Turner began her career with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1957. Under the name Little Ann, she appeared on her first record, "Boxtop", in 1958. In 1960, she debuted as Tina Turner with the hit duet single "A Fool in Love". The duo Ike & Tina Turner became "one of the most formidable live acts in history". They released hits such as "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", "River Deep – Mountain High", "Proud Mary", and "Nutbush City Limits" before disbanding in 1976.
In the 1980s, Turner launched "one of the greatest comebacks in music history". Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer contained the hit song "What's Love Got to Do with It", which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. At age 44, she was the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100. Her chart success continued with "Better Be Good to Me", "Private Dancer", "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", "Typical Male", "The Best", "I Don't Wanna Fight", and "GoldenEye". During her Break Every Rule World Tour in 1988, she set a then-Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience (180,000) for a solo performer.
Turner also acted in the films Tommy (1975), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Last Action Hero (1993). In 1993, What's Love Got to Do with It, a biographical film adapted from her autobiography I, Tina: My Life Story, was released. In 2009, Turner retired after completing her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour, which is the 15th highest-grossing tour of the 2000s. In 2018, she became the subject of the jukebox musical Tina.
Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, Turner became one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She received 12 Grammy Awards, which include eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She was the first black artist, and first woman, to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Turner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame. She was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021. She was a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year award.
In 2020, she came out of retirement to collaborate with Norwegian producer Kygo on a remix of "What's Love Got to Do with It". With this release, she became the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades in the UK.
Studio albums
Tina Turns the Country On! (1974)
Acid Queen (1975)
Rough (1978)
Love Explosion (1979)
Private Dancer (1984)
Break Every Rule (1986)
Foreign Affair (1989)
Wildest Dreams (1996)
Twenty Four Seven (1999)
Lay It Down
Tina Turner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Trying hard to leave the load
We take it there but you can't let go
It's so hard to lay it down
Back in Eden we were tried
Found ourselves dissatisfied
Seeking wisdom that he denied
Lay it down, lay it down
It's so hard to lay it down
Hide in me, confide in me
Oh, don't you think it's time to be
Everything we ever tried to be
So you and me can lay it down
Speak to me, don't be ashamed
There's no need in playing games
Cause after all we're all the same
Just trying hard to lay it down
Wish my words could make it well
Wish that I could break the shell
Take us from our self-made well
Find a way to lay it down
Burdened by the things I've learned
I'm hurting because I'm too concerned
Nonetheless I confess I yearn
To find a way to lay it down
Lay it down, lay it down
Wish that I could lay it down
Wish that I could lay it down
The lyrics of Tina Turner's Lay It Down address the struggle of letting go of past burdens, mistakes, and dissatisfaction. The song speaks of trying to find peace in oneself by facing one's own fears and hiding places. Throughout the song, Turner stresses the importance and difficulty of releasing control and surrendering oneself to trust in another person. The lyrics appear to also reference religious themes of the Garden of Eden and the concept of wisdom and knowledge being denied by a higher power.
Turner encourages the listener to confide in her and to continue seeking truth and wisdom with the knowledge that everyone is going through the same struggle. She aches for a way to cure the pain of experience and to break free from the self-imposed constraints we place on ourselves.
One of the primary takeaways from the song is that letting go of years of burdens is seldom a quick and easy journey. It is a process that requires honesty, self-reflection, trust, support, and a willingness to release those burdens. Through the lyrics of the song, Turner offers encouragement on this difficult journey and reminds us that we are not alone in this journey.
Line by Line Meaning
Traveling down a different road
We have decided to take a different path in life.
Trying hard to leave the load
We are making a great effort to let go of our past.
We take it there but you can't let go
Even though we have come this far, it's hard for us to move on.
It's so hard to lay it down
We are struggling to let go and move on from our past.
Back in Eden we were tried
In the past, we were tested and challenged.
Found ourselves dissatisfied
We were not happy with the way things turned out in the past.
Seeking wisdom that he denied
We were searching for knowledge and understanding, but it was not granted to us.
Trying hard to lay it down
We are still struggling to let go of our past and move on.
Lay it down, lay it down
We need to let go and move on.
Hide in me, confide in me
We should trust and confide in each other.
Oh, don't you think it's time to be
It's time for us to start anew.
Everything we ever tried to be
We need to strive to be our best selves.
So you and me can lay it down
Together, we can let go of our past and move on.
Speak to me, don't be ashamed
We should communicate openly and honestly without feeling embarrassed.
There's no need in playing games
We need to be sincere and genuine with each other.
Cause after all we're all the same
We are all human and face similar struggles in life.
Just trying hard to lay it down
We are still struggling to move on from our past.
Wish my words could make it well
I wish I had the power to fix everything.
Wish that I could break the shell
I wish I could help us move on and let go of our past.
Take us from our self-made well
We need to escape from our self-imposed limitations.
Find a way to lay it down
We need to find a way to let go of our past and move forward.
Burdened by the things I've learned
The knowledge we have acquired has become a heavy load for us.
I'm hurting because I'm too concerned
We are feeling upset because we care too much.
Nonetheless I confess I yearn
Despite everything, we still have a strong desire to let go of our past and move on.
To find a way to lay it down
We need to find a way to let go and move on.
Lay it down, lay it down
We need to let go and move on from our past.
Wish that I could lay it down
We are struggling to let go of our past and move on.
Wish that I could lay it down
We wish we could find a way to let go of our past and move on.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Esther Dean, Jamal F. Jones, Kenneth Gamble, Walter B. Sigler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind