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..
The Great Divide
Tommy Shaw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We climbed to the attic to fight
... Of my favorite positions
So they wouldn't be left behind
But there in a dust covered jew box
A bundle of old letter lie
Wrapped in that old faded ribbon
Like a message across the great divide
Have written with love through the years
... Like the words from a love song
As we read them together in tears
Last one said I've always loved you
And don't ever feel sad or cry
Cause if I cross over before you
I'll be waiting across the great divide
Oh, love has a life of it's own
To love, love, love has a life of it's own
We knew when we finished those letters
No one will be saying goodbye
The sinners forgived up forever
When those letters crossed the great divide
Oh, love has a life of it's own
Love, love, love is a life like those letters
Across the great divide.
The Great Divide by Tommy Shaw is a song about love that transcends time and space. The song begins with the singer reflecting on a past relationship that he thought was over, and the two of them anticipating a confrontation. Instead, they discover a bundle of old letters from the singer's grandparents, written with love over the years as a testament to their enduring relationship. The singer and his partner read the letters together in tears, moved by the power of the love that they represent. The final letter is particularly poignant, as the grandfather vows to wait for his beloved across the great divide if he crosses over before her. The song ends with the realization that love has a life of its own and that it can conquer all.
The power of The Great Divide comes from the fact that it speaks to the universality of love and the human experience. The image of the old letters and the message of enduring love connect deeply with listeners of all ages and backgrounds. The song also incorporates elements of nostalgia and reflection as the singer thinks back on his own past experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
Believe in that our love was over
Tommy Shaw believed that his love was over and he had given up on the relationship.
We climbed to the attic to fight
Tommy Shaw and his partner climbed to the attic to sort out their disagreements and come to a resolution.
... Of my favorite positions
Tommy Shaw wanted to make sure that his favorite items or positions would not be left behind after their fight in the attic.
So they wouldn't be left behind
Tommy Shaw made sure that his favorite items or positions would not be left behind after their fight in the attic.
But there in a dust covered jew box
Amidst the dust covered items in the attic, Tommy Shaw discovered a box that held sentimental value.
A bundle of old letter lie
The box contained a pile of old letters.
Wrapped in that old faded ribbon
The letters were bundled together and tied with an old, faded ribbon.
Like a message across the great divide
The bundle of letters served as a message that bridged the divide between the past and the present.
Those letters from grandpa to grandma
Tommy Shaw discovered that the letters in the box were written by his grandfather to his grandmother.
Have written with love through the years
His grandfather had written these letters with love over the years.
... Like the words from a love song
The words of the letters had the same effect as a love song.
As we read them together in tears
Tommy Shaw and his partner read the letters together, and they were moved to tears by their beauty and message.
Last one said I've always loved you
The last letter in the bundle expressed his grandfather's eternal love for his grandmother.
And don't ever feel sad or cry
He encouraged her to never be sad or cry, even after he was gone.
Cause if I cross over before you
His grandfather believed that he would pass away before his wife.
I'll be waiting across the great divide
He promised to wait for her on the other side, crossing the great divide.
Oh, love has a life of it's own
Love has a power and life of its own.
To love, love, love has a life of it's own
To deeply love someone is to acknowledge and appreciate the power and life of love itself.
We knew when we finished those letters
Tommy Shaw and his partner knew that when they finished reading the letters, nothing would ever be the same between them.
No one will be saying goodbye
Despite this realization, they believed that they would never have to say goodbye because they had each other.
The sinners forgived up forever
By reading the letters, Tommy Shaw and his partner were able to find forgiveness and resolve their differences permanently.
When those letters crossed the great divide
The letters were able to cross the great divide of time and space, bringing them a powerful message of love and hope.
Love, love, love is a life like those letters
Love has the power to transcend time and space, just like the letters in the bundle Tommy Shaw discovered in the attic.
Across the great divide.
The power of love can bridge any gap, even the great divide between death and life.
Contributed by Nathaniel A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.