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Sonata Arctica - The Wolves Die Young

Sonata Arctica - The Wolves Die Young Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Pariah's Child
Released: 2014

The Wolves Die Young Lyrics

The Wolves Die Young

This is the first single from Sonata Arctica's eighth album Pariah's Child. Commented the band's frontman Tony Kakko: "'The Wolves Die Young' was pretty much born to be a single. And it is. It also paved the road for the rest of the album. Set a mood in a way. It just felt real good to start with. 2014 is a year of a wolf."

Pariah's Child marked the return of wolf-themed songs, which were absent in Sonata Arctica's previous album, Stones Grow Her Name. Kakko said: "Wolf is just once again a metaphor, for instance, for fear and processing it in your life. Fear make people do things. Or actually denying the fact that you fear something."

Kakko explained regarding the album's title and artwork: "As always, it's pretty hard coming up with a name for the new baby. I tried to approach it from many angles; how this is our eighth album and how easy it would be to abuse that fact. All the symbolism of figure eight, eternity and so on. But that just did not feel right, as it's been done so many times. Then I started to think how we'd in ways abandoned our 'totem animal,' the wolf and all what comes with the territory."

"As the music on the album is bowing more towards the 'old' Sonata, meaning more power metal-style elements and wolves in many of the songs in one form or another, it was clear we need a wolf on the cover," he added. "An abandoned wolf. A pariah. Or pariah's child, actually. The new generation to bring the old logo back."

The song's music video was filmed in January 2014 at Sibelius House in Lahti, Finland and was produced by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with Lacuna Coil and In Flames amongst others.

Pariah's Child topped the album chart in Finland and also reached the Top 40 in various other European countries including Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria and Germany.

Creed - My Own Prison

Creed - My Own Prison Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: My Own Prison
Released: 1997

My Own Prison Lyrics

A court is in session, a verdict is in
No appeal on the docket today
Just my own sin
The walls are cold and pale
The cage made of steel
Screams fill the room
Alone I drop and kneel
Silence now the sound
My breath the only motion around
Demons cluttering around
My face showing no emotion
Shackled by my sentence
Expecting no return
Here there is no penance
My skin begins to burn

(And I said oh) So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) All held captive
Out from the sun
A sun that shines on only some
We the meek are all in one

I hear a thunder in the distance
See a vision of a cross
I feel the pain that was given
On that sad day of loss
A lion roars in the darkness
Only he holds the key
A light to free me from my burden
And grant me life eternally

Should have been dead
On a Sunday morning
Banging my head
No time for mourning
Ain't got no time

Should have been dead
On a Sunday morning
Banging my head
No time for mourning
Ain't got no time

(And I said oh) So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) All held captive
Out from the sun
A sun that shines on only some
We the meek are all in one

I cry out to God
Seeking only his decision
Gabriel stands and confirms
I've created My Own Prison
I cry out to God
Seeking only his decision
Gabriel stands and confirms
I've created my own prison

(And I said oh) So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) All held captive
Out from the sun
A sun that shines on only some
We the meek are all in one

(And I said oh) So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) We're held captive (I created)
Out from the sun (I created)
A sun that shines on only some (I created)
We the meek are all in one (I created my own prison)

Should've been dead on a Sunday morning
Banging my head
No time for mourning
Ain't got no time

Writer/s: MARK TREMONTI, SCOTT STAPP
Publisher: RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

My Own Prison

Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti wrote the music to this song, and lead singer Scott Stapp composed the lyrics, which are about his struggles with life at a time when he was questioning his faith. He realized he had created a prison within his own mind.

After Creed became wildly popular (and at the same time, reviled), Stapp created another kind of prison for himself with drug addiction, alcoholism, and a series of unflattering incidents the tabloids lapped up. In 2012, he was able to take an honest look at his life and re-evaluate his priorities, which he wrote about in his memoir Sinner's Creed. When we spoke with Stapp the following year , he explained, "Any time we have reconciliation in life, and any time there's balance brought back into life and perspective, at the end of those things, you find peace and joy and contentment, and that's where my life is today."

This was Creed's first single. It was a great example of the confessional songwriting that would become Stapp's hallmark. The singer says that expressing his deepest emotions and his vulnerabilities in his songs is cathartic for him.

The album was initially released on Blue Collar Records, a local label that distributed it around Florida, where the band formed. It sold well and got the attention of the BMG label Wind-Up Records, which signed Creed and issued a new version of the album remixed by producer Ron Saint-Germain.

Wind-Up pushed the band by distributing this song to radio stations as a promotional single and supporting it with their first video, which was directed by Stephen Scott. The combination of radio and MTV airplay set Creed on their path to success, and Wind-Up fulfilled demand by following up with three more promotional singles from the album: "Torn," "What's This Life For," and finally, "One."

None of these singles were sold in America, which drove up sales of the album at a time when $16 CDs were still commonplace. My Own Prison eventually sold over 6 million copies Stateside, a huge total that was nearly doubled by their next album, Human Clay.

Creed songs were in their happy place on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, where this song went to #2. Their early singles were ineligible for the Hot 100 because they weren't sold as singles, but "My Own Prison" managed to hit #54 on the Airplay chart in March 1998, nearly a year after the album was first issued.

By the time the album's last single, "One," was released, Billboard had changed their rule about Hot 100 eligibility, so that song made #70 on the chart in April 1999, just four months before the first single from Human Clay, "Higher," was issued. This kept a constant stream of Creed on the airwaves, resulting in a backlash as listeners eventually suffered Creed fatigue.

Agnetha Fältskog - Två Små Troll

Agnetha Fältskog - Två Små Troll Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Not Released On An Album
Released: 1956

Två Små Troll Lyrics

Två Små Troll

Music-loving Agnetha was raised in a working-class family that had no piano. However, a neighbor did. "One of the first things I did was write a song," said Agnetha. "Using one finger, I wrote Två Små Troll (Two Little Trolls). I was five years old." (Source ABBA The Official Photo Book )

Agnetha's father ran local amateur revues so she learned to get up on a stage early in life. The youngster sung in the revues some of the songs that she'd written herself, including this tune.

Joshua Kadison - Jessie

Joshua Kadison - Jessie Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Painted Desert Serenade
Released: 1993

Jessie Lyrics

From a phone booth in Vegas, Jessie calls at Five a. m.
to tell me how she's tired of all of them.
She says, "Baby, I've been thinking 'bout a trailer by the sea.
We could go to Mexico,you, the cat and me.
We'll drink tequila and look for seashells.
Now, doesn't that sound sweet?"

Jessie, paint your pictures 'bout how it's gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea.
Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.
Oh, Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.

She askes me how the cat's been.
I say, "Moses, he's just fine, but he used to think about you all the time.
We fin'ly took your pictures down off the wall.
Jessie, how do you always seem to know just when to call?"
She sings, "Get yourself together. Bring Mose and drive real fast."
And I listen to her promise. I swear to God this time it's gonna last.

Jessie, paint your pictures 'bout how it's gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea.
Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.
Oh, Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.
Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.

I love you in the sunshine, lay you down in the warm white sand.
And who knows, maybe this time things'll turn out just the way you planned.

Jessie, paint your pictures 'bout how it's gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about our little trailer by the sea.
Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.
Oh, Jessie, you can always sell any dream to me.


Writer/s: Kadison, Joshua
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Jessie

This was the first hit for Joshua Kadison, who made a mark on Adult Contemporary radio with this song and its follow-up "Beautiful In My Eyes." Kadison dated the actress Sarah Jessica Parker, of Sex And The City fame, and broke up with her before recording this song, leading to speculation that she is "Jessie." Kadison avoids the topic, but Parker has never been known to be called "Jessie" or own a cat named Moses. In 1997, she married actor Matthew Broderick.

Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke worked with Kadison on this track, which took three recording sessions to get right. The first attempt was with a live band in a big London studio, but it lacked the intimacy they were looking for. They tried again in Argent's studio, but again didn't get what they hoped for. Finally, Kadison sat down at an out-of-tune piano at Argent's home studio and recorded the vocals and piano take they decided to build the track around.

Jessie shows up again in the last song on the album, "Georgia Rain," which is a sequel to this song.

Alicia Keys - Zebras and Airplanes

Alicia Keys - Zebras and Airplanes Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Not Released On An Album
Released: 2014

Zebras and Airplanes Lyrics

Zebras and Airplanes

Alicia Keys shared this dreamlike song on her website, The Vault . She wrote the tune in the late 2000s but it had remained unreleased until she dropped it through her online treasure vault in February 2014.

Keys explained that the song was inspired by art. "I wrote it five years ago when I was in the studio recording The Element Of Freedom," she said. "I had never been overcome to write a song after seeing a painting before, but this one sent me to another place. I felt it!"

Rush - Fountain of Lamneth

Rush - Fountain of Lamneth Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Caress Of Steel
Released: 1976

Fountain of Lamneth Lyrics

I am born
I am me
I am new
I am free
Look at me
I am young
Sight unseen
Life unsung

My eyes have just been opened
And they're open very wide
Images around me
Don't identify inside
Just one blur I recognize
The one that soothes and feeds
My way of life is easy
And as simple are my needs

Yet my eyes are drawn toward
The mountain in the east
Fascinates and captivates
Gives my heart no peace
The mountain holds the sunrise
In the prison of the night
Till bursting forth from rocky chains
The valley floods with light

Living one long sunrise
For to me all things are new
I've never watched the sky grow pale
Or strolled through fields of dew
I do not know of dust to dust
I live from breath to breath
I live to climb that mountain to
The Fountain of Lamneth

Listen

Crying back to consciousness
The coldness grips my skin
The sky is pitching violently
Drawn by shrieking winds
Seaspray blurs my vision
Waves roll by so fast
Save my ship of freedom
I'm lashed helpless to the mast

Call out for direction
And there's no one there to steer
Shout out for salvation
But there's no one there to hear
Cry out supplication
For the maelstrom is near
Scream out desperation
But no one cares to hear

Remembering when first I held
The wheel in my own hands
I took the helm so eagerly
And sailed for distant lands
But now the sea's too heavy
And I just don't understand
Why must my crew desert me
When I need a guiding hand

The whiteness of confusion
Is unfolding from my mind
I stare around in wonder
Have I left my life behind

I catch the scent of ambergris
And turn my head, surprised
My gaze is caught and held
And I am helpless, mesmerized

Panacea, liquid grace
Oh let me touch your fragile face
Enchantment falls around me
And I know I cannot leave

Here's a meaning for my life
A shelter from the storm
Pacify my troubles with
Her body, soft and warm
Naked in our unity
A smile for every tear
Gentle hands that promise me
Comfort through the years
Yet I know I must be gone
Before the light of dawn

Panacea, passion pure
I can't resist your gentle lure
My heart will lie beside you
And my wandering body grieves

Another endless day
Silhouettes of grey
Another glass of wine
Drink with eyes that shine
To days without that chill at morning
Long nights time out of mind

Draw another goblet
From the cask of '43
Crimson misty memory
Hazy glimpse of me
Give me back my wonder, I've something more to give
I guess it doesn't matter
There's not much more to live

Another foggy dawn
The mountain almost gone
Another doubtful fear
The road is not so clear
My soul grows ever weary
And the end is ever near

Look, the mist is rising
And the sun is peaking through
See, the steps grow lighter
As I reach their final few
Hear, the dancing waters
I must be drawing near
Feel, my heart is pounding
With embattled hope and fear

Now, at last I fall before
The Fountain of Lamneth
I thought I would be singing
But I'm tired, out of breath
Many journeys end here
But, the secret's told the same
Life is just a candle
And a dream must give it flame

