Rush is considered a gifted musician and performer whose shows offer a musical celebration. His distinctive guitar style, wry humor and warm, expressive voice have made him both a legend and a lure to audiences around the world. His shows are filled with the rib-aching laughter of terrific story-telling, the sweet melancholy of ballads and the passion of gritty blues.
Rush's impact on the American music scene has been profound. He helped shape the folk revival in the '60s and the renaissance of the '80s and '90s, his music having left its stamp on generations of artists. James Taylor told Rolling Stone, "Tom was not only one of my early heroes, but also one of my main influences." Country music star Garth Brooks has credited Rush with being one of his top five musical influences. Rush has long championed emerging artists. His early recordings introduced the world to the work of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and James Taylor, and in more recent years his Club 47 concerts have brought artists such as Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin to wider audiences when they were just beginning to build their own reputations.
Rush began his musical career in the early '60s playing the Boston-area clubs while a Harvard student. The Club 47 was the flagship of the coffee house fleet, and he was soon holding down a weekly spot there, learning from the legendary artists who came to play, honing his skills and growing into his talent. He had released two albums by the time he graduated.
Rush displayed then, as he does today, an uncanny knack for finding wonderful songs, and writing his own - many of which have become classics re-interpreted by new generations. (It is testimony to the universality of his appeal that his songs have been folk hits, country hits, heavy metal and rap hits.) Signed by Elektra in 1965, Rush made three albums for them, culminating in The Circle Game, which, according to Rolling Stone, ushered in the singer/songwriter era.
In the early '70s, folk turned to folk-rock, and Rush, ever adaptable, saw more room to stretch out. Recording now for Columbia, he toured tirelessly with a five man band, playing concerts across the country. Endless promotional tours, interviews, television appearances, and recording sessions added up to five very successful but exhausting years, after which Tom decided to take a break and "recharge" his creative side at his New Hampshire farm.
Rush returned with a splash in 1981, selling out Boston's prestigious Symphony Hall in advance. Time off had not only rekindled Rush's love of music, it had re-ignited music audiences' love of Rush's music.
He instinctively knew that his listeners were interested in both the old and the new, and set out to create a musical forum - like the Club 47 of the early '60s - to allow established artists and newcomers to share the same stage. In 1982, he tried it out at Symphony Hall. The show was such a hit it became an annual event, growing to fill two, then three nights, and the Club 47 series was born. Crafting concerts that combined well known artists such as Bonnie Raitt or Emmylou Harris with (then) unknowns like Alison Krauss or Mark O' Connor, Rush took the show on the road. From the '80s to the present day, Club 47 events have filled the nation's finest halls to rave reviews, and have been broadcast as national specials on PBS and NPR.
In 1999, Columbia/Legacy released a Tom Rush retrospective album that covered his recorded musical history from 1962 to the present, including tracks recorded for Columbia, Elektra, Prestige and his independent years. Entitled "The Very Best of Tom Rush: No Regrets", the 17-track compilation includes as a bonus a brand new Tom Rush composition, "River Song," which features vocal contributions from Grammy winners Shawn Colvin and Marc Cohn.
A live CD, "Trolling for Owls" released in 2003 and published by Tom's NIGHTLIGHT RECORDINGS, captures a complete performance and includes, for the first time, some of the spoken stories that have endeared him to audiences.
In 2018, at age 79, he released the album "Voices".
No Regrets
Tom Rush Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For far too long I've had nothin' new to show to you
Goodbye dry eyes I watched your plane
Fade off west of the moon
And it felt so strange to walk away alone
No regrets, no tears goodbye
Don't want you back, we'd only cry, again
The hours that were yours, echo like empty rooms
The thoughts we used to share, I now keep alone
I woke last night and spoke to you, not thinking you were gone
It felt so strange to lie awake, alone
No regrets, no tears goodbye
Don't want you back, we'd only cry, again
Say goodbye, again
Our friends have tried to turn my nights to day
Strange faces in your place can't keep the ghosts away
Just beyond the darkest hour, just behind the dawn
Still feels so strange to lead my life, alone
I've no regrets, no tears goodbye
Don't want you back, we'd only cry, again
Say goodbye, again
Tom Rush's song "No Regrets" is a song about someone who has just gone through a breakup with their significant other. The first few lines indicate that the person who left was long overdue in leaving and that the singer has nothing new to show them. In other words, the relationship had run its course and there was no point in trying to salvage it. The singer then bids farewell to their "dry eyes" as they watch their plane fade off into the distance. This is a metaphor for watching the relationship come to an end. The final line of the first verse, "And it felt so strange to walk away alone" highlights how difficult it can be to let go of someone who was such a significant part of your life.
The chorus of the song is where the singer declares that they have "no regrets, no tears goodbye" and "don't want you back." This is a statement of acceptance and realization that the relationship was not working and it is better to move on instead of trying to get back together and going through the painful experience all over again. The second verse reveals that the hours that the two shared together now echo like empty rooms and that the thoughts they used to share are now kept alone. This indicates that there is a sense of loneliness and emptiness without the other person. In the bridge of the song, the singer admits that their friends have tried to help them move on, but it's difficult because the ghost of their lost love still remains. The final line of the song "Still feels so strange to lead my life, alone" shows how it's hard to adjust to being single again and that there are still challenges even after the breakup.
Overall, "No Regrets" is a touching and poignant song about the end of a relationship and the singer's journey towards acceptance and moving on.
Line by Line Meaning
I know your leavin's too long overdue
I am aware that you should have left a long time ago.
For far too long I've had nothin' new to show to you
I've had nothing new in my life to share with you for a considerable period of time.
Goodbye dry eyes I watched your plane
I said goodbye without shedding a tear as I watched you board the plane.
Fade off west of the moon
Your departure seemed to vanish into the distance like the moon setting in the west.
And it felt so strange to walk away alone
It felt unusual for me to leave by myself.
No regrets, no tears goodbye
I say farewell without any remorse or sadness.
Don't want you back, we'd only cry, again
I don't want to be with you again as it would result in nothing but sadness.
Say goodbye, again
I must bid you farewell once more.
The hours that were yours, echo like empty rooms
The time we spent together seems like empty, hollow memories.
The thoughts we used to share, I now keep alone
I now keep to myself the ideas and discussions we used to share.
I woke last night and spoke to you, not thinking you were gone
Last night, without realizing you were gone, I spoke to you, which felt peculiar.
It felt so strange to lie awake, alone
It felt weird to lay in bed at night, without you beside me.
Our friends have tried to turn my nights to day
Our mutual friends have tried to cheer me up during the night.
Strange faces in your place can't keep the ghosts away
Being with different people in your absence doesn't help the feeling of ghosts from the past.
Just beyond the darkest hour, just behind the dawn
As the saying goes, the darkness is just before the dawn, and vice versa.
Still feels so strange to lead my life, alone
It still feels strange to me to be living my life alone.
I've no regrets, no tears goodbye
Once more, I must emphasize that I leave without any tears or regrets.
Don't want you back, we'd only cry, again
The idea of being together again would only result in more tears and sadness.
Say goodbye, again
One final time, it's time to say farewell.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Thomas Rush
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@moabrob
I first heard this song back in 1964. It was the first Tom Rush song I learned. THIS song is the ultimately saddest song I've ever known. When my totally beautiful wife left without reason seven years ago, it became the anthem of my loniless. Somethings reach us for a lifetime, never to be forgotten. They change us. Integrated into our beingness, like the color of our eyes. Thank You Tom. I'm sure did not have me in mind when you wrote this song, but you've been in mine since.
@112wade
OMG, I was going to write the same thing. If you take this song as a "leaving" song instead of a "breakup song", then the sadness of a loved one leaving in death is totally applicable. I tear up every time I hear it. I appears you wrote your comment 13 years ago, but nothing has changed.
@jeromeedwards4214
Your comment sums up this beautiful song perfectly. I love it for similar reasons.
@waynehallam2464
Your very lovely thoughts and this song will be with me also. Love and peace to you 💕
@ivantopolcic
74?
@jerrykibbe6363
I can still see her walking away
@bobbiestevens
If I had to choose only one artist to listen to forever, it would be Tom Rush!!!
@danb97
This song belongs to my three all-time-favourites. There is no other song with such a simple but pure beauty. It still makes me cry almost everytime I listen to it. And I don't know any voice, that is more magical than Tom's. By the way, I'm 25 and from Germany. So you don't have to be an 'old hippie' to enjoy the greatness of this music. Love you Tom.
@golferbabe1225
I'm an old hippy, 73, and still love this song, it's timeless!
@golferbabe1225
I’m happy to know that young people can appreciate this song. I sometimes worry that only old people appreciate things from the past.