Steve Forbert (born Samuel Stephen Forbert, December 13, 1954 in Meridian, … Read Full Bio ↴Steve Forbert (born Samuel Stephen Forbert, December 13, 1954 in Meridian, Mississippi) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known for his song "Romeo's Tune", which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980. Forbert's tribute to Jimmie Rodgers, Any Old Time, was nominated for a 2004 Grammy in the best traditional folk category. In 2006, he was inducted into the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame.

Forbert signed a recording contract with Nemperor in 1978, and they released his debut album, Alive on Arrival, that same year. His song "Romeo's Tune", although "dedicated to the memory of Florence Ballard" on the sleeve of Forbert's second album Jackrabbit Slim (released in 1979), is not about Supremes singer Ballard who died in 1976. "Forbert admits that Ballard became a timely connection for "Romeo's Tune", written about a girl from Meridian. "That seemed like such bad news to me and such sad news. She wasn't really taken care of by the music business, which is not a new story". At around this time critics hailed Forbert as "The new Bob Dylan" because of a similar vocal timbre and thoughtful songwriting. The front cover of Jackrabbit Slim encourages such comparisons with its simplicity: a black and white photo of Steve Forbert playing a well-worn Martin acoustic guitar with a capo on it, his shirt tinted green. The record was recorded in Nashville and produced by John Simon who had worked with The Band.

After many successful years, Forbert sought out new inspiration and found it when he relocated to Nashville in 1985. Forbert's tribute to Jimmie Rodgers, Any Old Time, was nominated for a 2004 Grammy in the best traditional folk category. In 2006, he was inducted into the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame.

Recent albums include Strange Names & New Sensations (2007), The Place And The Time (2009), and Over With You (2012).

www.steveforbert.com

Smoky Windows
Steve Forbert Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Creatures of the daylight
Fade away into the sky
I can hear 'em talking sadly
All they ever ask is "why"

Memories and shadows
Down the sand into the tide
See my mother with a baby

See my father at her side

[CHORUS]
Smoky windows, smoky windows

Telegrams and wire
Runnin' down beside a train
Tumbleweed and fire
Blowin' down the endless plain

Memories and shadows
Down the sand into the blue
See my mother with a baby
See that summer shining through

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]
Oh, and the time goes by
Oh, and the time goes bye, bye, bye . . .

Corridors and stairways
Leading up and down the years
Tolling bells and echoes
Ringing briefly in your ears

Memories and shadows
Down the sand into the sea
See my mother with a baby
I guess that babe she held was me

[CHORUS]

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Steve Forbert's "Smoky Windows" speak of the passing of time and the fleeting nature of memories. The opening lines set the scene for a sunset, where human activity of the day comes to an end as creatures of the daylight fade away into the sky. The artist acknowledges the sadness of this moment, as he can hear them talking softly, and all they ever ask is "why." Perhaps why they must leave, why they cannot stay forever, or simply why life must continue moving forward.

Moving through the song, the artist reflects on his memories and shadows that flow with the tide and the years. He sees reflections of his parents and his own beginnings as a babe in his mother's arms. The image of smoky windows comes up several times, perhaps metaphorically representing the hazy, uncertain nature of memory, where details can shift and obscure over time. In the chorus, the repetition of "smoky windows" reinforces that idea: that we can only see fragments of these memories through a cloudy lens.

The song ends on the same note of fleetingness, with tolling bells and echoes that ring briefly in your ears, further removing us from the past. The bridge connects the song's talk of memory to a sense of time passing, with phrases that evoke the tick-tock of clockwork. It's a poignant song that speaks to the universal experience of nostalgia and the bittersweet nature of viewing the past through the cracks of memory.

Line by Line Meaning

Creatures of the daylight
People who are active during daytime

Fade away into the sky
Disappear gradually into the horizon

I can hear 'em talking sadly
I can sense their sadness through their words

All they ever ask is "why"
They continuously question why things are the way they are

Memories and shadows
Recollections and barely visible outlines of the past

Down the sand into the tide
Wash away into the ocean along with the sand

See my mother with a baby
Visualize my mother holding a young child

See my father at her side
Notice my father standing next to her

Smoky windows, smoky windows
Repeating a phrase that represents the hazy view of the past

Telegrams and wire
Old forms of communication involving messaging and cables

Runnin' down beside a train
Moving alongside a locomotive