The key, the end, the answer
Stripped of their disguise
Still it's all confusion
And tears spring to my eyes
Though I've reached a signpost
It's really not the end
Like Old Sol behind the mountain
I'll be coming up again

I'm in motion
I am still
I am crying
I am still
I'm together
I'm apart
I'm forever
At the start

Still, I am

Writer/s: G. LEE, N. PEART
Publisher: OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Fountain of Lamneth

The song is divided into 6 parts:
I. In the Valley
II. Didacts and Narpets
III. No One At the Bridge
IV. Panacea
V. Bacchus Plateau
VI. The Fountain

Some lyric explanation:
"Ambergris" is a waxy substance from the intestines of the sperm whale, highly valued for making perfume with.
"Didacts and Narpets" possibly an anagram for "Addicts and Parents."
"Panacea" is a supposed cure for everything.
"Bacchus" was the Roman god of wine. The Greek equivalent is Dionysus.

In the October 1991 news release from the Rush Backstage Club, Neil Peart said: "Okay, I may have answered this before, but if not, the shouted words in that song represent an argument between Our Hero and the Didacts and Narpets - teachers and parents. I honestly can't remember what the actual words were, but they took up opposite positions like: "Work! Live! Earn! Give!" and like that." (thanks, Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington, for all above)

A didact would be a teacher, sharing a root with the word didactic, which is "inclined to teach" or "teaching moral lessons." It would fit with Narpets being Parents, though, seeing as how the major shaping influences in the life of a young person are the teachers and parents, with the two often being one and the same. (thanks, Steve - Farmington, NY)

D'banj - Bother You

D'banj - Bother You Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Half of a Yellow Sun
Released: 2014

Bother You Lyrics

Bother You

This love song was inspired by the love story in the Nigerian movie Half of a Yellow Sun and features in its soundtrack. The film tells the story of two sisters, Olanna and Kainene, during the Biafran war and the effects of the conflicts on their lives and the lives of everyone around them.

Producers of the film, Yewande Sadiku and Andrea Calderwood, said: "We were excited when D'Banj first sent us his new song 'Bother You,' telling us he had been inspired to write it after seeing Half of a Yellow Sun. It's been a few weeks since we first listened to the song, and we still find ourselves humming to it several times throughout the day."

The Wallflowers - One Headlight

The Wallflowers - One Headlight Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Bringing Down The Horse
Released: 1996

One Headlight Lyrics

So long ago, I don't remember when
That's when they say I lost my only friend
Well they said she died easy of a broken heart disease
As I listened through the cemetery trees

I seen the sun comin' up at the funeral at dawn
The long broken arm of human law
Now it always seemed such a waste, she always had a pretty face
So I wondered how she hung around this place

Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
But me & Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With One Headlight

She said it's cold
It feels like Independence Day
And I can't break away from this parade
But there's got to be an opening
Somewhere here in front of me
Through this maze of ugliness and greed
And I seen the sun up ahead at the county line bridge
Sayin' all there's good and nothingness is dead
We'll run until she's out of breath
She ran until there's nothin' left
She hit the end, it's just her window ledge

Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
But me & Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight

Well this place is old
It feels just like a beat up truck
I turn the engine, but the engine doesn't turn
Well it smells of cheap wine, cigarettes
This place is always such a mess
Sometimes I think I'd like to watch it burn
I'm so alone and I feel just like somebody else
Man, I ain't changed, but I know I ain't the same
But somewhere here in between the city walls of dyin' dreams
I think of death, it must be killin' me

Hey, hey hey come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
But me & Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight

Writer/s: DYLAN, JAKOB
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

One Headlight

Jakob Dylan: "I tend to write with a lot of metaphors and images, so people take them literally. The song's meaning is all in the first verse. It's about the death of ideas. The first verse says, 'The death of the long broken arm of human law.' At times, it seems like there should be a code among human beings that is about respect and appreciation. I wasn't feeling like there was much support outside the group putting together the record. In the chorus, it says, 'C'mon try a little.' I didn't need everything to get through, I could still get through - meaning 'one headlight." (thanks, Shirl - Bay Area, CA)

This song wasn't released as a single in America, so it was not eligible for the Hot 100 (Billboard changed this rule a few years later). It did, however, make #2 on the Airplay chart.

Hep Stars - No Response

Hep Stars - No Response Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: We and Our Cadillac
Released: 1965

No Response Lyrics

No Response

The Hep Stars was a Swedish rock group formed in 1963 in Stockholm. They are best known as a launching point for the keyboard player and composer Benny Andersson, who went on to enjoy worldwide success with ABBA.

Andersson started writing songs for Hep Stars after other Swedish bands that largely wrote their own material criticized them for using cover versions. This was the first song that he introduced to the group. Released as a single, it spent ten weeks in the Swedish Top Ten, a prelude to the massive success he was to enjoy with ABBA from the following decade.

This is the first song ever written by Benny Andersson; at the time he was keyboard player with a Swedish covers band the Hep Stars. As band member Svenne Hedlund explained in the December 2013 BBC documentary The Joy Of ABBA, at that time they kept receiving requests from fans to write their own material.

This rather short track - just over a minute and a half - was released on Olga Records and also the Dunhill label, and was published by Great Honesty Music. It was backed by "Rented Tuxedo." (thanks, Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2)

Whitney Houston - So Emotional

Whitney Houston - So Emotional Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Whitney
Released: 1987

So Emotional Lyrics

I've been hearing your heartbeat inside of me
I keep your photo right beside my bed
Livin' in a world of fantasies
I can't get you out of my head

I've been waiting for the phone to ring all night
Why you want to make me feel so good
I got a love of my own
Shouldn't get so hung up on you

I remember the way that we touched I wish I didn't like it so much
I get So Emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby

Ain't it shocking what love can do
Ain't it shocking what love can do

I gotta watch you walk in the room, baby
I gotta watch you walk out
I like the animal way you move
And when you talk I just watch your mouth

I remember the way that we touched I wish I didn't like it so much
I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby

Writer/s: STEINBERG, BILLY / KELLY, TOM
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

So Emotional

Houston was signed to Clive Davis' Arista Records. Davis is a legendary record executive known for his ability to develop artists. He plays a big part in deciding what songs his artists record, and they often become huge hits. Before signing Houston, he worked with Barry Manilow, Billy Joel, Chicago and many others. In 1999, he engineered Santana's comeback. He also nurtured the career of Alicia Keys, who he signed to his new label, J Records.

Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly wrote this song. They are a very successful songwriting team, and have written hits for Cyndi Lauper, The Pretenders, Heart, the Bangles, Madonna and The Divinyls. Says Steinberg, "A lot of songwriters get together and the first question they ask each other is, 'Who do you want to write for?' Tom and I had never done that because I find it restricting and we both like to write a song for the song's sake and not try to aim at a particular recording artist. In the case of 'So Emotional,' Tom and I had a regular dialogue with Clive Davis and he advised us that he was looking for an up tempo song for Whitney Houston, so we really tried to write for that."

Steinberg: "We were both big fans of Prince. If you were to hear the demo of 'So Emotional,' you would hear that it sounds quite a bit like Prince. We did the demo and Clive really loved it. When he presented it to Narada Michael Walden to produce it, he changed it completely from the sound of our demo. I don't think anyone would ever hear Whitney's version of the song and hear anything Prince-like about the production. Originally our demo had a certain Prince feel to it, in the verse in particular."

This was one of 7 consecutive singles Houston released that hit #1 in the US. No one else has done that. Says Steinberg: "At that point in time, Clive was just looking for great Pop material for Whitney. He didn't care where he got the songs from and she sang the hell out of them. Later in her career they became very self-conscious about who she was. They wanted to make her sound more urban and give her more urban cred, they would have avoided songs like 'So Emotional' or 'I Want to Dance With Somebody.' In a way it's a shame because Whitney really delivered those songs and she delivered ballads very well like 'I Will Always Love You.' She could sing anything, but there was pressure to show that she could sing the Hip Hop with the best of them. There's a long history in the world of Pop singers like the Drifters. The Drifters sang these great Pop songs like 'Up On The Roof,' 'There Goes My Baby,' 'Under the Boardwalk' or 'On Broadway' - those were great Drifters songs. The idea of a great black singer singing a great Pop song yet bringing something extra to it that a white singer couldn't provide, that's a great thing in music and I think that's what was going on with the early Whitney career. The same thing happened with Deborah Cox, an unbelievably gifted singer. She was also signed to Clive Davis at Arista and she's a very beautiful, very elegant woman from Montreal. I did some work with her and they had that same concern with her. They didn't want to make her sound like a Pop singer, they had to hunt for some kind of urban credibility for her. I think some singers just sing the Pop really well and it's a shame that they just can't sing it. I think Clive recognized that Whitney singing big Pop ballads wouldn't get on the big Pop charts, that it would only be successful on Adult Contemporary, and Clive's never satisfied with just getting on Adult Contemporary. He's a visionary and he realized for her to have continuing credibility, it would have to move beyond that, and where would that be? Well, it's the era of Hip Hop, so that's the direction they had to pursue. If anything, it was unfortunate as a songwriter because it takes that artist away from me. The kind of songs that I can deliver weren't wanted any more by Whitney Houston."

Steinberg: "I think the great thing about that song is the pre-chorus and the chorus are just extremely well written melodically and lyrically in terms of being a great Pop song. It's the lyric, 'I remember the way that we touched I wish I didn't like it so much. I get so emotional every time I think of you. I get so emotional ain't it's shocking what love can do,' it just really soars, it's a successful Pop song. I don't think it's as revolutionary a song as 'Like A Virgin' or as meaningful a song as 'True Colors,' but it's a strong Pop song." (Check out our interview with Billy Steinberg.)

The Irish Brigade - Roll of Honour

The Irish Brigade - Roll of Honour Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Single Release Only
Released: 2014

Roll of Honour Lyrics

Roll of Honour

This provocative Irish Republican ballad was written by Gerry O'Glacain to commemorate the Ten IRA and INLA members who died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike in Northern Ireland. The song expresses anti-establishment anger through lyrics which brand England "a monster," and lauds each of the hunger strikers in the order that they passed away.

The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act was enacted in 2012 to clamp down on the more unpleasant singing and chanting which takes place amongst certain sections of Scottish football crowds. The Irish Brigade, an overtly Political Northern Irish group that are very popular in the Celtic part of Glasgow, were asked by the Scottish supporters group Fans Against Criminalisation to record the song in order to highlight opposition to the legislation. Their rendition of the tune was propelled into UK Top 40 by campaigning fans.

Roy Orbison - I Drove All Night

Roy Orbison - I Drove All Night Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: King Of Hearts
Released: 1992

I Drove All Night Lyrics

I had to escape , the city was sticky and cruel
Maybe I should have called you first
But I was dying to get to you

I was dreaming while I drove
The long straight road ahead
Uh-huh, yeah

Could taste your sweet kisses, your arms open wide
This fever for you was just burning me up inside

I Drove All Night to get to you
Is that all right?
I drove all night, crept in your room
Woke you from your sleep to make love to you
Is that all right?
I drove all night

What in this world keeps us from falling apart?
No matter where I go
I hear the beating of our one heart
I think about you when the night is cold and dark
Uh-huh, yeah

No one can move me the way that you do
Nothing erases this feeling between me and you
I drove all night to get to you
Is that all right?

I drove all night, crept in your room
Woke you from your sleep to make love to you
Is that all right?
I drove all night

Could taste your sweet kisses, your arms open wide
This fever for you was just burning me up inside

I drove all night to get to you
Is that all right?
I drove all night, crept in your room
Is that all right?
I drove all night

Writer/s: STEINBERG, BILLY / KELLY, TOM
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

I Drove All Night

Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg wrote this. They have written many hit songs, including "Like A Virgin," "Eternal Flame" and "True Colors." Many of their songs start with a lyric or title Steinberg comes up with. He was living in the Coachella Valley in California and did a lot of driving back and forth between Los Angeles and the desert. He came up with the title on one of those drives.

Steinberg: "Tom and I were huge Roy Orbison fans. Tom grew up in Indiana and I grew up in Palm Springs, California and we really are as different as night and day as people, but the one thing that we have always shared in common is that we always liked the same music when we were kids. We both loved the Everly Brothers, Laura Nyro and Roy Orbison. We had, like most songwriters do, certain artists who inspired us and would inspire our songwriting, and one of those was Roy Orbison. When we wrote the song 'I Drove All Night,' we didn't entertain any fantasy about Roy ever recording this song. We just set out to write a song sort of in the style of Roy Orbison. In fact, what I would refer to as the B section of that song, the British would call it a pre-chorus, when it goes, 'Taste your sweet kisses your arms open wide,' that part that lifts into the chorus, it has a definite similarity to the Roy Orbison song 'Running Scared.' We had great fun writing that song because it felt like it authentically captured the spirit of the drama that Roy Orbison would inject into the great songs that he wrote, songs like 'Running Scared', 'Crying' or 'In Dreams.'"

The first person Steinberg and Kelly offered this to was Peter Kingsbery, a singer from Texas who was in the band Cock Robin. Says Steinberg, "We heard Cock Robin play live and this guy Peter Kingsbery had this great voice very much like Roy Orbison - it's a powerful voice. We thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if he would sing I Drove All Night, so we invited him over to Tom's house where we had a studio. Peter was a good guy, a little bit arrogant. He heard the song and he liked it, but he said, 'Well, I'm a songwriter myself. Why would I record one of your songs?' it was a nice meeting, but he didn't have any interest in recording our song."

