I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
This song is super likable…when I hear it..it makes me want to see Vacation…again. It’s hard to believe this wasn’t a larger hit.
This is a great road song, Lindsey Buckingham wrote “Holiday Road” for the 1983 Chevy Chase movie National Lampoon’s Vacation, where it plays over the opening credits.
This song was used in all of the Vacation sequels… National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), Vegas Vacation (1997) and Vacation (2015). In 2015 movie, three different versions are used: the original, and a cover by Matt Pond, and a version by The Zac Brown Band.
The song peaked at #82 in the Billboard 100 in 1983.
Lindsey Buckingham:Obviously, I knew it had to be somewhat uplifting and a little bit funny, which it is, but somehow we nailed it beyond his expectations certainly. He was like, “Holy crap.” A lot of that was just luck. Then when I got asked to do the title song for Ghostbusters, I said, “Nah, you know, I did this really well once. It’s not something I want to get into as a repetitive part of my identity.”
From Songfacts
National Lampoon’s Vacation follows the misadventures of the Griswold family as they set out from Illinois to California in the trusty station wagon en route to Wally World. The film did very well, helping to popularize this song.
In his work with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, Buckingham wrote songs of depth and meaning. “Holiday Road” allowed him to step outside of these constraints to compose a simple, jaunty song with no relation to his other work. He kept it simple; the chorus is simply the words “holiday road” repeated four times, and the verses are very basic:
I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Take a ride on the West Coast kick
I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
Buckingham could come off as serene (as he was portrayed on Saturday Night Live), but this song showed he had a healthy sense of humor.
Fleetwood Mac was on hiatus when Buckingham released this song. He had already released one solo album, Law and Order (1981), which contains the #9 hit “Trouble.” His next album, Go Insane, was released in 1984 with a title track that reached #23. But ask just about anyone to name one of his solo songs, and they will likely recall “Holiday Road,” which thanks to the Vacation movies became his most popular song.
In 2015, this was used in a commercial for the Infinity QX60 that spoofs a scene where Chevy Chase ogles Christie Brinkley who drives past him in a convertible. In the spot, Brinkley is a passenger in the family car, and she chastises her husband for checking out a girl who drives past him. “Honey, a blonde in a convertible, seriously?,” she says.
Holiday Road
I found out long ago It’s a long way down the holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Take a ride on the West Coast kick Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
I found out long ago It’s a long way down the holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
Many Steve Miller songs I have heard too many times. This one hasn’t been worn out…at least not to me. Heart Like a Wheel came out in 1981 on the Circle of Love album. A great thin guitar sound on this song. The guitar makes the song to me.
Steve started his career more blues-oriented but with “The Joker” in 1973 started in a more pop/rock direction. If you listen to his music in the late sixties and early seventies it sounds completely different than this.
This song peaked at #24 on the Billboard 100 and #17 in Canada in 1981. Steve’s lyrics won’t ever be confused with Bob Dylan’s but the man can write a catchy pop/rock hook.
“Heart Like A Wheel”
I’ve got a heart like a wheel Feel like I got to roll Ooohh
Heart like a wheel I told you so And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
Well, I can give what I take And you know I want to give you my love Babe I ain’t faking You know I want to give you my love
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so Come on and roll
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
It takes two to make love It takes love to make a family real I got to know what you need I got to know what you really feel
And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so Come on and roll
You know it’s such a pity If you’re going to get the summertime blues Lovers everywhere are pairing off two by twos
And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
I hope everyone is having a happy Monday…at least as happy as it can be.
I heard early REM albums from friends. They really made an impact with college kids and built a following. Then they released The One I Love and the dam burst. This song took it a step higher.
Peter Buck has commented that after this song’s success that the bands popularity soared. He mentioned that R.E.M. went from a respected band with a cult following to one of the biggest bands in the world.
This song was released in 1991 and on their Out of Time album. The song did very well. It peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, #19, and #16 in New Zealand in 1991.
The title is based on the Southern expression “lost my religion,” meaning something has challenged your faith to such a degree you might lose your religion or cool.
REM was surprised when their record label chose this song as the first single from Out Of Time. Running 4:28 with no chorus and a mandolin for a lead instrument, it didn’t seem like hit material, but it ended up being the biggest hit of their career.
Michael Stipe revealed the lyrics about obsessional love were heavily influenced by The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” which he called “the most beautiful, kind of creepy song.”
This won the Grammy in 1991 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Peter Buck:“The music was written in five minutes. The first time the band played it, it fell into place perfectly. Michael had the lyrics within the hour, and while playing the song for the third or fourth time, I found my self incredibly moved to hear the vocals in conjunction with the music. To me, ‘Losing My Religion’ feels like some kind archetype that was floating around in space that we managed to lasso. If only all songwriting was this easy.”
From Songfacts
R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe wrote the lyrics, which he has said are about “obsession” and “unrequited love,” which is powerful and dangerous combination. Throughout the song, he is baring his soul, searching for hidden meaning and hopeful signs, but driving himself mad in the process.
“I love the idea of writing a song about unrequited love,” he told Top 2000 a gogo. “About holding back, reaching forward, and then pulling back again. The thing for me that is most thrilling is you don’t know if the person I’m reaching out for is aware of me. If they even know I exist. It’s this really tearful, heartfelt thing that found its way into one of the best pieces of music the band ever gave me.”
