Cash released her first single in 1979, a duet with Bobby Bare called "We Don't Need No Memories Hangin' 'Round". Two years later, she had her first country No. 1 (and the biggest commercial hit of her career), "Seven Year Ache". Although Cash was a prominent country star throughout the '80s, alongside fellow decade-defining artists Emmylou Harris, Juice Newton, and Dolly Parton, her music was anything but traditional: She topped the charts with songs written not only by herself, but by her father ("Tennessee Flat Top Box"), John Hiatt ("The Way We Make a Broken Heart"), Tom Petty ("Never Be You") and the Beatles ("I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"), "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me", which won her a Grammy in 1985, and "It's Such a Small World", a 1987 duet with Rodney Crowell on his album Diamonds & Dirt, provided further hits. A sampling of these songs and more are included on the compilation Hits 1979-1989. In 1979, she married Rodney Crowell, who was to produce most of her hit records. Their stormy marriage lasted until 1992; its break-up is chronicled in Cash's Interiors and in Crowell's album Life Is Messy. Cash later married John Leventhal, who produced her albums The Wheel, 10 Song Demo, Rules of Travel, and Black Cadillac.
To date, Cash has had more than twenty top 40 country singles, including eleven chart-toppers, but none since 1990, and she has left Nashville in both spirit and body to pursue her artistic vision. Although she had recorded all of her hits for Columbia Records' Nashville division, she released 10 Song Demo for the pop division of Capitol. Cash resurfaced in 2003 with Rules of Travel. The album features guest appearances by Sheryl Crow and Steve Earle, as well as a tune penned by Joe Henry and the Wallflowers' Jakob Dylan. Cash's latest album, entitled Black Cadillac, was released by Capitol Records in January 2006 to critical acclaim. Many of the songs were written by Cash and address the losses (within a 24-month span) of her step-mother, her father, her step-sister (Rosey Nix Adams) and then finally her mother on Cash's fiftieth birthday.
Silver Wings
Rosanne Cash Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shinning in the sunlight,
Roaring engines
Headed somewhere in flight.
Their taking you away, leaving me lonely,
Silver wings
Slowly fading from sight.
Don't take that airplane ride.
But you locked me out of your life.
Left me standing here behind.
Silver wings
Shining in the sunlight,
Roaring engines
Headed somewhere in flight.
Their taking you away, leaving me lonely.
Silver wings
Slowly fading from sight.
Don't leave me I cry,
Don't take that airplane ride.
But you locked me out of your life.
Left me standing here behind.
Silver wings
Shining in the sunlight,
Roaring engines
Headed somewhere in flight,
They're taking you away, leaving me lonely.
Silver wings
Slowly fading from sight.
Slowly fading from sight.
In the song "Silver Wings", Rosanne Cash and Rufus Wainwright sing about the pain and loneliness of losing someone when they leave on a plane. The lyrics describe the silver wings of the plane shining in the sunlight while the roaring engines take off to somewhere in flight, leaving the singer behind. The singer pleads with the person not to leave, crying for them to not take that airplane ride. However, the person has locked the singer out of their life, leaving them standing there feeling lonely and forgotten as the silver wings slowly fade out of sight.
The song captures the heartbreaking feeling of someone leaving, the pain of not being able to hold onto someone you care about, and the feeling of being left behind. The pleading in the lyrics shows how desperate the singer is to hold onto their loved one, while the repetition of the chorus highlights the inevitability of their departure. The song's somber melody and slow pace contribute to the overall mood of sadness and loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Silver wings
Referring to the airplane; a symbol of the singer's lover leaving her
Shining in the sunlight,
A description of how the silver wings sparkle and reflect sunlight
Roaring engines
The sound of the airplane's engines as it prepares to take off
Headed somewhere in flight.
The airplane is flying to a destination, unknown to the artist
They're taking you away, leaving me lonely,
The artist is expressing her sadness at being left behind as her lover flies away
Silver wings
The airplane and its symbolic meaning to the singer
Slowly fading from sight.
The airplane is disappearing from view as it becomes smaller in the distance
Don't leave me I cry,
The artist pleads with her lover not to leave her
Don't take that airplane ride.
The artist begs her lover to stay and not to fly away
But you locked me out of your life.
The artist feels abandoned by her lover and shut out of their relationship
Left me standing here behind.
The singer is left behind as her lover moves on without her
Slowly fading from sight.
The same as before, serves to reinforce the image of the airplane flying away and disappearing from view.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Merle Haggard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind