On a warm spring night in 1978, I was riding through Jackson, Mississippi, in a Ford Econoline van, on my first road trip as a St. Louis University baseball player. I may have been the only player awake, aside from the driver. I was in a contemplative mood when a song came on the radio, a song that hit me in the gut.
Tonight I Feel So Far Away from Home had fairly simple lyrics, very simple chords, very little production--but a whole lot of truth--all the elements of a great song performed by a great singer-songwriter.
It turned out the radio was broadcasting a 30-minute feature on Steve Forbert who was described as the "next Bob Dylan." (Of course, that had been Bruce Springsteen's title only a few years previous.) The Dylan comparisons were easy to make--Forbert came through the folk tradition, playing acoustic guitar and harmonica. His lyrics ranged from simple to profound, sometimes covering this whole spectrum in one or two lines.
Forbert grew up in Meridian, Mississippi, and he started playing guitar at age 10. As a young adult, he worked as a truck driver and played local clubs. Frustrated with where his life was headed, he took off for New York and began playing for free at Grand Central Station. Gradually, he earned some gigs at local folk clubs and eventually opened for the Talking Heads at the famous CBGB club. He signed a recording contract with a division of CBS records.
His first album, Alive on Arrival, did fairly well. The songs described his experiences of moving to New York. One of my all-time favorite lines is from his song, Big City Cat, where he sings: "I'm getting so skinny, it hurts to sit down."
Forbert's next album included his most commercially successful song, Romeo's Tune, which reached number 11 on the Billboard Top 40. (More recently, Keith Urban covered this tune.)
He continued to write and record great songs, but as the 80s progressed, the interest in singer-songwriters began to diminish. Forbert eventually lost his recording contract, but he never quit performing.
In 1985, I was doing my psychology internship in Philadelphia and saw him perform live. I loved his energy and humor. He clearly enjoyed what he was doing. In the late 80's, I was pleasantly surprised to see him come onstage to open for Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians in St. Louis. He has never seemed intent on large commercial success and he continues to perform at small and medium size venues.
Click the video below to hear him perform Going Down to Laurel. This performance is from 2007, nearly 30 years after his first album was released.
Here are some samples of his lyrics:
I been livin' an' breathin' in the rat trap town
Tryna get over where the wall breaks down
Holdin' my head up with my thin tired arms
And all my rainbow dreams. --Steve Forbert's Midsummer Night's Toast
There's so many depressions plowed in your brain, trace 'em too far and they'll drive you insane...You're twisted so tight now you hardly can talk, get out in the daylight and go for a walk.--Thinkin'
If I seem a little crazy, well it's just because I am...But that ain't no call to talk behind my back...Sometimes I go derailin' when it's chaos in my mind...But all in all my wheels are mostly on the track.--Settle Down
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