Todd Thibaud: Give Back My Heart

SONG Give Back My Heart

WRITTEN BY Todd Thibaud

PERFORMED BY Todd Thibaud

APPEARS ON Favorite Waste of Time (1998)

While it's easy to dismiss the appeal of the Boston music scene as similar to the Tulsa skyline or British cuisine, that would overlook the genuinely talented singer-songwriters who came out of the Hub. I'm thinking of artists like Antje Duvekot, Patty Griffin, Melvern Taylor, and Todd Thibaud. Each of these singer-songwriters has a distinct artistic voice that resists easy classification. Duvekot and Griffin are mightily talented singers as well as songwriters, Taylor supports his idiosyncratic outlook with creative, ukulele-based arrangements, and Thibaud brings a booming baritone and aggressive rock instincts to a genre otherwise nearly bereft of both.

Thibaud, a native Vermonter, moved to Boston in 1987 to pursue his dream of making it in music. He fronted The Courage Brothers for a few years until that band dissolved under the pressures of artistic differences. His career bent under a further setback when his record label dropped all rock acts. But, Thibaud persevered and eventually released Favorite Waste of Time on an indie label in 1997. Remixed and rereleased to national distribution, it received good reviews, one of which I read.

I picked up Favorite Waste of Time on the basis of a brief write-up in Rock & Rap Confidential (now sporadically available by email). I quickly gravitated to "Give Back My Heart," the album's anthemic breakup song. Rather than sing from a perspective of bitterness or pain, Thibaud forthrightly recognizes that the relationship is over. With bravado he demands that his ex return his soul even as he recognizes that "it's in your hands." It's as if he's saying that "My heart may be broken, but I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of me not moving on. So, give back my heart."

Thibaud conveys a feeling of solidarity with anyone (which means everyone) who has experienced a broken heart. It's hard, he says, but it doesn't necessarily mean unending misery. It's an opportunity to find strength: By taking back your heart and soul, you take back your life. That may not be much different from what Dear Abby has said for generations, but it's actually unusual in popular music. So, Thibaud treads new ground of a sort, and he does it inspiringly.

LYRICS

Give back my heart, you've had your turn

It's time for me to move along and this I've learned

That sometimes love is more a curse

You give your heart and soul but then it just gets worse

Don't expect me to linger here

When I've got my life to start

And all the plans that bound us once have been torn apart

Give back my heart

Give back my soul, it's in your hands

And all that I can do is hope you'll understand

That sometimes love is meant to be

Well that's just not the way it went for you and me

Don't expect me to linger here

When I've got my life to start

And all the plans that bound us once have been torn apart

Give back my heart

Here, Thibaud, fronting The Courage Brothers, performs a somewhat subdued version of "Give Back My Heart." It's fine, but not as grand or inspiring as the studio rendition on Favorite Waste of Time. Unfortunately, I could not find this anywhere on the internet.