[edit] Career
Wariner began performing as a youth in his father's band and in local clubs. In 1971, he was hired as a bassist for Dottie West's band. He also worked heavily with Chet Atkins (one of his childhood influences) and he played with Bob Luman's band.
His first major recording contract was with RCA Records in 1978. His first single releases failed to chart in the top 40 of Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart, although the song "I'm Already Taken" was re-released in 1999, peaking at #3 that year. His first No. 1 hit came in December, 1981, with "All Roads Lead to You."
However, his real popularity didn't take off until the mid-1980s, when he began recording for MCA Records. During his six-year stint with MCA, he scored 19 consecutive top 10 hits, eight of them going to No. 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Singles chart. The most successful of those songs included "Some Fools Never Learn" (1985, his second No. 1 hit), "What I Didn't Do" (1985), "You Can Dream of Me" (1986), "Lynda" (1987) and "I Got Dreams" (1989).
In the early 1990s, Wariner continued his success with Arista Records, with several of his songs reaching the top 10. But his success soon tapered off, as radio programmers became more interested in newer performers.
Wariner, however, continued to maintain his popularity through his instrumental talents. One example was 1991's "Restless," a collaboration with Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill and Mark O'Connor (from O'Connor's album The New Nashville Cats). "Restless" won Wariner (as well as Skaggs and Gill) his first Grammy Award in 1991 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration. In 1996, Wariner released an album of all instrumental tracks called No More Mr. Nice Guy. Though well-received by critics, it proved to be Wariner's last album for Arista.
Wariner also remained in the public eye with his songwriting talents. His composition, "Longneck Bottle" (a No. 1 hit by Garth Brooks), along with a No. 1 duet from early 1998 with singer Anita Cochran called "What If I Said" (his first No. 1 in more than eight years) reinvigorated Wariner's career.
The highlight of Wariner's career came in the spring of 1998. Now recording for Capitol Records, his song "Holes in the Floor of Heaven" - a song about dealing with grief of close friends and relatives - promptly shot to No. 2 and won the Country Music Association awards for Single of the Year and Song of the Year.
Wariner also collaborated with other well-known singers and songwriters, including Clint Black and Bill Anderson; he also scored several more hits, most notably 1999's "Two Teardrops" and "I'm Already Taken" (the latter a re-recording of his 1978 debut release).
[edit] Discography
Main article: Steve Wariner discography
[edit] External links
The Official Fan Club Website
Grand Ole Opry Bio
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wariner"
Two Teardrops
Steve Wariner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One teardrop said to the other
I'm from the soft blue eyes of a woman in love
I'm a tear of joy she couldn't carry
She was so happy she just got married
I was on her cheek when she wiped me away with her glove
I could tell from the look on her face she didn't need me
So I drifted on down and caught me a ride to the sea
The other tear said we've got a connection
I'm a tear of sorrow born of rejection
I'm from the sad brown eyes of her old flame
She told him they would be lifelong companions
Left him with questions and not any answers
I was on his cheek as he stood there calling her name
I could tell he had a lot of my friends for company
So I drifted on down and caught me a ride to the sea
Oh the ocean's a little bit bigger tonight
Two more teardrops somebody cried
One of them happy and one of them bluer than blue
The tide goes out and the tide comes in
And someday they'll be teardrops again
Released in a moment of pleasure or a moment of pain
Then they drift on down and ride to the sea again
Last night I sat in the waiting room
The nurse walked in and gave me the news
It's a baby girl and they're both fine
An old man sittin' not 10 feet away
Just lost his wife and he said to me
You've got a brand new angel and I've lost mine
I guess the good Lord giveth and the good Lord taketh away
And we both wiped a teardrop from our face
Oh the ocean's a little bit bigger tonight
Two more teardrops somebody cried
One of them happy and one of them bluer than blue
The tide goes out and the tide comes in
A whole new circle of life begins
Where tears are a part of the pleasure and part of the pain
'Til they drift on down and ride to the sea again
Two teardrops floatin' down the river
Two teardrops floatin' down the river
The song "Two Teardrops" by Steve Wariner is a poignant reflection on the universality of human experiences and emotions. The song tells the story of two teardrops floating down a river, one borne of joy and the other of sorrow, and how they come to symbolize the ebb and flow of life. The teardrops are personified, speaking to each other as they journey down the river.
The first teardrop is embued with the happiness of a woman who has just got married. She sheds a tear of joy, too overburdened with happiness to hold it in. The second teardrop is the result of a heartbreak, born of the eyes of the woman's former lover. He was left with questions and sadness when the woman moved on, and the teardrop he cried is one of pain and rejection.
The song then reflects on the cyclical nature of human experiences. Wariner sings of the tide coming in and out, of life beginning anew with every set of teardrops that flow into the sea. He sings of birth and death - of new beginnings and endings - and how the tears we cry during both these experiences all eventually flow into the same vast sea. Tears are, therefore, a part of both pleasure and pain, and are an integral part of the human experience.
The final verse shows two strangers united in grief and joy. A man who has just lost his wife and Wariner, who has just found out he is a father to a baby girl, wipe away tears together. They are connected in their humanity and in their shared experiences of love and loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Two teardrops were floatin' down the river
Two teardrops found their way into a river and began to drift downstream
One teardrop said to the other
One of the teardrops spoke to the other
I'm from the soft blue eyes of a woman in love
One tear originated from a woman's eyes who was happy and in love
I'm a tear of joy she couldn't carry
The tear was a result of the woman's happiness that she couldn't contain
She was so happy she just got married
The woman had just gotten married, causing her tears of happiness
I was on her cheek when she wiped me away with her glove
The tear had fallen on the woman's cheek, and she wiped it away with her glove
I could tell from the look on her face she didn't need me
The tear could sense from the woman's expression that she was no longer in need of it
So I drifted on down and caught me a ride to the sea
The tear continued to float down the river until it reached the sea
The other tear said we've got a connection
The second tear spoke up, indicating a similarity or bond between the two tears
I'm a tear of sorrow born of rejection
The tear was a result of someone feeling rejected and experiencing sadness
I'm from the sad brown eyes of her old flame
The tear originated from an old flame of a person and was shed due to sadness
She told him they would be lifelong companions
The person had promised to be a lifelong companion to the one shedding the tear
Left him with questions and not any answers
The one shedding the tear had been left with questions and no answers from the person they had trusted
I was on his cheek as he stood there calling her name
The tear had fallen on the person's cheek while they stood calling out the woman's name
I could tell he had a lot of my friends for company
The tear sensed a lot of similar tears were also present with the person
So I drifted on down and caught me a ride to the sea
The tear continued to flow down the river until it reached the sea
Oh the ocean's a little bit bigger tonight
The ocean was larger because two more tears had been added to it
Two more teardrops somebody cried
Two more tears had been shed by someone
One of them happy and one of them bluer than blue
One tear was born from joy, while the other was born from intense sadness
The tide goes out and the tide comes in
The natural cycle of the ocean tides continues
And someday they'll be teardrops again
At some point in the future, two more tears will fall
Released in a moment of pleasure or a moment of pain
These future tears will be either born from moments of pleasure or moments of pain
Then they drift on down and ride to the sea again
Just like the two previous tears, the new ones will find their way to the sea
Last night I sat in the waiting room
The artist is reflecting on a past experience of waiting in a hospital room
The nurse walked in and gave me the news
The nurse delivered news to the singer
It's a baby girl and they're both fine
The news was that a baby girl had been born and both the baby and mother were healthy
An old man sittin' not 10 feet away
An elderly man was sitting nearby, within 10 feet of the singer
Just lost his wife and he said to me
The elderly man had just lost his wife and spoke to the artist
You've got a brand new angel and I've lost mine
The man expressed to the artist that they had a new angel (the baby girl), while he had recently lost his wife
I guess the good Lord giveth and the good Lord taketh away
The man reflects on the idea that one can simultaneously receive and lose things in life, as it is determined by fate or a higher power
And we both wiped a teardrop from our face
Both the man and the singer wiped away tears that had fallen on their faces
A whole new circle of life begins
With the birth of the baby girl, a new cycle of life has begun
Where tears are a part of the pleasure and part of the pain
As the previous lines have indicated, tears can be shed from moments of both pleasure and pain in life
'Til they drift on down and ride to the sea again
Just like the previous tears, these new ones will eventually make their way to the sea
Two teardrops floatin' down the river
The song ends where it began: with two teardrops floating down the river
Two teardrops floatin' down the river
The chorus is repeated, emphasizing the cyclical nature of life and the consistent presence of tears
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Hipgnosis Songs Group
Written by: STEVE NOEL WARINER, BILL ANDERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind