Ten Great Heartland Rock Songs

I decided to write an article compiling a collection of songs in heartland rock, a type of rock music that originated in America. I am familiar with heartland rock as Bob Seger, who I’m a fan of works in that genre. Most of the artists in this list are American, but I do also include three British artists. I featured some heartland rock songs in my previous article “Ten Great Rock Songs Opening Albums”. We’re going to go to the mid 70s.

The Fuse - Jackson Browne (1976)

This song opens with Craig Doerge’s piano which has a uniquely heartland rock sound. David Lindley’s guitar plays a good supporting role. David’s playing has a slight country influence, while maintaining a clear rock feel. Country is in fact an influence of heartland rock. Craig does powerful heartland piano rocking including during instrumental passages. I like how Jackson sings aggressively in this track. This song rocks in a dark way.

Talk to Me - Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes (1978)

This song was written by Bruce Springsteen. There are nice horns throughout. A soul influence is present including in Southside Johnny’s singing. The piano has a jolly feel in contrast to the previous song, yet it maintains its heartland rock style. There is a nice saxophone solo.

Lover - Michael Stanley Band (1980)

This song by the Michael Stanley Band is sung & written by Michael. Michael mentions the “cold Ohio night” (his state) which is apt for this genre. Lover is one of the songs I’ve been listening to the most this year. There is a great saxophone presence in this song by Bruce Springsteen’s saxophonist Clarence Clemons. I love how Michael sings “Oooh Lover” in the chorus. This is contrasted well with Clarence’s saxophone notes. The bridge is great as it takes the melody in a different direction.

Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen (1980)

This is the first hit song featured on this list. Pianist Roy Bittan of Bruce’s E Street Band is also on the next three songs. This song is very melodic and led wonderfully by Roy’s piano. There is a nice organ solo by Danny Federici where Bruce lightly sings along with it. Bruce's vocals are unique as he’s singing neither softly nor aggressively. He sings the same sounds that he sang during the organ solo plus others at the end of the song.

Skateaway - Dire Straits (1980)

Dire Straits are English and aren’t a heartland rock band, but producer Jimmy Iovine and keyboardist Roy Bittan bring a heartland rock sound to the proceedings. They fuse American styles into an English sounding song. This song is written and sung by Mark Knopfler who’s Dire Straits’ lead singer & guitarist. Roy’s piano works wonderfully. He also plays organ. Mark speaks in parts of the song. He alternates between speaking and singing. Roy’s piano is a good match to Mark’s guitar which does nice playing in the end section.

Roll Me Away - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1982)

Jimmy Iovine also produced this song. Roy’s piano drives the song and he has two powerful solos. Drummer Russ Kunkel provides a great beat. Waddy Wachtel’s guitar supports the song well. Craig Frost of The Silver Bullet Band adds colour to this tune with his organ. Bob is singing about a motorcycle trip in his state of Michigan. He sings powerfully as a rock singer.

Have You Ever Seen the Rain? - Bonnie Tyler (1983)

Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler covers a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The original only has a few piano notes in parts of the song. Bonnie’s version wonderfully changes the lead instrument from acoustic guitar to piano. Roy plays his signature heartland rock piano sound. Bonnie sings so intensely. She reinterprets a light country rock song into a heartland rocker that rocks way more than the original including its awesome electric guitar parts. There is an aggressive guitar solo.

The Valley Road - Bruce Hornsby & The Range (1988)

Bruce plays powerful improvisational piano playing. He brings a possible jazz influence into heartland rock. It’s creative how he brings his brand of piano playing into a mainstream rock hit. There is a guitar solo and two piano solos. Bruce sings soulfully. I like how he sings “walk on” expressively. This song has a fun feel of the late 80s time period.

England and America - Elton John (2016)

This song written by Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin is paying tribute to England and America. England is Elton’s primary residence where he’s from and America is his second home where he lives part of the time. This song sounds different to the usual Elton John style. Elton displays his creativity in writing a heartland rock melody. He nails that genre’s piano sound. It’s rare to hear Elton rock out like this now. I love the 80s rock sound this song has. Elton’s band backs him well. I’d like to see Elton make a whole album in the heartland rock style.

More Yesterdays Than Tomorrows - Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers (2018)

The song opens with a piano riff which is repeated throughout the song. It soon becomes a powerful rocker driven by guitar and organ. During the guitar solo, the piano riff supports the solo well. There is a brief moment where most of the instruments stop and it’s led by the organ, similar to a section in the previous song with the piano. Joe sounds similar to Southside Johnny who I featured earlier. Joe’s singing about the importance of connecting with people.

