The Wailin' Jennys are a Juno Award-winning Canadian folk trio from Winnipe… Read Full Bio ↴The Wailin' Jennys are a Juno Award-winning Canadian folk trio from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and New York, and they consist of soprano Ruth Moody, mezzo Nicky Mehta and alto Heather Masse. Recently, the Jennys have also toured with fiddler and mandolinist Jeremy Penner, who is from Ruth's former band, Scruj MacDuhk.

The Wailin' Jennys have released several albums and tour regularly through North America and Europe. The group is also often featured on the American Public Media program, A Prairie Home Companion. Their album, Firecracker, made it to the number two spot on the Billboard Bluegrass charts, in 2006.

The group was founded in 2002, when a guitar shop in Winnipeg - called Sled Dog Music[1] - brought three soloists - (Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta and Cara Luft) - together for a joint performance. The show was well received and the owner scheduled a follow-up, which was also a great success. The owner then "offered that they might go on tour and call themselves the Wailin' Jennys."[2] The group's name is a pun on the country singer Waylon Jennings.

Luft left, in 2004, to pursue her solo career and was replaced by Annabelle Chvostek, a singer/songwriter from Montreal.

At the 2005 Juno Awards, the group won Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (Group) for their 2004 album 40 Days.[3]

In 2007, Chvostek left the group and was replaced by Heather Masse, a Maine-born singer with a background in jazz and blues, as well as folk, who also fronts the Brooklyn-based Heather & the Barbarians.

All of the members of the Jennys maintain solo careers, in addition to their efforts with the group.

Begin
The Wailin Jennys Lyrics

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Hey, maybe the time
Just wasn't right to hang on
When are you gonna learn
Sometimes things turn instead of turn out

Hey, when are you gonna stand
Stop looking over your shoulder
Me, with a head full of words

And not one useful expression
Hey, let go

We, with holes in our hearts
Were whole at the start
Our story began
We film ourselves 'til the end
Try to suspend our lives in the dark

Hey, when are you gonna stand
Stop looking over your shoulder
See, there's a sun in the sky
And a moon that will take us til morning
When are you gonna stand
Stop and begin this moment

Hey, let go
Let go (will we be the ones to understand?)

Overall Meaning

The Wailin Jennys's song Begin is a heartfelt and poignant ballad about the struggles of letting go and starting anew. The lyrics speak of a bittersweet realization that it may be time to move on from an old love, and that sometimes life does not turn out the way we planned. The song urges the listener to stop dwelling on the past and to embrace the present moment, letting go of the fear and uncertainty that holds us back.

The opening lines of the song set the tone for the emotional journey that follows. The singer questions whether the time was right to hold onto a past love, and acknowledges that sometimes we cannot control the way our lives unfold. The chorus then implores the singer to let go of the past and stop looking over their shoulder to embrace the future. The verses that follow paint a portrait of a relationship that began with promise and hope, but that has now ended in heartache and uncertainty. Despite the challenges, the characters try to hold onto the memories and the love that they shared, as they navigate the unknown road ahead.

Overall, Begin is a deeply moving meditation on the human experience of love and loss. It invites us to reflect on the moments of connection and tenderness that we have experienced, while also recognizing that we must let go of what no longer serves us in order to move forward.

Line by Line Meaning

Hey, maybe the time
Maybe it just wasn't the right time to hold on

Just wasn't right to hang on
Hanging on wasn't the right decision

When are you gonna learn
When will you realize

Sometimes things turn instead of turn out
Things don't always turn out the way we want them to

Hey, when are you gonna stand
When will you start being more confident

Stop looking over your shoulder
Stop worrying about the past

Me, with a head full of words
I have so much to say

And not one useful expression
But I can't seem to find the right words

Hey, let go
Just let it all go

We, with holes in our hearts
We are broken hearted

Were whole at the start
But we were once happy