The group's history is fairly complicated, because there were at least three different bands involved in the making of the songs identified as being by "the Grass Roots." The Grass Roots was originated by the writer/producer team of P.F Sloan and Steve Barri as a pseudonym under which they would release a body of The Byrds-style folk rock with pop influences. Sloan and Barri were contracted songwriters for Trousdale Music, the publishing arm of Dunhill Records, which wanted to cash in on the folk-rock boom hitting its stride in 1965.
Dunhill asked Sloan and Barri to come up with this material as well as a phony group alias under which they would release it. The resulting "Grass Roots" debut song, the Byrds pastiche "Where Were You When I Needed You", was sung by Sloan and soon sent to a Los Angeles, California radio station, which began playing it almost immediately. The problem was, naturally, that there was no "Grass Roots" at that point.
The next step was to recruit a band that could become "The Grass Roots". Sloan found a San Francisco based rock group called the Bedouins that seemed promising on the basis of their lead singer, musician Bill Fulton. Fulton recorded a new vocal over the backing tracks laid down for the P.F. Sloan version of the song. The Bedouins were, at first, content to put their future in the hands of Sloan and Barri as producers, despite the fact that the group was more blues-oriented than anything like the psychedelic folk being created. However, the rest of the group felt very offended when Fulton was told to record their debut single, a cover of Bob Dylan's "The Ballad of a Thin Man," backed by studio musicians.
When that single, released in October of 1965, became only a modest hit, every member of the Bedouins except for their drummer, Joel Larson, departed for San Francisco once again to re-form as The Unquenchable Thirst. Sloan and Barri continued to record. The re-vamped "Where Were You When I Needed You" was widely released in mid-1966 and peaked at number 28. Yet the album of the same name never charted, leaving things in flux.
Amid the machinations behind "Where Were You When I Needed You", the songwriters argued amongst themselves that it remained a problem that no "real" Grass Roots band existed in 1966. A possible solution came along when a Los Angeles based band called the 13th Floor submitted a demo tape to Dunhill. This group, consisting of Warren Entner (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Creed Bratton (lead guitar), Rob Grill (vocals, bass), and Rick Coonce (drums), was recruited and offered the choice of recording under their own name or taking over the name "The Grass Roots" by putting themselves in the hands of Sloan and Barri and drawing advantage of the Grass Roots' at least moderately successful track record. They chose the latter, with Rob Grill as primary lead vocalist.
The first track cut by the new Grass Roots in the spring of 1967 was a new version of a song that had been an Italian hit, in a lighter, more uptempo version, for a British band called The Rokes. "Let's Live for Today" was an achingly beautiful, dramatic, and serious single, and it shot into the Top 10 upon its release in the summer of 1967. An accompanying album, 'Let's Live for Today', only reached number 75 but gained a significant fan following.
The group began spreading its wings in the studio with their next album, 'Feelings', which they recorded late in 1967. Said work emphasized the band's material over Sloan and Barri's singles. This was intended as their own statement of who they were, but it lacked the broad commercial appeal of anything on 'Let's Live for Today', sold poorly, and never yielded any hit singles. Eleven months went by before the group had another chart entry, and, during that period, Sloan and Barri's partnership broke up, with Sloan departing for New York and attempting a performing career of his own.
The band considered splitting up as all of this was happening. The Grass Roots' return to the charts (with Barri producing), however, was a triumphant one. In the late fall of 1968, "Midnight Confessions" reached number five on the charts and earned the band a gold record, still receiving airplay to this day. "Midnight Confessions" showed the strong influence of Motown's singles on the group, and the R&B flavor of the song stuck with Barri and the band.
In April of 1969, Creed Bratton left the band, to be replaced by Denny Provisor on keyboards and Terry Furlong on lead guitar. Now a quintet, the Grass Roots went on cutting records without breaking stride, enjoying a string of Top 40 hits that ran into the early '70s, peaking with "Temptation Eyes" at number 15 in the summer of 1971. Coonce and Provisor left at the end of 1971, to be replaced by Reed Kailing on lead guitar, Virgil Webberon keyboards, and Joel Larson , of the original Bedouins/Grass Roots outfit, on drums. They arrived just in time to take advantage of the number 16 success of "Two Divided by Love," which was the last of the Grass Roots' big hits.
The Grass Roots soldiered on for a few more years, reaching the Top 40 a couple of times in 1972, but their commercial success slowly slipped away during 1973. They kept working for a few more years, but called it quits in 1975. Rob Grill remained in the music business on the organizing side, and by 1980 was persuaded by his friend John McVie to cut a solo album, "Uprooted" , which featured contributions by Mick Fleetwood and Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. By 1982, amid the burgeoning oldies concert circuit and the respect beginning to be accorded the Grass Roots, Grill formed a new Grass Roots, sometimes billed as "Rob Grill and the Grass Roots" and began performing as many as 100 shows a year. Their presence on various oldies package tours have seen to it that the Grass Roots name remains visible in the '90s.
Individuals Associated With the Band:
CREED BRATTON: (guitar) Creed recorded with The Grass Roots from 1966-1969. He left the band to purse an acting career and works in that field to this day. Creed has recently formed a band with Dick Dodd of The Standells so watch for them soon.
RICK COONCE: (drums) Rick pounded the skins from 1966-1971 and was known for his trademark mutton-chop sideburns. Rick's high-energy drumming style set the pace for many of the Grass Roots' early hits. Rick also co-wrote the title track to the Feelings album.
DENNY ELLIS: Was a member of the band in 1965-66 and was on the first few 45s.
WARREN ENTNER: (vocals, guitar & keys) Warren was with The Grass Roots longer than any other member besides Rob Grill. Warren sang numerous hits and sang many duets with Grill, including Midnight Confessions. Warren has stayed in the music business and currently has his own artist management company.
BILL FULTON: Bill was the original lead singer of the band in 1965. He sang the original vocal on Where Were You When I Needed You. By the end of 1966 he had departed from the group.
TERRY FURLONG: (guitar) Terry appeared on one album only: More Golden Grass.
ROB GRILL: (vocals & bass) Rob has been the lead singer for the band since its inception. His vocal style is the basis for the Grass Roots' sound. He has appeared on every album and continues to tour today with his own version of the band.
REED KAILING:(guitar) Reed played with the band from 1972-1974 and was featured on the albums Move Along and Alotta Mileage.
REGGIE KNIGHTON: (guitar) Reggie joined the Grass Roots when it went back to a four piece in 1975. He was on the album entitled The Grass Roots. Shortly after his tenure with the group Reggie signed a solo record deal with CBS Records and released two albums in the late seventies. (see solo album cover above)
JOEL LARSON: (drums) A veteran of numerous L.A. bands, Joel was a member of the Grass Roots in 1964-5 when the band had only recorded a few singles. Larson left before the group's first album release to join The Merry Go Round with Emmitt Rhodes, only to return in 1972 and stay through the last several album releases. After the Grass Roots stopped playing together, Larson went on to record & tour with Lee Michaels and played on Lee's smash hit, Do Ya Know What I Mean.
DENNIS PROVISOR: (keys & vocals) While many Grass Roots songs were penned by writers outside the group, Provisor was the most prolific songwriter in any incarnation of The Grass Roots. While his trademark may be the hit Walking Through The Country, Provisor has penned some great & still greatly underrated songs like Monday Love & I Can't Turn Off The Rain. Dennis fronts his own band and tours the midwest on a regular basis.
DAVE STENSEN: Original bass player with the band for the first few singles. Went onto join Serpent Power.
VIRGIL WEBER: (keyboards) Virgil recorded & toured with the Grass Roots from 1972-1974 and recorded with the then fivesome on Move Along and Alotta Mileage. After Weber left the group he remained busy doing recording sessions & tours with many artists including Donna Summer.
2. The original name of the band that in 1965 became Love.
Two Divided By Love
The Grass Roots Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Can only be one
And one is a lonely number
Two divided by love
Can only be sad
Can only hurt one another
Every night your tears come down
Loneliness is no one's friend
I've been takin' the same kind of ride
And that just shouldn't be
If you're still lovin' me
Come on baby
Two divided by love
Can only be one
And one is a lonely number
Two divided by love
Can only be sad
Can only hurt one another
I'd by lyin' to myself
If I said I was gettin' along
All I do is think of you and I know
That it's here you belong
Come on girl make your way
We can start from today
Puttin' it back together 'cause
Two divided by love
Can only be one
And one is a lonely number
Two divided by love
Can only be sad
Can only hurt one another
Take away the rain from a flower
And the flower just can't grow
Take away you from me girl
Out of my mind
Out of my mind
Out of my mind
Out of my mind
Two divided by love
Can only be sad
Can only be broken hearted
Two divided and blue
Should take what they had
And go back to where they started
Two divided by love
Can only be one
And one is a lonely number
Two divided by love
Can only be sad
Can only hurt one another
The Grass Roots's song Two Divided By Love is about a couple who are struggling with the pain of being separated despite their love for each other. The lyrics describe the inevitable loneliness and hurt that comes with being divided by love. The singer talks about how he knows that his partner is hurting inside and how he too is struggling with the pain and loneliness of their separation. He encourages his partner to come back to him and start over again, to put their love back together.
The lyrics are very emotional and relatable, especially to those who have experienced a breakup or a long-distance relationship. The metaphor of "two divided by love" being only one and one being a lonely number is a powerful one, capturing the sense of loss and isolation that can come from being separated from a loved one. The song's chorus is particularly poignant, with its repeated refrain of "two divided by love can only be sad, can only hurt one another".
Overall, the song is a beautiful, heartfelt expression of the pain and complexity of love, and the often-difficult choices we have to make in our relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Two divided by love
When two people in a romantic relationship are no longer on the same page, don't see eye to eye and don't share the same values and goals, it results in a division of the union caused by love.
Can only be one
From a romantic perspective, it's impossible to have two distinct and disconnected lives brought together by love. Eventually someone gives in and adapts their life to fit the other, becoming one.
And one is a lonely number
When two people who were previously divided by love become one, there is no more division, but the sacrifice of the uniqueness of each individual, leading to loneliness and even abandonment due to their deep need for independent expression.
Can only be sad
When two people are no longer in love or divided, instead of sharing happiness, they experience sadness, which flows naturally from the broken state of the relationship.
Can only hurt one another
When there is no agreement or empathy in a relationship, it leads to resentment, anger, hurt feelings, and the feeling of walking on eggshells all the time, which ends up hurting both parties in different ways.
Every night your tears come down
When someone is deeply unhappy or struggling, they often cry themselves to sleep, letting their emotions out without anyone noticing.
And I know how you're feelin' inside
When someone empathizes with another's struggles or pain, they are familiar with their innermost feelings and know what they are going through.
Loneliness is no one's friend
Loneliness is not something anyone desires, as humans are social beings wired for connection, support, and understanding. Humans thrive better with someone to share their joys and sorrows with.
I've been takin' the same kind of ride
The artist has experienced the same emotions of loneliness, hurt, and unmet expectations in a relationship, making them empathetic to the other's struggles.
If you're still lovin' me
The artist still desires the other person's love and presence despite the brokenness of the relationship, highlighting the love and deep desire for intimacy to be restored.
Come on baby
The singer feels a strong desire for the other person to return to showing love and affection to them, to be with each other and start working on restoring the broken relationship.
I'd by lyin' to myself
The artist has been pretending to be okay, even when they are not, since they miss their partner and deep down, want the relationship to work out.
All I do is think of you and I know
The singer's every thought revolves around the other person, and the depth of their feelings for them is apparent.
That it's here you belong
The singer believes that the other person belongs with him or her, that they are their soulmate, even though they are currently divided by love.
Come on girl make your way
The singer pleads with the other person to make the first move and return to building the relationship step by step, without overthinking or overanalyzing.
We can start from today
They can begin to rebuild their relationship from this point forward, laying down a foundation of love, empathy, and understanding without looking back at the past.
Puttin' it back together 'cause
They can repair their broken relationship if they work together, focus on the important things, and let go of what caused the division in the first place.
Take away the rain from a flower
The natural state of a flower is to grow and prosper in the presence of rain, which nourishes the soil and keeps the environment clean and fresh.
And the flower just can't grow
When the rain that nourishes the soil is removed, flowers cannot grow, survive, or thrive. The natural equilibrium of the environment is denied to them.
Take away you from me girl
The natural state of the artist's life is to be with the other person, enjoying their company, being with them, supporting them, and loving them.
Out of my mind
The artist is plagued by negative emotions, fear, anxiety, and other mind-related issues that occur when they are separated from the other person, making him or her feel irrational and almost insane.
Two divided and blue
Both parties in the relationship are hurting and sad since their love has been divided, making them feel blue or down, which is the natural state of things when love is lost.
Should take what they had
The singer suggests that the couple should take the moments, memories, love, and connection they had as inspiration to start anew and rebuild their broken relationship.
And go back to where they started
The artist encourages the couple to remember their early days, their love story, what drew them to each other in the beginning, and use that as a reference point or starting point to recover what they have lost.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BRIAN POTTER, DENNIS EARLE LAMBERT, MARTIN L. KUPPS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind