In 1977, a legendary songwriting duo’s first song together began with a new city and a musician trying to find his place.
Released after “Feels Like the First Time” and “Cold as Ice,” Foreigner’s “Long, Long Way From Home” was one of three hit singles from the band’s self-titled debut album, reaching No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. But it was by far the most personal.
Featuring melodic guitars, a saxophone riff, and powerful lyrics about leaving a small town for the Big Apple, the song delivered a perfect mix of hard rock and catchy hooks that would define the band’s sound. It also marked the first song co-written by legendary songwriting duo Mick Jones and Lou Gramm, with Ian McDonald also credited on the track.
In an interview with Classic Rock Revisited, Gramm confirmed, [‘Long, Long Way from Home’] is the very first song that Mick and I wrote together. They are very autobiographical lyrics.“
“I really left the small town for the ‘Apple in decay,’” the singer explained. “When I first went to New York for my audition, and when I started writing with Mick, there was a garbage strike, and no garbage had been picked up for three weeks. The whole city stunk to high heaven. It was unbelievable. When the strike was over, they ended up having huge barges filled with garbage going down the Hudson.”
Gramm once revealed that the song was written in the span of a couple of hours.
‘[Jones] had a drum machine and a keyboard and a small amplifier,” he recalled in a video interview, adding that his bandmate began to play a few ideas he had.
“[He said], ‘If you hear one that you really like and you want to work on, stop me’,” Gramm shared. “So I heard a little bit of the music for ‘Long, Long Way From Home.’ So we worked on it for another two hours, and before I went home we had that song written.”
Jones noted that the song really "reflected" what was going on with the newly formed band, which also included drummer Dennis Elliott, bassist Ed Gagliardi, and keyboardist Al Greenwood.
“This was the first song I wrote with Lou Gramm,” he said in a video posted on Foreigner’s official YouTube page. “And it really sort of reflected the story of here we are like three foreigners, three Americans and like I'm the only one that lives in New York City.”
“Everybody else had come to New York City to join this band, you know,” he added. “There were a lot of misgivings in those years, and in the late ‘70s New York was quite a jungle... so this little edge in the air about, you know, looking over your shoulder kind of thing as you walk down the street after dark, and just the excitement about being part of this new adventure with the band, and some of us missing home more than others. And it was difficult for the guys that have come down from out of town, you know, because suddenly being living in the country and thrust into the heart of New York and right on Broadway as well, studio-wise. So you couldn't get much more neon than that.”
RELATED: 1976 Rock Rebellion Anthem Was Written in 20 Minutes
Gramm and Jones would go on to write a long list of massive hits including “Hot Blooded,” “Head Games,” “Juke Box Hero” and “Waiting for a Girl Like You.”
Gramm told Rock Cellar magazine his writing partnership with Jones worked because they each had a lane.
“I think Mick is one of the best riff rock writers in this business. I would sit listening to cassette tapes of one idea of his after the other,” he shared. “After repeated listening to his ideas, I‘d pick one that had stuck in my mind, and I would start working on a lyric and a melody. …He’d have the riff, and I’d have the basic idea for the melody or maybe a lyric, and together we would work from there.”
More than 40 years after that first songwriting session, “Long, Long Way From Home” remains an enduring classic—the song that opened the door for decades of Foreigner’s rock hits.
Related: ‘70s Teen Model Reveals the Real Story Behind Her Controversial Foreigner Album Cover
Hence then, the article about 1977 foreigner classic rock hit written in two hours featured lyrics pulled from real life was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 1977 Foreigner Classic Rock Hit, Written in Two Hours, Featured Lyrics Pulled From Real Life )
Also on site :
- This OK Go Music Video Broke the Internet in 2006—Nearly 20 Years Later, That Treadmill Routine Still Stops You in Your Tracks
- Prime Video’s ‘Ride Or Die’ To Be Submitted As Comedy With Stars Hannah Waddingham & Octavia Spencer In Lead Actress Consideration For TV Awards
- Clarkson’s Farm star Lisa Hogan reveals she doesn’t get free Amazon Prime subscription: ‘I share my son’s’