Sean Watkins (born February 18, 1977) is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwri… Read Full Bio ↴Sean Watkins (born February 18, 1977) is a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, and is one third of the contemporary folk band Nickel Creek and one part of the alt. folk duo Fiction Family with Jon Foreman from Switchfoot . His sister Sara Watkins, also a member of Nickel Creek, plays violin and sings background vocals on the second of his two solo albums. As a whole, Nickel Creek recently participated in a project dubbed Mutual Admiration Society, a collaboration with former Toad The Wet Sprocket singer Glen Phillips. As a solo musician, Sean Watkins early material was contemporary bluegrass, but as time goes on, he has incorporated various other influences into his music (especially indie rock). Sean Watkins's solo music career seems to be going the same path as Nickel Creek; turning from beautiful traditional bluegrass songs to indie rock with bluegrass instrumentation. Sean Watkins is the oldest member of Nickel Creek. "My first instrument was the piano when I was six", Sean recalls. "I took classic instruction for seven years, but three years into that I discovered bluegrass music, through my piano teacher's son, who had a bluegrass band that played every Saturday night at a pizza place in Carlsbad. I really got into it, and when Sara [Watkins] and I met Chris, we started playing with him on Saturday nights too."[1]

He began playing mandolin in the early career with Nickel Creek, but later switched to guitar. Sean made it to the National Flatpicking Championship in 1993 at age 16. Now Nickel Creek has exploded in the contemporary folk/bluegrass scene. This Watkins has already released 3 solo albums and appeared on many others. Of this experience, Watkins has said, "I've learned now to look back to music that has lasted through the years and to appreciate the timeless value that it has."

Sean's first album Let it Fall consists primarily of bluegrass inspired instrumental tracks. Providing the vocals on the only sung track on the album is former Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman Glen Phillips. Sean's second album, 26 Miles was a much bigger departure from bluegrass. While still mainly acoustic, the album showed influences from jazz, indie rock, and new age music. His third album, Blinder's On continues along many of the same lines as the previous one.

It was recently announced on Nickel Creek's website that the band would go on hiatus at the end of 2007. In an interview with Billboard magazine, Sean states that he plans to make music for movies.

I'M SORRY
Sean Watkins Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

So it's my turn now
To say the words I'm sorry
You'd think I'd be an expert
After all the times you showed me how

it pains my heart
To turn and leave you lonely
You'd think I'd be an expert

After all the times you showed me how

So many times I held my hand out
To open the door to my life, you couldn't care less
And so many times you walked away
So I closed it for the last time

it was sad but I
Didn't cry I'm sorry
You'd think I'd be an expert
After all the times you showed me how

Yah you'd think I'd be an expert
After all the times you showed me how

Overall Meaning

The song "I'm Sorry" by Sean Watkins is about the regret of taking someone for granted and not appreciating their efforts, love, and care. The opening lines, "So it's my turn now, to say the words I'm sorry," suggest that the singer is apologizing to someone for not being able to reciprocate their love, kindness, and generosity. The repeated line, "You'd think I'd be an expert after all the times you showed me how," emphasizes the significance of the efforts made by the other person and how they have gone unnoticed, unacknowledged or under-appreciated.

The second stanza speaks volumes about the relationship between the two individuals. The singer explains that they had tried to let the other person into their life, but it wasn't reciprocated, and instead, they were left alone. The line, "So I closed it for the last time," is an indication that the singer is no longer willing to put in any effort into the relationship. Despite feeling sad, the singer doesn't cry and apologizes for not being an "expert" in reciprocating the other person's efforts.

Line by Line Meaning

So it's my turn now
I am finally taking responsibility for my actions

To say the words I'm sorry
I am apologizing for the pain I caused

You'd think I'd be an expert
Considering how often you had to apologize to me, I should have learned to do it better

After all the times you showed me how
You were patient with me and taught me how to apologize, but I didn't learn my lesson

It pains my heart
It hurts me emotionally

To turn and leave you lonely
I feel guilty for leaving you alone after causing you pain

So many times I held my hand out
I tried to include you in my life multiple times

To open the door to my life, you couldn't care less
You didn't reciprocate my efforts to let you in

And so many times you walked away
You left me alone despite my efforts

So I closed it for the last time
I gave up on trying to include you in my life

It was sad but I didn't cry I'm sorry
I regret not being emotional about the end of our relationship and not fully expressing my remorse

Yah you'd think I'd be an expert
I should know how to apologize and show empathy, but I failed to learn from your example

After all the times you showed me how
Despite your efforts to teach me how to apologize, I still failed to do it properly

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: DAN WILSON, SEAN WATKINS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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