This was my selection of ten heartland rock songs. I like the fact that heartland rock has a strong keyboard presence. These songs all feature piano and I can hear organ on six of them. It seems that one component of heartland rock is a mix of piano, organ and guitar. I love the melodies of all these tracks.

Rock Songs Referencing Each Other

I decided to write an article of songs which reference another song. When I say referencing, I mean the lyrics include the title of another song in it. I made it a point to not feature any songs which reference another song by the same artist. I focus on classic rock music. A few songs may not fully classify as rock, but all the artists featured are rock artists. I would imagine that these references are purely coincidental. Some of the songs it’s referencing came out several years later.

I’m starting with the band Journey’s energetic rocker “Just the Same Way” sung by both their keyboardist Gregg Rolie and lead singer Steve Perry. Gregg sings “it’s after midnight” in the second line. This brings to mind the song “After Midnight”. While that song is a J.J. Cale original, the version I like the best and am referring to is the Eric Clapton version. These songs are quite different, yet are both melodic rock songs featuring piano. Just the Same Way has a hard rock feel, while “After Midnight” has both a southern rock and a blues rock feel.

In Elton John’s country rock song “Birds”, Elton sings “these days are different than the past” in the first verse bringing to mind Jackson Browne’s “These Days”. Jackson’ song is a ballad, but it has a somewhat similar musical style including the rock guitar playing by David Lindley which is comparable to Rusty Anderson’s playing in “Birds”. In the Eagles song “Lyin’ Eyes”, Glenn Frey sings at the end of the last verse “you’re still the same old girl you used to be”. Glenn’s friend Bob Seger would have his own hit “Still The Same” three years later. Both songs are similar 70s ballads. Lyin’ Eyes also sings of “hands as cold as ice”. That leads us to the great Foreigner rocker “Cold As Ice”. This song really rocks and has a great piano part.

In Jackson Browne’s rocker “The Fuse” he sings “there’s a fire high in the empty sky”. Empty Sky is the first song and title track of Elton John’s debut album. They are both long rock songs with a prominent piano part. Elton’s song is even longer and is a product of the late 60s with Jackson’s song a product of the mid 70s. Empty Sky seems to be psychedelic rock and folk rock while “The Fuse” seems to be heartland rock. In Jackson’s song “Looking Into You” he opens with “Well I looked into a house I once lived in”. Elton would sing a song “House” a few decades later. Both songs are ballads with Jackson’s song having a country rock feel and Elton’s song having a pop feel.

In Jackson Browne’s midtempo rocker “Fountain of Sorrow”, he sings “it’s good to see your smiling face tonight” a few times. This brings to mind James Taylor’s hit “Your Smiling Face” a few years later. They both have a similar 70s soft rock sound. James'es song is short and simple, while Jackson’s song is long and epic. In Jackson Browne’s first hit “Doctor My Eyes”, he sings “to awaken from these dreams”. This leads us to the song “These Dreams” by Heart. Doctor My Eyes is a piano driven midtempo rock song from the early 70s. These Dreams is so different being a synth driven mid 80s song. Doctor My Eyes sounds like an Elton John song with its piano which Jackson himself plays and Bernie Taupin (Elton John’s songwriting partner) wrote the lyrics for “These Dreams”.

We’re now moving to the late 80s with Bruce Hornsby’s “The Valley Road”. Bruce opens the song with “sometimes I lead, sometimes I follow”. This references Bob Seger’s song “Sometimes” which came out a few years earlier. They are both rock songs that were products of that time except Bruce’s song is soft while Bob’s song rocks so hard. The Valley Road has elements of heartland rock which is part of Bob’s music. Bruce’s piano is prominent in his song and while Bob’s song is guitar driven, the piano player Bill Payne has a solo.

We’re now going into Bob Seger’s heartland rocker “Even Now”. It was a hit in the US, but the song unfortunately isn’t remembered as one of his classics as it should be. I discussed the song in my previous blog post “Russ Kunkel’s Drumming for Bob Seger”. Bob sings “deep inside, it still amazes me”. This leads to Elton John’s “Amazes Me”. Bob’s song came out in the early 80s while Elton’s song came out in the late 80s. Their style of rock in each song is quite different. Elton’s song is slower and has soul influences. Both of them are melodic rockers featuring great piano and powerful expressive singing by Bob Seger and Elton John.

