McKee is the half-sister of Love guitarist Bryan MacLean, with whom she played in a duo as a teenager. In 1982 McKee was a founding member of the cowpunk/country rock band Lone Justice with whom she released two albums. Her band opened for such acts as U2.
She released her first solo, self-titled album in 1989. Her song "Show Me Heaven", which appeared on the soundtrack to the film Days of Thunder, was a number one single in the United Kingdom for four weeks in 1990. Later her eerie, country-tinged single, "If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)" was released on the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction. (1994).
Her recorded output has varied between the rootsy country-folk of You Gotta Sin To Get Saved (1993) and Peddlin' Dreams (2005), and experimental rock on Life Is Sweet (1996) and High Dive (2003). She even made a foray into early-90s dance music with her "Sweetest Child" single.
Life Is Sweet was seen at the time as an artistic about-face from her country-rock sound, full of guitar feedback and complex, baroque songwriting. Confounding both fans and critics, it was her last release for seven years and her last for a major label.
In 2007 she released Late December, an album rooted in classic 60s pop songwriting.
She is the half-sister of Love guitarist/singer/songwriter Bryan Maclean, with whom she played in a duo as a teenager. In the nineties, she spent time living in Dublin and the East Village.
wheels
Maria McKee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can surly keep you out of sight Forget about the way you look,your smile,the way you speak But I've heard in the dead of night Outside my window silence breaking with the sollid
destination of your lonesome speed
Chours
I know the sound of your wheels
yeah,yeah,yeah
yeah,yeah,yeah
I know the sound of your wheels
I had a handle on my sorrow
My composure was in order if not sufficiently intact But every reminiscent echo
Brings a blow to chill my sesses and my heart quakes and tenses 'till those moments pass
Chours
Every trace, every vision
Brings my emotions to collision
Past love's lost tokens
Every cherished thought once spoken
False hope of reconciliation
Chours
The lyrics to Maria McKee's song "Wheels" express a mix of sadness and longing for a lost love. The singer initially wishes that their former lover had never loved them, because the love they shared makes it difficult to move on. Despite trying to keep their ex out of their mind and heart, the singer hears the sound of their wheels late at night and feels the intense urge to find them. This creates a painful emotional contrast: the singer both wants to forget their love and to reconnect with it again.
The second verse deepens this sense of emotional turmoil. The singer describes their previous composure and ability to withstand the pain of the lost love. But every echo of their past relationship shakes them to the core, making their heart race and their senses overload. The final lines of the chorus incorporate this feeling more explicitly: every memory of their love, whether a moment or a token, creates a false hope of reconciliation that crashes into reality.
Overall, McKee's lyrics deftly capture the confused and contradictory nature of heartbreak. The singer simultaneously wants to move on from their past relationship and to hold onto it, recognizing the pain and the beauty of their love.
Line by Line Meaning
I wish you never even loved me
It's difficult to move on from a love that once existed
It makes it so hard to live without love now
Being loved once makes it harder to live without love now
I know you're often thing of me
Thoughts of a past love still linger
Sometimes I feel you so close by that it takes all my might to keep from trying to track you down
The pull of past love can be strong, but the desire to let go is stronger
I can surly keep you out of sight
It's possible to forget appearances and memories but not emotions
Forget about the way you look,your smile,the way you speak
Physical memories can be more easily forgotten than emotional ones
But I've heard in the dead of night
In moments of quiet reflection, past love can surface
Outside my window silence breaking with the sollid destination of your lonesome speed
The sound of the unfamiliar can bring back memories of the familiar
I know the sound of your wheels
Memories can be triggered by the smallest things, like the sound of wheels on the road
I had a handle on my sorrow
Initial control over a heartache can quickly fade away
My composure was in order if not sufficiently intact
The outward appearance of coping may not tell the whole story
But every reminiscent echo
Small triggers can bring back a flood of memories
Brings a blow to chill my sesses and my heart quakes and tenses 'till those moments pass
The physical manifestations of heartache can be overwhelming
Every trace, every vision
Memories come in all forms - physical and mental
Brings my emotions to collision
Memories can bring up conflicting emotions
Past love's lost tokens
Traces of love lost can be painful reminders of what once was
Every cherished thought once spoken
Thoughts of love once shared can have a powerful hold
False hope of reconciliation
The illusion of rekindling what was once lost can be a common trap
I know the sound of your wheels
No matter the form, the smallest reminder can bring back the most powerful emotions
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: MARIA MC KEE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@timothyray4440
I wish you never even loved me
It makes it so hard to live without love now
Now I know, you're often thinking of me
Sometimes I feel you so close by that
It takes all my might to keep from
Trying to track you down
I can surly keep you out of sight
Forget about the way you look
Your smile, the way you speak
But I've heard in the dead of night
Outside my window silence breaking
With the solid destination of your lonesome speed
I know the sound of your wheels
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I know the sound of your wheels
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I know the sound of your wheels
I had a handle on my sorrow
My composure was in order
If not sufficiently intact
But every reminiscent echo brings a blow
To chill my senses and my heart quakes
And tenses till those moments pass
I know the sound of your wheels
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I know the sound of your wheels
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I know the sound of your wheels
Every trace, every vision
Brings my emotions to collision
Past love's lost tokens
Every cherished thought once spoken
False hope of reconciliation
I know the sound of your wheels
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I know the sound of your wheels
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I know the sound of your wheels
@lyndaprime708
It’s 2023 and I’m still blown away when I listen to this song, the voice and intensity will always blow me away, turning 75 in March too 😊
@kittmurphy4222
This girl has been sending shivers down my spine since 1986!
@davidmclintock7581
I think 1983 for me, walked 12 miles in total to get that LP in Maldon, Essex.
And nobody else has ever heard of her. I live in a world of idiots.
But I have no regrets, what a great walk to a record shop.
@Check-it-out
I have never listened to this song without shedding a tear. Thinking of those times when i was suffering from a shattered heart. Shivers down my spine. Music is the most heartfelt and precious way to communicate. In this case... To communicate with my deepest feelings. Thank you Maria, where ever you are ;-)
@juliepitigliano4401
Every time I hear this I literally choke and gasp for air. I love this song.
@superfluppe
I almost choked. This is so emotional, so profound, so moving ... this is what music can do to you when it's done the way it should.
@jaystibbens2376
Yal get her one of a kind
@StilettoCutsQuick.
So much passion. Singing done right
@koona78
Such a beautiful destruction of the soul!!! Her intensity is overwhelming!!!! It rips the passion of life to the bone!!! God I miss this band!!!!!
@jaystibbens2376
Well said