This song has its origins in guitarist Peter Buck’s efforts to try learn to play the mandolin. When he played back recordings of his first attempts, he heard the riff and thought it might make a good basis for a song. Explaining how the song came together musically, Buck told Guitar School in 1991: “I started it on mandolin and came up with the riff and chorus. The verses are the kinds of things R.E.M. uses a lot, going from one minor to another, kind of like those ‘Driver 8’ chords. You can’t really say anything bad about E minor, A minor, D, and G – I mean, they’re just good chords.
We then worked it up in the studio – it was written with electric bass, drums, and mandolin. So it had a hollow feel to it. There’s absolutely no midrange on it, just low end and high end, because Mike usually stayed pretty low on the bass. This was when we decided we’d get Peter (Holsapple) to record with us, and he played live acoustic guitar on this one. It was really cool: Peter and I would be in our little booth, sweating away, and Bill and Mike would be out there in the other room going at it. It just had a really magical feel.
And I’m proud to say every bit of mandolin on the record was recorded live – I did no overdubbing. If you listen closely, on one of the verses there’s a place where I muffled it, and I thought, well, I can’t go back and punch it up, because it’s supposed to be a live track. That was the whole idea.”
The video was directed by Tarsem Singh, who also did En Vogue’s “Hold On” and the Jennifer Lopez movie The Cell. It’s a very ambitious video filled with striking, vivid, biblical imagery.
The concept is based in part on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. The novel tells the story of an angel who falls down from heaven and is displayed for profit as a “freak show.” Michael Stipe is a big Marquez fan and the whole idea of obsession and unrequited love is the central theme of the author’s masterpiece, Love in the Time of Cholera. The first line of that novel is: “It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”
Michael Stipe’s dancing ties the video together as he moves like he is in the throes of revelation, a contrast to all the other characters who are barely moving. He wasn’t supposed to dance: The treatment had him singing lines from various poses, but when they shot it that way, it didn’t work at all. This put director Tarsem Singh’s grand production in jeopardy; he was so upset, he went to the bathroom and threw up. When he emerged, Stipe said, “Let me try to dance.”
There was no choreography – Stipe just let the spirit move him, and the results were sublime. He says his dancing is a mashup of Sinead O’Connor’s moves in her “The Emperor’s New Clothes” video and David Byrne’s gyrations in his “Once In A Lifetime” performances.
Stipe remembers being hot and bothered when recording his vocal. His heartfelt lyric needed a certain feel that was hard to achieve in the studio, so he recorded a lot of takes. He wasn’t happy with the engineer, who seemed out of it. “I was very upset,” he told Top 2000 a gogo. “I also got really hot because I was all worked up, so I took my clothes off and recorded the song almost naked.”
This was given the working title of “Sugar Cane” when the band demoed it in July 1990 at a studio in Athens.
A common misinterpretation of this song is that it was about John Lennon’s death, with the lyrics, “What if all these fantasies come flailing around” being a reference to Lennon’s last album Double Fantasy.
Michael Stipe took a laid-back approach with this song: “I remember that I sang this in one go with my shirt off. I don’t think any of us had any idea it would ever be … anything,” he noted in Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011. Peter Buck added that Warner Bros. didn’t even want the song as a single, and everyone was surprised when it took off. “It changed our world. We went from selling a few million worldwide with Green to over 10 million. It was in that area where we had never been before which isn’t bad,” he said.
Peter Buck recalled to Uncut: “I bought a mandolin on tour in ’87, I think. It became a good songwriting tool. It never occurred to me to play mandolin in a bluegrass style. For me it was a rock instrument.”
Producer Scott Litt recalled his contribution to Mojo: “I remember mixing ‘Losing My Religion’ at Paisley Park. I had Bill (Berry, drums) nudging up to me and saying, ‘You know, I think the drums could be louder’, and he was spot on. The strings and the vocals are maybe more memorable, but the drums are really important. He’s even doubling the mandolin figure at the beginning. The last mix on that song was ‘drums boosted’ and that became the track.”
When introducing the song during an appearance on MTV Unplugged, Stipe pointed to the audience and said, “This is about you.” Mojo asked him what he meant. He replied shrugging, “No idea. It’s something I said on a night in 1991. I have no idea why I said it. Of course we attach the narrative in a song to the person with the voice, which is me. And so I get that. But it was not autobiographic.”
Artists to cover this song include Tori Amos, Lacuna Coil, Trivium and Swandive. Two versions have charted in America: the Glee Cast took it to #60 in 2010, and Dia Frampton’s version went to #54 in 2011.
The video was the big winner at the MTV Video Music Awards, winning six moonmen, including Video of the Year and Breakthrough Video.
Losing My Religion
(One, two, three, four, one, two)
Oh, life is bigger It’s bigger Than you and you are not me The lengths that I will go to The distance in your eyes Oh no, I’ve said too much I set it up
That’s me in the corner That’s me in the spotlight Losing my religion Trying to keep up with you And I don’t know if I can do it Oh no, I’ve said too much I haven’t said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try
Every whisper Of every waking hour I’m choosing my confessions Trying to keep an eye on you Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool Oh no, I’ve said too much I set it up
Consider this Consider this The hint of the century Consider this The slip That brought me to my knees Failed What if all these fantasies Come flailing around Now I’ve said too much
I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try
But that was just a dream That was just a dream
That’s me in the corner That’s me in the spotlight Losing my religion Trying to keep up with you And I don’t know if I can do it Oh no, I’ve said too much I haven’t said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try
But that was just a dream Try, cry Fly, try That was just a dream, just a dream, just a dream
I bought this single in 1981 and I still have it somewhere. After the opening chord (Abm) is strummed Gary US Bonds kicks into a very good Springsteen penned song. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100, #15 in Canada, #43 in the UK, and #11 in New Zealand. It came off the album Dedication.
This song was one of my favorite early 80’s hits. You could easily hear Springsteen singing this as well.
Bruce Springsteen, a big fan of Bonds, played his songs at many of his concerts in the ’70s before and after his rise to stardom. Gary had a #1 hit in 1961 with the song Quarter To Three.
. This was a comeback for Bonds and he was backed by members of the E Street Band and The Asbury Jukes. Bonds influenced Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt musically growing up.
I liked this song the first time I heard it…This bouncy song fit’s Gary’s voice and style perfectly.
“This Little Girl (Is Mine)”
Here she comes Walkin’ down the street You know she’s walkin’ just like She’s walkin’ to come and see me Oh, she’s so young and she’s so fine
I know what’s on your mind Know what you want to do But if you mess with her I’m gonna mess with you You better watch your step You better stay in line
This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Well, if the world was mine to do with What I want to do, sir Well I’d wrap it up in a bow And give it all to her, yeah And all my love All of the time You know I’d hold her tight I’d never let her go And late at night You know I’d love her so Yeah, I’d treat her right So she’d never mind
This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine Mine, mine, mine
[Instrumental Interlude]
Hey, you better watch out I’m telling you the score Are you going to be sweepin’ your Broken heart up off the floor Oh, and that ain’t all I’m telling you my friend I know what’s on your mind Know what you wanna do But if you mess with her I’m gonna mess with you You like the way she moves You like to watch her walk You better listen up ‘Cause man this ain’t just talk You better watch yourself You better stay in line
Now, mister I said This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine This little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl
This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Yeah, yeah, yeah This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh this little girl This little girl This little girl She’s mine all mine
Now, this little girl is mine Oh-oh this little girl is mine Oh-oh this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine, mine, mine, mine
I’ve been listening to the Replacement recently after I read a post on them by Aphoristical. I listened to them quite a bit in the eighties but lost touch at the end of the decade…
This song is on the band’s 1987 album Pleased To Meet Me. The band was formed in band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979. Skyways are one of Minneapolis’s signature features. They are second-story pedestrian bridges between buildings that are called skywalks or skybridges.
The album peaked at #131 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1987. It’s a gorgeous song…
Paul Westerberg: It’s our own little private song for Minneapolis. They’re basically the sidewalks above the streets, because it’s too cold in the winter to walk, and the businesses, y’know, feel they won’t get people to come downtown. It’s like you can walk for miles and not ever go outside. You can walk around the whole city through the skyway system. And it’s generally the people who are shoppers and [who] work. And so this song was sort of written from the point of a guy who’s like myself who — I don’t go up in the skyways, y’know. [laughs] What do I have to do up there? I never go shopping or anything. So I sit down there and watch the people walk by.
Skyway
You take the skyway, high above the busy little one-way In my stupid hat and gloves, at night I lie awake Wonderin’ if I’ll sleep Wonderin’ if we’ll meet out in the street
But you take the skyway It don’t move at all like a subway It’s got bums when it’s cold like any other place It’s warm up inside Sittin’ down and waitin’ for a ride Beneath the skyway
Oh, then one day, I saw you walkin’ down that little one-way Where, the place I’d catch my ride most everyday There wasn’t a damn thing I could do or say Up in the skyway
Yesterday was John’s birthday 80th birthday…that just doesn’t seem right. He has been gone for 40 years…the same amount that he lived.
I’m Losing You is on the Double Fantasy album released in 1980.
There are two versions of this song that are well known. Co-producer Tom Douglas brought Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos of the band Cheap Trick to play on this song, but it was eventually re-recorded with the studio musicians. That is the version that ended up on the album.
The Rick Nielsen and Ben E. Carlos version was included years later on the John Lennon Anthology Collection released in 1998.
Some say the edgier track with Nielsen and Carlos wasn’t used because Yoko didn’t like the version, the recording didn’t fit in with the rest of the album, or it sounded a little too much like Cold Turkey…a previous song by Lennon. If I had to guess I would say it was because the track would have stood out against the others. Personally I would have went with the Nielsen and Carlos version anyway.
While on vacation in Bermuda during the summer of 1980, Lennon tried to call Yoko Ono but couldn’t get through to her and wrote this song based on his frustration.
Double Fantasy peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, Canada, and The UK in 1981.
From Songfacts
This is a track from Double Fantasy, Lennon’s final album during his lifetime, released only three weeks before his murder. The song resulted from John’s inability to get Yoko on the phone at a time when he feared for their relationship.
Yoko Ono told Q November 2010 that this is one of her favorite Lennon songs. She said: “I’m Losing You is an incredible song. I think as a songwriter, that tops it all. Some of the songs I’m in. But it’s almost like Picasso drawing a lot of his wife because his wife was around. And I was very lucky I was his wife.”
Director Jay Dubin, whose work at the time included commercials for Crazy Eddie’s, was called in to shoot a music video to promote the Double Fantasy album. On August 10, 1980, he brought his team to the Hit Factory studio and captured Lennon performing this song, along with “I’m Moving On” and some cover tunes. The video was abandoned after Lennon’s death a few months later and the footage has never materialized.
Here are the two versions
I’m Losing You
Here in some stranger’s room Late in the afternoon What am I doing here at all? Ain’t no doubt about it I’m losing you I’m losing you
Somehow the wires have crossed Communication’s lost Can’t even get you on the telephone Just got to shout about it I’m losing you I’m losing you
Well, here in the valley of indecision I don’t know what to do I feel you slipping away I feel you slipping away I’m losing you I’m losing you
Well now you say you’re not getting enough But I remind you of all that bad, bad, bad stuff So what the hell am I supposed to do? Just put a band-aid on it? And stop the bleeding now Stop the bleeding now Well…
I’m losing you I’m losing you
Well, well, well I know I hurt you then But hell, that was way back when Well, do you still have to carry that cross? (Drop it!) Don’t wanna hear about it I’m losing you I’m losing you
This is a duet with blues legend B.B. King. American blues musicians were a big influence on U2, and the group had a great admiration for King. I bought Rattle and Hum when it came out and thoroughly enjoyed it. This song and Angel of Harlem sold it enough for me to get it.
In 1987, King played a show in Dublin and found out U2 would be in the audience. U2 had just released The Joshua Tree and were very popular, especially in their native Ireland. After the show, King was honored to meet the band and humbled to find out they were big fans. He asked Bono to think of him sometime when he was writing a song, and later on this was the result.
King performed “When Love Comes to Town” with the band for the first time during their Joshua Tree tour at a concert in Fort Worth, Texas on November 24, 1987. Parts of this show as well as the soundcheck were included in the U2 concert documentary Rattle And Hum, which contains a scene where Bono is rehearsing this with King.
The song peaked at #68 in the Billboard 100, #41 in Canada, and #6 in the UK, and #4 in New Zealand in 1989.
After King died on May 14, 2015, U2 paid tribute to him during a show in Vancouver the following night during the Innocence + Experience Tour by playing “When Love Comes to Town” for the first time in 23 years.
From Songfacts
B.B. King opened for U2 on their 1989 “Lovetown” tour, which went through New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, Germany, and Holland. King joined U2 when they played this, which usually occurred near the end of their set.
The version used on Rattle And Hum was recorded with B.B. King at Sun Studios in Memphis, where King is royalty. This was one of several new songs on the album, which was a combination of live cuts from their 1987 tour and studio recordings.
This was a huge career boost for B.B. King. Although he was revered in the blues community, he wasn’t well known in the world of rock or pop. His association with U2 brought him a huge number of new fans and changed the dynamic of his audience, which became split between blues purists and rock fans who learned about him through U2. Many of King’s older fans did not appreciate the newcomers.
Admiration between King and Bono on this song was mutual; King was amazed that Bono could write such mature lyrics at such a young age, and Bono was blown away by King’s vocal. “I gave it my absolute everything I had in that howl at the start of the song,” Bono said. “Then B.B. opened his mouth, and I felt like a girl.”
This won the MTV Video Music Award for best video from a film in 1989. The video provided B.B. King with his first exposure to the MTV audience.
Near the beginning of their 1989 tour with B.B. King, U2 threw him a surprise birthday party. They invited King on a boat for what he thought was a fishing trip, but as soon as they left shore, they released balloons and sang Happy Birthday. That night, they had a fireworks display in his honor.
This was B.B. King’s biggest hit in the UK.
B.B. King got another career boost when he teamed up with Eric Clapton in 2000 to record an album called Riding With The King. Many blues legends remain in rock obscurity, but his collaborations with U2 and Clapton gave King a higher profile than any blues musician has achieved. After his recording with Clapton, King opened a series of nightclubs under his name. It helped that King remained a skilled guitarist and powerful vocalist into his 60s.
This was included on U2’s compilation, The Best Of 1980-1990.
BB King played his Gibson “Lucille” guitar probably through a Lab Series amp on this song.
Adam Clayton: “We discovered a common bond between us and some of these older artists like B.B. King. When we met him there was a whole world of understanding and nothing needed to be said. That has been the payoff of working ten years to get into this position. We no longer have to prove ourselves. It’s in the music and people can hear it.”
When Love Comes To Town
I was a sailor, I was lost at sea I was under the waves Before love rescued me I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread Now I stand accused of the things I’ve said
Love comes to town I’m gonna jump that train When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town
I used to make love under a red sunset I was making promises I was soon to forget She was pale as the lace of her wedding gown But I left her standing before love came to town
I ran into a juke joint when I heard a guitar scream The notes were turning blue, I was dazing in a dream As the music played I saw my life turn around That was the day before love came to town
When love comes to town I’m gonna jump that train When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town
When love comes to town I’m gonna jump that train When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town
I was there when they crucified my Lord I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword I threw the dice when they pierced his side But I’ve seen love conquer the great divide
When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that train When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town
You May Be Right was released on the Glass Houses album in 1980. I liked this song…it was more of a rock song from Joel.
Glass Houses was more of a rock album than his previous albums. He did that on purpose because he wanted something different than his previous albums The Stranger and 52 Street.
The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #9 in the UK and #6 in New Zealand.
This is the opening track to Billy Joel’s album Glass Houses. Right before the song, there is the sound of shattered glass, to match the cover picture of Joel throwing a rock into the window of an all-glass house…it was a parody of the saying “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” This was Joel’s statement to his critics.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: “It may not be punk — then again, it may be his concept of punk — but Glass Houses is the closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album.”
You May Be Right was the first single released from Glass Houses…The song peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, and #23 in New Zealand in 1980.
Billy Joel: “I could have come out with a record that would have guaranteed a certain amount of sales – just by repeating either The Stranger album or the 52nd Street album, by doing something similar,” Frankly, I would have been bored to do that. I would have been a dead duck, career-wise. You have to discard an audience to pick up another one.”
“It’s a definite temptation to repeat a successful formula. But I have never done the same thing twice. I don’t care what anybody says,” “After Stranger, I could have done Son of Stranger, but I’ve never done that. To keep me interested, there always has to be something new, something different.”
From Songfacts
In this song, Joel takes the persona of a guy who is told he is reckless. Joel confirms the suspicion, admitting that he is crazy and extolling the virtues of a more carefree, but dangerous existence.
This was used as the theme song to the TV show Dave’s World, which ran from 1993-1997 on CBS. Like Joel’s “My Life,” Billy didn’t sing the version used on the show. The version of “You May Be Right” on Dave’s World was sung by Southside Johnny.
The Chipmunks covered this song on their 1980 album Chipmunk Punk. Joel says he thought it was great.
Joel tends to prefer his more obscure songs over his hits, but “You May Be Right” is one of his favorites. Speaking with Stephen Colbert in 2017, he listed it as one of his Top 5.
In The Office episode “WUPHF.com” (2010), Michael sings this after Pam tells him Ryan is taking advantage of him. It was also used on Glee (“Movin’ Out” – 2013) and in the movies Girl Most Likely and The Edge Of Seventeen (2016).
You May Be Right
Friday night I crashed your party Saturday I said I’m sorry Sunday came and trashed me out again I was only having fun Wasn’t hurting any one And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change
I’ve been stranded in the combat zone I walked through Bedford Stuy alone Even rode my motorcycle in the rain And you told me not to drive But I made it home alive So you said that only proves that I’m insane
You may be right I may be crazy But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for Turn out the light Don’t try to save me You may be wrong for all I know But you may be right
Remember how I found you there Alone in your electric chair I told you dirty jokes until you smiled You were lonely for a man I said take me as I am ‘Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while
Now think of all the years you tried to Find someone to satisfy you I might be as crazy as you say If I’m crazy then it’s true That it’s all because of you And you wouldn’t want me any other way
You may be right I may be crazy But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for It’s too late to fight It’s too late to change me You may be wrong for all I know But you may be right
You may be right I may be crazy But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for Turn out the light Don’t try to save me You may be wrong for all I know You may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right
I remember hearing about this Canadian band but I didn’t start listening to them until recently. Deke and Dave my Canadian friends have mentioned them while following their blogs. Teenage Head was sometimes known as Canada’s answer to the Ramones.
They are from Hamilton, Ontario and met in Hamilton Weston High school… friends Frank “Venom” Kerr and Gord Lewis formed the group in 1975 with bassist Steve Mahon (later changed his last name to Marshall) and Nick Stipinitz on drums. They took their name from a Flaming Groovies song title and quickly gained a loyal following on the Ontario club circuit for their raw energy, highlighted by Lewis’guitar work and front man Venom’s antics and natural charisma on stage.
Signing with Attic Records, Teenage Head issued their sophomore effort, Frantic City, in early 1980.
They played a show at the Ontario Place Forum, a prominent outdoor venue situated in a Toronto park. Over 15,000 people showed up but they venue wasn’t large enough to hold them. A drunken crowd tried to storm the entrances, sparking a battle with the police officers on hand…multiple injuries and arrests followed. The band woke up the next morning with their name in the papers. They lost some gigs but the publicity pushed “Frantic” up the charts and to gold status.
Teenage Head released Let’s Shake in 1980 and it made it to #88 in Canada.
Let’s Shake
OOH
Give me that opener, pass me that beer C’mon move your ass on out of here Well I guess you know I need some money But you are just too fat and ugly
Well you can’t dance, can’t keep up the beat Well that’s because you got size twelve feet Well don’t make me run, well don’t make me blush You’re just that girl I hate to touch
In 1981 I remember hearing Destroyer on the radio and was confused..Wait…is this a new version of All Day and All of the Night? I wanted that song so I bought the album. Give The People What They Want combines different styles. Punk, Rock, and a little New Wave was thrown in on a few of the songs. I had bought singles and a greatest hits by the Kinks but this was the first new Kinks album I purchased. It’s not considered among their best but I think it’s been underrated and the album still stands up today.
It didn’t get the recognition that their next album “State of Confusion” received because it didn’t have a huge hit single like Come Dancing. Songs like Better Things, Around The Dial, and Destroyer did get radio play though.
Two years after I bought the album I saw the Kinks live at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. They opened with “Around The Dial,” the opener off of this album.. Ray started to write songs that played well in arenas during this time. The concert was right up there with The Stones concerts to me. I was lucky to see the Kinks while they still were still releasing new albums.
Their energy was off the charts. They were approaching middle age but they had more energy than their opening band (The White Animals) who were in their early 20s.
The album opener… Around The Dial is a song that I totally can relate to today because of pre-programmed radio shows. It’s about corporations taking over radio and getting rid of the free form local DJ’s who played songs that their audience actually wanted to hear. This was starting to get popular in the late seventies…now it’s standard.
The song Give The People What They Want is my favorite song off the album. While writing Low Budget, their previous album, Ray was watching American TV including “That’s Incredible” where people did dangerous and insane stunts. He writes a fair statement about the viewing public…now and then. Parts of it are crude but is true to life. When Oswald shot Kennedy, he was insane, But still we watch the re-runs again and again, We all sit glued while the killer takes aim…
Ray borrowed his own riff from All Day And All Of The Night and repurposed it for Destroyer. He also revisits Lola in the song. Destroyer reached #3 on the Billboard Rock Top Tracks chart and #85 on the Billboard 100.
Better Things has a new wave feel to it and one of the few optimistic songs on the record. It’s the closing song on the album and changes the dark cynical tone of the album to a little more hopeful.
I finally brought an album to the island that wasn’t released in the 60s or 70s. This 1981 album rocks. It’s probably the hardest rock album that the Kinks ever produced…but it’s still unmistakably Ray Davies.
The Ramones always seem to brighten my day. No pretentious songs or long drawn out solos. They get to the point and fast. This song is a little different their previous songs and it was one of their biggest hits.
Dee Dee Ramone and producer Daniel Rey wrote this song for the 1989 Stephen King movie Pet Sematary. Another Ramones song, Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, also appears in the film.
Stephen King was a big Ramones fan and even mentioned them in the book.
The music video for Pet Sematary was filmed at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York village…it was filmed in 1989. The video features cameos by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie.
The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard Modern Rock Charts in 1989. The song was on the album Brain Drain.
Marky Ramone:“Stephen King is a big Ramones fan. … He’s a great guy, very tall, very intense-looking. His eyes are very intense, you can see he read a lot … and we hit it off. He asked us to do a song for the movie soundtrack. … He gave Dee Dee the book to read; he read the book and wrote the song in 40 minutes. I’m forever grateful I met the guy. He wrote a nice quote in the book about me. So thank you, Stephen.”
This is a link for more info on the song and video.
Under the arc of a weather stain boards Ancient goblins, and warlords Come out the ground, not making a sound The smell of death is all around And the night when the cold wind blows No one cares, nobody knows
I don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetery I don’t want to live my life again I don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetery I don’t want to live my life again
Follow Victor to the sacred place This ain’t a dream, I can’t escape Molars and fangs, the clicking of bones Spirits moaning among the tombstones And the night, when the moon is bright Someone cries, something ain’t right
I don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetery I don’t want to live my life again I don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetery I don’t want to live my life again
The moon is full, the air is still All of the sudden I feel a chain Victor is grinning, flesh is rotting away Skeletons dance, I curse this day And the night when the wolves cry out Listen close and you can hear me shout
I don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetery I don’t want to live my life again I don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetery I don’t want to live my life again, oh, no, oh, no I don’t want to live my life, not again, oh, no, oh, oh I don’t want to live my life, not again, oh, no, no, no I don’t want to live my life, not again, oh, no, no, no
God have mercy on the man Who doubts what he’s sure of
I was 20 years old when I heard that lyric for the first time and a chill went through me. Brilliant Disguise I would play over and over again.
Springsteen sings this from the viewpoint of a man who is conflicted over a romantic relationship. Although he claims the song is not directly about him, Springsteen was having problems in his marriage to his first wife, Julianne Phillips, and they divorced soon after.
This was the first single off Tunnel Of Love, an album Springsteen recorded in his home studio in New Jersey. Tunnel of Love is one of my favorite albums by Springsteen. The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, Canada, and the UK.
The song peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100, #9 in Canada, and #20 in the UK in 1987.
Bruce Springsteen: “I guess it sounds like a song of betrayal – who’s that person sleeping next to me, who am I? Do I know enough about myself to be honest with that person? But a funny thing happens: songs shift their meanings when you sing them, they shift their meanings in time, they shift their meanings with who you sing them with. When you sing this song with someone you love, it turns into something else.”
