music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Like a Rock" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Seger. The single peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks.[1]

"Like a Rock"
Single by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
from the album Like a Rock
B-side	"Livin' Inside My Heart" "Katmandu" (live version)
Released	May 1986
Recorded	1985–1986
Genre	Heartland rock, country rock
Length	4:36 (DJ 45 version) 5:56 (single and album version)
Label	Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Bob Seger
Producer(s)	Punch Andrews, David N. Cole, Bob Seger
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band singles chronology
"American Storm" (1986) "Like a Rock" (1986) "It's You" (1986)
Music video
"Like a Rock" on YouTube

Background and writing

Seger told the New York Times that the song "was inspired partly by the end of a relationship that had lasted for 11 years. You wonder where all that time went. But beyond that, it expresses my feeling that the best years of your life are in your late teens when you have no special commitments and no career. It's your last blast of fun before heading into the cruel world."[2]

Reception

Cash Box called it an "emotional ballad of perseverence and commitment."[3] Billboard called it a "slow-paced, rough-edged ballad [that] mourns the certainties of youth."[4]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Like a Rock.[5]

• Bob Seger – lead vocals

The Silver Bullet Band

• Chris Campbell – bass
• Craig Frost – organ

Additional musicians

• Dawayne Bailey – acoustic guitar
• Douglas Kibble – background vocals
• Russ Kunkel – drums
• Bill Payne – piano
• Rick Vito – slide guitar
• The Weather Girls (Izora Armstead and Martha Wash) – background vocals

Chart performance

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Top Singles	33
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	5
US Billboard Hot 100[1]	12
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[1]	21
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[1]	1

In media

The song was parodied as "Tastes Like Liberty" for Krusty Burger's Ribwich in The Simpsons episode "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can". The song was also featured in the 2005 film The Weather Man, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine.

This song's greatest exposure was in Chevrolet truck television advertisements from 1991 until 2004,[6] for their massively successful "Like a Rock" campaign, which was also one of their longest-running ad campaigns. The song helped sell millions of trucks over the years and is still widely associated with Chevrolet today.

"Livin' Inside My Heart"

The b-side of some versions of the "Like a Rock" single was "Livin' Inside My Heart." Seger said of "Livin' Inside My Heart:

I wanted so bad to put "Living Inside My Heart" on my Greatest Hits, Volume 2 record and I fought and fought and fought. My manager said: “No, that’s a movie song.” I said: “No, I want it on there.” It’s beautiful. I was so bummed when they wouldn’t let me put it on there. I was actually working on my new album and let that one slide, and I wished I had worked harder on that Greatest Hits, Volume 2 package because there were other songs that I really wanted on there.[7]

See also

• List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)

References

External links

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