Colvin's formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age of 10. Her first public concert was at age 15 at the University of Illinois campus. Colvin cites Joni Mitchell as a primary influence on her music, and her initial performances closely mirrored Mitchell's inflections and guitar tunings.
Colvin began working in the music scene in earnest in the late 1970s, first in Austin, Texas and then nationally. She met music partner John Leventhal during this time; Leventhal would go on to be Colvin's producer on several albums. Colvin often lends her talent to contemporaries in the music business - she can be heard singing the backing vocals on the Suzanne Vega hit, "Luka" from 1987. Vega returned the favor, singing backup on Colvin's, "Diamond In The Rough", from her debut album, "Steady On". Colvin, again can be heard singing backing vocals on Mary Chapin Carpenter's, "The Hard Way" and "Come On Come On" and Mary Chapin returns the favor on Colvin's, "Climb On (A Back That's Strong)", from Colvin's "Fat City" album.
Colvin's first several albums were met with critical acclaim, but did not sell in substantial numbers. After several albums of original work, Colvin released "Cover Girl", a collection of cover songs, but the work was a departure for her and was not well received.
Colvin experienced breakthrough success with "A Few Small Repairs" in October of 1996. The single "Sunny Came Home" reached the US Top Ten, and won Grammy Awards for Song and Record of the Year. She has released several subsequent albums that were nominated for Grammys, and has also released a greatest-hits album and a collection of Christmas music.
A new album from Colvin, entitled "These Four Walls", was released on September 12, 2006.
She was the guest vocal artist on the Lisa Loeb single "Falling in Love" as well as appearing at various Lilith Fair music festivals. She also has been featured on the popular live music show Austin City Limits and played at the 2003 Austin City Limits Music Festival. She also appeared in a tribute to her idol Joni Mitchell in 2001 that was broadcast on the cable network TNT.
She has made two guest appearances on The Simpsons as Rachel Jordan, lead singer for a Christian rock band. She first appears in "Alone Again, Natura-diddly," where Rachel wins Ned Flanders' heart after the untimely death of his wife, Maude. Later, in the episode "I'm Going to Praiseland," Ned dates Rachel, only to scare her off when he tries to turn her into a version of Maude.
Colvin lives with her daughter, Caledonia, and husband, Mario Erwin in Austin, Texas, and still participates in the Austin music scene.
Never Saw Blue Like That
Shawn Colvin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And picked a flower and climbed the hill
Above the lake
And secret thoughts were said aloud
We watched the faces in the clouds
Until the clouds had blown away
You know it's hard to say
And I never saw blue like that before
Across the sky
Around the world
You've given me all you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that
I can't believe a month ago
I was alone, I didn't know you
I hadn't seen or heard you're name
And even now, I'm so amazed
It's like a dream, It's like a rainbow, it's like the rain
And somethings are the way they are
And words just can't explain
Cause I never saw blue like that before
Across the sky
Around the world
You've given me all you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that before
And it feels like now,
And it feels always,
And it feels like coming home
I never saw blue like that before
Across the sky
Around the world
You've given me all you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that before
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that
In this song, Shawn Colvin sings about a beautiful day when she took a walk up the street and climbed a hill above the lake. She picked a flower and had secret thoughts that she said aloud as she watched the faces in the clouds until the clouds blew away. She remembers feeling like she was somewhere else, but it was hard to say. What was most striking about this day, however, was the sky - she had never seen blue like that before.
The lyrics capture the wonder of experiencing something new and beautiful with someone special. It's clear that whoever Shawn was with made her feel more alive and helped her see things in a new way. The sky serves as a metaphor for this - it's familiar yet unknown, breathtaking yet impossible to fully understand. It's something they share, something that connects them, and something that Shawn will never forget.
The song is a celebration of love and how it can change how we see the world around us. It's a reminder to cherish the unique moments we share with someone special and to appreciate the beauty in everyday experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
Today I took a walk up the street
I went for a walk outside
And picked a flower and climbed the hill
I picked a flower and went up a hill
Above the lake
I went up high enough to be above the lake
And secret thoughts were said aloud
I shared some private thoughts out loud
We watched the faces in the clouds
We looked at the shapes of clouds
Until the clouds had blown away
We kept looking until the clouds disappeared
And were we ever somewhere else
I'm not sure if we were actually somewhere else
You know it's hard to say
It's difficult to determine for sure
And I never saw blue like that before
I've never seen that shade of blue before
Across the sky
It was visible in the sky
Around the world
I've never seen that color anywhere else
You've given me all you have and more
You've given me everything you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
No one else has ever demonstrated this to me
To see the world the way I see it now
To see the world in the way that I do currently
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that
I'm really amazed by this new shade of blue
I can't believe a month ago
It's hard to believe that just a month ago
I was alone, I didn't know you
I was alone and didn't know you existed
I hadn't seen or heard you're name
I didn't know your name yet
And even now, I'm so amazed
Even now, I'm completely stunned
It's like a dream, It's like a rainbow, it's like the rain
It feels like a fantasy, like a rainbow, like rain
And somethings are the way they are
Some things are just the way they are
And words just can't explain
And there aren't enough words to express it
Cause I never saw blue like that before
I've never seen a color like that before
And it feels like now,
It feels like the present moment
And it feels always,
It feels like it will always be this way
And it feels like coming home
It feels like coming home
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that before
I'm still amazed by this new shade of blue
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: THOMAS E. KIMMEL, JEFFREY FRANZEL, MARK J. LUNA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
William Franklin
Today I took a walk up the street
And picked a flower and climbed the hill
Above the lake
And secret thoughts were said aloud
We watched the faces in the clouds
Until the clouds had blown away
And were we ever somewhere else
You know it's hard to say
And I never saw blue like that before
Across the sky
Around the world
You've given me all you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that
I can't believe a month ago
I was alone, I didn't know you
I hadn't seen or heard you're name
And even now, I'm so amazed
It's like a dream, It's like a rainbow, it's like the rain
And somethings are the way they are
And words just can't explain
Cause I never saw blue like that before
Across the sky
Around the world
You've given me all you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that before
And it feels like now,
And it feels always,
And it feels like coming home
I never saw blue like that before
Across the sky
Around the world
You've given me all you have and more
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that before
Oh, I, I never saw blue like that
Garcello
i might heard this song before, but just last month, my boy friend send me this song, and it just like,... about out love <3 ...
"I can't believe a month ago
I was alone, I didn't know you
I hadn't seen or heard your name
And even now, I'm so amazed
It's like a dream, It's like a rainbow, it's like the rain
....
And no one else has ever shown me how
To see the world the way I see it now
oh I, I never saw blue like that before"
thank you my love <3 #masBudiarsa
Anna Jelínková
If I should describe Dawson's Creek using a song It would be this one..truly beautiful masterpiece! <3
Paul Bellefeuille
A song that makes you listen with your heart. Priceless.
Adriel
Indeed, beautiful...
Caroline Ann Torge
By far an amazing song... The first time I'd heard it was in the show "Dawson's Creek"... Truly beautiful words...
Linda Walsh
One of the best romantic songs I’ve ever discovered. Thanks Shawn
hbbeverly
Yet another quiet and contemplative love song by one of the masters of the genre. This is the first time I've ever heard this song, and it is my favorite kind of material that she does. It's like I've been shot by a stun gun - all I can do is be quiet, and let her words wash over me like the ocean that girl is sitting in above in the video. Absolutely beautiful....
James Long
Well put.......
Peter Daltrey
Stunning. One of the greatest songs ever written.....
Susan Knight
This song gives us time to quiet our souls, reflect, cherish and be grateful for the times we saw blue like that.
Tatjana
This song is so beautiful it makes my heart ache from all the love. I actually dreamt of this song last night and hadn’t listened to it for a while. Good way to start the day.