"You're All I've Got Tonight" is a song by the American rock band the Cars, from their debut album, The Cars. Like "Bye Bye Love" and "Moving in Stereo", two other songs from the album, it continues to receive airplay on classic rock stations today despite never having been released as a single (although it did see release as the B-side to "All Mixed Up" in the Netherlands).
"You're All I've Got Tonight" was written and sung by the band's frontman, Ric Ocasek. Keyboardist Greg Hawkes said of the song, "Ric's got a knack for taking a common phrase like 'You're All I've Got Tonight' and making a great song out of it."[1]
CompositionEdit
The song opens with a tom-tomdrum beat processed with a distinctive flanging effect, leading to a power chordriff played on distorted guitars that also have a distinctive flanging effect. Initially, the rhythm guitar plays a chromatic riff of power chords ascending from A, to A♯, to B, then E to B, and repeating. The riff gives way to an extended vamp on B major. To conclude the verses and introduce the chorus, the band sings "Ahh" in triads, descending in half notes, from B major to A major, while the music strictly maintains a B power chord. At this point, the song could have gone to an E major chord, which would complete a plagal cadence, or a V-IV-I turnaround. Instead, the chorus alternates between G and A major chords, with the vocal harmonies on the G featuring the major seventh, F♯.
The G to A progression leads back to the A–A♯–B riff of the next verse. Over the B power chord, lead guitaristElliot Easton plays a trill between the notes D and D♯, respectively the minor and major thirds of the B chord, which reinforces the ambivalence of the song's key. During the second and third verses, a call and response effect is created between Ric Ocasek's vocals and Easton's lead guitar fills. (Both of which are, increasingly, derived from the B blues scale.)
After the second chorus, there is a brief, melodic guitar solo over the chorus music. After the third chorus, the band vamps over a B power chord, creating a feeling similar to the verses, as a new solo gradually emerges. During this solo, keyboardist Greg Hawkes alternates between high-pitched triads of A major and B major, while the rhythm guitars and bass remain on B. Ocasek's rhythm guitar part is strummed with the accents primarily on the off-beateighth notes, a technique heard earlier on the album, in "Good Times Roll", another song centering on the chords B, A, and G.
After the second solo, there is one last iteration of the chorus, and the song ends abruptly, seguing into "Bye Bye Love".[2]
ReceptionEdit
AllMusic reviewer Donald A. Guarisco said, "What might seem like a tongue-in-cheek pop tune (on paper) becomes a thumping fusion of new wave and hard rock in the studio to the one-two punch of a clever arrangement and a slick production job by Roy Thomas Baker. . . . [It] starts with a throbbing drumbeat and fuzzed-out guitar riffs that give it a hard rock punch but quickly adds waves of ethereal synthesizer and an arch vocal from Ric Ocasek that lend it a new wave edginess."[3] The song was called a "wonderful pop song" by Kit Rachlis of Rolling Stone.[4]
ReferencesEdit
^Fricke, David. "The Return of The Cars". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
^Guarisco, Donald A. "You're All I've Got Tonight". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
^ Rachlis, Kit (1997-06-17). . Rolling Stone (Wenner Media). Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
October 14, 2023
tonight, song, american, rock, band, cars, from, their, debut, album, cars, like, love, moving, stereo, other, songs, from, album, continues, receive, airplay, classic, rock, stations, today, despite, never, having, been, released, single, although, release, s. You re All I ve Got Tonight is a song by the American rock band the Cars from their debut album The Cars Like Bye Bye Love and Moving in Stereo two other songs from the album it continues to receive airplay on classic rock stations today despite never having been released as a single although it did see release as the B side to All Mixed Up in the Netherlands You re All I ve Got Tonight B side to All Mixed Up in NLSong by The Carsfrom the album The CarsReleasedJune 6 1978GenreHard rock new waveLength4 13LabelElektraSongwriter s Ric OcasekProducer s Roy Thomas BakerThe Cars track listing9 tracksSide one Good Times Roll My Best Friend s Girl Just What I Needed I m in Touch with Your World Don t Cha Stop Side two You re All I ve Got Tonight Bye Bye Love Moving in Stereo All Mixed Up Contents 1 Background 2 Composition 3 Reception 4 ReferencesBackground Edit You re All I ve Got Tonight was written and sung by the band s frontman Ric Ocasek Keyboardist Greg Hawkes said of the song Ric s got a knack for taking a common phrase like You re All I ve Got Tonight and making a great song out of it 1 Composition EditThe song opens with a tom tom drum beat processed with a distinctive flanging effect leading to a power chord riff played on distorted guitars that also have a distinctive flanging effect Initially the rhythm guitar plays a chromatic riff of power chords ascending from A to A to B then E to B and repeating The riff gives way to an extended vamp on B major To conclude the verses and introduce the chorus the band sings Ahh in triads descending in half notes from B major to A major while the music strictly maintains a B power chord At this point the song could have gone to an E major chord which would complete a plagal cadence or a V IV I turnaround Instead the chorus alternates between G and A major chords with the vocal harmonies on the G featuring the major seventh F The G to A progression leads back to the A A B riff of the next verse Over the B power chord lead guitarist Elliot Easton plays a trill between the notes D and D respectively the minor and major thirds of the B chord which reinforces the ambivalence of the song s key During the second and third verses a call and response effect is created between Ric Ocasek s vocals and Easton s lead guitar fills Both of which are increasingly derived from the B blues scale After the second chorus there is a brief melodic guitar solo over the chorus music After the third chorus the band vamps over a B power chord creating a feeling similar to the verses as a new solo gradually emerges During this solo keyboardist Greg Hawkes alternates between high pitched triads of A major and B major while the rhythm guitars and bass remain on B Ocasek s rhythm guitar part is strummed with the accents primarily on the off beat eighth notes a technique heard earlier on the album in Good Times Roll another song centering on the chords B A and G After the second solo there is one last iteration of the chorus and the song ends abruptly seguing into Bye Bye Love 2 Reception EditAllMusic reviewer Donald A Guarisco said What might seem like a tongue in cheek pop tune on paper becomes a thumping fusion of new wave and hard rock in the studio to the one two punch of a clever arrangement and a slick production job by Roy Thomas Baker It starts with a throbbing drumbeat and fuzzed out guitar riffs that give it a hard rock punch but quickly adds waves of ethereal synthesizer and an arch vocal from Ric Ocasek that lend it a new wave edginess 3 The song was called a wonderful pop song by Kit Rachlis of Rolling Stone 4 References Edit Fricke David The Return of The Cars Rolling Stone Retrieved 18 September 2019 The Cars Guitar Anthology Series Warner Bros Publications 15800 N W 48th Avenue Miami Florida 33014 ISBN 0 7692 1227 1 Guarisco Donald A You re All I ve Got Tonight AllMusic Retrieved 2012 03 16 Rachlis Kit 1997 06 17 The Cars Music Review Rolling Stone Wenner Media Archived from the original on November 23 2007 Retrieved 2009 11 04 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title You 27re All I 27ve Got Tonight amp oldid 1110348124, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