Brilliant Disguise
I hold you in my arms As the band plays What are those words whispered baby Just as you turn away I saw you last night Out on the edge of town I wanna read your mind To know just what I’ve got in this new thing I’ve found So tell me what I see When I look in your eyes Is that you baby Or just a brilliant disguise
I heard somebody call your name From underneath our willow I saw something tucked in shame Underneath your pillow Well I’ve tried so hard baby But I just can’t see What a woman like you Is doing with me So tell me who I see When I look in your eyes Is that you baby Or just a brilliant disguise
Now look at me baby Struggling to do everything right And then it all falls apart When out go the lights I’m just a lonely pilgrim I walk this world in wealth I want to know if it’s you I don’t trust ‘Cause I damn sure don’t trust myself
Now you play the loving woman I’ll play the faithful man But just don’t look too close Into the palm of my hand We stood at the alter The gypsy swore our future was right But come the wee wee hours Well maybe baby the gypsy lied So when you look at me You better look hard and look twice Is that me baby Or just a brilliant disguise
Tonight our bed is cold I’m lost in the darkness of our love God have mercy on the man Who doubts what he’s sure of
This 1980 song is from a Vancouver punk band called The Modernettes.
I ran across this song searching for power pop songs. This one is VERY Ramones like. It’s a fun song. They did play more than punk… they ventured into power-pop recordings.
There is a documentary about the Vancouver punk rock scene in the late 70s and early 80s with Henry Rollins and Duff Mckagan that includes the Modernettes called Bloodied and Unbowed…this is the trailer but the documentary is on there also.
The Modernettes were formed in 1979, with John Armstrong, aka Buck Cherry, and Mary Armstrong, aka Mary-Jo Kopechne (yea tasteless). John formed the Modernettes soon after drafting drummer John McAdams and Mary to form the three-piece lineup.
In 1980, the Modernettes recorded the debut EP Strictly Confidential. It was released under the Quintessence Records label. A second EP, Teen City, followed quickly. It included the band’s strongest and probably most popular song, “Barbara.” Though the group pulled together a strong following, true success eluded them.
The Modernettes only completed one full album, Get It Straight.
Barbra
there’s a new little girl in my home class you know i’m talking about barbra and everybodys thinks that she’s such a gas b-a-r-b-r-a barbra
shes the girl i love forever we’ll spend our lives together barbra
well the dogs are gonna slide so she can pass you know i’m talking about barbra and everybodys looking and thats such a gas b-a-r-b-r-a barbra i envy the guy she kiss last i just wanna skip class with barbra
there’s a new little girl in my home class you know i’m talking about barbra and everybodys thinks she’s such a gas b-a-r-b-r-a barbra
shes the girl i love forever you know im talking about barbra talking about barbra talking about barbra talking about barbra
Bruce Springsteen wrote this and gave it to filmmaker Paul Schrader for his 1987 movie starring Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett as a brother and sister who lead a garage band.
Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett performed this in the movie. The song was released as a single credited to “The Barbusters” the name of the group in the film. The song is a duet with Fox and Jett, but the single was just Jett accompanied by her band, The Blackhearts.
Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played Hammond organ on this song. Light Of Day peaked at #33 in the Billboard 100 in 1987. From Songfacts
This is one of Springsteen’s live favorites. He often performs an inspirational extended version, preaching lines like “I can not offer you eternal life, but I can offer you life right now.”
Bruce performed this at a 1992 concert for MTV. Part of their “Unplugged” series, Springsteen insisted on playing electric and calling it “Plugged.” The set was released as an album in England.
The title was used as the name of a benefit concert Springsteen played at The Stone Pony, a small club in New Jersey, in 2000. Proceeds went to The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Michael J. Fox, who starred in the movie Light Of Day, has Parkinson’s.
Springsteen performed this with Joan Jett at two benefit concerts in New Jersey in 2001. Proceeds from the shows went to victims of the September 11 attacks.
In 2000, the Light of Day foundation was formed, taking its name from this song. Music impresario Bob Benjamin started the foundation after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, with proceeds going toward the search for a cure. Benjamin organized a series of concerts to raise money, which proved very successful. Springsteen has performed at many of these events to lend his support.
Light Of Day
Well I’ve been out of the woods for six days and nights now Well I’m a little hot wired, but I’m feeling alright I got some money in my pocket and a long lean ride I got to make it down to Galveston by Saturday night, now
Well I’m a little down under, but I’m feeling O.K. Got a little lost along the way
I’m just around the corner to the light of day Well, I’m just around the corner to the light of day
Been driving five hundred miles, got five hundred to go, yeah I got rock and roll music on the radio I got a brother on a rig just off the gulf coast He says the girls down there, well they’re really the most, man
Well I’m a little down under, but I’m feeling O.K. I got a little lost along the way
Just around the corner to the light of day Just around the corner to the light of day I’m just around the corner to the light of day I’m just around the corner to the light of day
Well I got thrown out of work on the Kokomo Don’t ask me what I’m doing, I don’t know I hope he wasn’t joking when he wrote me that letter Things can’t get any worse, they got to get better
Well I’m a little down under, but I’m feeling O.K. I got a little lost along the way
I’m just around the corner to the light of day Just around the corner to the light of day Just around the corner to the light of day Just around the corner to the light of day
This is from our favorite Canadian Neil Young. It surprised me that this was released in 1989. I remember it the most in the 90s.
This was inspired by the political changes going on at the time, and was highly critical of the George Bush Sr. Some of the lyrics mock Bush’s campaign speeches: “We got 1,000 points of light, for the homeless man,” “We got a kinder, gentler machine gun hand.”
Rocking In A Free World was written in February 1989, as Neil Young toured the Pacific Northwest. Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeni had just issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie because of his controversial novel The Satanic Verses and Russia had recently withdrawn its forces from Afghanistan.
Pearl Jam have performed this song from time to time with Young, who they said that Neil is their musical mentor. The first time they performed it together was at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, where the “Jermey” video won four awards. Young came on as a surprise guest.
Pearl Jam has used this as the closing song in many of their concerts. The band played several times at Young’s Bridge School concerts.
The song peaked at #2 in the Mainstream Rock Chart and #39 in Canada. The song is rated number 216 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
From Songfacts
This was released a few months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It became kind of an anthem for the event as freedom spread through Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile Young and his guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro, were musing on global events as they traveled to Portland.
“There was supposed to have been a cultural exchange between Russia and United States,” Sampedro recalled to Mojo in a 2018 interview. “Russia was getting Neil Young and Crazy Horse and we were getting the Russian ballet! All of a sudden, whoever was promoting the deal, a guy in Russia, took the money and split. We were all bummed, and I looked at him and said, ‘Man I guess we’re just gonna have to keep on rockin in the free world. He said, ‘Well, Poncho, that’s a good line. I’m gonna use that, if you don’t mind.'”
“So we checked into the hotel in Portland,” the guitarist continued. “And we needed a song. We needed a rocker. We’d written some songs and they were good but we didn’t have a real rocker. I said, ‘Look man, tonight, get in your room, think about all this stuff that’s going down – the Ayatollah, all the stuff in Afghanistan, all these wars breaking out, all the problems in America… “Keep On rockin in the free world,” you got that: put something together man, let’s have a song!’ And the next morning, we got on the bus to leave and he says, ‘OK, I did it!'”
Young used members of his former backing group The Bluenotes to record this.
Young and Pearl Jam proved a great fit, as both eschew convention when it comes to music and promotion, catering instead to their ardent fan bases. The MTV appearance was an anomaly – Pearl Jam didn’t make another video for five years. In 1995, they collaborated on Young’s 1995 album Mirror Ball.
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Young performed this at the 7th annual Bridge School benefit in 1993 with all the artists involved joining Young on stage to close the show. Young put on the concert for the school, which serves children with special needs, every year until 2017.
.Neil Young played with Pearl Jam on 1995’s Merkinball, a 2-song EP that featured the songs “I Got ID” on one side and “The Long Road” on the other. Merkinball was a case of Young returning the favor to Pearl Jam. They had served as his “backing band” on his 1995 album Mirrorball. Contractual stipulations prevented Mirrorball from being credited to both artists and recognized as the collaborative effort it actually was (The name “Pearl Jam” was not legally allowed to appear on either the album’s cover or within its liner notes). “I Got ID” and “Long Road” were actually recorded during the Mirrorball sessions.
The song is on occasion used as a pro-America anthem, which ignores many of the ironic overtones of the lyrics. While the chorus does seem to celebrate the United States, it’s juxtaposed with grim verses which paint a haunting portrait of life in modern America – the song is sometimes interpreted as a critique of the “keep on rocking in the free world” sentiment that US citizens use to ignore global problems that don’t concern them.
Much like his seminal “My My, Hey Hey”/”Hey Hey, My My” counterparts, the widely known version of “Rockin’ In The Free World” is a loud, electric reprise of a stripped-down acoustic version that opens the Freedom album.
Rolling Stone rated this #216 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Young is very particular about where his songs are used. He authorized this one for the 2004 Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, and also for the 2015 film The Big Short, which tells the story of the rapacious financial workers who caused the 2008 recession. It also appears in the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.
The track was used in Donald Trump’s announcement that he will run as a Republican candidate for the 2016 presidency. Young, a longtime supporter of Bernie Sanders, said that the mogul was not authorized to use the song.
Trump’s campaign responded by saying it did pay to use Neil Young’s tune at the presidential announcement, but won’t use Young’s music at any future events. “Through a licensing agreement with ASCAP, Mr. Trump’s campaign paid for and obtained the legal right to use Neil Young’s recording of ‘Rockin’ In The Free World,'” the statement read. “Nevertheless, there are plenty of other songs to choose from. Despite Neil’s differing political views, Mr. Trump likes him very much.”
Trump later hit back, posting a photo of him and Young shaking hands, and explaining that Young asked him for financing on an audio deal and invited Trump to a concert. In a Tweet, Trump called Young a “total hypocrite,” adding, “‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ was just one of 10 songs used as background music. Didn’t love it anyway.”
Rocking In A Free World
There’s colors on the street Red, white and blue People shufflin’ their feet People sleepin’ in their shoes But there’s a warnin’ sign on the road ahead There’s a lot of people sayin’ we’d be better off dead Don’t feel like Satan, but I am to them So I try to forget it, any way I can.
Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
I see a woman in the night With a baby in her hand Under an old street light Near a garbage can Now she puts the kid away, and she’s gone to get a hit She hates her life, and what she’s done to it There’s one more kid that will never go to school Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool.
Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
We got a thousand points of light For the homeless man We got a kinder, gentler, Machine gun hand We got department stores and toilet paper Got styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive.
Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world Keep on rockin’ in the free world, Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
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