As Don Krider points out elsewhere on this blog, "Nowhere to Hide" was one of the titles Eric Carmen considered for his Boats Against the Current album back during its writing and production stages. At least that's what the music press was reporting at the time. Certainly "Nowhere to Hide" captures the mood of much of the album as effectively as "Boats Against the Current" does: it's despondent and depressing with a hint of desperation but also has an ever-so-subtle ray of hope, as some (including me) can hear in "Boats."
In June 2007, Eric himself wrote a couple of posts at EricCarmen.com in which he shared some insight about the creation of "Nowhere to Hide." Personally, I had never heard or read the tidbits he posted, so it was a revelation to get the "inside info" straight from the horse's mouth (er, keyboard). As such, it belongs on this blog, so, here goes. In the words of Eric Carmen:
"'Nowhere To Hide' was a bear to write. I painted myself into a corner with the very syncopated melody, which I then had to find words to fit....
"One night, after trying in vain to find the perfect couple of lines for the better part of a week, I got into my car to just go for a drive and 'air out my head.' It was a warm, late-summer night at about 4 a.m., and there wasn't a car on the road. I drove down Lakeshore Boulevard for a while, and then I turned around and started back.
"Just before I reached my apartment, a solitary sheet of newspaper blew slowly across the road, from one side to the other, the way tumbleweeds do in the desert. No sound, no movement --- just that newspaper in a kind of slow motion, tumbling on the summer breeze. I felt a sense of intense loneliness come over me, and in my head I heard the lines, 'I've been floatin' 'round like an old newspaper, blowin down some windy street, feelin so alone and incomplete....'
"I labored over every word of that song. It was grueling. But I think it's one of my finest songs (and one of my very best bridges!)."
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5 comments:
Great post, Larry!
I had never heard that Eric had considered calling the album "Nowhere to hide" - but when you think about it, it does have more meaning than "Boats against the Current" does.
For EC, writing the album, and the horror he went through having to record and produce it, was rough. In the end, it was all him - the writing, singing, producing... even the album cover. Everything on this album was him. So, it would only make sense that what was a grueling song to write - as well as the fact that he literally couldn't hide behind someone else if the album failed - would be the title of the album. I don't know if it would have sold any more albums than being titled "Boats against the current" - both are titles that don't tell you much about the content.
I vaguely recall having read somewhere that Eric was considering calling his new album Nowhere to Hide or that it would be called by that name. Maybe in an issue of Scene Magazine. Interesting.
The blown newspaper story...oh, great. First I find out that with absolutely no idea of the situation at all, I'm actually LIVING in Eric's old apartment complex, in which he wrote so many of the Raspberries' best songs; then I find out that he was STILL living here when he wrote the stuff from his first solo album; THEN I find out he was STILL living here when he was writing BOATS? And that the newspaper he saw blowing across the street was blowing across Lakeshore Boulevard right as he was driving back here after having gone out to clear his head?
You know, I was planning on moving out of this place because it's not exactly up to the standards it was when Eric lived here (although the new management has been improving things somewhat)...but reading stories like this is making it much, MUCH harder.
In reading the quote of Eric's description of grueling over each lyric of the song, and his opinion of the bridge as one of his best, I simply have to agree...the work and striving is apparent, and the bridge exquisite, not only in terms of its melody, but in terms of the lyric. Very strong reaching.
Tryin' to remember how it used to be when a kiss was something special and I wonder now will it ever be again?
The song struck chords in me as soon as I heard it, and it has always been one of my favorites on the album. I think of it from time to time because it just feels so warm. To relate to it, and to hear the calm song, is an interesting combination. "Calm" is probably not something I've actually thought of it, but compared to "Marathon Man" it is like having a 60 minute massage.
Just a random act of nature on a piece of newspaper...That's what it took to put the words in Eric's mind that perfectly describe a feeling that too many know...helpless loneliness...That's a stunning insight for those who might believe it all comes down in order on a piece of paper in an office somewhere...Song pieces are everywhere...waiting to be noticed...waiting to be captured.
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