Is a song ever truly finished? There are some songwriters who will keep tinkering with words to a particular song long after it’s been released. By the same token, artists might feel like the initial recording didn’t do a song justice, giving them incentive to revisit it down the road.
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In the case of “Valerie” by Steve Winwood, the song received an audio tuneup five years after it was first recorded. The new version of the song captured the audience’s attention as if it were brand new.
Take One
Known for his brilliant stints with Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith, British superstar Steve Winwood finally went out on his own with a self-titled debut in 1977. That LP failed to do much on the charts. But Arc Of A Diver, which arrived three years later, established him as a solo force.
In 1982, Winwood released Talking Back To The Night. It’s a solid effort, albeit one that struggled to hit the heights of Arc Of A Diver. (That said, we wholly recommend you check out the brilliant closing track “There’s A River”). “Valerie”, the album’s third single, failed to hit the Top 40 in either the US or the UK.
Winwood wrote the song with Will Jennings, his preferred lyricist at the time. Jennings and Winwood both have said in interviews that “Valerie” was based on a singer they both knew who endured hard times. Most likely, they were referring to Valerie Carter, who also inspired the Jackson Browne song “That Girl Could Sing”.
Take Two
Four years later, Steve Winwood bounced back from the somewhat sluggish response to Talking Back To The Night with the album Back In The High Life. The album title proved prophetic. Winwood, boosted by the No. 1 single “Higher Love”, enjoyed his highest level of commercial success yet.
Capitalizing on his newfound popularity with modern pop audiences, Winwood hustled out the greatest hits album Chronicles a year later. To give it a boost, he went back to “Valerie”. Only this time around, he let Tom Lord-Alge, the engineer who was crucial to the sound of Back In The High Life, do a remix.
Considering that he had produced the original version himself, Winwood swallowed his pride a bit to make that decision. But it was a smart move. The reconfigured “Valerie” became a hit in its second incarnation, landing at No. 13 on the US charts in 1987.
Behind the Lyrics of “Valerie”
Steve Winwood and Jennings make clear just how mesmerizing this girl was to them. “So cool, she was like/Jazz on a Summer’s day”, Winwood sings, the latter phrase referencing a famous concert film. But ultimately, she remained elusive. “Then she just blew way.”
The narrator expresses concern for her. “Now she can’t be that warm,” Winwood sighs. “With the wind in her arms.” He’s haunted by her memory. “Her cries hang there,” he admits. “In time, somewhere.” And he can’t help but dream of a reunion. “Someday, some good wind,” he muses. “May blow her back to me.”
The second version of this song no doubt received a boost from Winwood’s red-hot stature at the time of its release. Nonetheless, “Valerie” offers evidence proving that it’s never wise to completely give up on a great song.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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