On February 9, 1987, Steinberg and Kelly saw Orbison perform at a supper club in Lakewood, California called The Hop. Says Steinberg, "When we walked in, the place was jammed and most of the people there were middle-aged women. At that time Roy hadn't had a record on the charts in many years. He did not have a recording contract. Roy hadn't been heard from in a long time. The band went up on stage, Roy was not in sight and there were a couple of background singers. The band starts playing and the girls start singing the intro to 'Only the Lonely.' I sort of braced myself. I said to myself, 'His vocals on his records are so otherworldly and so unbelievable that there's no way the guy's going to walk in this club and sing those songs like he did on those records.' Roy Orbison walks out and he sang 'Only the Lonely' and he sang all his hits and if it's possible he sang them better than he did on his records. It was just unbelievable. It was one of the great moments in my life, just to be there in this small club and hear Roy sing one hit after another. When the show was over, Tom and I wandered outside and there was his trailer. Of course, we were hoping to meet Roy. We didn't, but we met somebody who I guess was Roy's manager at the time. We mentioned we had written a few hits and were Roy Orbison fans. Not much came out of that, then for some reason I went into a studio called Record One in Sherman Oaks and Roy Orbison was in there recording. I went up to him and said, 'A few months ago Tom and I heard you play at this club and you were so good.' We kind of connected and somehow we arranged that he would come by Tom's house and do some work with us and that maybe we would write together. We had already written 'I Drove All Night.' We had a demo of it with Tom singing it. Tom and I walked out and were standing out in the street. We looked down the street and we saw in the distance a red Ferrari convertible coming up the street and we both knew that had to be Roy Orbison. He was driving slowly like someone would who was looking for a street number. As the car pulled up, we saw a guy with big black sunglasses, black hair, and there on a residential street in Woodland Hills was Roy Orbison getting out of his red Ferrari to work with Tom and me. Working with Chrissie Hynde, the Bangles or The Divinyls is one thing because those are people of my generation, but Roy had been a childhood idol. Roy was somebody whose songs just changed my life when I was a kid, so to have him standing there as a peer, someone I was going to work with, my knees wanted to buckle. We walked into Tom's house and there was the idea that we could write something together and he just didn't seem to really want to start writing a song, so rather than write something we said, 'Well, we've got a song that we think you could sing really well,' and we played him 'I Drove All Night.' He said he liked it. Tom played either piano or guitar and taught him the song. Roy stepped up to the microphone. We all had headphones on and Roy sang two takes of the song. Tom and I had written into that song a section that goes, 'Uh-huh, yeah,' and when Tom sang it on our demo we would laugh because Tom was blatantly trying to sound like Roy, and then when Roy did it, it was a moment that was just unbelievable because Roy did it like it was supposed to be done. Roy did those two takes of the song and I gave him some song lyrics. He took them with him with the idea that he might write something to them or that we could work on something in the future. So we had this demo of Roy Orbison singing 'I Drove All Night,' but Roy didn't have a recording contract at the time and Tom and I didn't have the wherewithal to do anything with Roy Orbison's version of the song. We couldn't sign him to a recording contract or promote him or anything at that point in time. We didn't know what to do with it. By that time 'True Colors' had been a big hit for Cyndi Lauper and she had expressed an interest in meeting us and in writing with us, so Tom and I flew to New York and we took with us the demo of 'I Drove All Night' sung by Tom because we figured that she could sing it well. We wrote a couple of songs with Cyndi and we presented this song 'I Drove All Night' to her and she liked it and immediately went about recording it. Tom and I even participated in demonstrating the song to a couple of musicians that she worked with. She recorded it and it came out on her record called A Night to Remember (1989)."

Later in 1987, Roy Orbison got a recording contract with Virgin Records. Working with Jeff Lynne, he recorded the successful comeback album Mystery Girl, which contained the hit 'You Got It.' He also joined The Traveling Wilburys with Lynne, Tom Petty, George Harrison and Bob Dylan. Sadly, Orbison died of a heart attack on December 7, 1988. Says Steinberg:
"From afar we sort of watched Roy's career come back. We were pleased for him but we didn't participate because all the great admirers of Roy had started to come out of the woodwork. People like Jeff Lynne, Bruce Springsteen and Bono. He didn't exactly need Steinberg/Kelly when he had people of that caliber wanting to work with him. Roy died and a number of years went by. Tom and I took our demo of 'I Drove All Night' to Jordan Harris, who was an A&R guy at Virgin. We got to know Jordan because we worked with The Divinyls, who were signed to Virgin. We said to Jordan, 'Did you know Roy did a version of I Drove All Night early on?' And he said, 'No, I had no idea.' We played it for him and he said, 'We want to make a record of the remaining masters that we have on Roy. We'd love to use that.' Our demo had been a very rough 16 Track affair. We gave it to Jeff Lynne and Jeff rebuilt the track around the vocal that we had cut on Roy. That was very satisfying for us." (Check out our interview with Billy Steinberg.)

Cyndi Lauper's version hit #6 in the US and #7 in the UK. It was her last hit in the US.

In 2003, Chrysler signed Celine Dion to a $14 million deal to endorse their cars. They were looking for a song to use in the campaign and release as a single. Steinberg knew Celine Dion and had written "Falling Into You," which was the title track of her 1996 album. He sent a copy of Roy Orbison's version of "I Drove All Night" to her record company, who loved it and had Dion record it with Swedish producer Peer Astrom. She used the song in her Las Vegas show and it became the centerpiece of the Chrysler campaign. The commercials were great exposure for the song and helped sell a lot of albums, but they didn't sell enough cars. Chrysler pulled out of the deal after many of their dealers complained and it became clear the ads weren't working.