Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born 22 July 1973) is a Canadian-American sing… Read Full Bio ↴Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born 22 July 1973) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter.

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...").

True Loves
Rufus Wainwright Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A heart of ice is easily melted
A heart of stone is easily thrown away

It's the true loves
That make me want to cry
It's the true loves
That make me want to say goodbye

A heart of ice is easily molded
A heart of stone is easily hidden away

It's the true loves
That make me want to cry
It's the true loves
That make me want to say goodbye

So take your true loves
Down to the river
And I will watch you here on the corner
And if you need me I'll always be here

A heart of stone never goes anywhere
A heart of stone never goes anywhere

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Rufus Wainwright's song "True Loves" explore the emotional complexities of love and attachment. The opening lines "A heart of ice is easily melted, a heart of stone is easily thrown away" express the idea that both an unfeeling or "cold" heart, as well as a hard or impenetrable one, are susceptible to change. This sets up the central theme of the song, which is the paradox that true and genuine love can inspire both deep emotional connection and profound feelings of loss and sorrow.

The lines "It's the true loves that make me want to cry, it's the true loves that make me want to say goodbye" highlight this emotional duality. While love can bring great joy and fulfillment, it can also be a source of intense pain and heartbreak when it is lost. The repeated phrases "A heart of ice is easily molded, a heart of stone is easily hidden away" further reinforce this idea, suggesting that love can change even the most hardened or apathetic heart, but that it can also make someone want to retreat within themselves or shut themselves off from others.

However, the final lines of the song "So take your true loves down to the river, and I will watch you here on the corner, and if you need me I'll always be here" offer a glimmer of hope and connection. Despite the pain that love can bring, the singer is still willing to be present for those they care about, even if it means watching from the sidelines.

Overall, "True Loves" is a poignant and introspective exploration of the nuances of love and attachment. It acknowledges the many joys and sorrows that come with the territory and suggests that even in the face of great loss, there may still be opportunities for connection and growth.

Line by Line Meaning

A heart of ice is easily melted
A cold heart is easily swayed to emotions

A heart of stone is easily thrown away
An unfeeling heart is easily replaced and forgotten

It's the true loves
Genuine, sincere love makes an impact

That make me want to cry
Such love moves me to tears

It's the true loves
Genuine, sincere love makes an impact

That make me want to say goodbye
Such love can also cause the pain of leaving

A heart of ice is easily molded
A cold heart can easily be shaped and transformed

A heart of stone is easily hidden away
An unfeeling heart can easily be concealed

It's the true loves
Genuine, sincere love makes an impact

That make me want to cry
Such love moves me to tears

It's the true loves
Genuine, sincere love makes an impact