Gill was born in Norman, Oklahoma, the home of the University of Oklahoma Sooners and learned to play several instruments, including banjo and guitar before he started high school at Oklahoma City's Northwest Classen High School. After he graduated, he played in a number of bluegrass bands. He debuted on the national scene with the country-rock band Pure Prairie League in 1979, appearing on that band's album Can't Hold Back. Gill is the lead singer on their hit song, "Let Me Love You Tonight" (1980), which he was still performing in concert years later - thus, he said, confusing many fans who knew him only from his subsequent solo work. Gill appeared on two subsequent albums along with his then-wife Janis Oliver.
Departing Pure Prairie League in 1981, Gill joined Rodney Crowell’s backing band The Notorious Cherry Bombs, where he met and worked with Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr., both of whom would later produce many of his future solo albums.
Signing as a solo artist with RCA Records in 1983, he first charted while on that label. In 1989 he switched to MCA Records where he recorded his breakthrough hit "When I Call Your Name." His 1998 album The Key received great critical acclaim. His other albums include Next Big Thing (2003) and Let's Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye (2000). The Guitar Slinger Songfacts says that Gill released his twelfth studio album, Guitar Slinger, on October 25, 2011 via MCA Nashville. It was his manager, Larry Fitzgerald, who came up with the title, as he felt there was something different the way Gill was playing the guitar on the record.
Gill hosted the CMA Awards every year from 1992 to 2003. In 2004 he received a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. In 1997, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
He married country singer Janis Oliver (of Sweethearts of the Rodeo fame) in 1980. The couple have one daughter, Jennifer Jerene Gill, born 5 May 1982. Vince and Janis separated in the mid-1990s and eventually divorced in June 1998. Vince later began dating and eventually married Christian/pop singer Amy Grant in March of 2000. They have one daughter, Corrina Grant Gill born 12 March 2001.
Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler was a fan of Gill's, and had asked Gill to join the band full time. Gill turned down the invitation but did sing backup on one song ("The Bug") from Dire Straits' album On Every Street.
Gill has also sung duets with numerous artists, including Dolly Parton ("I Will Always Love You"), Reba McEntire ("Oklahoma Swing," "The Heart Won't Lie," "It Just Has to Be That Way"), Amy Grant ("House of Love"), and Barbra Streisand ("If You Ever Leave Me"); his other credits as a backup vocalist have included "Girls With Guitars" by Wynonna Judd (written by Mary-Chapin Carpenter, who, coincidentally, had a country hit with her cover of "The Bug") and "Nothing Left Behind Us" by Richard Marx.
The Strings That Tie You Down
Vince Gill Lyrics
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Packin' up your things and leavin' town
If you can walk away the rest is easy
Once you cut the strings that tie you down
Just look me in the eye and say it's over
Just tell me you don't want me around
Once you say goodbye, it's gone foreverOnce you cut the strings that tie you down
There's no way I can picture me without you
I still think of you in your wedding gown
If I have to give you up, may God be with you
Once you cut the strings that tie you down
Just look me in the eye and say it's over
Just tell me you don't want me around
Once you say goodbye, it's gone forever
Once you cut the strings that tie you down
Once you say goodbye, it's gone forever
Once you cut the strings that tie you down
The song The Strings That Tie You Down by Vince Gill speaks about a situation where the singer's partner is about to leave him. The singer implores his partner to be honest and just tell him it's over because once they leave, the pain will be gone forever. The singer is aware that the relationship is doomed, but he is still attached to his partner and still thinks of her in her wedding dress. He acknowledges that if he has to let her go, he will, but he will miss her terribly.
The song speaks to the human experience of losing a loved one and how difficult it is to let go. The lyrics are straightforward and earnest, conveying the singer's raw emotions. Throughout the song, the singer's voice expresses a deep sense of pain and longing, a feeling of desperation that is common when one realizes their partner is leaving. The singer's use of the phrase "strings that tie you down" implies that this relationship has been holding them back, and once they leave, they will be free.
In conclusion, The Strings That Tie You Down is an emotive and relatable song about the pain of leaving a relationship. The singer's raw voice and honest lyrics express a sense of desperation and longing that many people have experienced before. The song is a poignant reminder of the difficulties of letting go and moving on.
Line by Line Meaning
You're so close to tellin' me you're leaving
You're about to confess that you plan on leaving me
Packin' up your things and leavin' town
You're getting ready to leave this place and move out
If you can walk away the rest is easy
If you are capable of leaving me, everything else is simple
Once you cut the strings that tie you down
Once you detach yourself from the things that hold you back
Just look me in the eye and say it's over
Just look straight at me and communicate that it's finished
Just tell me you don't want me around
Just confess that you no longer desire my presence
There's no way I can picture me without you
I cannot imagine a future where you are not a part of my life
I still think of you in your wedding gown
I still see you as the bride I married on our wedding day
If I have to give you up, may God be with you
If I have to let you go, may God bless and guide you
Once you say goodbye, it's gone forever
Once you bid farewell, there's no coming back
Once you cut the strings that tie you down
Once you sever the ties that hold you back
Lyrics © COPYRIGHT SOLUTIONS, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Written by: MAX DUANE BARNES, VINCE GILL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind