For some reason, I got a notion in my head that tonight I wanted to play some Rod Stewart, and I wanted it to be one I hadn’t played before!  I was sorely tempted, after listening to it, to redux Maggie May, one of my favourite Stewart tunes, but no … I promised myself I’d go for a new one tonight!  And this one was the first and best on the list.

It would seem that Mr. Stewart was, at least back in the day, not of … um … shall we say the highest moral character?  The story, according to SongFacts …

Stewart wrote this love song when he was dating the Swedish actress Britt Ekland; they were together from 1975-1977. Stewart said, “It wasn’t totally about Britt… it could have been anybody I met in that period – and there were a lot of them.”

This statement may have been influenced by the $12.5 million lawsuit Ekland filed against Stewart, in which her lawyers pointed out how she inspired some of Stewart’s most successful music.

Stewart and Ekland split up very publicly after he was photographed leaving a nightclub with another actress, Liz Treadwell. In his autobiography, Stewart said that Ekland thought they were going to get married, but he had no intention of settling down and in turn, was unfaithful.

The songs Stewart wrote for the Foot Loose And Fancy Free album deal with this relationship, and are rather conflicted. On “You Got A Nerve” he is quite hostile; “I Was Only Joking” finds him dismissing his lover. “You’re In My Heart,” however, is the kind of song that would make a woman believe that Stewart is smitten and in it for the long haul.

Soon after the album came out, Stewart explained to NME that in writing the songs, he was expressing his true feelings, and that it made him realize that he wanted to be free, as suggested in the album title. “The songs came first,” he said. “I didn’t actually think, ‘Well, I’ll put it in the songs and hope she hears them and knows what I mean.’ But it’s ironic that the album title and the songs came out as they did.”

The song did well in many places, charting at #2 in Canada, #3 in the UK, and #4 in the U.S.

You’re In My Heart

Rod Stewart

I didn’t know what day it was
When you walked into the room
I said hello unnoticed
You said goodbye too soon

Breezing through the clientele
Spinning yarns that were so lyrical
I really must confess right here
The attraction was purely physical

I took all those habits of yours
That in the beginning were hard to accept
Your fashion sense, Beardsley prints
I put down to experience

The big bossed lady with the Dutch accent
Who tried to change my point of view
Her ad lib lines were well rehearsed
But my heart cried out for you

You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul
You’ll be my breath should I grow old
You are my lover, you’re my best friend
You’re in my soul

My love for you is immeasurable
My respect for you immense
You’re ageless, timeless, lace and fineness
You’re beauty and elegance

You’re a rhapsody, a comedy
You’re a symphony and a play
You’re every love song ever written
But honey what do you see in me

You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul
You’ll be my breath should I grow old
You are my lover, you’re my best friend
You’re in my soul

You’re an essay in glamor
Please pardon the grammar
But you’re every schoolboy’s dream
You’re Celtic, United, but baby I’ve decided
You’re the best team I’ve ever seen

And there have been many affairs
Many times I’ve thought to leave
But I bite my lip and turn around
‘Cause you’re the warmest thing I’ve ever found

You’re in my heart, you’re in my soul
You’ll be my breath should I grow old
You are my lover, you’re my best friend
You’re in my soul

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Rod Stewart

You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC