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.
The Thief
Lucy Kaplansky Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You were listening like you had nothing better to do
You were feigning interest badly,
I guess interest is too hard for you
So I stopped talking, and just watched you
Watched the way your mouth made faces at me
Watched the way your eyes looked through me
Looking for something new you could take from me...
[Chorus:]
And I know what you are
You're the thief who steals from your friends
I know what you are and
Everything in the world does not belong to you
Everything you ever gave me
Were just scraps you didn't want anyway
All the people you discarded
Guess you never thought you might want them back some day
I've been loyal, I've been honest
Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know what for
I've knelt down with all the others
But I'm not on my knees anymore...
Last night, in the dark, in my mirror,
I thought I saw you
I threw the mirror on the floor
And it kept breaking and breaking and breaking and breaking...
In Lucy Kaplansky’s song The Thief, the singer is confronting someone who has been dishonest and manipulative in their relationship. The song begins with the two sitting in a café, and the singer is aware that the other person is not truly interested in what she has to say. She observes how the other person is “feigning interest badly” and how they are looking for something to take from her. The thief they are referring to is someone who has taken things that don’t belong to them, whether they are material possessions or relationships. The singer notes that everything in the world does not belong to the thief and that they cannot continue to take what they want without consequences.
The chorus repeats the singer’s recognition that the person they are talking to is a thief who steals from their friends and that everything in the world does not belong to them. The second verse describes how the thief has treated the singer and others, giving them only scraps and discarding people when they are no longer useful. The singer admits that they have been loyal and honest, but they don’t know why they bothered. The final lines of the song reveal that the singer imagines the person they are talking to is watching them in the mirror, causing them to throw it on the floor in frustration.
Overall, The Thief is a song about recognizing someone who takes advantage of others and refusing to be a victim. The singer has watched as the thief has stolen from others and wants to confront them directly. It’s a song about standing up for oneself and acknowledging that everything in the world does not belong to one individual.
Line by Line Meaning
We were sitting at a cafe
We were at a cafe together
You were listening like you had nothing better to do
You were pretending to listen to me, but you really didn't care
You were feigning interest badly,
You were pretending badly to be interested
I guess interest is too hard for you
You're unable to show interest in anything
So I stopped talking, and just watched you
I stopped talking and looked at you
Watched the way your mouth made faces at me
I watched the faces you made while pretending to listen
Watched the way your eyes looked through me
I noticed that you were looking past me
Looking for something new you could take from me...
You were searching for something to take from me like you always do
[Chorus:]
The chorus begins
And I know what you are
I know that you're a certain type of person
You're the thief who steals from your friends
You're the type of person who takes belongings from your friends
I know what you are and
I know exactly what kind of person you are
Everything in the world does not belong to you
You can't have everything in the world just because you want it
Everything you ever gave me
Everything you gave me in the past
Were just scraps you didn't want anyway
The things you gave me were things you didn't want anymore
All the people you discarded
You got rid of all the people you didn't want in your life
Guess you never thought you might want them back some day
You thought you'd never want those people back in your life
I've been loyal, I've been honest
I have been faithful and truthful
Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know what for
To be honest, I'm not sure why I've been like that
I've knelt down with all the others
I've been like everyone else who's treated you like a friend
But I'm not on my knees anymore...
But I'm not going to keep treating you like a friend anymore
Last night, in the dark, in my mirror,
Last night, in the dark, when I looked in the mirror
I thought I saw you
I thought I saw you in the mirror
I threw the mirror on the floor
I threw the mirror onto the floor in anger
And it kept breaking and breaking and breaking and breaking...
The mirror kept breaking over and over again
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: LITVIN KAPLANSKY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Rose
When I hear her voice, with all her inflections I just melt. Her voice is like honey. She's simply amazing
Roger Heatley
In my case it was the latter, I guess. I only found Lucy last winter in Peterborough, NH at a show in an old barn with Garnett Rogers. All I can say is, well, I've found her now! In addition to her incredible talent, I'm taken with her great love of family.
mark smith
Why are there no comments here? Do listeners in the cloud not understand amazing music or do they just not know where to find it?!