Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the then-unknown The Tragically Hip. At the age of 17, she was invited to join a Toronto band, The Saddletramps. For three years, she juggled The Saddletramps with her studies in philosophy and women's studies at Queen's University.
After leaving The Saddletramps, Harmer put together a band of her own with several Kingston, Ontario musicians, and settled on the name Weeping Tile. The band released its first independent cassette in 1994. Soon afterward, they signed to a major label, and the cassette was re-released in 1995 as eepee. The band quickly became a popular draw on the rock club circuit and on campus radio with their subsequent albums, but never broke through to the mainstream, and broke up in 1998 after being dropped from their label.
Also in 1998, Harmer recorded a set of pop standards as a Christmas gift for her father. After hearing it, her friends and family convinced her to release it as an album, and in 1999 she released it independently as Songs for Clem. Harmer quickly began working on another album, and in 2000, she released You Were Here.
A poppier, more laid-back effort than her work with Weeping Tile, You Were Here became Harmer's mainstream breakthrough, spawning the hits "Basement Apartment" and "Don't Get Your Back Up". The album also appeared on many critics' year-end lists, including TIME magazine, which called it the year's best debut album. It was eventually certified platinum for sales of 100,000 copies in Canada. Almost half of the album (including both of its major hits) consisted of songs she had previously recorded with Weeping Tile or The Saddletramps.
In 2004, she released All of Our Names. The album included the singles "Almost", which made the top 20 on Canadian pop charts, and "Pendulums". The album has a rustic earthy live-of-the-floor sound with some of the instrumentation, programming pre-production recording conducted in her home Northeast of Kingston, Ontario. The album was co-produced by Gavin Brown [Metric, Billy Talent, The Tragically Hip,]
Her fourth album, I'm A Mountain, was released in Canada on November 8, 2005. Sarah has performed and canvased in support of the NDP and Marilyn Churley, her friend in the fight for the protection of the Niagara Escarpment. The album states that it has been: "Engineered, mixed and produced by Sarah Harmer and Martin Davis Kinack at her house."
In 2010, Sarah released her fifth release, Oh Little Fire, which was co-produced by Gavin Brown, who assisted with her earlier All Our Names and features Neko Case on guest vocals.
Sarah, during her five year break between her last two recordings, appeared as a guest vocalist on other artists' albums, including Blue Rodeo, Neko Case, Bruce Cockburn, Great Big Sea, Rheostatics, The Skydiggers and The Weakerthans.
Discography
1999 - Songs for Clem
2000 - You Were Here
2004 - All of Our Names
2005 - I'm A Mountain
2010 - Oh Little Fire
Careless
Sarah Harmer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In my head I heard your voice saying something
Deep in the fog that was covering me
You said, 'Why don't you call or at least call back sometime?'
And I fell back to the past and the grace that I lacked
Blind in the praise that was smothering me
Now I've left it so long, coasting along
I know I was wrong
Maybe my carefree has been careless
Maybe the story was half true
All the words that I've held too close to my chest
Are calling on me now to get through
So I thought maybe I'd call and that would be all
Clear out regrets that were hovering here
But how could I get to a place that's so distant now
Back then I knew right away and still I didn't say
Under my breath I was muttering
And from the start I gave just part of my heart
And now I see what I did
What I did
Maybe my carefree has been careless
Maybe the story was half true
All the words that I've held too close to my chest
Are calling on me now to get through
I'll be hollering out the words that I meant to use
"Careless" by Sarah Harmer is a reflective song about regretting past actions and realizing the consequences that come with careless behavior. The song explicitly references waking up and hearing a voice asking why she hasn't called back or at least made an effort to reach out to someone. The character admits to having fallen back into old habits that lacked grace and were comprised mainly of praise that was smothering. Even though the individual recognizes that they should have reached out sooner, they are afraid that the distance between them has grown too vast to overcome. They start to question if they have been truly carefree or if they have simply been careless. This contemplation ultimately leads to the individual finally voicing the words they meant to use all along.
The song highlights the idea that actions have consequences, and one must accept the repercussions of their actions. The character learns that avoiding responsibilities and relationships can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness. Harmer's choice of words in the lyrics captures the disappointment and frustration of regretting past actions. The line "All the words that I've held too close to my chest are calling on me now to get through" depicts how the character is attempting to find ways to make up for lost time.
Line by Line Meaning
Woke up
I woke up from my sleep
In my head I heard your voice saying something
I imagined hearing your voice while I was half asleep
Deep in the fog that was covering me
Feeling disoriented and confused
You said, 'Why don't you call or at least call back sometime?'
You asked why I never call or pick up your calls
And I fell back to the past and the grace that I lacked
I remembered my past and how I lacked the ability to show grace
Blind in the praise that was smothering me
I could not see beyond the praise that others gave me
Now I've left it so long, coasting along
I have been neglecting to address our issue for a long time
I know I was wrong
I realize that I was wrong
Maybe my carefree has been careless
Perhaps I have been too carefree and not thoughtful enough
Maybe the story was half true
Perhaps what I believed about the situation was not entirely true
All the words that I've held too close to my chest
I have not shared my true feelings and thoughts
Are calling on me now to get through
I feel compelled to express what I have kept hidden
So I thought maybe I'd call and that would be all
I considered calling and believed it would resolve everything
Clear out regrets that were hovering here
I hoped to clear up any regrets from the past
But how could I get to a place that's so distant now
I realized that it would be difficult to address the situation after so much time has passed
Back then I knew right away and still I didn't say
I knew what I should have done back then and regret not doing it
Under my breath I was muttering
I was saying things under my breath without expressing my true thoughts
And from the start I gave just part of my heart
I held back part of myself from the beginning
And now I see what I did
I understand my actions and how they affected the situation
I'll be hollering out the words that I meant to use
I will finally express my true thoughts and emotions
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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