For My Sunday Song #272, we are discussing “One Passenger” by Rick Springfield off his 2008 album ‘Venus in Overdrive”. The album peaked at #28 on the Billboard Charts, but the song was never a single. It is however, a favorite of mine on the album. Thanks to ‘Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance’, I was really in to his music again and was excited when this came out. Although not quite as good as ‘SDAA’, it was still an exceptional album and this song helped.
What I love about the song is that is sort of a conversation with God…or whatever your definition of God is. Through the lyrics he is showing his disillusionment with life in general and asking God as to why? Why are we here and what is the meaning of all that we go through. When you listen to it, you feel his loneliness in the world, his regret, his heartache and understand why he is questioning his existence. It is quite lovely and heartbreaking at the same time when you sit and listen.
Musically, it seems pretty simple. It is not a rocker, but does pick up the pace during the chorus. It is a pop song through and through with a driving beat and there is a nice bass groove that keeps the song moving. Rick sings it in a very calm demeanor which I think hints at a tremendous sadness without sounding too morose. There is a dichotomy in the music which is a little more upbeat then the lyrics would make you believe and I always find that mix very intriguing and probably why I’m drawn to it.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 