion and elicits wild feelings in me.
Something that happens every time you smile
The specific thing that causes these passionate reactions in me is the lines around your eyes whenever you smile.
I can't get over the lines around your eyes
Even though I have problems with you, I can't seem to stop being intrigued by the creases and folds on the skin around your eyes when you smile.
And the way you touch me darlin' just drives me wild
Apart from your smile, even the way you touch me fills me with desires I can hardly control.
Sometimes I don't know what we're fightin' about
There are instances when I am clueless about the root of our conflicts and disagreements.
But that don't mean we can't work things out
Despite the uncertainties in our arguments, it doesn't mean that we cannot come up with a solution and work things out.
Cause I love you darlin' and the lines around your eyes
I am willing to set aside our differences for the love I have for you, and the sensation I experience from the lines around your eyes every time you smile.
I put my car in gear and I headed down Highway 10
In my effort to escape the problems between us, I got into my car and drove down Highway 10.
I was leavin' here, I was never comin' back again
I had already decided to leave and never return back to this point in our relationship.
I got about as far as the Texas line
The distance I went to escape from you only got me as far as the Texas border.
I still couldn't get you off of my mind
Even though I tried to forget about you, you were still constantly on my thoughts.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LUCINDA WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind