Cynics and critics often went after Rod Stewart for his tendency to shift genres based on where musical tastes stood at the time. We believe that Rod deserves credit for being able to make those changes without losing his musical identity.
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In 1981, Stewart jumped on the New Wave bandwagon with the song “Young Turks”. Combining sharp storytelling with forward-looking music, Stewart made it all the way to No. 5 on the pop charts with the track.
Rod’s Resiliency
By the time 1981 rolled around, Rod Stewart had already taken on a couple of different musical guises in an effort to stay relevant. Considering that many of his British rock peers faltered when trying to make the same moves, Stewart’s savvy resiliency stood out from the pack.
There was a stint copping a soulful, lover-man image on the 1976 No. 1 hit “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright)”. Two years later, Stewart rode the disco train with “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”, and once again landed on top of the US charts.
At each of those stops, Stewart had to hear it from some in the press who felt he was selling out his blues-rock heritage to court pop audiences. Considering that those two songs we mentioned have become evergreens of sorts, that criticism doesn’t hold up all that well today. And it certainly didn’t stop Stewart from making the jump to the next hot musical trend to come down the pike: New Wave.
Forever “Young”
Even though he’s proven again and again throughout his career to be a sharp songwriter, it’s a task that Stewart doesn’t particularly enjoy. As a result, he has often relied on collaborators to help in that department. In the case of “Young Turks”, his band members, Carmine Appice, Duane Hitchings, and Kevin Savigar, wrote the music.
Hitchings had recently acquired a synthesizer, which formed the basis for both the rhythm and the melody. The musicians were thinking along the lines of something that Devo might have created when writing the song. To his credit, Stewart was on board as soon as he heard it.
Stewart then crafted a story about a young couple who appear to be getting in way over their heads with their romance. He took the title from the term used to describe the revolutionaries who tried to counteract the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the 20th century. At no point, however, does Stewart utter the phrase “Young Turks” in the lyrics.
Behind the Lyrics of “Young Turks”
We meet Billy and Patti at the beginning of “Young Turks”. Billy has a “dollar in his pocket and a head full of dreams.” Patti appears in tears as she bids her little sister farewell. “We got one shot at life, let’s take it while we’re still not afraid,” they declare as they hit the road together.
“Paradise was closed,” Stewart ominously begins the second verse, even as Billy and Patti thrive on their mutual passion. They send a letter back home with their explanation and the big news. “But there ain’t no point in talking when there’s nobody listening, so we just ran away,” Billy writes. “Patti gave birth to a ten-pound baby boy.”
The narrator doesn’t judge, but rather wishes them well in the refrain: “Young hearts, be free tonight/Time is on your side.” With “Young Turks”, Rod Stewart added New Wave to the list of genres he conquered during his amazing career.
Photo by WATFORD/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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