He attended Monterey High School in Lubbock, Texas. His contemporaries at Monterey High School included Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, Jo Harvey Allen and Jo Carol Pierce. Trained as an architect, he received a B.F.A. from the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. His art has been supported by three NEA grants and a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. His work Trees (the music, literary and third trees) is installed on the campus of the University of California San Diego as part of the Stuart Collection. His artwork has been featured at the L.A. Louver art gallery in Venice, California.
Terry Allen is represented by Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco, CA. His works are represented in the collections of many international museums including the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Nelson/Atkins Museum in Kansas City, the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, l’Espace Lyonnais d'Art Contemporain, Musee Saint Pierre, Lyon, France, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
Terry Allen recorded eight albums during the years 1979 to 2004 and collaborated with David Byrne on the soundtrack for Byrne's movie True Stories. Allen's music is far from traditional. A quote attributed to Allen states: "People tell me it's country music, and I ask, 'Which country?'" Allmusic calls his 1979 release, Lubbock (On Everything), "one of the finest country albums of all time" and a progenitor of the alt-country movement
Back To Black
Terry Allen Lyrics
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From your eyes and back to mine
With a vision of the love
We thought was true
But the darkness of the world out there
Surrounds the love we thought we shared
And it all fades back to black
Tween me and you
Love always returns from where it came
Back to black and in the end
It's all the same
Now the darkness has slipped inside
But neither one of us can hide
Though you act for me
Just like I act for you
But when out two fates did cross
We should have both guessed the cost
That it all fades back to black
And nothing's new
But me and you we're not to blame
Love always returns from where it came
Back to black and in the end
It's all the same
So if some mirror up on the wall
Reflected the love that we once saw
We could stand there forever
And never move
But loves' picture in the glass
Fades away it never lasts
It just all fades back to black
And nothing's true
But me and you we're not to blame
Love always returns from where it came
Back to black and in the end
It's all the same
Back to black for me and you
Is back to blue
In Terry Allen's song "Back To Black," the singer speaks about a relationship that has lost its spark and is now fading away. The two lovers are still together, but the light and vision they once had for their love are gone. The darkness of the world has taken over, and their love has become surrounded by it. However, the singer states that they are not to blame for the relationship's fading away. Love has a way of returning to where it came from, and it always fades back to black, making everything the same in the end.
The lyrics speak to the idea of relationships and how they can change over time. The love that was once there can fade away, leaving a sense of emptiness and nothingness. The song also touches upon the idea of blame for the relationship's end, demonstrating that sometimes things just happen, and no one is at fault. It's a natural occurrence that happens in life.
One interesting fact about the song is that it was released on Terry Allen's 1979 album "Lubbock (On Everything)." The album was highly praised and is considered a classic in the country-rock genre. Another fact is that "Back To Black" has been covered by several artists, including Nanci Griffith, who released a live version of the song in 1988. In 2003, singer-songwriter Richard Buckner released a cover of the song on his album "Impasse-ette."
Line by Line Meaning
Every night the same light shines
Your love for me remains constant and unchanging, shining like a light every night.
From your eyes and back to mine
Through your eyes, I see the love that you have for me reflecting back to you through mine.
With a vision of the love
The love that we share is a beautiful thing that we both can see clearly.
We thought was true
We believed that our love was genuine and lasting.
But the darkness of the world out there
The harsh realities of the world we live in threaten to overshadow the love we share.
Surrounds the love we thought we shared
The difficulties of life can make it feel like our love is less important or less real than we once believed.
And it all fades back to black
Our love loses its luster and fades into the background amidst the challenges we face.
Tween me and you
The difficulties faced are between us only, reflecting our struggles to maintain our love.
But me and you we're not to blame
Neither of us is responsible for the hardships we face or the fading of our love.
Love always returns from where it came
True love never really fades away completely, it just goes back to where it began.
Now the darkness has slipped inside
The darkness and hardships of the world have crept into our relationship.
But neither one of us can hide
Though we both try to hide our fear and sadness, it is impossible in the face of such challenges.
Though you act for me
Despite putting on a brave face and pretending that everything is okay, the difficulties we face cannot be ignored.
Just like I act for you
I too try to act strong for your sake, but the struggles of our relationship affect me just as much as they affect you.
But when out two fates did cross
When our lives and paths first came together, we should have been more prepared for the hardships to come.
We should have both guessed the cost
We should have anticipated the toll that the difficulties of life would take on our relationship.
Tween me and you
The problems and challenges we face are between the two of us only, reflecting the struggle to maintain our love.
And nothing's new
Unfortunately, the issues we face in our relationship are all too common and not unique to us.
So if some mirror up on the wall
If only we could see reflected in a mirror the love that we once saw in each other.
Reflected the love that we once saw
If the mirror could reflect the same love that we once had for each other, then we could hold onto it forever.
We could stand there forever
We could remain together in that moment of love forever if only we could see it reflected back to us.
And never move
We could hold onto the love we once had between us forever without the need to move on from it.
But loves' picture in the glass
Alas, the love we shared is merely a fleeting image that fades away over time, like a picture in a glass.
Fades away it never lasts
Our love, no matter how strong, ultimately fades away over time and cannot last forever.
And nothing's true
In the face of such hardships and the fading of our love, it is difficult to find any truth or meaning.
Back to black for me and you
The end of our love is like returning to the beginning - a black, empty void where once there was love.
Is back to blue
The loss of our love has left us feeling blue and heartbroken.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TERRY ALLEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind