Mark Chesnutt’s stature is easily gauged. He has 14 #1 hits, 23 Top 10 singles, four platinum albums and five gold records to his credit; he maintains a front-and-center presence with a hefty tour schedule year after year. Country music critics and fans alike need look no further when it comes to Country music basics. If you ask Chesnutt, he’ll tell you, “It’s the music and the fans that have kept me around this long.” In a creative forum that sometimes confuses style with substance, Mark Chesnutt possesses both.
Remaining true to himself as a traditional country artist, while keeping the pace with the ever-changing country recording landscape, Mark Chesnutt has a knack for picking great songs, delivering them with world-class style and a heart-felt emotion that’s lived-in. With a trademarked voice, Chesnutt has set the bar for his generation and those that follow in his footsteps shaping the music of today’s country music newcomers and the new country music format. Mark Chesnutt’s personal integrity combined with his principal to record a genuine country song has made him a fixture on radio and in honky tonks across the globe.
Chesnutt got his start in the honky-tonks of Beaumont, Texas, learning from his father, Bob Chesnutt, a singer, record collector and major fan of classic country music. Playing alongside his dad, Mark embraced his father’s influence one set at a time and to begin making a name for himself. Mark sang covers by Lefty, Merle, George and Waylon to develop his unmatched crowd-pleasing rapport and his authentic country style.
Bob Chesnutt often traveled to Nashville to record and to broaden his exposure. He began taking Mark along to record when he was just 17. After nearly a decade of recording on regional labels, word got out about this young country vocalist. Music Row executives came to hear Mark on his own Texas turf and recognized the depth of Mark Chesnutt’s raw talent.
In 1989, he was signed to MCA Nashville and his list of accolades tells the rest of his story. With the release of his first single“ Too Cold At Home,” Mark established himself as one of country’s most authentic and talented vocalists. He won the CMA Horizon Award attracting the attention of country legend [and Mark’s greatest mentor] George Jones who introduced him as “A boy from Beaumont, Texas who is the real deal.” That recognition and initial success opened the door to offer Mark his chance of a lifetime, to do what he loved most—sing country music for country fans; this time, on a national level. “The first couple years it was non-stop.” Mark says.
“I can remember one time during a tour, I didn’t step foot on the front porch for ten months, with exception of a day or a day-and-a- half, then, it was right back out again.” Mark’s dedication paid off. He developed a true blue fan base. Fans, he confides, “are the reason for my success.”
His fans helped his records to climb the charts one right after the other making him one of Billboard’s Ten Most-Played Radio Artists of the ‘90’s. Mark’s singles were some the decade’s most memorable; from the fun tempo “Bubba Shot The Jukebox” to emotional ballad “I’ll Think Of Something.” Mark is easily identified for his string of hits including “Brother Jukebox,” “Blame It On Texas,” “Old Flames Have New Names,” “Old Country,” “It Sure Is Monday,” “Almost Goodbye,” “I Just Wanted You To Know,” “Going Through The Big D,” “It’s A Little Too Late,” “Gonna Get A Life,” and one of his biggest, “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing;” a song that held its position at the top of the charts for four consecutive weeks.
Of all the recorded highlights Chesnutt has enjoyed, they take a back seat to his first love; Mark Chesnutt lives to perform on stage. “I just make records because want people to come see my show,” he says with a grin. “Recording music for folks to just listen to music is great,” he says, “but I’ve got to be out there on stage making it.” Fans who have seen him perform agree. Known as one of the industry’s hardest-working concert performers, maintaining a hefty tour schedule and steady presence in front of his fans, Mark’s dedication to deliver live music is unsurpassed. Mark has been on the road since 1990. Whether you hear Mark Chesnutt with a new release on the radio, or see his face on the cover of a new CD, folks can always find Mark doing what he was born to do playing. “The clubs and honky tonks are home for me; it’s comfortable and I’m always with friends,” says Chesnutt.
Married since 1992, Mark and Tracie Chesnutt are the loving parents of three boys, Waylon, Casey & Cameron.
It's A Little Too Late
Mark Chesnutt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The kind of man she needed me to be
She made a list and laid it there beside me on the bed
Now, what I shoulda done keeps runnin' through my head
Oh, I shoulda done this and I shoulda done that
I shoulda been there, then she'd-a never left
I shoulda been hangin' on every word she ever had to say
She's a little too right, I'm a little too wrong
Now would be a good time to change but it's a little too late
Last night I came home at a quarter till three
And to my surprise she wasn't mad at me
I thought she finally realized not to worry, I'd be home
Then I realized this mornin' she was gone
Oh, I shoulda done this and I shoulda done that
I shoulda been there, then she'd-a never left
I shoulda been hangin' on every word she ever had to say
But it's a little too late, she's a little too gone
She's a little too right, I'm a little too wrong
Now would be a good time to change but it's a little too late
But it's a little too late, she's a little too gone
She's a little too right, I'm a little too wrong
Now would be the time to change but it's a little too late
Right now would be the time to change but it's a little too late
The song It's A Little Too Late by Mark Chesnutt is a country ballad about a man who realizes too late that he has not been the kind of man his partner needed him to be. The song starts with the singer waking up and finding a list made by his partner placed next to him on the bed, detailing the kind of man he should have been for her. The regretful thoughts of what he should have done to make her stay and not give up on their relationship keep running through his head.
The second verse of the song explains that the singer comes home at a quarter until three in the morning, expecting his partner to be upset with him, but instead he finds that she is not angry. He thinks that she has finally learned to trust him again, but the next morning he wakes up to an empty house, realizing that it is too late to make things right. The chorus repeats the theme of the song, which is that it is now too late to change for her, and he now finds himself alone, realizing that she was right all along.
The lyrics of the song are simple and straightforward, but they convey a powerful message that many people can relate to: the regret of not doing enough and not changing when it mattered the most. The song's slow tempo and melody add to the mood of melancholy and the feeling of lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, early this morning it dawned on me
Having realized too late, he recounts the moment when he came to an understanding of the kind of man she needed him to be.
The kind of man she needed me to be
He acknowledges that he did not live up to her expectations and that he failed to embody the traits she needed in a partner.
She made a list and laid it there beside me on the bed
She gave him a clear outline of what she expected from him.
Now, what I shoulda done keeps runnin' through my head
He regrets not taking the necessary steps to meet her expectations and can't stop thinking about what he could have done differently.
Oh, I shoulda done this and I shoulda done that
He enumerates all the things he regrets not doing in order to have kept the relationship intact.
I shoulda been there, then she'd-a never left
He recognizes that his lack of presence is what contributed to the breakdown of the relationship.
I shoulda been hangin' on every word she ever had to say
He confesses to having failed to listen to her and acknowledge her feelings.
But it's a little too late, she's a little too gone
He admits that he has lost her and that he can no longer make amends for what he didn't do.
She's a little too right, I'm a little too wrong
He sees that she was justified in leaving him and that he was in the wrong in not fulfilling her expectations.
Now would be a good time to change but it's a little too late
He recognizes that he needs to change for the better, but understands that it is too little, too late to salvage the relationship.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Mark Chesnutt, Slugger Morrissette, Roger Springer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@robbieray1961
All Younger Generation This Is Real Country Not That Sam Hunt Crap That's On Country Radio Today
@MeadeSkeltonMusic
This was considered "modern" when I was a kid
@rover9300
Damn straight
@chadelkins9343
why can't country muisc be like this again, sick and tired of that todays crap country on radio. We need to get real country classic singers back.
@ryancoleman8914
chad elkins I agree, I don’t even listen to a radio station anymore because of the crap they play!
@safd2009
It is crap... on the radio at least. Go red dirt country or Americana. William clark green, wade Bowen, randy rodgers, lost dog street band...man there is alot of good cowboy an hillbilly out there still
@michaeleinherjer441
I agree
@michaeleinherjer441
The shit today is not country
@ryancoleman8914
Some just screech nowadays.
@jeffreeves4976
This is what country music is supposed to sound like!!