Lucinda Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American rock, folk, and alt… Read Full Bio ↴Lucinda Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American rock, folk, and alt-country songwriter and singer. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she was named "America's best songwriter" by TIME magazine in 2002.

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.

Rescue
Lucinda Williams Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

He can't rescue you
Can't pull the demons from your head
Can't lull you from your sleepy bed
He can't rescue you

He can't protect you
From the powers that will be
The hours of insanity

He can't protect you

He can't change you
Change the summers of your beauty
The thunderstorms within your purity
He can't change you

He can't carry you
Past the door of every danger
Every foe and every stranger
He can't carry you

He can't save you
From the plain and simple truth
The waning winters of your youth
He can't save you

He can't fix you
Your tears will always leave their mark
From fears that stay inside the dark
He can't fix you

What can he do
But tie some ribbons in your hair
And show you that he'll always care
That's all he can do

Lala lala

Overall Meaning

The song Rescue by Lucinda Williams is a poignant exploration of the limitations of love and the inability of a lover to rescue or fix their partner. The opening lines "He can't rescue you, can't pull the demons from your head, can't lull you from your sleepy bed" make it clear that the singer is aware they cannot be the answer to the problems of the person they love. The second verse continues with "He can't protect you from the powers that will be, the hours of insanity" further highlighting the powerlessness of the lover in the face of the difficulties their partner is facing. The third and fourth verses address the lover's inability to change or carry their partner and their inability to save or fix them from the pain they are experiencing. The final lines "What can he do but tie some ribbons in your hair and show you that he'll always care, that's all he can do" seem to acknowledge the limitations of love and express a desire to do what little is possible to show love and support.

Line by Line Meaning

He can't rescue you
He is unable to save you

Can't pull the demons from your head
He cannot rid you of negative thoughts

Can't lull you from your sleepy bed
He cannot put you to sleep or help you feel rested

He can't protect you
He is unable to keep you safe and secure

From the powers that will be
From the challenges that will arise in the future

The hours of insanity
The times when you're feeling overwhelmed or losing your mind

He can't change you
He cannot change who you are

Change the summers of your beauty
Alter the happy times in your life

The thunderstorms within your purity
The conflicts within your true self

He can't carry you
He cannot physically or emotionally support you

Past the door of every danger
Through every difficult situation