Song: Behind Blue Eyes (1971) Artist: The Who Album: Who’s Next (Decca) The lyric “No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man” comes from the song Behind Blue Eyes, released on The Who’s album Who’s Next in 1971. A tortured and dark acoustic ballad, the song was originally part of a collection of songs … Read more
Song: Saturday in the Park (1972) Artist: Chicago Album: Chicago V (Columbia) The lyrics, “I think it was the 4th of July” come from the 1972 Chicago song Saturday in the Park, which charted in the U.S. up to No. 3 and was the group’s first gold single. The song was written by keyboardist Robert Lamm, … Read more
Song: Stuck in the Middle With You (1972) Artist: Stealers Wheel Album: Stealers Wheel (A&M) You may know the song Stuck in the Middle with You from the ear-slicing scene in Reservoir Dogs (1993). It was the only big hit by the Scottish folk-rock band Stealers Wheel, in 1973, appearing on their self-titled album Stealers Wheel, climbing … Read more
Song: The Old Man Down the Road (1984) Artist: John Fogerty Album: Centerfield (Warner Brothers) If you are a songwriter or any kind of artist, you probably would never imagine that you could be sued for copyright infringement of one of your own previous works. But this is just what happened to John Fogerty, in … Read more
It is one of those musical ironies that so many people wonder about the lyrics to Steve Miller’s 1973 song, The Joker, “the pompatus of love.” The song is catchy and it is one of those classic rock songs you can’t help but sing along to. But let’s face it. It’s fluff and the lyrics … Read more
Song: 25 or 6 to 4 (1970) Artist: Chicago Album: Chicago II (Columbia) The Tommy Tutone song Jenny (867-5309) spawned quite a myth, or maybe not a myth, about thousands of people calling the number from the song and overloading the circuit boards, thus causing the number to always be “out of service,” or something like that. But … Read more
The Pretenders Performing in 2007Brass in Pocket may be the most well-known Pretenders song, but since, like so much of the Pretender’s music, it has lived on so long, many people who hear it may have never heard of the Pretenders. Since the words “Brass in Pocket” are never sung in the song, many people think … Read more