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.
The Hard Way
Owsley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Holdin' on for dear life
To a plastic cup of change
Black kid in the bathroom
Sellin' cigarettes and perfume
To the hopeless and the strange
I stumble through the mezzanine
Neon lights and nicotine
One more day, one more week, one more loosing streak
But one more chance is all I need
It's always waiting for you
To save you or destroy you
***chorus***
Roll on
I've been trying to make this pay for
So long
Let me learn the hard way
Let me learn the hard way
***
Time don't exist in here
I'm counting out the hours
By every beer that comes around
I'm breathing in the oxygen
The call girls and the slot machines
And the roulette spinnin' round
Cause I can never hold I just go on until I fold
Until I'm battered broke and bruised
Anything I win
Well I just throw it all back in
Until there's nothing left to loose
It's always waiting for you
To save you or destroy you
***chorus***
She's always waiting for me
To love me or ignore me
***chorus***
The lyrics of Owsley's song The Hard Way paint a somber picture of a man's life who seems to be stuck in a cycle of desperation and addiction. The song starts with an elderly woman holding onto a plastic cup of change, seemingly with no hope. Tucked away in a bathroom is a young black boy selling cigarettes and perfume, attempting to make a few bucks by preying on the hopeless and strange. The singer stumbles through the mezzanine, surrounded by neon lights and the smell of nicotine, a place where the sound and smell of greed is all too common.
As he counts down his life by each beer that comes around, he breathes in the oxygen of the casino, the call girls, and slot machines, and the roulette spinning around. The lyrics suggest that he can never hold on to anything, and he goes on until he folds, until he's battered, broke, and bruised. He throws away anything he wins, with the hope that one more chance would be enough. It's always waiting for him, to save or destroy him, but he chooses to learn the hard way.
The chorus of the song emphasizes this by saying, "Roll on, I've been trying to make this pay for so long. Let me learn the hard way, let me learn the hard way." The last line suggests his willingness to learn things the hard way, as if it's his only chance to make it.
Line by Line Meaning
That woman must be 85
Observation about an elderly woman in the vicinity
Holdin' on for dear life
The elderly woman is gripping her possessions tightly
To a plastic cup of change
The woman is holding onto a cup filled with coins
Black kid in the bathroom
Description of a person in the bathroom
Sellin' cigarettes and perfume
The person in the bathroom is selling cigarettes and perfume
To the hopeless and the strange
The people buying the cigarettes and perfume are described as hopeless and strange
I stumble through the mezzanine
The singer is walking unsteadily on the mezzanine
Neon lights and nicotine
Description of the surroundings on the mezzanine
The sound and smell of greed
The atmosphere is characterized by the sounds and smells of greed
One more day, one more week, one more losing streak
The artist feels trapped in a pattern of losing
But one more chance is all I need
The singer is hoping for a chance to change their fortunes
It's always waiting for you
The opportunity for success or failure is always present
To save you or destroy you
The opportunity can lead to salvation or ruin
***chorus***
Refrain about wanting to learn the hard way
Time don't exist in here
The singer feels lost in the present moment
I'm counting out the hours
Despite feeling disconnected from time, the artist is still measuring it
By every beer that comes around
The passing of time is marked by the arrival of beers
I'm breathing in the oxygen
The singer is taking deep breaths
The call girls and the slot machines
Description of the surroundings
And the roulette spinnin' round
The sound of the roulette wheel is heard
Cause I can never hold I just go on until I fold
The artist can't resist the urge to keep gambling
Until I'm battered broke and bruised
The artist gambles until they have nothing left
Anything I win
The singer occasionally wins while gambling
Well I just throw it all back in
The artist immediately gambles their winnings
Until there's nothing left to loose
The singer has nothing left to gamble
She's always waiting for me
A woman is waiting for the singer
To love me or ignore me
The woman is either going to show affection or indifference towards the singer
***chorus***
Refrain about wanting to learn the hard way
Writer(s): Simon Petty, James Michael, Will Owsley Copyright: Little Big Guy Music, Minibar Music, Owsley Music Publishing, Warner-tamerlane Publishing Corp., WB Music Corp.
Contributed by Nolan V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.