Still the Same (Bob Seger song)

Last updated
"Still the Same"
StilltheSame.jpg
Single by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
from the album Stranger in Town
B-side "Feel Like a Number"
ReleasedApril 1978
Genre Soft rock [1]
Length3:18
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s) Bob Seger
Producer(s) Bob Seger, Punch Andrews
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band singles chronology
"Rock and Roll Never Forgets"
(1977)
"Still the Same"
(1978)
"Hollywood Nights"
(1978)

"Still the Same" is a 1978 song written and recorded by the American singer Bob Seger. It hit #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart [2] and was an international hit.

Contents

The song was covered by Bonnie Guitar on her 1987 album What Can I Say. This version was a country hit in 1989, reaching No. 79 on the Billboard US Country chart. [3]

Lyrics and music

"Still the Same" is a midtempo ballad that begins with what Billboard describes as a "catchy piano" part. [4] [5] According to Billboard contributor Ed Harrison, the harmony vocals by Venetta Fields, Clydie King and Sherlie Matthews give the song an R&B flavor. [4]

The lyrics describe a gambler who the singer admired but in the end walks away from because he will not change. [4] Some listeners believe the song is actually about an ex-girlfriend, rather than being literally about a gambler. [6] Seger has said that he has been asked for years who the song is about, and that it is actually an amalgamation of characters he met when he first went to Hollywood. [7] [8] Seger said to Bob Costas that "They’re simply really charming, but they have terrible flaws, but part of the appeal is the charisma." [6]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 1994 Greatest Hits compilation. [9]

The Silver Bullet Band

Additional musicians

Reception

Billboard contributor Ed Harrison regarded "Still the Same" as the most "striking" song on Stranger in Town. [4] Cash Box said that "the sit-up beat, acoustic guitar work and starkly melodic piano passages have a driving presence." [10] Cash Box also said that the hook is "irresistible." [11] Record World described it as "a melancholy, mid-tempo rocker in the introspective style that helped Seger connect up with a large audience." [12]

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [22] Gold500,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<i>Stranger in Town</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touch Me in the Morning (song)</span> 1973 single by Diana Ross

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<i>Greatest Hits</i> (Bob Seger album) 1994 greatest hits album by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, released in 1994. Certified Diamond by the RIAA, it is Seger's most successful album to date. In December 2009, Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan confirmed that with nearly nine million copies sold. Bob Seger's Greatest Hits was the decade's best-selling catalog album in the United States, even out-selling The Beatles' 1 and Michael Jackson's Number Ones. By September 2011, the album had sold a total of 9,062,000 copies in the United States.

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"Against the Wind" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Bob Seger for his eleventh studio album of the same name. It was released as the second single from the album in April 1980 through Capitol Records. Seger recorded the ballad during a two-year process that begat his eleventh album; it was recorded with producer Bill Szymczyk at Criteria Studios in north Miami, Florida. Sonically, "Against the Wind" is a mid-tempo soft rock tune with piano backing. It was recorded with Seger's Silver Bullet Band, and features backing vocals from Eagles co-frontman Glenn Frey.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feel Like a Number</span> Bob Seger song

"Feel Like a Number" is a song written by Bob Seger that was first released on his 1978 album with the Silver Bullet Band, Stranger in Town. It was also released as the B-side of the top 5 single "Still the Same" and a live version from the album Nine Tonight was released as a single in 1981. The song was featured in the 1981 movie Body Heat.

References

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  3. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN   978-0-89820-177-2.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Harrison, Ed (June 10, 1978). "Closeup" (PDF). Billboard. p. 80. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  5. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. May 13, 1978. p. 79. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  6. 1 2 "The Meaning Behind Bob Seger's Classic "Still The Same"". Rock Pasta. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  7. Greatest Hits , CD sleeve.
  8. "How Bob Seger Wrote "Still The Same"". Rockpasta.com. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  9. Greatest Hits (CD). Bob Seger. Capitol Records. 1994. CDP 7243 8 30334 2 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 13, 1978. p. 24. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  11. "CashBox Album Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 27, 1978. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  12. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. May 13, 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
  13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  14. "Radio2 top 30". Top30-2.radio2.be. Archived from the original on 2012-04-09. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
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