A pioneering rock and roll musician (and cousin to fellow rockabilly pioneer Dale Hawkins) known as "Rompin' Ronnie" Hawkins or "The Hawk", he was a key player in the 1960s rock scene in Toronto and for the next 40 years, performed all over North America, recording more than twenty-five albums. His best-known hits are "Forty Days" and "Mary Lou" (about the song narrator's experiences with a gold-digging woman), both were major hits for him in 1959.
At the age of nine, his family moved to nearby Fayetteville. After graduating from high school, he studied physical education at the University of Arkansas where he formed his first band, The Hawks, touring with them throughout Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Hawkins also owned and operated the Rockwood Club in Fayetteville where some of Rock music's earliest pioneers came to play including Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Conway Twitty.
In 1958, he moved to Canada with the Hawks and made Peterborough, Ontario, his permanent home. Gradually the members of the Hawks, except for Levon Helm, were replaced with talented Canadians Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson. This was the line-up that was to later become The Band.
His 1984 LP, 'Making It Again', garnered him a Juno Award as Canada's best Country Male Vocalist. Playing with The Band, Hawkins helped tear down the Berlin Wall in 1989 and performed at President Bill Clinton's 1992 inaugural party. In addition to his music, he has also become an accomplished actor, hosting his own television show "Honky Tonk" in the early 1980s and appearing in such films as Heaven's Gate with his friend Kris Kristofferson and Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II.
October 4, 2002 was declared "Ronnie Hawkins Day" by the city of Toronto when Hawkins was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in recognition of his lifetime contribution to music and his generous support of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario and other charitable organizations. Ronnie Hawkins was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame at the Canadian Music Industry Awards on March 4, 2004. His pioneering contribution to the genre has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
In 2005, he was awarded an honorary degree from Laurentian University.
Further On Up the Road
Ronnie Hawkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
Further on up the road, baby, just you wait and see
You gotta reap just what you sow; that old saying is true
You gotta reap just what you sow; that old saying is true
Just like you mistreat someone, someone's gonna mistreat you
You been laughing, pretty baby, someday you're gonna be crying
Further on up the road you'll find out I wasn't lying
Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
Further on up the road, baby, just you wait and see
These lyrics talk about the inevitability of consequences and karma for one's actions. The singer warns his ex-lover that eventually, someone else will hurt her just as she hurt him. He references the saying "you gotta reap just what you sow," indicating that she will face repercussions for the way she treated him. The singer also notes that she has been laughing, but one day she will be crying, suggesting that she will experience the same pain and heartbreak that she caused him. The repetition of the phrase "further on up the road" emphasizes that the negative consequences may not happen immediately, but they will eventually catch up to her.
Line by Line Meaning
Further on up the road someone's gonna hurt you like you hurt me
Just as I have been hurt by you, someone is bound to hurt you the same way in the future
Further on up the road, baby, just you wait and see
As time goes by, you will eventually experience the pain you caused someone else
You gotta reap just what you sow; that old saying is true
The consequences of your actions will eventually come back to you
Just like you mistreat someone, someone's gonna mistreat you
When you harm others, it's likely that someone will harm you in return
You been laughing, pretty baby, someday you're gonna be crying
You may be enjoying yourself now, but eventually you will suffer the same way you made others suffer
Further on up the road you'll find out I wasn't lying
In the future, you will realize that everything I told you was true
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DON ROBEY, M VEASEY JOE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind