I'm out here in the meadow

Joe Walsh is known as the "Clown Prince of Rock", a title that he was surely given during his presidential campaign of 1980. (Never mind that he was not yet 35 at the time.) Ditties such as "Life's Been Good" and "I.L.B.T.s" (I Like Big Tits) have bolstered his reputation as a goofball. But such tunes belie his ability to craft beautiful songs that resonate with genuine emotion that doesn't provoke laughter.

He spent a few years in James Gang who had hits with "Funk #49" and "Walk Away". In late 1971 he parted ways with the band and formed Barnstorm with bassist Kenny Passarelli and drummer Joe Vitale. Their eponymous debuted came out in 1972 and was followed up in '73 by The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get which is famous for the single "Rocky Mountain Way", a classic rock radio staple since the dawn of classic rock radio, methinks.

But there's much more to The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get than hard rock riffs and Vocoders. For example, there's Walsh's "Wolf", a dark, brooding song led by acoustic guitar as well as keyboardist Rocke Grace's "Midnight Moodies" with a jazzy flute that gives it an early 1970s Traffic feel.

But the song I want to highlight here is "Meadows". It shares a guitar riff with Deep Purple's "Woman From Tokyo" but I've never been able to discern who recorded what first. Did someone filch the riff? Or was it merely a case of chance providing a memorable melody, however improbable? I honestly don't recall when I first heard it but "Meadows" became an important song in the soundtrack of my freshman year of college.

Vitale's drums are simply fantastic here. Cymbals churn in the background as toms keep the chorus moving along while tight, focused fills move the song from verse to chorus to a lovely interlude featuring acoustic guitar and a short piano part that's all of 3 notes yet adds a shimmering beauty that is just perfect.

To 18 year-old me, the lyrics reflected the blooming, buzzing confusion that I felt leaving home ("Can't think of any reason, don't know exactly why"), moving from a rural area back to an urban one. The chorus ("I'm out here in the meadow, part of an old stone wall") really captures that feeling of cruising down a country road on a summer day. On the other hand, the verse "Some things are left unspoken, some things are handed down" evoked some of the ambivalence I felt towards my father, whom I was very happy not to have to be within 175 miles of and wasn't sure I ever wanted to see again.

Although I became enamored of this song 30+ years ago and I am not an 18 year-old kid trying to find his way in life, I still love it.