Songs about falling in love are a dime a dozen. So too, for that matter, are songs about falling out of love, or at least ones where one of the involved parties does so. But songs about keeping love afloat over a long stretch of time aren’t all that ubiquitous.
Videos by American Songwriter
Bob Seger has always been one of those songwriters with a knack for sussing out what his audience might be craving. With “Even Now,” his own real-life relationship was the basis. But his lyrics managed to hit home with many people who had stuck it out through the years with a partner, and come out the other end all the better for it.
“Now” and Then
Bob Seger reached the absolute pinnacle on his 1980 album Against the Wind. The album made it to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard album charts. That was a goal Seger actively sought, structuring the album in such a way to make the maximum commercial impact.
That all might sound a bit mercenary. But when you consider how overlooked Seger’s music had been for so many years, you really couldn’t begrudge him his shot at the brass ring. Years of solid but underselling efforts had finally given way to a mid-’70s breakthrough spurred by the success of the single “Night Moves.” From there, it was a relatively short road to the top.
But what you do after you’ve reached the summit? In Seger’s case, he originally set out to challenge himself on his next album (The Distance in 1982) by sticking to a single concept throughout. That concept: romance, with all its triumphs and pitfalls.
Ultimately, Seger decided such an album would be a bit too narrow-focused and potentially sappy, so he veered away from it. But several songs he had written with the theme in mind stuck around. One of those was “Even Now,” which opens the album and was inspired by Jan Dinsdale, with whom Seger was in a long-term relationship at the time.
Revisiting the Lyrics of “Even Now”
“Even Now” succeeds as an extremely romantic song in part because it references just how difficult it is for two people to overcome the obstacles that inevitably come up. Seger suggests those obstacles are often constructed by our own human nature, such as the tendency for two souls to drift apart: There’s a highway / A lonesome stretch of grey/It runs between us.
This road has claimed its share throughout the time: There’s a crossroad / Where all the victims meet. The second verse continues in that vein, only this time the potential separation is represented by the dimming of a spark: And through the darkness / Through all the endless days. The pointless one act plays is an effective way to describe one’s solitary instincts.
Luckily, the narrator has a beacon that can lead him back home: I close my eyes / And see her face / It’s all I want to see. It’s nothing he would ever take for granted, regardless of how much time has passed: And deep inside / It still amazes me.
This keeps him on the right path through all life’s extremes: When everything’s right / When everything’s wrong. It’s never an easy journey: Through all the doubt / And all the fear / And all that I can’t say. But when you have the right person by your side, you can get where you need to be: She’ll help me find my way.
She gets to me / Somehow, he sings, as the uplifting music crashes all around him. Even now. “Even Now” is a love song for veterans, not rookies. It makes sense then it took a rock and roll lifer like Bob Seger to get those sentiments just right.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.