They began writing and recording their own music in 1956, and their first hit song came in 1957, with "Bye Bye Love", written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The song hit No. 1 in the spring of 1957, and additional hits would follow through 1958, many of them written by the Bryants, including "Wake Up Little Susie", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", and "Problems". In 1960, they signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records and recorded "Cathy's Clown", written by the brothers themselves, which was their biggest selling single. The brothers enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1961, and their output dropped off, though additional hit singles continued through 1962, with "That's Old Fashioned (That's the Way Love Should Be)" being their last top-10 hit.
Long-simmering disputes with Wesley Rose, the CEO of Acuff-Rose Music, which managed the group, a growing drug usage in the 1960s, as well as changing tastes in popular music, led to the group's decline in popularity in its native U.S., though the brothers continued to release hit singles in the U.K. and Canada, and had many highly successful tours throughout the 1960s. In the early 1970s, the brothers began releasing solo recordings, and in 1973 they officially broke up. Starting in 1983, the brothers got back together, and would continue to perform periodically until Phil's death in 2014. Don died seven years later.
The group was highly influential on the music of the generation that followed it. Many of the top acts of the 1960s were heavily influenced by the close-harmony singing and acoustic guitar playing of the Everly Brothers, including the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, and Simon & Garfunkel. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked the Everly Brothers No. 1 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class of 1986, and into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Don was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019, earning the organization's first Iconic Riff Award for his distinctive rhythm guitar intro to the Everlys' massive 1957 hit "Wake Up Little Susie".
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Everly_Brothers
Sweet Memories
The Everly Brothers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Night after night the past slips in and gathers all my sleep
My days are just an endless stream of emptiness to me
Filled only by the fleeting moments of her memories
Sweet memories
Sweet memories
Hmmmmmmmm
Wandering from room to room she's turning on each light
Her laughter spills like water from the river to the sea
I'm swept away from sadness clinging to her memories
Sweet memories
Sweet memories
Hmmmmmmmm
The Everly Brothers's song "Sweet Memories" is a melancholy ballad that captures the pain of lingering memories. The singer's world is compared to a deep and dark river, and the past keeps creeping in at night, gathering all his sleep. He feels like he is trapped in an endless stream of emptiness, only briefly alleviated by fleeting moments of memories of his lost love.
The second verse describes the singer's dream, in which his former flame slips into the silence of his subconscious, wandering from room to room and turning on each light. Her laughter echoes like water from a river to the sea, and he is swept away from his sadness by these sweet memories.
"Sweet Memories" is a song about nostalgia, lost love, and the visceral impact of memory. The lyrics capture the bittersweet nature of memories and how they can linger on and impact us. The impact of the song is compounded by the Everly Brothers' signature harmonies, which add an ethereal quality to the already poignant lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
My world is like a river as dark as it is deep
My life feels heavy, like a deep and dark river that flows constantly.
Night after night the past slips in and gathers all my sleep
Every night, the memories of my past come to me and keep me awake, not allowing me to sleep.
My days are just an endless stream of emptiness to me
My days feel meaningless and void of any true purpose or joy.
Filled only by the fleeting moments of her memories
Only brief moments of my memories with her can fill the emptiness I feel in my days.
Sweet memories
The memories of her are sweet and dearly treasured by me.
She slipped into the silence of my dreams last night
Last night, I dreamt of her coming to me in the peacefulness of the night.
Wandering from room to room she's turning on each light
In my dream, she walked through my home, turning on lights in each room she visited.
Her laughter spills like water from the river to the sea
Her laughter is so contagious and joyful that it spreads like water flowing from a river into the vastness of the sea.
I'm swept away from sadness clinging to her memories
The sadness I feel is replaced by a sense of being swept away by her memories and the love I have for her.
Sweet memories
Once again, I am reminded of the sweetness and value of memories of her.
Sweet memories
The beauty and comfort that her memories provide me is worth treasuring, holding onto, and cherishing deeply.
Contributed by Abigail V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.