Stuart comes from South Alabama. He was raised mostly in Mobile, and grew up with family and friends along the gulf coast, and in New Orleans. He began playing piano at an early age, then began to take up new instruments.
In high school, he played trumpet in the marching band, which allowed him to march in Mardi Gras parades and travel around the South. He began playing in bands outside of school as well, and did gigs with short-lived bands as a drummer, bass player, and keyboardist.
Stuart's knack for both literature and music led to some scholarships and a period of academic pursuit at the University of Alabama. There, Stuart again marched in the marching band, this time travelling the country.
After three years at UA, Stuart was approached by an 8-piece punk/ska band called PAIN that needed a trumpet player for a national tour. Stuart then left school and toured the USA extensively in a Ford van. Stuart recorded several studio and live albums with PAIN, and he contributed accordion, piano, organ, backing vocals, ukelele, and even a little writing to PAIN's studio albums. PAIN even got some exposure through Cartoon Network and MTV2.
After the breakup of PAIN, in 2001, Stuart went back to UA to finish what would become an English degree. At school, he founded a poetry reading series and wrote many sarcastic letters to the school newspaper's editorial page. At the same time, he bagan recording his first collection of original songs. In 2002, Stuart released his first CD of original material, titled "I Can't See Over the Accordion". It contained 24 songs, and no two were alike. Some were folky, some punky...one was techno, and one was sung in Spanish. A couple of the funny songs from the CD got national airplay on some quirky specialty shows like "Dr. Demento".
Next, Stuart began Red Label Revolver, a young and fun band that would be the vehicle for his songs fo a couple of years. It was a four-piece, and recorded two CDs. The second one was recorded in Nashville by a less-than-competent producer. The chaotic and expensive recording experience, and the lack of decent product, meant the demise of RLR. It also meant that Stuart was without a band, without the products he had hoped for, and quite out of money.
This led to a period of rebuilding in which Stuart found himself in the small town of Montevallo, AL. Here, Stuart began an earnest spiritual quest that involved increased immersion in nature and meditation. He began recording a new set of songs that would become the CD "Building a Fire". "Building a Fire" was released in 2004, and received a fair amount of national airplay thanks to a radio promotions agency and some compilations that made the rounds.
That CD allowed Stuart to start meeting more people and playing at more venues around the Birmingham area and the Gulf Coast. Over time, Stuart would meet the players that would make up the Contraband, and this began would begin to make a name for itself. Stuart began recording again in 2006, in preparation for a new studio CD. Stuart released two samplers of this material in 2007. The first sampler, titled "Make Levee's, Not War", included some of Stuart's politial statemets relevant to Hurricane Katrina. Some of this music has been used by environmental groups and documentarians in the New Orleans area.
Stuart released an 18 song acoustic collection in October 2008. Recorded at Birmingham's premier Capture Music Studios, the project showcases Stuart's songs distilled and presented in their true essence.
More projects are on the way, including live and in-studio full band projects, some live bootlegs, and a spoken word project. Stay tuned!
Come to Caroline
Stuart McNair Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Picked you up in my Chevrolet
It was suicide hitchhiking that way
It was your 18th birthday
And your daddy would have emptied his gun
If he knew half the things I'd done
Me and his little girl on the run
Drive into the rising sun
Lit a smoke and said you don't know
You're new life on the road
You were scared and it showed
Chorus:
But who's to stop you, Mandy,
From coming to Carolina
Come to caroline, mandy
Come to caroline, mandy
Come to caroline, mandy
With me
Shared a bed in Tennessee
Put my boot through a color tv
When you said you were leaving me
You had better things to see
And I know I ain't got one thin dime
And I've been prosing all your nursery rhymes
But pretty soon if we make good time
We'll be crossing that last state line
Chorus
Everything will turn out fine
If you come to caroline, mandy
With me
Bridge:
You're a diamond
I'm a rusty nail
And I've been stepping on your fairy tail
At junction 40-23
And I wish that you would stay with me
Chorus
Everything will turn out fine
If you come to caroline, mandy
With me
The song "Come to Caroline" by Stuart McNair narrates the story of a young woman who has just turned 18 and is running away with a man in his Chevrolet. They are heading to Caroline, but along the way, they encountered issues, and the girl got scared of what's going on. They shared a bed in Tennessee, but the man broke a color TV when the girl said she was leaving him. The man is broke, and he has been reciting nursery rhymes to the girl. The song's lyrics offer a bleak but passionate look into a couple's journey to start a new life on the road, and the difficulties that come with it. The bridge section of the song speaks more to the couple's insecurities and the reality that they're not the perfect fit for each other, but their desire to be together is what keeps them pushing along.
The song seems to be about two people who are trying to escape their past lives and start anew in Caroline. While the lyrics give the impression that the man and woman are running away from something or someone back home, it's never clear what exactly they are escaping from. The use of the phrase "suicide hitchhiking" suggests that the woman has taken a risk and is willing to do anything to get away. The man, on the other hand, seems to be her savior, taking care of her and keeping her safe.
"Come to Caroline" seems to be a love story that unfolds as it progresses, illustrating the couple's emotional state and how they feel about each other as they journey. The lyrics reveal the struggles the couple faced along the way, but their commitment to each other is what kept them going even when things were tough.
Line by Line Meaning
Three days east of la
We were driving east from Los Angeles for three days.
Picked you up in my Chevrolet
I picked you up while driving my Chevrolet.
It was suicide hitchhiking that way
It was dangerous to hitchhike that way.
It was your 18th birthday
It was your 18th birthday.
And your daddy would have emptied his gun
Your dad would have tried to shoot me if he knew what I had done.
If he knew half the things I'd done
If he knew half of my past, he might have shot me.
Me and his little girl on the run
You and I were running away together.
Drive into the rising sun
We were driving toward the sunrise.
And I asked you "where you gonna go?"
I asked you where you planned on going.
Lit a smoke and said you don't know
You smoking and didn't know where to go.
You're new life on the road
You were starting a new life on the road.
You were scared and it showed
You were scared and it was visible.
Chorus: But who's to stop you, Mandy, From coming to Carolina
Nobody can stop you, Mandy, from coming to Carolina.
Come to caroline, mandy
Come to Caroline, Mandy.
Come to caroline, mandy
Come to Caroline, Mandy.
Come to caroline, mandy
Come to Caroline, Mandy.
With me
With me.
Shared a bed in Tennessee
We slept in the same bed while in Tennessee.
Put my boot through a color tv
I kicked a color TV and broke it.
When you said you were leaving me
When you said you were leaving me.
You had better things to see
You had other important things to do.
And I know I ain't got one thin dime
I know that I don't have any money.
And I've been prosing all your nursery rhymes
I've been reciting nursery rhymes to you.
But pretty soon if we make good time
If we make good time, we will arrive soon.
We'll be crossing that last state line
We will cross the final state line soon.
Chorus
Repeated chorus.
Everything will turn out fine
Everything will be good.
If you come to caroline, mandy
If you come to Caroline, Mandy.
With me
With me.
Bridge: You're a diamond
You are a precious gem.
I'm a rusty nail
I am a worn out and damaged tool.
And I've been stepping on your fairy tail
I have been ruining your fairy tale.
At junction 40-23
At a certain highway junction.
And I wish that you would stay with me
I wish you would stay with me.
Chorus Everything will turn out fine
Repeated chorus indicating things will be good.
If you come to caroline, mandy
If you come to Caroline, Mandy.
With me
With me.
Contributed by Alexis J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jubal John
Love this one!