Lucy Kaplansky (born 1960) is a folk musician. Originally from Chicago, at … Read Full Bio ↴Lucy Kaplansky (born 1960) is a folk musician. Originally from Chicago, at the age of 18 she moved to New York City, where she became involved in the city's Greenwich Village folk music scene.

In 1983, she decided to become a psychologist, enrolling in Yeshiva University. She continued playing music while completing her PhD, and began to have some success as part of a duo with Shawn Colvin. However, when they began to attract record company interest, Kaplansky declined, choosing instead to set up a private practice and become a staff psychologist at a New York hospital. For several years, she concentrated largely on her work, and played little in the way of concerts. However, she still did some session work, such as singing backing vocals in the studio for Suzanne Vega.

By the early 1990s she found herself increasingly drawn back to music. Colvin, who by this time had experienced some commercial success, offered to produce an album for her. The result, The Tide, a mixture of her own songs and several covers, was released by Red House Records (Greg Brown's label) in 1994. At this time, she decided to give up her psychology practice, and return to music full-time. She released her second album, Flesh and Bone, in 1996.

In 1998 Kaplansky joined with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell to form the folk group Cry Cry Cry, which made an album and toured extensively as a result of the success of the original six week tour.

1999's Ten Year Night won rave reviews and boosted her popularity, leading to performances on CBS-TV. She followed that album in 2001 with Every Single Day.

The Red Thread, released in early 2004, includes songs about adopting her new daughter Molly, who Lucy and her husband Rick brought home from China in late 2003, and several songs relating to her experiences living in downtown Manhattan during 9-11. In 2007 she released her latest album Over the Hills.

Heart
Lucy Kaplansky Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Go to sleep my darling
Lay down upon your bed
May the rhymes of childhood songs
Dance inside your head

When night time falls around you
I know that you're afraid
But the heart will bring you home again

The heart is built that way
The heart will bring you home again
It hasn't failed us yet

The heart will bring you home again
The heart does not forget
So close your eyes my darling
Close your eyes and dream

The world is full of promises
And love is all it seems
Yes there will be the hard roads
That lead us all astray

But the heart will bring you home again
The heart is built that way
The heart will bring you home again
It hasn't failed us yet

The heart will bring you home again
The heart does not forget
The sun will rise my darling
And glisten off the streets

So close your eyes and believe in love
And feel safe inside your dreams
Cause no one's going to harm you
Or carry you away

But the heart will bring you home again
The heart is built that way
The heart will bring you home again
It hasn't failed us yet

The heart will bring you home again
The heart does not forget

Overall Meaning

Lucy Kaplansky's beautiful lullaby "Heart" is a song of reassurance and comfort, meant to help children overcome their fear of the dark and the unknown. It begins with an invitation to sleep and a reminder of the soothing power of familiar melodies: "Go to sleep my darling, Lay down upon your bed, May the rhymes of childhood songs Dance inside your head." The song then acknowledges the natural fear that comes with night-time and the unknown, "When night time falls around you, I know that you're afraid," but offers the hopeful reminder that the heart will guide you home: "The heart will bring you home again, The heart is built that way, The heart will bring you home again, It hasn't failed us yet."

Throughout the song, Kaplansky acknowledges the reality of life's difficulties and challenges, including "hard roads" that lead us astray, but she emphasizes the power of the heart to overcome these obstacles and to allow us to feel safe and loved: "The world is full of promises And love is all it seems...But the heart will bring you home again."

The song takes an even more hopeful and joyful turn toward the end, as the singer predicts the arrival of a new day and the possibility of witnessing the beauty and wonder of the world: "The sun will rise my darling And glisten off the streets." The song ends with a resounding message of love and security: "Close your eyes and believe in love And feel safe inside your dreams, Cause no one's going to harm you Or carry you away, But the heart will bring you home again, The heart is built that way."

Overall, "Heart" is a beautiful and powerful meditation on the power of love, the resilience of the human heart, and the importance of feeling safe and secure in our dreams and in our everyday lives.

Line by Line Meaning

Go to sleep my darling
Encourages someone to sleep.

Lay down upon your bed
Asks someone to lie down on their bed.

May the rhymes of childhood songs
Hopes that the person will have pleasant dreams.

Dance inside your head
Refers to having happy and peaceful dreams.

When night time falls around you
When it gets dark and quiet at night.

I know that you're afraid
Acknowledges that the person is scared.

But the heart will bring you home again
The person will find comfort in their heart.

The heart is built that way
Our hearts are designed to comfort us.

It hasn't failed us yet
Our hearts have always been a reliable source of comfort.

So close your eyes my darling
Asks someone to close their eyes.

Close your eyes and dream
Encourages someone to dream peacefully.