Traditions are ever present in Hiatt's lyrics. In "Your Dad Did," Hiatt's workingman hero, though no poet, also recognizes his debt to those who came before: "You're a chip off the old block/Why does it come as such a shock/That every road up which you rock/Your dad already did?" Even this everyday married-with-children guy finds grace in what came before:
Well the day was long now, supper's on
The thrill is gone
But something's taking place
Yeah the food is cold and your wife feels old
But all hands fold
As the two-year-old says grace...
You love your wife and kids
Just like your dad did.
By contrast, a man not armed with at least the homiest wisdom of the ages is a lost soul, as in "Native Son": "Running through the woods/And the burned out neighborhoods/ Looking for someone/A member of your tribe/A place you can hide/'Til the war has begun." Such a man's loves can end only in something explosive (like a war) or in a quieter failure, as "Cry Love," told from the woman's point of view, shows:
The trust of a woman in his hand
But he was a little boy, not a man
You loved him stronger than he could feel
Yeah he was wrapped up in himself like an orange peel.
What looks to her like an stubbornly uncommunicative man is really a man paralyzed by his own thoughts, like the poor guy in "You Must Go":
Love is in the air
You can smell it everywhere
It's in your clothes, it's in her hair
Ah, you better get out of there
It's gonna take a midnight train
To straighten out your winding brain.
A lot of perfectly decent guys are caught up in this kind of situation and don't know how to get out. Some are too smart for their own good, but for many it's because they didn't pay attention in school, don't read books, and don't know how to use their male brain as intended. The nerd gets the girl in the end, but not, as the Al Bundys of the world might think, because he's rich; no, the nerd gets the girl because he does know how to use his male brain.
Sometimes the trapped man breaks out, as in "Feelin' Again":
I thought I had to curl up from my head down to my toes
But heaven knows that I was wrong, I'm feeling again
Holding my breath and holed up in this cheap motel, I feel like hell
I'm holding my own heart, I'm feeling again
Maybe he had to go through "alcohol fire," like the guy in "Paper Thin," but he escaped from inside himself. Still he feels "like hell," because it's overwhelming to be feeling so much: "When I get that feeling like a bass drum/Pounding til my head is numb/Electric onion peeling within..." He may have gotten the girl, but that awesome brain of his still can't satisfy his craving for understanding. (Why did I get the girl?)
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article was chosen as a Editor's Pick!
2 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Hiatt's come a long and nuanced way since he would woo the womenfolk with "You're my love interest..." Tongue-and-cheek as that was.
Great article on an under-appreciated artist.
3 - Nick
Outstanding review of one of the few left that is a true artist. However, you could write just as long a piece on any number of topics--the human condition, insecurity, childhood trauma--John Hiatt has it all down.
4 - Jon Sobel
Agreed, Nick! And thanks for the comment.