Early life & music career
Tommy Shaw was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1953 and played with many local bands in his early years. He left Montgomery after high school to join MS Funk, a Chicago-managed outfit that he played with for 3 years, which gave him a chance to be noticed by the band Styx during a 2-week club gig in Chicago. After MS Funk disbanded, he went back to Montgomery to join a local group with his childhood friends called Harvest, which performed at a club in a bowling alley called "Keglar's Kove". Following Styx's move to A&M, guitarist and vocalist John Curulewski suddenly left the band shortly before they were to embark on a nationwide tour, and a frantic search to find a last-minute replacement was launched. While playing at the bowling alley bar, as a result of his previous experience with MS Funk in Chicago, Shaw got the call to audition for Styx and was quickly hired.
Styx — 1970s
The first album with Shaw, "Crystal Ball" (1976), was titled after his own composition and also includes his songs "Mademoiselle" and "Shooz". Its follow-up, The Grand Illusion (1977) became the group's breakthrough album, which went platinum and also featured a radio hit by Shaw, "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)".
Styx's 8th album, appropriately entitled Pieces Of Eight, was the breakout album for Shaw's songwriting talent with his rock-oriented contributions "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man", which became `70's rock radio staples and perennial Styx concert favorites, reaching #16 and #21 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.It also featured a minor radio hit Shaw's tune "Sing For The Day".
[edit] 1980s — 1990s
Though the `80's brought the downfall of Styx, it began with Styx riding a wave of commercial success with the #1 pop ballad "Babe" from the 9th Styx album, Cornerstone in 1979, which was written by keyboardist Dennis DeYoung. However, tension mounted within the band as Shaw and other band members expressed dissatisfaction with DeYoung's desire to pull the band into a pop radio & theatrical direction, while other members preferred the rock direction of the songs written by Shaw and guitarist James "JY" Young. For this reason, unbeknownst to the public-at-large, Dennis DeYoung was fired from the group in early 1980 for a brief unpublicized moment and quickly rehired, but this conflict would arise again. Shaw's ascerbation was furthered with his disatisfaction of the theatrical-themed album Paradise Theater and brought to a boil with the tour for the next album Kilroy Was Here, which featured a progressive stage show combined with an 11-minute movie intro and theatrical performances by the band. Shortly after the tour ended, Shaw left Styx in 1983 to pursue his solo career.
Shaw released 3 solo albums in the 1980s: Girls with Guns (1984), What If (1985), and Ambition (1987), scoring a Top 40 hit with the title track from the 1st album.
1990s — present
In the early 1990s, Shaw, Ted Nugent, Jack Blades, and drummer Michael Cartellone formed the band Damn Yankees. Their biggest hit, "High Enough", was co-written by Shaw. The band had a strong concert following; however, even though the 2nd album went platinum, the band separated.
Shaw returned to a reunited Styx in 1995 and embarked on a subsequent tour with them in 1996. Tommy would later record a fourth solo record in 1998: "7 Deadly Zens". Shaw has also worked with other artists on a "Pink Floyd's The Wall" tribute album. He also worked on a KISS tribute album, "Spin The Bottle: An All-Star Tribute to KISS", on which he sang "Love Gun".
Tommy teamed up with Night Ranger's Jack Blades in a duo appropriately called Shaw Blades and released an album entitled "Hallucination" in 1995. A second collaboration entitled "Influence" was released in early March 2007 and the duo appeared live on VH1 Classic backed up by famed Nashville songwriter Gary Burr. Shaw Blades did a short tour in Spring 2007 that was well-received. The tour included songs from Night Ranger, Styx, Shaw's solo albums and Damn Yankees. The duo also recorded the classic Christmas song "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" which was released in 2002 on the album "A Classic Rock Christmas", a compilation of classic Christmas songs recorded by various Classic Rock artists.
As of 2007, Shaw leads Styx along with James "JY" Young. Shaw & Young are the only remaining members from Styx's heyday.
Hall of Fame
Tommy Shaw will be inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in February, 2008 at their awards banquet to be held in Tommy's hometown of Montgomery, AL..
Bad Times
Tommy Shaw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Climb a tree
Make believe that you still love me
I'm the one with the funny face
Who made you laugh
Made you lose your place
Good times are coming and
It's gonna be okay
Don't let the bad times chase you away
Let's get naked
Take a dip
I'll be the submarine you be the ship
We need vacation
We need some sun
We've been working too hard
To please everyone
You know these bad times
Are only temporary
Running away is not necessary
I don't know anyone who likes February
It's too damn cold
It's just too damn cold
See these tears in my eyes
It takes a lot to make a grown man cry
But cry I will until you come back home
I don't want to spend the night alone
Don't you remember the plans we made
I can't believe you want
To throw them away
Don't let the bad times chase you away
Tommy Shaw's song "Bad Times" is about experiencing rough patches in life, but the singer encourages his loved ones to persevere through them. He advises listeners to make wishes and try to find happiness in the little things, like climbing trees and engaging in make-believe to remind themselves of the good times. Shaw describes himself as the funny-looking guy who made his lover laugh and helped her forget her problems. He acknowledges that bad times are temporary, and by staying strong and taking care of each other, they will eventually come out of the tough situation.
Line by Line Meaning
Make a wish
Have hope for the future, make a wish for good things to come
Climb a tree
Take time to enjoy the little things and find joy in the present moment
Make believe that you still love me
Pretend to still care for me even if you don't, keep the memory of our love alive
I'm the one with the funny face
I'm the odd one out, the unique one who brings laughter and excitement to your life
Who made you laugh
I'm the one who brought joy and happiness into your life through humor
Made you lose your place
I distracted you from the real world and allowed you to fully immerse yourself in the moment
Don't let the bad times chase you away
Don't give up hope or lose faith in the future during tough times
Good times are coming and
Things will get better soon and there is hope for the future
It's gonna be okay
Everything will work out in the end
Let's get naked
Let's be open and vulnerable with each other, removing any barriers or facades
Take a dip
Go for a swim and enjoy the relaxation and freedom it provides
I'll be the submarine you be the ship
I'll be the supportive and guiding force, while you navigate through life
We need vacation
We need a break from our busy lives to recharge and enjoy ourselves
We need some sun
We need a change of environment and some warm weather to boost our mood
We’ve been working too hard
We've been pushing ourselves to the limit and need to relax and unwind
To please everyone
We've been prioritizing others over ourselves and need to take some time for self-care
You know these bad times
We are aware of the struggles and difficulties we are currently facing
Are only temporary
We know that these tough times will not last forever
Running away is not necessary
We don't need to escape from our problems, we can face them and overcome them
I don't know anyone who likes February
February is a difficult and bleak month that people generally dislike
It's too damn cold
The weather is uncomfortably cold and unpleasant
See these tears in my eyes
I am emotionally affected by our separation and deeply hurt by your absence
It takes a lot to make a grown man cry
I am typically composed and resilient, but my pain is so great that even I am brought to tears
But cry I will until you come back home
I will continue to feel sadness and miss you until you return to me
I don't want to spend the night alone
I fear solitude and long for your presence and companionship
Don't you remember the plans we made
We had dreams and goals for our future together that we should not forget
I can't believe you want
I struggle to accept the fact that you are willing to give up on us
To throw them away
You are discarding our future plans and dreams as if they have no value
Contributed by Riley M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.