Merritt's father taught her guitar chords and Percy Sledge songs. She began her professional career in 1998 with her band The Carbines playing small clubs. In her early twenties, though Tift had gigged by herself, she decided she was not very good at music and better suited for writing short stories. She and her dog Lucy started school at UNC to study creative writing. There, she met Zeke Hutchins, whose band had just taken a hiatus and who had decided to become a school teacher. With his encouragement and a big box of LPs from the 70's that they both liked, they started a band. Zeke set drums up in the kitchen of Tift's farmhouse on the outskirts of town, and they practiced songs at her red piano. The Carbines played Chapel Hill haunts like the Cave, the Cat's Cradle, and the front porch of the General Store in Bynum, NC. Tift also made a guest appearance on the Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt EP.
In 2000, Tift won Merlefest's Chris Austin Songwriting contest, and with the help of Ryan Adams, found herself with a manager and a recording contract with Lost Highway records. The band headed to LA to record her first release, Bramble Rose, in 2002, produced by Ethan Johns. The record landed on Time Magazine's and New Yorker's top ten lists and was called the best debut of the year in any genre by the Associated Press. Tambourine followed in 2004. Produced by George Drakoulias, featuring Mike Campbell of the Hearbreakers on guitar, Tambourine was a soul-rock throw down, Grammy-nominated for Country Album of the Year, even though it was really not a country album. It was also nominated for three Americana Music Awards. The tour opened for Elvis Costello, recorded Austin City Limits, releasing the performance as a live DVD, and made Home Is Loud, a document of the tour's homecoming concert in Raleigh, NC. As the tour was winding down, Tift ran away to Paris looking for her mojo and, without intending to, started writing songs that would become Another Country. Another Country was released on Fantasy Records in 2008, again with George Drakoulias and her longtime band at the helm. Buckingham Solo, recorded in England, is an intimate concert behind Another Country, released on Fantasy in April 2009. Also in 2009, Tift had her first art exhibit, Other Countries, bringing the journals and pictures behind Another Country to light.
Tift also produces The Spark for KRTS Marfa, Texas Public Radio. The Spark explores the real lives and processes of the people behind great works of art. Guests have included writer Nick Hornby, artist Kiki Smith, songstress and Merge co-founder Mac MCCaughan. Emmylou Harris, when asked about Tift, said, “I first heard Tift Merritt some years ago during a writer's night at a small club in Nashville. She stood out like a diamond in a coal patch, and everyone there knew she carried a promise of great things to come.”
In 2009, Tift married longtime collaborator Zeke Hutchins. They lived in a small Greenwich Village apartment in NYC, and later divorced.
Traveling Alone, her fifth studio album, was recorded in Brooklyn and featuring guest spots from Marc Ribot, Andrew Bird, and others, was released in the fall of 2012.
Her sixth studio Stitch of the World was released in 2017. According to the review in Pop Matters, "The stories surrounding Stitch of the World, Tift Merritt's most recent album, make up their narrative, with divorce, relocation, and childbirth at the center of the tale... But Merritt's gift for the record has been to write a series of songs that sound personal without relying on anything autobiographical... the songs are individual, a capturing of Merritt's vision that's unguarded and inviting without being limited."
http://www.tiftmerritt.com/
LOVE LOVE LOVE
Tift Merritt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I loved the way our love was growing
Thought I'd found love and affection
When you turned your love in the other direction
Your love made a U-turn
Away from me
Your love made a U-turn
How I'd wait all night long
Trying to see where did I go wrong
I can't see through tears in my eyes
Somebody please tell me why
His love made a U-turn
Away from me
His love made a U-turn
Left me standing in the street
Love, sweet love, look what you've done to me
Went away and left me standing in the street
You lift me high, then you let me down
You won't even try to turn your love around
Why did you make a U-turn?
Away from me
Why did you make a U-turn?
Leave me standing in the street
Everyday I tell myself
Why should I blame someone else
I'm still standing in a trance
Hoping there just might be a chance
You'll make another U-turn
Right back to me
Come on, make a U-turn
Right back to me
Come on, make a U-turn
Right back to me
Yeah, come on, make a U-turn
Well, come on, make a U-turn
Right back to me
Well, come on, make a U-turn
Right back to me
U-turn, can't you make a U-turn?
U-turn, can't you make a U-turn?
In this song, Tift Merritt sings about a relationship that has taken a sudden turn for the worse. The first stanza presents a happy relationship that seemed to be growing strong but ends with an unexpected and confusing revelation that her partner has taken a different direction with his love. This sudden shift in his attention towards her leaves her lost and feeling hopeless. She can't understand why everything has changed, and she is left standing alone in the street.
The second stanza shows the singer's distress and confusion. She is left feeling helpless, and she can't understand why her partner chose to do what he did. She begs for a reason and wishes someone could just, tell her why everything fell apart. The chorus repeats the idea that his love made a U-turn away from her.
As the song progresses, the singer begins to come to terms with what has happened. She acknowledges the impact the relationship has had on her life, and she is ready to move forward. She pleads with love, and in the end, she hopes that her partner will eventually make a U-turn back to her.
Line by Line Meaning
Yesterday we had a good thing going
In the past, we had a positive and flourishing relationship
I loved the way our love was growing
I enjoyed how our love was developing and maturing
Thought I'd found love and affection
I believed I had discovered true love and care
When you turned your love in the other direction
But you suddenly changed your feelings and attitude towards me
Your love made a U-turn
Your affection reversed direction
Away from me
Moving farther from me emotionally
Left me standing in the street
Abandoned me in a vulnerable state
How I'd wait all night long
I used to wait for you for hours, hoping you'd come back
Trying to see where did I go wrong
Attempting to find my mistakes that led to this situation
I can't see through tears in my eyes
My eyes are full of tears, and I can't see clearly
Somebody please tell me why
I need someone to explain what happened
His love made a U-turn
His love changed direction suddenly
Love, sweet love, look what you've done to me
Love, a beautiful feeling, has caused me pain and distress
Went away and left me standing in the street
Disappeared and left me alone and helpless
You lift me high, then you let me down
You elevate my emotions and then disappoint me
You won't even try to turn your love around
You refuse to attempt to make things right in our relationship
Why did you make a U-turn?
Why did you suddenly change your mind about me?
Leave me standing in the street
Abandon me in a place where I'm exposed and vulnerable
Everyday I tell myself
I repeat to myself every day
Why should I blame someone else
Why should I hold others responsible for my misfortune?
I'm still standing in a trance
I'm still in shock and unable to move on
Hoping there just might be a chance
I still have a glimmer of hope that things will improve
You'll make another U-turn
You'll reverse your feelings again
Right back to me
In my direction, towards me
Come on, make a U-turn
Please, switch your feelings back to what they were before
Yeah, come on, make a U-turn
Yes, please, turn your love around a second time
U-turn, can't you make a U-turn?
Can't you change your mind again?
U-turn, can't you make a U-turn?
Can't you turn your love back to me?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MCCLINTON OSBIE BURNETT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@RadioChief52
WOW. Fantastic audio on this one. Tift has never sounded better and Tift always sounds beautiful. Kudos to the sound engineer.
@qtrfoil
This is beautiful work Paste, congratulations.
@alejandrobengochea7338
wonderful!!!
@NormanClucas
Love this lady
@enminghee2926
A beautiful song that feels like a theme from an aborted Disney movie. In a good way.