He bought his first harmonica when he was 16, for $2 at a flea market in Bessemer, Alabama, and taught himself to play blues harp. He discovered that he possessed absolute pitch when he was able to recognize the pitches of ordinary noises and mimic them on the harmonica. Hicks was 18 when he wrote his first song, "In Your Time", and he taught himself to play guitar when he was 19.
While in college, Hicks was part of a band called Passing Through, which he later quit to start his own band. He recorded In Your Time, an album which included both studio and live tracks, independently in 1997. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2000 to pursue a music career. There, he worked with Nashville veterans Billy Earl McClelland and Percy Sledge and recorded a three-track demo but was unable to find a label that would sign him. He left Nashville after a year due to what he called the "oversaturation of the market". Hicks returned to Alabama and launched a professional music career, performing at various venues and parties, mostly around the Southeastern United States.
He recorded, produced, and released a second album, Under the Radar, in 2005. Despite releasing two albums prior to appearing on American Idol, he did not violate their requirements for contestants, as he had never held a recording contract.
Studio recording sessions for the eponymous major label debut Taylor Hicks ran in Calabasas, California between October and November 2006, and took six weeks in total. The album was produced by Matt Serletic, who has produced for Collective Soul, matchbox twenty, and Rob Thomas. The album was released on December 12, 2006 and debuted at the number two spot on the Billboard 200 charts. It was certified as a platinum album by the RIAA on January 17, 2007.
On February 21, 2007, Hicks launched a a three-month US promotional tour for his album, followed almost immediately by a summer tour. One of the high energy shows was captured on film and appeared on HDNet under the title "Whomp At The Warfield."
In 2009 Hicks released his second album, The Distance, on his own label, Modern Whomp Records, on March 10, 2009. The first single, "What's Right Is Right", was added to AC adds on January 27, 2009. So far the single reached #24 on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. It was produced by Simon Climie and Dennis Morgan.
Hicks returned to the American Idol stage on April 29, 2009 during Season 8 and performed the second single from The Distance, Seven Mile Breakdown, which was re-released in a country format.
Both "What's Right is Right" and "Seven Mile Breakdown" were made into music videos.
In May 2009, Taylor Hicks made Forbes "Top Ten earning American Idol stars" list, coming in at number 10, with over $300,000 earned from album sales and from his role as "Teen Angel" in the national tour of Grease.
Heaven Knows
Taylor Hicks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you broke it in a thousand pieces
I may not have been much to you
But every man still needs a reason
See, I tried so hard to love you, girl
Paid attention to your every need
And right now my soul is crying out
I'm crying, "How you say goodbye so easily?
Why you take your lovin' so far from me?"
Now I'm calling out desperately
"Won't you cut me some slack?"
Heaven knows I did everything you asked me to
Gave you all my love, but nothing was enough for you
I got down on my knees, prayed for you to come around
But my prayers went unanswered 'cause you always let me down
Heaven knows I tried
Heaven knows I tried
Now, what kind of man do you consider me
When I work from five to five
When I come home I put my time in, girl
Just to keep our love alive?
Honey, I tried so hard to please you
Because you know how much I need you
Oh girl, my soul is crying out
And I'm on my bended knee crying
"How you say goodbye so easily?
Why you take your lovin' so far from me?"
Now I'm calling out desperately
"Won't you cut me some slack?"
Heaven knows I did everything you asked me to
Gave you all my love, but nothing was enough for you
I got down on my knees, prayed for you to come around
But my prayers went unanswered 'cause you always let me down
Heaven knows I tried
Heaven knows I tried
Ever since that day you left me, girl
I haven't had a wink of sleep
'Cause I've been crying all night long, girl
Don't you know what you mean to me?
"How you say goodbye so easily?
Why you take your lovin' so far from me?"
Now I'm calling out desperately
"Won't you cut me some slack?"
Heaven knows I did everything you asked me to
Gave you all my love, but nothing was enough for you
I got down on my knees, prayed for you to come around
But my prayers went unanswered 'cause you always let me down
Heaven knows I tried
Heaven knows I tried
It's raining tears tonight
Heaven knows I tried
The lyrics of "Heaven Knows" by Taylor Hicks is a heartbreaking plea from a man who gave his all to a woman, yet she still left him. The song is a mixture of sadness, frustration, and anger that are conveyed through the lyrics and Hicks' soulful delivery. The song opens with a direct statement about the woman’s actions that shattered his heart into a thousand pieces. While he acknowledges that he might not have been everything to her, he still needed a reason to hold on. The lyrics that follow show how he had tried his best to love her, but she took his love for granted. And now that she has gone, he is crying and wondering how she could leave so easily despite all he did to keep her. He is not just pleading with her but is also questioning himself about what kind of man he might not be able to keep her.
Line by Line Meaning
You took my heart, baby
You broke the singer's heart into a thousand pieces.
And you broke it in a thousand pieces
The singer's heart was shattered into a thousand pieces.
I may not have been much to you
The singer may not have been important to their lover.
But every man still needs a reason
The artist needed a reason to keep going despite their lover leaving them.
See, I tried so hard to love you, girl
The artist put a lot of effort into loving their partner.
Paid attention to your every need
The singer was very attentive to their partner's needs.
And right now my soul is crying out
The singer is very emotional and upset.
'Cause you mean so much to me
The artist still cares for their partner despite being hurt by them.
I'm crying, "How you say goodbye so easily?
The artist doesn't understand how their partner could leave so easily.
Why you take your lovin' so far from me?"
The artist wonders why their partner moved on so quickly.
Now I'm calling out desperately
The singer is reaching out for help.
"Won't you cut me some slack?"
The artist is asking for some relief from their pain.
Heaven knows I did everything you asked me to
The singer did everything their partner wanted them to do.
Gave you all my love, but nothing was enough for you
The singer gave their all to their partner but it wasn't enough for them.
I got down on my knees, prayed for you to come around
The singer begged for their partner to come back.
But my prayers went unanswered 'cause you always let me down
The artist's partner never came back and always disappointed them.
Heaven knows I tried
The artist tried their best to make the relationship work.
Now, what kind of man do you consider me
The singer is wondering how their partner views them.
When I work from five to five
The singer works very hard at their job.
When I come home I put my time in, girl
The artist spends their free time working on the relationship.
Just to keep our love alive?
The artist did everything they could to save the relationship.
Honey, I tried so hard to please you
The artist went to great lengths to make their partner happy.
Because you know how much I need you
The singer is very attached to their partner.
Ever since that day you left me, girl
The artist has been very upset since their partner left them.
I haven't had a wink of sleep
The singer has been unable to sleep because they're so distraught.
'Cause I've been crying all night long, girl
The singer has been crying all night.
Don't you know what you mean to me?
The singer hopes their partner realizes how much they mean to them.
It's raining tears tonight
The artist is crying a lot tonight.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RAY CHARLES, KARA DIOGUARDI, COREY ROONEY, MAKEBA RIDDICK, WARREN THOMAS MOORE, SMOKEY ROBINSON, ROBERT ROGERS, MARVIN TARPLIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind