Sarah Harmer (born on 12 November 1970 in Burlington, Ontario) is a Canadia… Read Full Bio ↴Sarah Harmer (born on 12 November 1970 in Burlington, Ontario) is a Canadian folk singer.

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

The Ring
Sarah Harmer Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You thank me all the time
But now it's my turn
Cause truly a word of gratitude so due
Can't go unheard
And it made me feel better
To have you there in my corner
My eyes cast so low
My face could not have been

Drawn longer

I know you've been impressed
You've seen me at my best
But oh, how it hurts
When I can't hide my worst
Well thank-you for carrying on
For playing with me and this song
It made me feel better
We sat it out like some passing bad weather

My mind was like kid's boxing gloves
The kind blown up with air
That are put away after play
And get limp just lying there
But you knew they'd fill up again
And you gave me your shoulder
And I got up in the ring
Because I had you there
In my corner
And I got up in the ring

Because I had you there
In my corner

Overall Meaning

In Sarah Harmer's song The Ring, she expresses her gratitude towards someone who has been supporting her during her tough times. The song begins with Harmer acknowledging how the person she is singing to always thanks her. However, she now wants to thank them for all the support they have given her, which she believes is long overdue. The mentioned gratitude cannot go unheard by her supporter. She deeply acknowledges her supporter's presence in her corner, which allowed her to feel comforted during her hard times. She describes how her eyes were cast low, and her face was drawn longer, but having her supporter in her corner made her feel better.

Furthermore, she acknowledges that her supporter has seen her at her best and worst. It hurts her when she cannot hide her worst, but she thanks her supporter for carrying on, playing with her in this song, and helping her feel better. Harmer uses a metaphor of a child's boxing gloves to explain how her mind felt, blown up with air, and put away after play. However, she acknowledges that her supporter knew that they would fill up again and gave her their shoulder to lean on. She describes it as being metaphorically in the ring, but having her supporter in her corner gave her the strength to get up, which allowed her to face her situation head-on.

Overall, The Ring is a song that expresses gratitude towards someone who has been a constant support system during tough times. Having someone in your corner can give you the push to get back up and face your problems.

Line by Line Meaning

You thank me all the time
You frequently show appreciation for me.

But now it's my turn
Now it is my turn to express gratitude.

Cause truly a word of gratitude so due
Because a word of thanks is well-deserved.

Can't go unheard
I cannot let my appreciation go unexpressed.

And it made me feel better
Thanking you brought me comfort.

To have you there in my corner
Having your support made a difference.

My eyes cast so low
I was feeling down and avoided making eye contact.

My face could not have been
My expression revealed my low spirits.

Drawn longer
My mood was visibly low.

I know you've been impressed
I know you have admired me in the past.

You've seen me at my best
You have witnessed my highest achievements.