Anderson charted 12 No. 1, 18 Top 10, and more than 50 Top 40 hits. In addition to being named "Top Female Vocalist" by the Academy of Country Music (ACM) twice and "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the Country Music Association (CMA), Anderson won a Grammy Award (earning seven nominations), People's Choice Award and an American Music Award (AMA). She was named Billboard's Female Artist of the Decade (1970–1980).
Anderson was the first female country artist to win the American Music Award (in 1974), as well as the first to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden that same year.
Anderson debuted in 1966, at the age of 19, and had her first hit with Ride, Ride, Ride. After a series of Top 10 hit singles on the country charts during the late 1960s, Anderson signed with Columbia Records in 1970. Under Columbia, she had her most successful string of hits. Her signature song, "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden", remains one of the biggest selling country crossover hits of all time. In addition, the song also went to No. 3 on the Billboard Pop Chart and reached the top of the charts in several countries, an unprecedented achievement at the time. CMT ranks "Rose Garden" at No. 83 on its list of the "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music History". Anderson continued to record and remained a popular concert attraction until her death, regularly headlining major casino showrooms, performing arts centers and theaters.
She grew up in Sacramento, California with her mother, acclaimed singer-songwriter Liz Anderson who wrote "The Fugitive" and "(All My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers", both Merle Haggard hits, among others. She began her solo career in 1966 with "In Person", followed by a hit with her mother's "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)".
In 1968 she married Glenn Sutton, a future Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, with whom she had a daughter, Lisa. (They divorced in 1977.)
Consistent hits followed, and she was a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show during the 1967-68 season. In 1969 Anderson signed to Columbia where her work veered a bit more toward a polished, pop sound. She released her signature song, "Rose Garden" in late 1970. The song, written by Joe South, won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance reached number 1 on the U.S. country charts, and also hit number 3 on the pop charts, as well as being a hit in fifteen countries. Anderson also received Grammy nominations for her recordings "Big Girls Don't Cry" (1968), "That's a No No" (1969), and "How Can I Unlove You" (1971)> Anderson's other hits during this period included "You're My Man", "Listen to a Country Song", "Top of the World" (a number 1 country record for Anderson before becoming a pop hit for The Carpenters), "Cry", "Keep Me in Mind", "What a Man My Man Is" and "Smile For Me". In 1971, she was voted Top Female Vocalist of the year by both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association. Anderson charted eight no.one singles, 18 Top-Tens and earned a total of 17 international Gold records. She was perhaps the most in-demand country female vocalist on network television throughout the 1970's but after 1975 her records usually peaked in the top 20 as opposed to her earlier top ten success.
Anderson married a Louisiana businessman in 1978. The second marriage produced two more children, and she was divorced in 1982.
Anderson remained one of the top female country singers into the 1980's. Her last top ten record was 1984s "You're Welcome to Tonight". During the late 1980's and early 1990s, she received much press for her disputes with her now-divorced second husband. After spending time on her ranch, raising horses and participating in equestrian events, she began recording again in 1992.
"The Bluegrass Sessions", released in 2004, earned Anderson her first Grammy nomination in over 30 years.
That same year Anderson was arrested in Denton, Texas, for drunk driving.
The American Rose Society created and named in her honor a white and raspberry hybrid tea rose.
Anderson released a new CD of original songs entitled "Cowgirl" in 2006, all of the songs penned by her mother, the acclaimed songwriter Liz Anderson.
Silver Threads & Golden Needles
Lynn Anderson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With a tear in every room
All I want's the love you've promised
Beneath the halo moon
But you think I should be happy
With your money and your name
And hide myself in sorrows
Silver threads and golden needles
Cannot mend this heart of mine
And I dare not drown my sorrows
In the warm glow of your wine
You can't buy my love with money
For I never was that kind
Silver threads and golden needles
Cannot mend this heart of mine
Silver threads and golden needles
Cannot mend this heart of mine
And I dare not drown my sorrows
In the warm glow of your wine
You can't buy my love with money
For I never was that kind
Silver threads and golden needles
Cannot mend this heart of mine
In this song, Lynn Anderson sings about rejecting material possessions and preferring the promise of love that has been made to her. She expresses her dissatisfaction with a lonely mansion filled with tears, and instead desires the love that has been promised to her under the halo moon. However, the person she is addressing in the song believes that money and his name should be enough to make her happy, even as he continues to cheat on her. Anderson is steadfast in her resolve, saying that no amount of silver threads or golden needles can mend her broken heart. She refuses to drown her sorrows in alcohol, and asserts that her love is not for sale.
The song speaks to the idea of valuing love over material possessions, and highlights the pain that can come from being in a relationship where one person prioritizes money and status over emotional connection. The lyrics also touch on themes of independence, as Anderson refuses to be bought or swayed by her lover's wealth.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't want your lonely mansion
I do not desire to possess your empty dwelling
With a tear in every room
A place where sadness dwells in every corner
All I want's the love you've promised
What I seek is the affection you pledged to me
Beneath the halo moon
Under the light of the glorious nighttime sphere
But you think I should be happy
However, it appears that you are under the impression that joy should be within me;
With your money and your name
Through possessing your wealth and social status
And hide myself in sorrows
And bury myself in sadness
While you play your cheatin' game
As you continue to engage in dishonest conduct
Silver threads and golden needles
Thin metallic filaments no longer hold the capability to mend my heart
Cannot mend this heart of mine
It is impossible to fix this organ of mine
And I dare not drown my sorrows
Furthermore, I refuse to consume alcoholic beverages to numb my pain
In the warm glow of your wine
In the pleasant radiance emanated by your wine
You can't buy my love with money
Your riches are incapable of purchasing my affection
For I never was that kind
I harbor no inclination to be someone of that category
Silver threads and golden needles
Thin metallic filaments no longer hold the capability to mend my heart
Cannot mend this heart of mine
It is impossible to fix this organ of mine
Silver threads and golden needles
Thin metallic filaments no longer hold the capability to mend my heart
Cannot mend this heart of mine
It is impossible to fix this organ of mine
Lyrics © Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dick Reynolds, Jack Rhodes
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind