Jake Bugg – Lightning Bolt

The song peaked at #26 in the US Adult Alternative Songs Billboard, #15 in the UK in 2013.  The song was on his self-titled debut album. Jake is an artist that could have debuted in the 60s and 70s and fit in perfectly. I saw him in 2017 and the audience was a mixture of young and old.

Jake was 19 when this song was released. he said: “Before age 12, I had no interest in music,”  “Then, me uncle came around with a guitar and showed me basic chords. I started listening to Jimi Hendrix and it just blew me away.

“It was also disheartening. I mean, when you listen to Jimi Hendrix for the first time, you think, ‘How am I going to be able to play like that?’

He started to write songs at 14. Along with Hendrix, he counts the Beatles among his earliest musical influence “They’re a starting point for anyone, I should think. Then, I traced things back to Buddy Holly and Elvis, just discovering all those great records.”

From Songfacts

This gritty stroll through the streets of Bugg’s hometown of Clifton, Nottingham, was released as the third single from his debut album. He penned the tune with long-time Snow Patrol collaborator, Iain Archer. Bugg recalled to The Daily Telegraph: “When I was writing with Iain, we had a fag, a cup of tea, a bit of a play. The way I see it, it’s jamming.”

The song’s Michael Holyk directed video was shot in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The song featured in an American a commercial for Gatorade sports drinks that aired during the 2013 NBA championships.

Lightning Bolt

Morning, it’s another pure grey morning
Don’t know what the day is holding
When I get uptight
And I walk right into the path of a lightning bolt

Sirens of an ambulance comes howling
Right through the center of town and
No one blinks an eye
And I look up to the sky for the path of a lighting bolt

Met her as the angels parted for her
But she only brought me torture
But that’s what happens
When it’s you who’s standing in the path of a lightning bolt

Everyone I see just wants to walk with gritted teeth
But I just stand by and I wait my time
They say you gotta tow the line they want the water not the wine
But when I see the signs I jump on that lightning bolt

And chances, people tell you not to take chances
When they tell you there aren’t any answers
And I was starting to agree
But I awoke suddenly in the path of a lightning bolt

Fortune, people talking all about fortune
Do you make it or does it just call you
In the blinking of an eye
Just another passerby in the path of a lightning bolt

Everyone I see just wants to walk with gritted teeth
But I just stand by and I wait my time
They say you gotta tow the line they want the water not the wine
But when I see the signs I jump on that lightning bolt

It was silent, I was lying back gazing skyward
When the moment got shattered
I remembered what she said
And then she fled in the path of a lightning bolt