Stewart's music career began in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica. In 1963, he joined The Dimensions as a harmonica player and vocalist. In 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars before moving to the Jeff Beck Group in 1967. Joining Faces in 1969, he also maintained a solo career releasing his debut album that year. Stewart's early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music, and R&B. His third album, 1971's Every Picture Tells a Story, was his breakthrough, topping the charts in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, as did its ballad "Maggie May". His 1972 follow-up album, Never a Dull Moment, also reached number one in the UK and Australia, while going top three in the US and Canada. Its single, "You Wear It Well", topped the chart in the UK and was a moderate hit elsewhere.
After Stewart had a handful more UK top ten hits, the Faces broke up in 1975. Stewart's next few hit singles were ballads with "Sailing", off the 1975 UK and Australian number-one album, Atlantic Crossing, becoming a hit in the UK and the Netherlands (number one), Germany (number four) and other countries, but barely charting in North America. A Night on the Town (1976), his fifth straight chart-topper in the UK, began a three-album run of going number one or top three in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia with each release. That album's "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" spent almost two months at number one in the US and Canada, and made the top five in other countries. Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977) contained the hit "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" as well as the rocker "Hot Legs". Blondes Have More Fun (1978) and its disco-tinged "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" both went to number one in Canada, Australia and the US, with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" also hitting number one in the UK and the top ten in other countries. Stewart's albums regularly hit the upper rungs of the charts in the Netherlands throughout the 70s and in Sweden from 1975 onward.
After a disco and new wave period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stewart's music turned to a soft rock/middle-of-the-road style, with most of his albums reaching the top ten in the UK, Germany and Sweden, but faring less well in the US. The single "Rhythm of My Heart" was a top five hit in the UK, US and other countries, with its source album, 1991's Vagabond Heart, becoming, at number ten in the US and number two in the UK, his highest-charting album in a decade. In 1993, he collaborated with Bryan Adams and Sting on the power ballad "All for Love", which went to number one in many countries. In the early 2000s, he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook.
In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists". A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at No. 33 in Q Magazine's list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time. As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and he was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Stewart
Studio albums
An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (1969)
Gasoline Alley (1970)
Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)
Never a Dull Moment (1972)
Smiler (1974)
Atlantic Crossing (1975)
A Night on the Town (1976)
Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977)
Blondes Have More Fun (1978)
Foolish Behaviour (1980)
Tonight I'm Yours (1981)
Body Wishes (1983)
Camouflage (1984)
Every Beat of My Heart (1986)
Out of Order (1988)
Vagabond Heart (1991)
A Spanner in the Works (1995)
When We Were the New Boys (1998)
Human (2001)
It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook (2002)
As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook, Volume II (2003)
Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III (2004)
Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Volume IV (2005)
Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time (2006)
Soulbook (2009)
Once in a Blue Moon: The Lost Album (2010)
Fly Me to the Moon... The Great American Songbook Volume V (2010)
Merry Christmas, Baby (2012)
Time (2013)
Another Country (2015)
Blood Red Roses (2018)
The Tears of Hercules (2021)
My Heart Can't Tell Me No
Rod Stewart Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To come round here no more
I beg you for mercy
You don't know how strong
My weakness is
Or how much it hurts me
Cause when you said it over with him
I want to believe it's true
I'm gonna wake up missing you
Wake up missing you
When the one you love's
In love with someone else
Don't you know it's torture
I mean it's a living hell
No matter how I try to convince myself
This time I won't lose control
One look in your blue eyes
And suddenly my heart can't tell you no
I don't want you
To call me up no more
Saying you need me
You're crazy if you think
Just half your love
Could ever please me
Still I want to hold you, touch you
When you look at me that way
There's only one solution I know
You gotta stay away from me
Stay away from me
When the one you love's
In love with someone else
Don't you know it's torture
I mean it's a living hell
No matter how I try to convince myself
This time I won't lose control
One look in your sad eyes
And suddenly my heart can't tell you no
My Heart can't tell you no
I don't want you
To come round here no more
I beg you for mercy
You don't know how strong
My weakness is
Or how much it hurts me
Cause when you say its over with him
I want to believe it's true
So I let you in knowing tomorrow
I'm gonna wake up missing you
Wake up missing you
When the one you love's
In love with someone else
Don't you know it's torture
I mean it's a living hell, a living hell
When the one you love's
In love with someone else
Don't you know it's torture
I mean it's a living hell, a living hell
The lyrics to Rod Stewart's My Heart Can't Tell You No tell the story of a man who is desperately in love with a woman who continually returns to him after being with someone else. The first verse starts with the man pleading with the woman to stay away because of how much it hurts him to be with her. He knows that his weakness is her, and he can't keep himself from letting her into his life, even though he knows he will just wake up missing her tomorrow. The chorus emphasizes the torture that comes with loving someone who is in love with someone else. The man tries to convince himself that he won't lose control, but one look in her blue eyes changes everything, and suddenly his heart can't tell her no.
The second verse shows the man growing stronger in his resolve but still painfully in love with the woman. He doesn't want her to call him and say she needs him because he knows that just half her love could never please him. He wants to hold her, touch her, and be with her, but he knows that the only solution is for her to stay away from him.
The final chorus repeats the theme of torture and living hell that comes from loving someone who is in love with someone else. The man can't help but be drawn to the woman, even though he knows it will only bring him pain.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't want you
The singer does not want the person addressed to be around anymore.
To come round here no more
The singer does not want the person addressed to visit anymore.
I beg you for mercy
The singer is pleading for mercy from the person addressed.
You don't know how strong
The person addressed does not know the extent of the artist's emotions.
My weakness is
The artist is referring to their emotional vulnerability as a weakness.
Or how much it hurts me
The person addressed does not know how much their actions have hurt the singer.
Cause when you said it over with him
The singer is referring to the person addressed breaking up with someone else.
I want to believe it's true
The artist wants to believe the person addressed is telling them the truth.
So I let you in knowing tomorrow
The artist allowed the person addressed back into their life despite knowing the inevitable pain of tomorrow.
I'm gonna wake up missing you
The artist will wake up and miss the person addressed.
When the one you love's
The singer is referring to the person addressed.
In love with someone else
The person addressed is in love with someone else.
Don't you know it's torture
The singer is stating that the pain caused by loving someone who loves someone else is torturous.
I mean it's a living hell
The singer is emphasizing the unbearable pain of loving someone who loves someone else.
No matter how I try to convince myself
The singer cannot convince themselves to stop loving the person addressed.
This time I won't lose control
The artist is trying to exercise control over their emotions this time.
One look in your blue eyes
The artist is referring to the eye color of the person addressed.
And suddenly my heart can't tell you no
The singer cannot resist their emotions and desires for the person addressed.
I don't want you
The singer repeats their desire for the person addressed to stay away.
To call me up no more
The artist does not want the person addressed to call them anymore.
Saying you need me
The artist is referring to the person addressed saying they need them.
You're crazy if you think
The artist believes the person addressed is delusional if they think just half of their love will please the artist.
Just half your love
The singer is referring to the person addressed only giving them a portion of their love.
Could ever please me
The artist is stating that they will not be pleased with just a portion of the person addressed's love.
Still I want to hold you, touch you
The singer desires physical contact with the person addressed despite their emotional pain.
When you look at me that way
The singer is referring to the person addressed's gaze.
There's only one solution I know
The singer has only one solution to avoid further pain and that is for the person addressed to stay away.
You gotta stay away from me
The artist repeats their desire for the person addressed to stay away.
When the one you love's
The artist is once again referring to the person addressed.
In love with someone else
The person addressed is in love with someone else.
Don't you know it's torture
The singer is emphasizing the pain of loving someone who does not love them back.
I mean it's a living hell, a living hell
The artist is once again emphasizing the unbearable emotional pain they are experiencing.
My Heart can't tell you no
The artist's heart cannot resist their emotions and desires for the person addressed.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dennis Morgan, Simon Climie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind