Robert Cray (born August 1, 1953, Columbus, Georgia) is an American blues g… Read Full Bio ↴Robert Cray (born August 1, 1953, Columbus, Georgia) is an American blues guitarist and singer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has led his own band (the Robert Cray Band), as well as an acclaimed solo career. In 2011, Cray was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame.

While Cray was among artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and George Thorogood who got wider radio airplay and regular MTV video exposure during the late 1980s, he started playing guitar in his early teens. At Denbigh High School in Newport News, Virginia, his love of blues and soul music flourished as he started collecting records. Originally, Robert Cray wanted to become an architect, but at about the same time he was going to study design in architecture he formed a local band "Steakface", described as "the best band from Lakewood you never heard of". Cray on guitar and vocals contributed greatly to Steakface's set list of songs by Jimi Hendrix, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Fleetwood Mac, the Grease Band, Blodwyn Pig, Jethro Tull, Forever More, Spirit, and The Faces.

By the time he was twenty, Cray had seen his heroes Albert Collins, Freddie King and Muddy Waters in concert, and decided to form his own band. His band started playing college towns on the west coast. After several years of regional success, Cray was signed to Mercury Records in 1982. His third release, Strong Persuader, received a Grammy Award, while the crossover single "Smokin' Gun" gave him wider appeal and name recognition.

By then Cray was an opening act for such major stars as Eric Clapton (who remains a friend to this day), and sold out larger venues as a solo artist. Cray has generally played Fender guitars (Telecasters and Stratocasters) and there are two signature Robert Cray Stratocasters models available from Fender.

Cray continues to record and tour.

Across the Line
Robert Cray Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There's so many reasons
A man will commit a crime
Frustration's gnawin' at him
Twisting up his mind

He's tickin' like a bomb
That may go off at any time

I'm not here to make excuses
I didn't walk into it blind

It was plain old greed
Took something that wasn't mine

It was the weakness for a woman
That made me step across the line

What made it so bad
Was that I had a woman of my own

And she never did wrong to me
Almost did her best to make our home

From these cheatin' seeds I planted
Some big-time grief has grown

There's never been a man who's lived a perfect life
I cut three hearts to pieces
Didn't even use a knife
I didn't have the common decency
To lay off my brother's wife

(Saxophone solo)

(Guitar solo)

No they won't put me in prison
I'll be doing some hard time

Child supporting alimony
Taking my very last dime

I didn't think about the damage
When I stepped across the line

Overall Meaning

The Robert Cray Band's song "Across the Line" is a tale of guilt resulting from an act of infidelity. The opening lines suggest that the singer is struggling with inner turmoil that has driven him to commit a crime. He acknowledges the possibility of his imminent explosion with a ticking bomb metaphor. However, he is quick to deny any excuses, but rather justifies that his wrongdoing was motivated by greed and the weakness of the flesh, the temptation of another woman. His crime only magnified as his brother's wife was the target of his infidelity, contributing to the complexity of a situation that leaves him with regrets.

The chorus of the song expresses the weight of his guilt, as he acknowledges the magnitude of the bad choices he made. The singer underscores that he had his own woman and a stable home but allowed himself to be lured into the disloyalty, becoming the "cheating seeds" that have grown into grief for all involved parties, including his own family. He laments that he didn't have the decency to keep away from his brother's wife and tore apart three hearts with selfish actions.

Across the Line delivers a strong message about the power of guilt and regret, bitterness and forgiveness, and the consequences of cheating. It reflects the sufferings and troubles the character has to face after crossing the boundaries set by society. It could be interpreted as a warning to those who may find themselves tangled in a similar web of deceit and infidelity.

Line by Line Meaning

There's so many reasons
There are various reasons

A man will commit a crime
that lead a man to commit a crime

Frustration's gnawin' at him
That put a lot of frustration on him

Twisting up his mind
which twisted his mind

He's tickin' like a bomb
He's like a ticking bomb

That may go off at any time
who can go off at any time.

I'm not here to make excuses
I'm not here to justify myself

I didn't walk into it blind
I didn't do it without thinking

It was plain old greed
It was simply greed

Took something that wasn't mine
and took something that didn't belong to me

It was the weakness for a woman
It was the vulnerability towards a woman