This Song About a Vietnam Vet Showed a Serious Side of Huey Lewis And The News

The 80s featured several highly successful albums that included a long list of hit singles. Artists would often try to reveal a different aspect of themselves with each subsequent single, hoping to nab different types of fans each time.

In Sports, released in 1983, Huey Lewis And The News boasted one of those hit albums. And they used the LP’s last single, “Walking On A Thin Line”, to show off a socially conscious side to the band.

Singles Galore

When they made it, could Huey Lewis And The News have possibly anticipated that they’d have the chance to release five singles from Sports? Up to that point, they had delivered one Top 10 hit (“Do You Believe In Love”) from their first two albums.

That was certainly a respectable result, considering how competitive the 80s pop scene was. Still, very few would have predicted the kind of success that Sports ended up garnering. Luckily, the band prepared themselves for just such a best-case scenario.

Lewis and the band didn’t take anything for granted. They lavished attention on every song as if they were all going to be singles. Even after the first four singles from the record all hit the Top 10 in 1983 and 1984, the band still had an ace up their sleeve in “Walking On A Thin Line”.

What’s the “Line”?

Credit goes to Lewis for picking this song, one about which he’d known for around 15 years or so by the time the band recorded it. In the late 60s, he sang on a demo of “Walking On A Thin Line”, which was being prepped for a documentary on the Vietnam War that never happened.

The song was written by Andre Pressis and Kevin Wells. Pressis went on to write for many artists over the years, eventually becoming the chief writing partner of Mr. Big’s Eric Martin. Wells served as drummer for Clover, the 70s band that included Lewis and eventually morphed into the News.

“Walking On A Thin Line” hit No. 18 in 1984. That made it a bit of an underperformer compared to the high standard of the other Sports singles. But the song served the purpose of showing that this band known for their good-time vibes could deliver a compelling track on a serious subject.

Behind the Lyrics of “Walking On A Thin Line”

The narrator of “Walking On A Thin Line” paints a harrowing picture right off the bat. “Sometimes in my bed at night,” Lewis sings. “I curse the dark and I pray for the light/And sometimes the light’s no consolation.” We find out that he was once a sniper, “A specialist with a deadly skill.”

He admits that his post-war life hasn’t brought him peace. “’Cause you’re never the same,” he explains. “When you’ve been under fire.” It doesn’t help that the public shies away from him instead of showing empathy: “Labeled as freaks/Loose on the streets of the city.”

“Take a look at my face,” Lewis sings in the chorus. “See what it’s done to me.” “Walking On A Thin Line” might not have been the biggest hit for him and the News. But it proved crucial in showing just how multifaceted they were.

(Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)