Born in Leno, Tennessee, Wright, as a youngster, began singing in the church. In 1956, while still in high school, he joined The Sunset Travelers as one of the lead singers for the gospel group. He later fronted a gospel music group, the Harmony Echoes. It was during this time that he was discovered (along with James Carr) by Roosevelt Jamison a songwriter and manager. Their first pop recording in 1964 was "That's How Strong My Love Is," a ballad later covered by Otis Redding and the Rolling Stones. It was issued on Goldwax, the label Wright signed to after leaving his gospel career. It was later determined that Don Robey still had him under a recording contract, due to his gospel group having recorded for Peacock. After his contract was shifted to Don Robey’s Back Beat label, further R&B hits followed. Working with record producer Willie Mitchell, success continued on songs including "Ace of Spades" and "A Nickel and a Nail".
Wright's hits were much more popular in the deep South. His biggest hits were "You're Gonna Make Me Cry" (R&B #6, 1965), "Eight Men, Four Women" (R&B #4, 1967) "Ace of Spades" (R&B #11, 1970), "A Nickel and a Nail" (R&B #19, 1971). The remainder of his 17 hits charted higher than #20 on the R&B charts.
However, Wright was imprisoned for narcotics offenses during the mid-1970s, and, despite signing for Hi Records and releasing a series of recordings, his commercial success failed to recover after his release. A continuing drug problem weakened his health and he died from a heart attack, in Mobile, Alabama at age 41.
Wright is among the most remembered voices of soul music, perhaps mostly for being sampled frequently in hip hop music. In 1996, his song, "Motherless Child" was sampled on the Ghostface Killah album Ironman on a song also called "Motherless Child." It and another Wright recording, "Let's Straighten It Out" have been published on Shaolin Soul, a compilation of tracks that have been sampled by the Wu Tang Clan and its members. "Let's Straighten It Out" was sampled in a Wu-Tang Clan song called "America" from the charity compilation album America Is Dying Slowly. "Ace of Spades" was sampled by Slim Thug and the Boss Hogg Outlawz on a song named "Recognize A Playa".
Johnny Rawls joined Wright's backing band in the mid-1970s, and played together with Wright until the latter's death in 1980. The band then continued billed as the O.V. Wright Band for another 13 years, and toured and performed with other musicians over this time span. These included B.B. King, Little Milton, Bobby Bland, Little Johnny Taylor, and Blues Boy Willie.
Heartaches Heartaches
O.V. Wright Lyrics
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But it ended like a bad dream
Curtain opened, heard the crowd roar
This one's a repeat, seen it before
Rewind to the start before it all went wrong
What's going on?
And they've forgotten it all
This ain't a movie that I wanna see
A tragic story, starring you and me
Yell "cut", we're stuck inside this scene
This is heartache on the big screen
The clock is ticking, and I'm out of time
The camera's rolling, and I forgot my lines
My script is ripped and now I see
This is heartache on the big screen
This is heartache on the big screen
Curtain closes on this cliché
A good story of a bad day
Back to square one, where I started
As I stand here, broken hearted
Fast forward to the end, after everyone's gone home, oh
And they have forgotten it all
This ain't a movie that I wanna see
A tragic story, starring you and me
Yell "cut", we're stuck inside this scene
This is heartache on the big screen
The clock is ticking, and I'm out of time
The camera's rolling, and I forgot my lines
My script is ripped and now I see
This is heartache on the big screen
If Hollywood could see me now
I'd get the starring role
But they won't so I'll just keep on acting a fool
This ain't a movie that I wanna see
A tragic story, starring you and me
Yell "cut", we're stuck inside this scene
Yeah
The clock is ticking, and I'm out of time
The camera's rolling, and I forgot my lines
My script is ripped and now I see
This is heartache on the big screen
This is heartache on the big screen
This is heartache on the big screen
The lyrics to O.V. Wright's "Heartaches Heartaches" use the metaphor of a movie to describe a romantic relationship gone wrong. The first verse talks about how it started out like a happy, idyllic movie, but eventually ended in heartbreak like a bad dream. The second verse brings up the idea of "rewinding" to the beginning to see where things went wrong, but then "fast forwarding" to the end where everything is forgotten. The chorus repeats the metaphor of heartbreak being like a movie, but this time with a specific title: "heartache on the big screen." The song ends with the singer lamenting that if life were a Hollywood movie, he'd get the starring role, but in reality he's just "acting a fool."
Line by Line Meaning
Started out like in the movies
At the beginning everything seemed perfect and picturesque like in the movies
But it ended like a bad dream
However, the situation ended in a horrible and nightmarish way
Curtain opened, heard the crowd roar
The story began to unfold and everyone was excited and invested in what was happening
This one's a repeat, seen it before
Yet it quickly became apparent that this was not an original or fresh story, but a tired and predictable one
Rewind to the start before it all went wrong
What's going on?
Let's go back to the beginning and figure out what happened to make things go so terribly wrong
Fast forward to the end, after everyone's gone home, oh
And they've forgotten it all
Looking ahead to the future, when time has passed and no one remembers what has transpired
This ain't a movie that I wanna see
A tragic story, starring you and me
Yell "cut", we're stuck inside this scene
This is heartache on the big screen
Realizing that this is not the kind of story they want to be living, but being unable to escape it because they are caught up in the drama
The clock is ticking, and I'm out of time
The camera's rolling, and I forgot my lines
My script is ripped and now I see
This is heartache on the big screen
Feeling like time is running out and they don't know how to get out of this situation, even though they know it is hurting them
Curtain closes on this cliché
A good story of a bad day
Back to square one, where I started
As I stand here, broken hearted
As the story comes to an end, they recognize that it is a tired and overused narrative, and they are left with the same pain they started with
If Hollywood could see me now
I'd get the starring role
But they won't so I'll just keep on acting a fool
Feeling like they are living in a movie, but knowing that no one is watching or directing them, so they are just flailing around trying to make sense of it all
Yeah
The clock is ticking, and I'm out of time
The camera's rolling, and I forgot my lines
My script is ripped and now I see
This is heartache on the big screen
This is heartache on the big screen
This is heartache on the big screen
Repeating the chorus, emphasizing the pain and helplessness they feel in this situation
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: LUKE HEMMINGS, CALUM HOOD, MICHAEL CLIFFORD, ASHTON IRWIN, DANNY LANCASTER, MIKE DUCE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind