If You Could Only See – Tonic | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#11) & Mainstream Rock (#1 for 5 weeks); 1997
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Tonic lead singer Emerson Hart grew up in New Jersey, right next door to “Mighty” Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. He tackled guitar as a boy, and ultimately committed himself to a career in music.
The keys to success began to fall into place in 1994 after a fateful move to Los Angeles. There, former East Coast buddy, Jeff Russo, reunited with Emerson at a pool hall, and the two were soon writing songs and recording demos together.
Drummer Kevin Shepard and bassist Dan Rothchild completed the original lineup that recorded their debut album, Lemon Parade. Tonic’s national TV coming-out appearance took place on Conan O’Brien – featuring Max Weinberg on drums – while over on the radio side Open Up Your Eyes was gaining airplay.
Oddly, Eyes didn’t chart on the pop list until after If You Could Only See took the rock world by storm. See soared high on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock charts, and grabbed Rock Track Of The Year honors from Billboard.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Jack Joseph Puig
Lyrics Written by:
- Emerson Hart
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).