For My Sunday Song #106, I bring you “Renegade” by the band Styx.  The song was released in 1978 off the album ‘Pieces of Eight’.  It did pretty well on the charts and reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The song for me is much better than that.

The song is about an outlaw (or renegade) who has been arrested for his crimes and is about to be hanged for those said crimes according to the lyrics…”Hangman is comin’ down from the gallows and I don’t have very long”.  The lyrics are basically a letter to the renegades mom telling her that he has been caught and is going to die.

There is a dark, ominous feel to the song especially in the opening verse which is just Tommy’s vocals and small kick drum in the first two lines and then a chorus of voices for the next two.  It is so eerie that it is wonderful.  And don’t forget the scream that kicks the song into overdrive. And damn, that opening line is so impactful…”Oh, Mama, I’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law”.

What is also great about this song is the music.  Whether it is the guitar solo by James “JY” Young, the keyboards by Dennis DeYoung or John Panozzo’s drumming or a combination of all three, it just works.  Normally when Tommy write’s a song, he does the guitar solo, but he let JY do it instead and I think that was a good choice so he could focus on the vocal delivery.

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think.  I hope you have a Happy Sunday!!