Harry Hannah Captures the Wistful Bitter-Sweetness of a Breakup in “Baby Don’t Look Back”
Not all breakups are bitter, and sometimes you part ways wishing the other person the best even though it hurts like hell. Cobourg, Ontario-based singer/songwriter Harry Hannah captures a breakup’s bitter-sweetness with his easy-galloping, alt-country new single “Baby Don’t Look Back.”
With mellow rhythm, a little bit of twang, and chock full of philosophical introspection, “Baby Don’t Look Back” tells the true story of a breakup Hannah went through years ago, knowing the whole time it would eventually have to end:
You always told me you’d be leaving soon
bum town just got nothing to do
there’s a world that’s been needing you
Cut the chains off and go let loose
“I was 23 coming to terms with love and loss. I had some dues to pay and time to spend, and so I wrote a new song,” Harry recalls, somewhat wistfully. “Her path was promising and moving quick. I really didn’t feel the same about mine, and I needed to sort my life out in Ontario – relocating out West wasn’t an option for me. She was bound to mountains, while I was bound to the Great Lakes.”
Harry still remembers sitting in a café in Cobourg called the Black Cat, pen scratching his notebook as he performed a sort of self-surgery, or his own therapy session, through the writing of this song on a windy Autumn morning, coffee and a blueberry scone at his side.
“It was a transition that needed to be made,” he muses. “I knew I had to do my best to keep my head up, not get bitter and just be nice. These lyrics almost worked as a reminder to that.”
At the end of the song, Autumn turns to Winter, and the narrator finds some warm acceptance, if only by comforting himself with the thought of one day following his lost love: “Oh the sun falls on the dark ground / Oh I’m packing up my things and I’ll be coming for you now/ In my old Chev truck it’ll do real well/ I’ll find you in the mountains and we’ll run like hell.”
Watch the lyric video for “Baby Don’t Look Back” below and learn more about Harry Hannah via our mini-interview.
Care to introduce yourself?
My name is Harry Hannah. I come from Cobourg, Ontario. I’ve been roaming the earth for a quarter century now. Songwriting has been the driving passion through it all. Which brings me here to tell you about my new alt-country song, “Baby Don’t Look Back.”
Tell us about the process of writing “Baby Don’t Look Back.”
I wrote this song in Cobourg. I was 23, and if I may be dramatic, I was coming to terms with a breakup at the time. With the feeling of being left behind, I still wanted to keep my head up, not get bitter, and wish them the best with where they were going. It wasn’t an ugly breakup, just one where we were going in different directions. One was bound for the mountains, while one was bound to Great Lakes. This song was my way of saying, “I’m thinking of you, but yea, there’s broader horizons to capture. Baby, don’t look back. Go get ’em.”
What’s it like being a musician in Cobourg?
Grueling at times. Small towns can be difficult to establish yourself in. It’s hard to be taken seriously (as an independent artist). With that said, after a lot of time and hard work, my community has really stepped up to support me and what I do. I’m beyond thankful for them at this point. I get to see something really special when I’m performing at the local venues in town. This community really comes together, and seeing that on my end, makes me extremely thankful to be here.
Who was the first Canadian artist to blow you away?
Some of my earliest memories are of listening to the song “Followed Her Around” by Jimmy Rankin. I didn’t know what it meant, really. At that age, I wasn’t allowed to watch the video, but I think it really turned some gears in my head musically. My mom is a huge fan. I still remember holding her CD as a kid, just in awe of the music and album art it had on it. We listened on repeat. I ended up meeting him after he performed at our local capitol theatre. That man and his songwriting really made an impact on me. I even ended up going a couple of hours out of my way on my very first east coast Tour to visit his hometown of Mabou, NS.
You’ve been making music for a while now. What’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
Practice until you’re having fun with it.