Songwriters have been writing about the passing of time pretty much since music was created. Give credit to John Hiatt for doing it with tons of honesty, humor, and grace on “Slow Turning”, a song that tries valiantly to make sense of the advancing years.
Hiatt had reached a solid place in his life and career when he penned the track for his 1988 album of the same name. But that didn’t result in his protagonist feeling on any firmer ground than before.
“Turning” Out Well
Early in his career, John Hiatt’s songs often garnered more attention than his records did. Other artists noticed the greatness of his work and commonly covered his material. But that didn’t help the sales of his own albums.
In the mid-80s, Hiatt lost his longtime record deal, all while going through a great amount of personal turmoil. Thankfully, he was able to pick himself off the turf both professionally and personally. He delivered a stellar series of late-80s albums that brought him more acclaim and public attention than ever before.
On the 1988 LP Slow Turning, Hiatt recorded with members of his touring band. The title track attempted to take stock of his journey. As he explained in an interview with Musician Magazine (as reported by Songfacts), the title track was meant to reflect on whether he could sustain his newfound tranquility:
“You become a parody of yourself. That’s the real danger. How do you keep on moving? That’s a lot of what ‘Slow Turning’ is trying to talk about. Okay, the narrator seems to be saying, you’ve got it great. You’ve got a marriage that works, you’ve got a family, life’s good. Are you gonna f–k it up? How do you keep moving and changing and growing and prospering? I think those are all good questions.”
Examining the Lyrics of “Slow Turning”
In the opening section of “Slow Turning”, Hiatt talks about his younger days and the misconceptions that he cultivated along the way. “I thought it just came to ya’,” he explains. Luckily, he found truth in his music. “My only pride and joy,” he says. “Was this’a racket down here/Bangin’ on an old guitar/And singin’ what I had to say.”
He realizes that there’s something to be said for consolation. “I never did get what I wanted,” he muses. “Now I get what I need.” In the second verse, he fast-forwards to the present. Now he’s the grumpy adult with children driving him crazy. “And I’m a’yellin’ at the kids/’Cause they’re bangin’ like’a Charlie Watts.”
The narrator also relies on his spouse to set him straight about his progress (or lack thereof). “You think you come so far,” he laughs. “In this one-horse town/Them she’s laughin’ that crazy laugh/’Cause you haven’t left the parkin’ lot.” “You’re gonna die, you’re gonna die for sure,” he admits. Love is the answer, he realizes, as painful as it might be sometimes: “And you can learn to live with love or without it/But there ain’t no cure.”
The “slow turnin’” that comes about in the chorus is Hiatt’s way of describing these subtle transformations that make a major impact. His old rocker’s attitude comes to the fore one more time when he belts out “not fade away”. Luckily, John Hiatt’s “Slow Turning” will do nothing of the sort, forever instructing us on the incandescence and indignity of getting older.
(Photo by Per Ole Hagen/Redferns)
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