Modern music audiences might not know much about The Roches, as they never scored a big hit single and generally flew under the radar in their long career. But for a time in the late 70s, the three Roche sisters enjoyed a stretch as a kind of buzz band.
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That period coincided with the release of their self-titled debut album in 1979. Included on that album is the mesmerizingly wonderful “Hammond Song”. It’s a song with an inspiration specific to the sisters that they reconfigured to resonate with anyone who makes a decision against the wishes of others.
The Journey to “Hammond”
Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy Roche, sisters who grew up in New Jersey, started singing together at an early age. At the beginning of their professional career, Maggie and Terre worked as a duo. Their aching harmonies and offbeat songwriting gained the attention of Paul Simon, who hired them to sing backup on his 1973 album There Goes Rhymin’ Simon.
With their exposure level at its highest, Maggie and Terre grabbed a record deal. Simon even helped produce their debut, Seductive Reasoning, in 1975. But the duo balked when the record company became a bit too bossy about what they wanted, even suggesting what the girls should be wearing to promote the record.
That’s when they decided to bail on the whole affair. They knew a friend who lived in Hammond, Louisiana, so they headed there to hide out just weeks after the album debuted. Maggie Roche based “The Hammond Song” on that experience.
A few years later, the sisters had reestablished themselves by playing in folk clubs in New York City. By the time they scored a deal to record another album, sister Suzzy was in tow, which allowed them to deliver their stunning three-pronged vocal attack. “Hammond Song” ended up being a highlight of The Roches album, released in 1979.
Exploring the Lyrics of “Hammond Song” by The Roches
“Hammond Song” would work even if The Roches were singing absolute gibberish. The way the voices weave in and out, sometimes singing in unison and others in harmony, in an unexpected fashion goes a long way. So does the trippy guitar work of King Crimson legend Robert Fripp, who also produced the record.
To make the song more relatable, Maggie Roche turned the song into a lament about a girl who wants to run away with a guy that her family dislikes. “If you go with that fella/Forget about us,” they warn. “That would be just/Throwing yourself away.”
But the girl defends her independent thinking. “I ain’t the only one,” she objects. “Who’s got this disease.” “You old upstart,” she calls her parents, evidence of Maggie’s idiosyncratically brilliant wordplay.
The song shrugs off the humor at the end, as the girl wonders about her future relationship with her parents. “They say we meet again/On down the line,” she says. “Where is on down the line?” she counters. “How far away?” And then, she makes a touching plea: “Tell me I’m okay.”
Just writing that last line doesn’t do it justice. To hear it sung by the three sisters, you can locate the love, hurt, and vulnerability of the request. The Roches proved their songwriting excellence time and again during their careers. “Hammond Song” showed what they could do when those sisterly harmonies took a song to another level.
Photo by Mario Ruiz/Getty Images
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