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..
Jealousy
Tommy Shaw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I turn on the lights
I can feel it in my bones
Something just isn't right
The room smells like a cigarette
Your hair looks a mess
And didn't you think I'd notice
When I look in your eyes
I can tell somethings wrong
There's no use in denying girl
I've known you too long
There's something going on
I'm not sure what it is
But let me tell you
It's my business if it's his
Jealousy has got a hold on me
My foolish heart won't let me be
I can almost see his face
As he's kissing you
And I can't control my jealousy
When you answer the phone
Are you really alone
It's like I'm talking to a stranger
Do you think I don't know
You say he's just a friend
And I try my best to understand
But I'm a man and I know men
So don't you ask me to pretend
I'm all for liberation
And I'm all for being fair
And I'm all for doing what it takes
To show how much I care
But you push me too far
Now it's my back against the wall
And it's no big surprise to you
There's a limit after all
Jealousy has got a hold on me
My foolish heart won't let it be
It looks like this must be my destiny
I can't control my jealousy
Jealousy has got a hold on me
My foolish heart won't let it be
I can move the biggest mountain girl
That much I can do
But I can't control my jealousy
The lyrics to "Jealousy" by Tommy Shaw describe a man who suspects his partner of cheating on him. He walks into a room and immediately senses that something is wrong. His partner's appearance and behavior suggest that she has been unfaithful. The man tries to communicate with his partner, but she denies any wrongdoing. He becomes increasingly suspicious, and his jealousy begins to consume him. The man recognizes that he should trust his partner and respect her freedom, but he struggles to control his emotions.
The lyrics convey a sense of frustration and helplessness. The man's jealousy is not rooted in rational thought or evidence, but rather in his own insecurities and fears. He knows that he cannot control his partner's actions, but he cannot help feeling jealous and possessive. The lyrics also suggest a tension between love and trust. The man loves his partner and wants to trust her, but his jealousy undermines that trust.
Overall, "Jealousy" is a poignant reflection on the complexities of relationships. The song acknowledges the difficulties of balancing love, trust, and jealousy. It also speaks to the universal experiences of insecurity and vulnerability in intimate relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
I open the door
I'm walking into the room
I turn on the lights
I’m illuminating the room
I can feel it in my bones
I have a strong sense that something is off
Something just isn't right
My intuition is telling me that there's something wrong
The room smells like a cigarette
I can smell that someone was smoking
Your hair looks a mess
Your hair is unkempt and messy
And didn't you think I'd notice
You thought I wouldn't notice these details, but I did
All the wrinkles in your dress
Your dress is creased and disheveled
When I look in your eyes
I study the look in your eyes
I can tell somethings wrong
The expression on your face tells me that something is wrong
There's no use in denying girl
You shouldn't deny that something is wrong
I've known you too long
I know you so well that it's impossible to hide anything from me
There's something going on
You're keeping a secret from me
I'm not sure what it is
I don't know what the secret is exactly
But let me tell you
I have something to say to you
It's my business if it's his
It's my business to know if another man is involved
Jealousy has got a hold on me
I can't control my jealousy
My foolish heart won't let me be
My heart won't allow me to ignore my jealousy
I can almost see his face
I'm imagining another man's face touching yours
As he's kissing you
I'm imagining another man kissing you
And I can't control my jealousy
I can't control my feelings of envy
When you answer the phone
When you take a call
Are you really alone
Are you by yourself while you're talking on the phone?
It's like I'm talking to a stranger
You're not being honest with me
Do you think I don't know
You think I'm not aware of your deception
You say he's just a friend
You claim that he's only a friend
And I try my best to understand
I'm doing my best to comprehend the situation
But I'm a man and I know men
I know how men behave and what they want
So don't you ask me to pretend
Don't ask me to ignore what I know
I'm all for liberation
I support independence and equality
And I'm all for being fair
I believe in treating people equally
And I'm all for doing what it takes
I'm willing to do what's necessary
To show how much I care
To demonstrate my love for you
But you push me too far
You've gone too far in deceiving me
Now it's my back against the wall
Now I have no other choice
And it's no big surprise to you
You expected this reaction from me
There's a limit after all
You've reached the point where I can no longer tolerate your dishonesty
I can move the biggest mountain girl
I can accomplish great feats of strength and endurance
That much I can do
I'm capable of doing impressive things
But I can't control my jealousy
But I can't control my feelings of envy
Contributed by Parker D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.