♫ Against The Wind ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music, music history

I was looking for some ‘new’ old music to post tonight, something I haven’t already played here before, but nothing I listened to quite filled the bill.  It got late … 3:15 a.m. right now … and I got tired, but this one kept coming back into my head for some reason, so … why not?  It’s a good tune, I like it, and I haven’t played it for more than two years!

I used to drive a little tiny 2-seater Subaru hatchback that I named “Little Silver Bullet” because at the time I drank Coors Light beer (yes, I name my cars … and my vacuum cleaners … what of it?).  When the company I worked for hired a sign painter to paint our logo on the new trucks, he offered to paint “Little Silver Bullet” on the back of my car, free of charge.  Of course I took him up on his offer, and thereafter I was known among CB enthusiasts and truckers as the Little Silver Bullet, or sometimes just Li’l Bullet for short.  Ahhh … the good ol’ days!  “10-4 good buddy — I got your six.”  Back in those days, the CB radio was to me what the internet is today!  Another era, a different lifetime.

This song by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band was released in 1980, the second single from the album of the same name.  Glenn Frey and Don Henley of the Eagles sang background vocals on this song.  Seger said of this song:

“My old friend Glenn Frey of the Eagles had an idea that our guitarist Drew Abbott should play along with the piano solo. He and I then went out and did the background vocals together. The line ‘Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then’ bothered me for the longest time, but everyone I knew loved it so I left it in. It has since appeared in several hits by other artists, so I guess it’s OK.  

The only thing that bothered me about that phrase was the grammar. It sounded grammatically funny to me. I kept asking myself, ‘Is that correct grammar?’ I liked the line, and everybody I played it for – like Glenn and Don (Henley) – were saying, ‘That’s the best line in the song,’ but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t right. But I slowly came around. You have to understand that songwriters can’t punctuate anything they write. I work in such a narrow medium that I tend to second-guess things like that. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen that line in a few other songs since I came up with it, so I guess it was okay after all.”

Against the Wind charted at #5  in the U.S., #6 in Canada, and never quite found its way onto the UK charts.

Against the Wind
Bob Seger

Seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Janey was lovely she was the queen of my nights
There in darkness with the radio playin low
And the secrets that we shared, mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
Til there was nothin left to burn and nothin left to prove

And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then

Against the wind
We were runnin against the wind
We were young and strong we were runnin against the wind

And the years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
Found myself further and further from my home and I
Guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was livin to run and runnin to live
Never worried about payin or even how much I owe

Movin’ eight miles a minute and for months at a time
Breakin all of the rules that would bend
I began to find myself searchin
Searchin for shelter again and again

Against the wind
Little somethin against the wind
I found myself seekin shelter against the wind

Well those drifters days are past me now
I’ve got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

Against the wind
I’m still runnin against the wind
I’m older now but still runnin against the wind

Well I’m older now but still runnin against the wind
Against the wind
Against the wind
Still runnin
Against the wind
Against the wind
Against the wind…

Songwriters: SEGER ROBERT CLARK
Against the Wind lyrics © Gear Publishing, Gear Publishing Company Inc, GEAR PUBLISHING CO., INC., HIDEOUT RECORDS/DISTRIBTRS INC (GEAR PUBLISHING DI, HIDEOUT RECORDS DIST. INC.

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27 thoughts on “♫ Against The Wind ♫”

  2. I was livin to run and runnin to live
    Never worried about payin or even how much I owe
    I always thought the money would take care of itself. It did. Unfortunatly it was not money debt I was running up. A great line from a great song. 👍Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then

    Liked by 1 person

  4. I think the line is indeed the best in the song, and yeah now can understand that the reason it seemed somehow-not-quite when sung is that he himself had doubts in singing it. I knew a Vietnam vet who adored him to fixation level.

    Er, you know what the silver bullet was purported to be, like the steely dan…? Not judging names here–

    Liked by 2 people

  5. Pingback: ♫ Against The Wind ♫ | Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

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