Boston’s “More than a Feeling” was about how music can take you back to people or places from the past, so it’s not surprising that hearing the song today does just that for me – back to 1976 when the band exploded into public consciousness with a self-titled album that became the fastest- and best-selling debut LP in US history.
To this day it has only been surpassed by Guns N’ Roses “Appetite for Destruction” in 1987.
Indeed, the entire side 1 of the album (including “Foreplay/Long Time” and “Peace of Mind”) were major hits, and side 2 was arguably even better. All eight songs on the album – a collection of guitar-inspired, hook-laden power pop delivered by the clear, soaring vocals of the late great Brad Delp – have become classic rock staples.
After that debut, mastermind Tom Scholz’s follow-up albums were less frequent, famously causing endless record company battles and lawsuits, which perhaps contributed to failing to match the inaugural effort (though in couple of cases still reaching No. 1). But then, like contemporaries Meatloaf (‘Bat Out of Hell’) and The Cars (self-titled), really, how could they ever reach a bar set so high?
Still today, when I think of Boston, I sometimes just turn on that album to start my day, and lose myself in a familiar song; I close my I eyes and I slip away.
Lyrics
I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away
It’s more than a feeling (more than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
And I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
Till I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin’ away
So many people have come and gone
Their faces fade as the years go by
Yet I still recall as I wander on
As clear as the sun in the summer sky
It’s more than a feeling (more than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
And I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
Till I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin’ away
When I’m tired and thinking cold
I hide in my music, forget the day
And dream of a girl I used to know
I closed my eyes and she slipped away
She slipped away
It’s more than a feeling (more than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
And I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
Till I see Marianne walk away
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