This song was their 3rd top ten hit of 1968-1969. The song was on their album At Your Birthday Party released in 1969.
The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100 and #4 in Canada in 1969. This song was originally the B side to Jupiter’s Child but later on, they were reversed. This song followed the top ten hits of Born To Be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride. John Kays voice is one of those voices that you can pick out from a crowd. Like Neil Young, John Fogerty, Van Morrison, and other unique singers.
I usually don’t research the meaning of a lot of songs but this one is interesting. The different meanings people get out of this one. Some say it’s a young woman looking for one good man, others say it’s about Mother Nature, and others say it’s about America at the time it was written.
John Kay’s songwriting gets overlooked…he is a fine songwriter with usually a message. He wrote Rock Me, which benefitted from being in the 1968 feature film Candy, a period piece of permissiveness featuring Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, and even Ringo Starr.
John Kay: The recording sessions for “At Your Birthday Party” started to show the wear and tear of the road on all of us. In addition, some band members for the first time, tried their hand at songwriting and I had run out of tunes to contribute. This album nevertheless includes some of my favorite Steppenwolf tracks such as “Happy Birthday”, “Jupiter’s Child” and “Rock Me”. Nick St. Nicholas (who had replaced our original bassist Rushton Moreve) had an idea for a song titled “It’s Never Too Late”, which triggered me to work out the rest of the song. That one is an all time favorite of mine. Gabriel Mekler (our Producer) had his hands full trying to be fair to all band members and stay neutral to allow us to work out the difficulties on our own. The fact that the song “Rock Me” (which had been written for the soundtrack of the motion picture “Candy”) had already been a hit single before it was included in the “Birthday album” may have reduced the impact of the album because the initial sales of the LP were not what we had hoped for, although over the years, it became quite popular with many of our fans.
Rock Me
She asked me maybeI would share her sorrowFor all the men that tried to treat her wrong
Though just a babyA waiting her tomorrowIt’s rock me baby, rock me babyAll night long
She needs an answer to her confusionSomeone to guide her with tendernessBut if she’s asking for a solutionAll that she getsYou know it’s something like this
I don’t know where we come fromI don’t know where we’re going toBut if all of this should have a reasonWe would be the last to knowSo let’s just hope there is a promised landHang on till then as best you can
Everybody’s ills you know itFills her with compassionThat’s why she tries to save the world aloneShe helps the needy in her own fashionAnd tries to give them all her own
She needs an answer for her confusionSomeone to guide her with tendernessBut when she’s asking for a solutionAll that she gets you know it’s something like this
I don’t know where we come fromI don’t know where we’re going toBut if all of this should have a reasonWe would be the last to knowSo let’s just hope there is a promised landHang on till then as best you can
Rock me baby, rock me baby all night longRock me baby, rock me baby all night longRock me baby, rock me baby all night longRock me baby, rock me baby all night longRock me baby, rock me baby all night longRock me baby, rock me baby all night longRock me baby, rock me baby all night long
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I had totally forgot about this song, but once I started listening to it, I was singing along. Nice song and it was good to hear this again.
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I love Steppenwolf. They’ve put out a lot of good music. You’re right, Kay has a unique voice and is a talented songwriter. I remember looking into his origin story and found it to be quite interesting. He often writes political/social commentary lyrics.
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Many people miss the lyrics because of the loud guitars and such…he is a good writer.
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Steppenwolf is a total package. Happy you highlighted one of their many wonderful songs today. I like the ambiguity of what exactly it’s about.
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Just like Jim said, I didn’t think I knew that song but once I started listening I went ‘oh ya! I remember it’ Pretty good song actually.
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Count me in on those who didn’t think they knew the song at all until they played it here. Oh…THAT song! 🙂
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That was me also!
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Good straight up rocker, well put together, but it seems the talented Mr Kay is somewhat overlooked these days.
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I’m back to my “new to me” remark. You can’t mistake Kay’s voice.
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Well get used to it lol…but in fairness…this one I would have thought you knew.
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Yep. Nope. Newbie on this one. 😁
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Steppenwolf was always hard for me to get my arms around, because it seemed the personnel changed so often. Still, great songs.
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Yea Kay was the only consistent thing about them.
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I guess I wasn’t invited to that birthday party, so don’t recall the tune – kidding aside, I think it’s a pretty good song.
When it comes to Steppenwolf, I’m most familiar with the epic “Born to be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride,” both tunes I love. Many moons ago, I taped “Steppenwolf Live” (from 1970) on music cassette. However, I haven’t listened to that album in ages.
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That tape probably has this one….there are a few I like.
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