Among Rod Stewart‘s many, many hits is “Forever Young“. On his 1988 Out Of Order record, the song is written by Stewart, along with band members Jim Cregan and Kevin Savigar. Bob Dylan, who had a similar song, is also credited as a writer.
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“Forever Young”, now considered a classic, didn’t do well in Stewart’s native United Kingdom when it was released. But it did become a major hit in the United States, peaking just inside the Top 5.
“Forever Young” says in part, “May good fortune be with you / May your guiding light be strong / Build a stairway to Heaven / With a prince or a vagabond / And may you never love in vain / And in my heart you will remain / Forever young, forever young.”
“Forever Young” is one of Stewart’s more sentimental songs. The inspiration came from thinking about his own children and the things he missed because of his successful career.
“I love ‘Forever Young’, because that was a real heartfelt song about my kids,” Stewart says (via Smooth Radio). “I suddenly realized I’d missed a good five years of Sean and Kimberly’s life because I was so busy touring all the time. “
“Forever Young” may not have been a big hit overseas. But it remains one of his most successful songs in the United States.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t a big hit in England,” Stewart says. “But it’s like a national anthem here.”
How Bob Dylan Became a Co-Writer on “Forever Young” by Rod Stewart
In 1974, Dylan first released “Forever Young”. The song appears on his Planet Waves project. When Stewart went in to write “Forever Young”, he did not initially realize that his song unintentionally mirrored Dylan’s.
“When we were putting the album together, someone pointed out that there was a Dylan song with the same title,” Stewart’s manager, Arnold Stiefel, tells the Los Angeles Times. “So, we listened to the two songs. And it would be fair to say that while the melody and the music is not at all the same, the idea of the song is similar. The architecture of the lyrics of the song is very much from Dylan–there are definite similarities.”
Stewart reached out to Dylan before committing to putting “Forever Young” on his own record. It’s how Dylan became a co-writer on the inspirational song.
“We didn’t hear back from Bob directly,” Stiefel says. “But his attorney relayed the message that he had no problem with the song, but that he did want to participate in the ownership of the song.”
Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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