♫ Still The Same ♫

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

Bob Seger certainly had a wide range of music, didn’t he?  I spent some time tonight listening to some that I hadn’t heard before … one almost broke my bloomin’ eardrums!  I was looking for ones I liked, but hadn’t played yet here on Filosofa’s Word, and I came across this one that I’ve long liked, but didn’t realize it was Bob Seger!  Yes, I am culturally illiterate – I admit it!

There isn’t much background information that I could find about the song, but according to SongFacts …

This song is about a slick gambler who always seems a step ahead. At first, Seger seems to be talking this guy up, enamored with his winning ways and how he’s still the same. But at the end of the song, we learn this isn’t the case: Seger turns and walks away from him because he hasn’t changed, and there’s nothing left to say. It’s like reconnecting with an old friend, only to be reminded of why you stayed apart.

Seger says it’s not about a specific person, but a composite of “Type A, overachieving” people he’s encountered, particularly in Hollywood, where he lived for a few months while recording the Stranger In Town album. There aren’t as many of these types in Michigan, where Seger is from.

Seger told Bob Costas about the type of person in this song: “They’re just very charismatic, but they have tremendous faults, but part of the appeal is the charisma. You overlook everything because of the charisma. That’s a gift and a curse.”

This is one of four songs on the Stranger In Town album that Seger recorded with his Silver Bullet Band, which included bass player Chris Campbell and drummer David Teegarden. The other songs he recorded in Alabama using the musicians at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

The song charted at #4 in both the U.S. and Canada, but as far as I can tell did not chart in the UK.

Still The Same

Bob Seger

You always won every time you placed a bet
You’re still damn good
No one’s gotten to you yet
Every time they were sure they had you caught
You were quicker than they thought
You’d just turn your back and walk

You always said the cards would never do you wrong
The trick, you said, was never play the game too long
A gambler’s share, the only risk that you would take
The only loss you could forsake
The only bluff you couldn’t fake

And you’re still the same
I caught up with you yesterday (still the same, still the same)
Moving game to game
No one standing in your way
Turning on the charm
Long enough to get you by (still the same, still the same)
You’re still the same
You still aim high

Still the same, still the same

Still the same, still the same

There you stood, everybody watched you play
I just turned and walked away
I had nothing left to say

‘Cause you’re still the same
Still the same, baby, baby, you’re still the same
You’re still the same
Still the same, baby, baby, you’re still the same
Moving game to game
Still the same, baby, baby, you’re still the same

Some things never change
Still the same, baby, baby, you’re still the same
You’re still the same
Still the same, baby, baby, you’re still the same
Still the same
Still the same, baby, baby, you’re still the same

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Bob Seger

Still The Same lyrics © Gear Publishing Company Inc, Gear Publishing Co., Inc.

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24 thoughts on “♫ Still The Same ♫”

  3. Being born and raised in Detroit means I love Bob Segar. This is one of my favorites. I usually managed to listen to it after having to deal with the type of person described. It made the interaction much more forgetable.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. I think I always weirdly intuited what this song was about. I fully understood ‘turning on the charm long enough to get you by’ and moving on ‘from game to game’. It always seemed to me about a person never letting others in, never connecting with others, staying remote, moving on, never changing. Hugs ‘n cheers

    Liked by 2 people

  7. I have no idea how long ago it was that I heard this song the last time. It reminds me of my childhood but could not say what age. However, it triggers good feelings and some good melancholy. That’s a wonderful surprise to hear this song again. Yay!!

    Liked by 3 people

  8. I never took this song at face value. I always thought it was about a gold-digging woman hopping from man to man, looking for a bigger score, never satusfied with any of them. I just figured the singer/songwriter was one of her cast-offs, but he still cared until he found out she couldn’t change.
    I had no idea it was Bob Seger either!

    Liked by 4 people

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