Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York, USA, to folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle (they divorced while he was a child). He began to play the piano at age six, and by age thirteen he was touring with his sister Martha Wainwright, mother Kate, and aunt Anna as the McGarrigle Sisters and Family.
His song I'm A-Runnin', which he performed in the movie Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller (in which he also played a minor character), was nominated for the 1989 Genie Award for Best Original Song and earned him a nomination for the 1990 Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist.
He lived in Montreal with his mother for most of his childhood and briefly attended McGill University, where he studied both classical and 'rock' piano. Some of his songs feature his mastery of French. Wainwright still maintains a residence in Canada.
He came out as gay while still a teen.
Wainwright became interested in opera throughout his adolescent years (for instance, his track Barcelona features lyrics of Giuseppe Verdi). He also became an enthusiast of such performers as Édith Piaf, Al Jolson and Judy Garland.
After having been a fixture on the Montreal club circuit, Wainwright cut a series of demo tapes, one of which found itself in the hands of DreamWorks executive Lenny Waronker. The label signed him and he released the self-titled Rufus Wainwright album in the spring of 1998. This album received much critical acclaim in Canada, and was recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best albums of the year. Wainwright's second album, Poses (2001), brought similar acclaim.
Wainwright's first main exposure to the American public came as an opener to singer Tori Amos in 2001 and 2002. He garnered praise for his performance and began touring as a main act shortly afterwards. He has frequently toured as the opener for Sting and co-headlined with Ben Folds and Guster in the summer of 2004. He still often performs with his sister Martha Wainwright (now herself an emerging artist) on backup vocals. Despite a growing cult following and critical acclaim, Wainwright has experienced only marginal commercial success in the United States.
In addition to being a pianist, Wainwright is a guitarist, often switching between the two instruments when performing live; however, his mastery of the guitar does not approach his talent with the piano within the Piano rock genre. While some of his most moving songs feature just Wainwright with his piano, many of his songs display complex layering and harmonies, occasionally comprising hundreds of individual parts. Wainwright is an avid opera fan, and the influences on his music are evident, as well as his love of Schubert 'Lieder'; his music has been described as "Popera" (Pop Opera) or "Baroque Pop." His lyrics are filled with allusions to opera, literature, pop culture, and, more recently, politics (in songs such as Gay Messiah and Waiting for a Dream). Wainwright is a recovering crystal meth addict and a rape survivor; he uses the press to bring awareness to these societal problems.
His talent has been widely recognized and praised by such artists as Elton John, Morrissey, John Mayer, and Sting, and he continues to influence artists like Keane, Alanis Morissette, Scissor Sisters, and Ben Folds.
Wainwright's Want Two, from which four songs were released as the EP Waiting for a Want, was released by DreamWorks/Geffen on November 16, 2004. It is a companion to the 2003 release Want One. His latest, a live iTunes Sessions EP entitled Alright Already, was released March 15, 2005. A DVD entitled All I Want, featuring a biographical documentary, music videos, and live performances, was released on both sides of the Atlantic in summer 2005. The same year was also notable for two major contributions as solo vocalist to a pair of important records: the Mercury Prize winning I am a Bird Now and At This Time.
The pair of Want albums was repackaged as Want for a late November 2005 release to coincide with the start of a British tour. The version of Want One is that which contains the two extra songs Es Mus Sein and Velvet Curtain Rag. The Want (Want One and Want Two combined) package in the UK has two new extra tracks: Chelsea Hotel No. 2 and In with the Ladies, which replace Coeur de Parisienne — Reprise d'Arletty and Quand Vous Mourez de Nos Amours from 2004's augmented edition.
Rufus' fifth studio album Release the Stars was released by Geffen on May 15, 2007. The album was executive produced by Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys and featured Richard Thompson, Teddy Thompson, Martha Wainwright, Kate McGarrigle, Neil Tennant, Joan Wasser, Julianna Raye, Larry Mullins - pka Toby Dammit and Sian Phillips.[14]. It reached number 2 in the UK and debuted at number 23 in the USA. The first single of the album, "Going To A Town" was released on April 3, 2007 on the iTunes music store.
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall is his sixth album. It is a live recording of his June 2006 tribute concert to Judy Garland. Backed by a 36-piece orchestra under the conduction of Stephen Oremus, Wainwright recreated Garland's April 23, 1961 concert, often considered "the greatest night in show business history." After overcoming many personal problems, her comeback performance of 25+ American standards spawned the double album, "Judy at Carnegie Hall."
As well as Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, Wainwright has appeared in the films The Aviator and Heights. Rufus has music in the film Brokeback Mountain, for which he recorded The Maker Makes and King of the Road, as well as a minor cameo as a guitar player.
Wainwright released his sixth studio album All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu in March 2010. In stark contrast to the lush ornamentation of Release The Stars, the album is a simple voice and piano rendition of a song cycle that includes versions of three Shakespeare sonnets, and an excerpt from his 2009 opera Prima Donna.
The Lulu figure of the title is said by Wainwright to be "the dark, brooding, dangerous woman that lives within all of us", similar to the Dark Lady character in Shakespeare's sonnets. The first part of the title comes from the final couplet of William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 43" ("All days are nights to see till I see thee...").
Between My Legs
Rufus Wainwright Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I'll write about you, dancing without you
And I'll shed a tear between my legs
When you were here, I missed you
Now that you're away, I'm out there without you
And I shed a tear between my legs
You live in another state far away from me and all of my unfaded charms
But when the rocket ships all fall, and the bridges - they all buckle
And everybody's packing up their station wagons
There's a number you can call, like a breast that you can suckle
And we quietly will exit as it all is happening
Again, I'm afraid of one thing
Will I walk away from love knowing nothing, wearing my heart between my legs?
But when I know you're naked, lying on the bed while I'm at the piano
All I can say is I can't fake it
When the rocket ships all fall, and the bridges - they all buckle
And everybody's packing up their station wagons
There's a number you can call, like a breast that you can suckle
And we quietly will exit as it all is happening again
'Cause there's a river running underground, underneath the town towards the sea
That only I know all about
On which from this city we can flee
('Cause there's a river running underground, underneath the town towards the sea
That only I know all about
On which from this city we can flee)
On which from this city we can flee
(We can flee)
The lyrics of "Between My Legs" by Rufus Wainwright speak of missing someone while also embracing the freedom to dance and have experiences without that person. It speaks of the pain that comes with separation but also accepting that it is a part of life. The line "And I shed a tear between my legs" is a metaphor for the pain and sadness that is being experienced but also feels intimate and personal as if it is a secret.
The verse about "the rocket ships all fall, and the bridges - they all buckle" seems to hint at the idea that the world is falling apart and things are changing. The line "There's a number you can call, like a breast that you can suckle" suggests that there is comfort to be found, even in the darkest of times. The final verse speaks of a secret river that only the singer knows about, which could be interpreted as a metaphor for a place of safety or escape.
Overall, the song explores themes of love, loss, and the bittersweetness of life. It acknowledges the pain of separation but also finds beauty in the moments of freedom and self-discovery that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
You can go out dancing
You can go dance the night away without me
And I'll write about you, dancing without you
I'll write about how you're living your life without me
And I'll shed a tear between my legs
I'll cry for you even though you're not near, it's hard to get over the fact that you're gone
When you were here, I missed you
When you were present in my life, I didn't realize how much I needed you
Now that you're away, I'm out there without you
Now that you're gone, I'm living my life without you
And I shed a tear between my legs
I cry for you even though you're not here, it's hard to move on
Though we live in the same city
Even though we exist in the same location
You live in another state far away from me and all of my unfaded charms
You dwell miles away from me and away from the attractive qualities I possess
But when the rocket ships all fall, and the bridges - they all buckle
In chaotic times when everything is falling apart
And everybody's packing up their station wagons
And people are leaving their homes and moving on
There's a number you can call, like a breast that you can suckle
I'm someone you can trust and rely on when things get tough
And we quietly will exit as it all is happening
We'll quietly leave together like nothing happened
Again, I'm afraid of one thing
Once again, I'm scared of something
Will I walk away from love knowing nothing, wearing my heart between my legs?
Will I leave love without learning anything and still hurt from the experience?
But when I know you're naked, lying on the bed while I'm at the piano
But when I know you're vulnerable and exposed, laying in bed while I play music
All I can say is I can't fake it
All I can tell myself is that I can't pretend to be something I'm not
'Cause there's a river running underground, underneath the town towards the sea
There's a secret getaway route beneath the city that leads to the ocean
That only I know all about
That only I am aware of
On which from this city we can flee
We can escape this city by following the path of the river
'Cause there's a river running underground, underneath the town towards the sea
There's a secret getaway route beneath the city that leads to the ocean
That only I know all about
That only I am aware of
On which from this city we can flee
We can escape this city by following the path of the river
(We can flee)
We can escape the chaos by leaving this city
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind