Pretty much since the beginning of the genre, rock and roll songwriters have been using their lifestyle as a topic. In most cases, they refer to the perks of being in the middle of the music world. But it takes some courage to write about some of the more difficult aspects of living the rock and roll life. Bad Company did just that on “Shooting Star”, a song about how way too many of those rock and roll lives get cut short.
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When Bad Company came rocketing out of the gate with their self-titled debut album in 1974, they mostly made their impact with bruising, uptempo numbers. When they returned a year later with the album Straight Shooter, they stuck to those types of numbers as singles.
But a song that ended up being one of their most popular was relegated to album-cut status on that record. “Shooting Star”, a ballad, rolled in at over six minutes in length. That provided ample time for guitarist Mick Ralphs to strut his stuff. But it was way too long for the radio.
Nonetheless, audiences quickly gravitated to the song. Lead singer Paul Rodgers wrote it, in part because he was troubled by so many young rock stars gone too soon before their time. Without being specific to any one rock and roll tragedy, the lyrics manage to capture both the lure and the danger of the lifestyle.
What makes the song both effective and enduring is that Rodgers never condescends or passes judgment on the character within it. He simply tells the story with honesty, allowing the audience to decide what to take from it. It’s a tearjerker of a song that’s not in the least bit manipulative.
Exploring the Lyrics of “Shooting Star”
It’s probably no coincidence that Paul Rodgers named the protagonist of “Shooting Star” Johnny. He likely knew that it would inevitably draw comparisons to Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”, the ultimate rock and roll myth. Rodgers undercuts that myth with this character’s sad fate.
Johnny gets hooked by The Beatles’ arrival. “Well, Johnny was a schoolboy when he heard his first Beatles song,” Rodgers explains. “’Love Me Do’ I think it was from there it didn’t take him long.” His guitar in hand, he quickly grabs a gig with a “rock and roll outfit.”
The budding star makes the decision to hit the road, which means bidding his mother farewell. When she comes to say goodbye “with a teardrop in her eye,” the foreshadowing effect is strong. After hitting the top of the charts, Johnny stops for a moment for a sobering observation. “Watching the world go by, surprising it goes so fast,” he notes.
After such a promising beginning to his career, it all ends suddenly in the last verse. Johnny passes away with “A bottle of whiskey, sleeping tablets by his head.” Rodgers then gives him a fitting epitaph. “Johnny’s life passed him by like a warm summer day,” he sings. “If you listen to the wind, you can still hear him play.”
“Don’t you know that you are a shooting star?” Rodgers asks in the chorus. “And all the world will love you just as long / As long as you are a shooting star.” Those lines suggest that music is permanent, even when those who make it are gone way too soon.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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