William Owsley III (March 6, 1966-April 30, 2010), better known by the stag… Read Full Bio ↴William Owsley III (March 6, 1966-April 30, 2010), better known by the stage name Owsley, was a power pop singer-songwriter from Anniston, Alabama. Owsley released two albums - "Owsley" (1999) and "The Hard Way" (2004) before his death in 2010.

He was also the lead singer for the power pop group The Semantics and was the guitarist for Amy Grant's band from 1994 to 2010.

It seems like such a phony platitude that doing things the hard way is the most rewarding. Of course, anyone with a shred of sense, or anyone who has done something the hard way can tell you that the spoils are greater, and so is the sense of accomplishment. But it’d be nice if things came more easily.

For singer-songwriter-rocker Owsley, it’s been a pretty easy ride. Music came to him naturally through a richly musical family. Now that’s typical for most talented folks—that the music comes easy—the hard part is getting folks to listen. That’s what he’s talking about on his new album, The Hard Way, even though the Anniston, Alabama native will tell you, “It’s about a lot of things.”

So is Owsley. As a youngster, he played guitar along to the radio bands like Wings, KISS, and The Cars, matching licks with his older brother, Bud. This morphed into writing songs of his own, 4-track bedroom recording sessions (his penchant for multi-tracking vocals explains the plethora of big choruses on The Hard Way), underage bar gigs with cover bands—he’d do anything to scratch the musical itch.

Eventually he made the pros: his guitar prowess landed him a gig with funk-pop pioneer Judson Spence with whom Owsley played around the world and appeared on MTV in Spence's videos. Subsequently, a pre-fame Ben Folds introduced him to Millard Powers, and the two would form the legendary power-pop trio The Semantics with Zak Starkey (their lone album, Powerbill, released only in Japan, is now hot property). This led to Owsley joining Amy Grant’s touring band in 1994, a gig he holds today. Playing with Grant enabled Owsley to create a musical playground/home studio, not to mention spend time off writing and recording his own music. In 1999, he released Owsley on Giant Records, garnering raves for the anthemic power-pop songs (“I’m Alright” was a minor hit) and a Grammy™ nomination for his engineering efforts.

Owsley next crossed paths with his musical hero, legendary producer Mutt Lange. Lange, equally enamored with Owsley, hired him to play guitar and sing the duet, “No One Needs to Know” with Lange’s wife, Shania Twain live on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Today Show,” “Regis & Kathy Lee” and “The American Country Music Awards.”

Then came the hard part: Giant fell victim to corporate mergers and boarded up the windows within a year of Owsley hitting shelves. Rather than be swept up in the swirling flush, Owsley began writing and recording another album, The Hard Way.

Again produced and performed almost entirely by Owsley in his home studio, The Hard Way continues Owsley’s fascination with perfect pop tunes—big choruses and big words set to lush, exhilarating arrangements. “I’m a sucker for an anthem,” says Owsley, explaining how the lead track “Be With You” is a love song to “God and woman, not just to woman,” and an expression of a yearning to for spiritual, interpersonal and terrestrial connections. You can’t help but ache with him when he sings:

“I wanna know how it feels to believe in something/ride on the heels of a good thing comin’/run to the one thing I know is something true…/I wanna live my life like I know the meaning/deep inside my soul I hear the music screamin’/eyes wide open so I’m awake and dreaming, too.”

“Undone” and “She’s The One” are likewise transcendent, explosive examples of songs you sing in the car or the shower, but also out loud at inopportune times because you just can’t help it. But Owsley is also a first-rate balladeer, able to convey as much sorrow in a sad song as he does joy in a fist-pumping anthem. “Matriarch,” written for Owsley’s departed grandmother, is a piano ballad in the great AM-radio style of Carole King and Gerry Goffin, with nods to Todd Rundgren and Jeff Lynne on the FM side. And like those songwriters, you feel every word and every note in your blood.

He’s also a startling analyst, able to extract the most significance from his surroundings and his and others’ situations, and pair it with vivid detail. For instance, the folksy title track, where he draws parallels between a gambling addict and his life in music.

“I hate casinos,” Owsley opines. “They’re gross, to me. You know, no clocks, drinks for free, pumpin' in oxygen through the air vents, no windows, call girls, smell of cigarettes.” Like the losers at the tables, Owsley is begging for a lesson—“Let me learn the hard way.” He explains, “I guess the message is I’ll never learn. I keep getting hit in the face, and keep getting back up to get it again.”

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In making The Hard Way, Owsley has experienced a lesson he skipped by performing side and session gigs and writing in the wings. He’s learned that he must be a master of the results. “I guess,” he says, “in a world of pretenders, I’m a contender. Sorry if that sounds egotistical; I still have so much to learn, but most of the people on the radio today probably started playing guitar last week. And I’ve been doing this and preparing for today since birth—no kidding. It’s all I ever wanted, to be a legitimate player, writer, producer, and performer.”

All this… on his terms. He says, “it feels good to make music again, and for the right reasons. I’m optimistic about the future but most importantly want to be loyal to the fans that have stuck by me through thick and thin. This record is really for them.”

Not that he’s opposed to doing it again, or consigned to indie life. He’s learned some lessons, but he’d still take another shot at the spoils. “The final chapter has not been written. Who knows what will happen? Right now, all that matters is we’re taking control and doing it our way. The Hard Way.”

Sadly, Will Owsley died on April 30, 2010 at the age of 44 of what the Tennessean reported to be "an apparent suicide". He is survived by 2 sons, his ex-wife and his wonderful music.

Sentimental Favorite
Owsley Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Waiting for someone to finish the story
Of a heart that's been broken and thrown on the floor
Picking up pieces to put back together
Hoping it beats like before
It's all between you
And it's all between me
But in-between the lines what could it mean
When you say what you mean

Do ya mean what ya say
Am I the sentimental favorite of the day?
I am the coat that you keep in your closet
That you pull up around you whenever it's cold
It's not the weather that keeps us together
It's the warmth of my hand that you hold
(Tell me baby what you see is it me?)
Are you looking for tenderness?
(Said the sentimental favorite of the day)

Please be sincere, my dear, with me
Can I solve your mystery?

Overall Meaning

In Owsley's song Sentimental Favorite, the lyrics are about someone waiting for someone else to finish a story about a heart that has been broken and thrown on the floor. The singer is trying to put the pieces back together, hoping that their heart beats like before. The lyrics ask whether the words spoken by the other person are sincere and whether the singer is just the sentimental favorite of the day. Owsley sings about being the coat that the other person keeps in their closet, pulled up around them whenever it's cold. It is not the weather that keeps them together but rather the warmth of their hands that they hold onto.

The lyrics are about seeking reassurance, understanding, and genuine connection. The singer is asking if they are just being kept around because they are comfortable or if there is real love between them. It is a vulnerable position to be in, and the song captures this feeling perfectly. The lyrics also explore the idea that relationships are often complicated and not clear cut, with emotions and intentions not always matching up.

Line by Line Meaning

Waiting for someone to finish the story
Anticipating someone to reveal the end of a narrative

Of a heart that's been broken and thrown on the floor
Regarding the experience of a damaged and disregarded heart

Picking up pieces to put back together
Collecting fragments to reassemble

Hoping it beats like before
Optimistically wishing for normalcy

It's all between you
It's solely your decision

And it's all between me
It's exclusively my choice

But in-between the lines what could it mean
Though implied, what could be the significance

When you say what you mean
When you express exactly what you intend

Do ya mean what ya say
Do you actually want what you ask for

Am I the sentimental favorite of the day?
Is my emotional attachment temporary?

I am the coat that you keep in your closet
I'm an item you stow away