The PPL ultimately located itself in Columbus, Ohio (sixty miles north of Waverly), and the group had its first success in Cincinnati. The original stage band was made up of Fuller, McGrail, Powell, Phil Stokes on bass, and Robin Suskind on guitar and mandola. His steel guitar greatly improved on the guys' country songs and sparked hot guitar duels with Fuller that contributed greatly to the 'fusion' ethos of the band, its signature sound.
PPL’s biggest hits include Fuller’s country classic, "Amie", a piece released in 1972 that still attracts major airplay today due to its smooth, emotional sound. Some of their other tracks are “Two Lane Highway” and the musically less-representative pop song "Let Me Love You Tonight", which was composed by Jeff Wilson, Dan Greer, and Steve Woodard. Vince Gill, later to become one of Nashville’s biggest solo stars, sang and played guitar with the band in the early 80s and recorded a revised version of "Amie" for their greatest hits album.
In the late 90s, PPL was back with a lineup of Fuller, Connor, Reilly, Burr, Fats Kaplin (pedal steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, accordion, washboard) and Rich Schell (vocals, drums, percussion). After two years, in June 2000, Burr was succeeded by Curtis Wright (vocals, guitars). The group began work on a new album in 2002, but abandoned the sessions and separated once again (probably due to the illness of Connor). Connor died on September 9th, 2004 after a long battle with cancer.
Following Connor's death, the group resumed touring once more in 2004 with Fuller, Reilly, Schell, Wright and Kaplin (when available), and released All in Good Time in 2005, their first album in 18 years. This release appeared on the small Drifter's Church label.
Since this time, PPL have continued to tour playing a handful of shows every year. Reilly was unable to continue in 2006 after he was forced to undergo a liver transplant. Jack Sundrud (from Poco) came in to sub for Reilly, and Rick Plant also briefly did a stint on bass (before relocating to Australia in late 2006). Sundrud then returned. Reilly appeared at a few shows in May 2007, playing guitar, but was unable to come back full-time until 2008. Jeff "Stick" Davis (from Amazing Rhythm Aces) sat in on bass for Mike in 2007. Call played some concerts in 2006 & 2007, standing in for Kaplin, and Donnie Clark replaced Curtis Wright in 2006, after Wright joined Reba McEntire's band.
A fourteenth album was released in 2006, composed primarily of Craig Fuller songs, an echo of their very first album back in 1971.
tears
Pure Prairie League Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Smiles can't take their place
Living down hanging around try to understand
All you gotta do is hold my hand
You don't understand
Try to see the plan
'Cause if you start to fall into the things you did before
And it's high time you got something going
Everything you did 'til now is wrong
Looks like my time, I'd should be a knowing
I should find out before too long
And it's high time you got something going
Everything you did 'til now is wrong
Looks like my time, it should be a showin'
I should find out before too long
Well (I should find out before too long)
The lyrics to Pure Prairie League's song Tears are poetically melancholic and deal with themes of sadness, struggle, and hope. The opening lines, "Tears roll down my face, Smiles can't take their place" might suggest emotional turmoil that has left the singer in a state of sadness, unable to mask their pain with a smile. The following lines, "Living down hanging around try to understand, All you gotta do is hold my hand" might indicate that the singer is dealing with a challenging situation, and they are looking for someone to lean on for support.
The chorus implores the listener to try to understand and see the bigger picture, warning that if they fall back into old patterns and mistakes, they risk losing the singer's company. The last two lines of the chorus, "You ain't gonna see me anymore, And it's high time, You got something going," are particularly poignant in that they suggest the singer is willing to walk away from a situation that is not working for them. The last verse reiterates this point and implies that the singer has been through similar challenges before and has learned from these experiences. Overall, the song seems to be about the struggle to overcome personal trials and the importance of finding a way out of difficult circumstances.
Line by Line Meaning
Tears roll down my face
Crying uncontrollably
Smiles can't take their place
Happy moments can't replace the tears and sadness
Living down hanging around try to understand
Being patient and trying to comprehend the situation
All you gotta do is hold my hand
Being supportive and holding hands for comfort
You don't understand
Feeling misunderstood by someone
Try to see the plan
Trying to see the bigger picture and understand what's happening
Cause if you start to falling
If the person starts to fall back into their old ways
To the things you did before
Engaging in past behavior that caused sadness
You ain't gonna see me anymore
The person will no longer be around if the behavior continues
And it's high time
It's about time
You got something going
To start taking action and making positive changes
Everything you did till now was wrong
Past actions have not been successful and need to change
Look like my time
It seems like time
I'd should be a knowing
I should know what to do
I should find out before too long
I should figure out what to do soon
SOLO
Musical interlude
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Craig Lee Fuller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind