The “Political” Undertone of Heart’s Iconic Track “Crazy on You” That You Might Have Missed: “It Walked the Line”

What do you get when you combine Yes’ classic acoustic intros, Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight”, and Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”? Easy: the 1975 classic from Dreamboat Annie, “Crazy on You” by Heart. With Nancy Wilson’s powerful guitar introduction to Ann Wilson’s soaring vocals, it’s one of the band’s most prominent songs, despite its initial chart performance peaking at a modest No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. These days, it’s practically impossible to scroll through mainstream classic rock radio stations and not hear this song at least once.

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In typical Heart fashion, the band crafted a song that sounds like it has one meaning when, in reality, there’s a much deeper, darker layer. “Barracuda”, a song the Wilsons infamously wrote to combat hypersexualization and other inappropriate behavior from their male colleagues in the music industry, is another great example. As lyrics like, “With bombs and the Devil, and the kids keep comin’, no way to breathe easy, no way to be young,” “Crazy on You” packs quite a heavy blow, too.

Nancy Wilson later described the song as having “so much to say. It was relevant, but it was also sexy at the same time. So, it talks about the political world we’re from, then it says, ‘Oh, I can’t do all this! I might as well just go crazy on you. When all else fails, make love. And it was a great message. I think it walks the line between too political and nicely romantic. We knew that song was perfect.”

Heart’s “Crazy on You” Perfectly Encapsulated the 1970s Attitude

In an episode of Sky Arts’ Greatest Guitar Riffs, Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson described her and her sister-slash-bandmate, vocalist Ann Wilson, as “fresh-faced hippies from Seattle.” The siblings had worked together in folk groups prior to forming Heart, to which Nancy pays homage with her ripping acoustic introduction. But the musicians’ musical tastes—and the world around them—were rapidly changing between the 1960s and the 1970s. For the Wilsons, there were more transformations happening than just their transition to rock ‘n’ roll alone. The entire world was changing, and they were watching it happen with the rest of us.

“We had just come out of the Vietnam era. We were a Marine Corps family as well. ‘Crazy on You’ is a love song with all this political context at the same time,” Nancy said. “The bombs and devils, rebellious, pushing back type of song, which incorporates acoustic and electric. So, it’s rock. But it also has the more delicate nature of acoustic music. Kind of an interesting signature blend that Heart’s sound really was.”

“I still find ‘Crazy on You’ as thrilling to perform now as I did in 1976,” Nancy continued. “When you do that song today, it’s still the same message. It’s a reaction to all the injustice and the things you see people have to suffer through. ‘Crazy on You’ is rooted in our experience of being young and falling in love against the background of a chaotic world.”

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