For My Sunday Song #271, we are going to do a 10 Song Set on Rick Springfield. There will be handful of old favorites, but most are going to be stuff you might be surprised by as he has been going strong for 40 years and his stuff after 2000 has been something. First up is “Wasted” from my favorite Springfield album called ‘Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance’ which came out on February 24, 2004 and it is freaking brilliant. This is one of my favorite tracks from the album. The song is not a single and the album did go to #8 on the Independent Charts, but the album went relatively unnoticed which is a crying shame.
The song is about a girl who is nothing but trouble. He felt that she could be the one to save him, but she was more interested in making every boy her boyfriend. She was pretty crazy and wild and liked to take a lot polaroids. He knows he needs to let her go as she is too much trouble but he is drawn to her and that wild side and passion. Will he ever learn and move on or keep chasing the flame? We don’t know. But the song seems to fit on the Acceptance part of the album. He has accepted the fact she is what she is and will never fully have her. Or is he in Denial? The whole album has songs that will fit one of those categories or multiple categories which is the beauty of this album.
There is one part in the lyrics that I find a little disturbing. Apparently the girl lost Rick’s toe ring…yes…you read that right…toe ring. Who the hell wears a toe ring? Do guys really do this? I didn’t know that was something. But for some reason it still works in the context of the song.
Musically, the song is a major rocker. It sounds very modern in its style and borders on metal at times as it goes back and forth between soft in the verses and heavy during the chorus. It is very dark in keeping with the lyrics and Rick sings with a passion and intensity that brings the lyrics to life and makes you feel his turmoil. The song, like the album, sees Rick stretch his wings and really push the boundaries of what you would expect a Springfield song/album to be like. This is a totally unexpected and amazing surprise.
Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. I hope you get out of it what I have and maybe makes you give the album a listen. You won’t be disappointed and I think you’ll be shocked at the type of album he put out. Totally unexpected and the best in his catalog…IMO!! Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy Sunday!!
“Wasted”
Her eyes are blue and her skin so white
her emails read just like a porno site
she wears her tank top way too tight
yeah, she knows it.
If she could lose her polaroids from that weekend
if she’d quit tryin’ to make every boy her boyfriend
man, I think she could be president.
But it’s wasted. And just like me you erased it. (oh no)
[CHORUS:]
You had the power to save my soul
I had the power to make you whole
We had the power and we had control, but we blew it.
The s— you pulled goes ’round my head
I still see your face in every face in my bed
Tell me, was it something I said?
At the lake you lost my pretty toe ring
but in the grand scheme it doesn’t really mean a thing;
you just spread your wings and you forget about it.
But, it’s wasted. Like so many things, you erased it. (oh no)
[CHORUS:]
You had the power to defy my soul
I had the power to make you whole
We had the power and we had control, but we blew it
You had the power to save my soul
I had the power to make you whole
We had the power and we had control, but we blew it
You always call me when I’m at home
I try my best to drop the phone
but I’m drawn to you like a dog to a bone
And it’s wasted.
Written by Rick Springfield
2 Loud 2 Old Music 
A lot different form Jessie’s Girl.
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Ha! No, only the one Jessie’s Girl and it will be last…of course.
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Of course!
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Whoa. Did not see this one coming as I thought it might be 10 weeks of different takes of Jessie’s Girl! lol
Not a bad track really. Nice driving drums to keep the tune moving.
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Ha! Only 1 week of Jessie’s Girl so don’t you worry.
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KINDA SHIT THE NEW SLAUGHTER/JOHNNY STORM (who is this sucker) ALBUM !!!!!!!!! You make me like this song “wasted” so I search it in spotify to add it in one of my playlist and it isn’t here so I’m a little bit furious !
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This album of Rick is very hard to find. I have it on CD, but good luck finding it. And I don’t know this new slaughter/johnny storm thing.
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RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE !!!!!!!!!!!
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RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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It sounds like drake doing frank sinatra music and we don’t listen Mark slaughter because he seems to don’t singing
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wait maybe it’s another “slaughter” who appears in “slaughter” spotify’s profile ? oh I’m sorry for saying fake things .
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That is hilarious!!! LOL!!
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yes it’s another slaughter, I’m so sorry
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Too funny!!
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Springfield!! I remember seeing Hard to hold in movie theatre back in the day…let’s not go there.
On albums I have 5 pack of original album classics and rocket science, stripped down, best of and snake king. All good.
Looks like I’m missing a bunch.
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Yes, and hopefully this will introduce you to some you don’t know yet. I think he is very underrated especially a lot of his stuff since 2000. Some real gems in there.
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Hard to hold, Grease 2, Footloose as a teen those really hit home. Original Grease wins them all though. Have u seen any of these?
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Sadly, I’ve seen all of them. Footloose and original Grease are the best!!
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I think I’ve even seen the re-make of Footloose. Have no memory other than a feeling that there is such a movie and I’ve seen it.
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Yeah, I’ve definitely never heard it. I thought it was pretty good, it could lead me to snagging the CD if I see it laying around somewhere. A lot of good rock got lost in the water in the early 00’s.
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Good luck finding this album. It is really hard to find out in the wild. I think I have another song from this album lined up for later in the series.
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I think I only knew his signature song (which my colleague Jesse refers to as ‘the bane of his existence’ though I quite like it!) – so I’m looking forward to this series.
And speaking of things I’m learning about, toe rings!
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I bet it was horrible growing up with the name Jesse. And yeah, toe rings…who knew!!
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Rick’s got a lot of good songs out there. I like this one too. I have a suggestion. Review the sequel to Jessie’s Girl, Jessie’s Girl 2 by Coheed and Cambria. Rick adds some vocals, and appears in the video. I can’t believe the man is in his 70’s! He looks great in the video. It’s certainly not your typical Coheed tune.
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I will check out the Coheed song, I hadn’t heard it.
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Surprise choice.
Who knew he kept on writing during this period?
The track is on par with the tunes that Jovi and Def Lep were releasing at the time circa 04.
It pisses me off because his streaming discography has a lot of gaps and this album is one of em that is missing. But YT has everything. Work it out.
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There are a ton of holes with his catalog. Which is why I just bought the S/D/A/A album. I figured it was easier that way. I uploaded and now I can stream it through Apple Music.
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A good, hard-rocking song. Sadly, Rick S. is one of those artists who don’t get the credit they deserve, so it’s great you’ll be showcasing his songs over the next 10 weeks.
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Thanks Jeff. It was time to put him in the spotlight.
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I completely agree with him not getting due credit. I remember seeing him in the Sound City documentary. From what I could tell, the man worked hard, paid his dues, until he wrote Working Class Dog.
I recently found out on his Sirius show that he’s Australian. I had no idea!
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Yeah, he’s from Down Under. I think he lived a long time in the States so the accent isn’t really there much.
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