Billy Joel’s “She’s Right on Time” opens with him singing “turn on all the Christmas lights”. This brings to mind Journey’s “Lights”. She’s Right on Time isn’t a full on rock song, but it is probably soft rock. It’s a slowish melodic song showcasing Billy’s strengths as a singer-songwriter. Lights really rocks and touches me with its melody, piano, guitar solo, organ and Steve Perry’s vocals. It’s a song about their hometown San Francisco. You may have noticed that we both started and ended with a song by the band Journey. This represents the musical journey we’ve been on going from song to song.

List of Articles Featuring these Songs

The following is a list of articles of mine which have featured songs discussed above. I’m not including articles where I discussed the song without including a paragraph on it or described an alternate version of the song I’d like to see e.g. cover or live version.

Birds by Elton John

Birds - Elton John (2001)

Ten Great Elton John Songs by Ten Different Guitarists

Birds - Elton John (2001)

Ten Great Jackson Browne Songs by Ten Different Piano Players

These Days - Jackson Browne (1973)

Fountain of Sorrow - Jackson Browne (1974)

Ten Great Universal Music Group Songs

Still The Same - Bob Seger (1978)

Ten Great Non-Relationship Rock Songs

Doctor My Eyes - Jackson Browne (1972)

Sometimes - Bob Seger (1986)

Ten Great Capitol Records Songs

These Dreams - Heart (1985)

Highlights from my Bob Seger Blog Posts

Even Now - Bob Seger (1982)

Ten Powerful Rock Ballads by Elton John

Amazes Me - Elton John (1989)

Audio Embeds

To conclude, I’m embedding five songs which I’ve never embedded before below.

After Midnight - Eric Clapton (1970)

The Fuse - Jackson Browne (1976)

Cold As Ice - Foreigner (1977)

The Valley Road - Bruce Hornsby (1988)

Amazes Me - Elton John (1989)

Six Songs for Sri Lanka

My country Sri Lanka is currently facing its worst crisis right now. The country is running out of money so there is unfortunately a shortage of power, cooking gas, medicines, paper and fuel. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory at Sri Lanka’s November 2019 Presidential election is what set the stage for this crisis. There have been massive protests calling Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign since March. I decided to write an article highlighting six songs I like that can apply to Sri Lanka’s present state. There are five western songs and one Sri Lankan song featured which have their official YouTube audio embedded.

Takin' It to the Streets - The Doobie Brothers (1976)

This is Michael McDonald’s first hit with The Doobie Brothers. Michael wrote it, sings it and plays piano. This song is about someone who has grown up in poverty through a very difficult environment. Sri Lanka has issues of poverty and people in Sri Lanka are going through the most painful and difficult time in Sri Lanka’s history. The current protests in Sri Lanka match with the theme of the song. I hope they will succeed in getting Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign and take Sri Lanka out of its current mess. Michael sings powerfully and plays his melodic piano colourfully. There’s a nice saxophone solo.  

Feel Like A Number - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1978)

This is an intense rocker featuring powerful piano. There is both a piano and a guitar solo. Bob mentions standing in line at the start which is apt as Sri Lankans have been standing for hours in queues daily. The protagonist feels like a number because of the difficulties and lack of recognition in his life. Corrupt politicians in Sri Lanka have been discarding the citizens of Sri Lanka which can result in people feeling like a number. The line “I’m just another consensus on the street” reflects the Sri Lankans out there in queues and protests being a consensus of Sri Lanka’s colossal failures in governance. This song has the signature Bob Seger rock sound.

Where Have All The Good Times Gone - Elton John (1982)

This is a soul influenced song that’s very musical. Elton John wrote this song with his long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin. This song is written nostalgically looking back in the early 1980s, but the statement “Where have all the good times gone” applies to Sri Lanka. You can think of this question bringing back positive memories of Sri Lanka. This song features piano, electric piano, an orchestra and subtle guitar parts. Elton sings passionately asking this question. In the final section of the song, Elton brings in some rock piano and sings more intensely.

The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & The Range (1986)

Its lyrics open with the fitting words “Standing in line, marking time”. This is a piano driven rock song with the piano played by the singer. The chorus has the lines “That’s just the way it is. Some things will never change.” It also adds “Don’t you believe them” which I like. This message is useful for Sri Lanka, as the common defeatist statement “That’s just the way it is” has been said for years regarding Sri Lanka’s problems. I hope the protests will result in action to fix the problems plaguing Sri Lankan society currently and for decades. Bruce gives inspired piano playing throughout including two piano solos. 

Sihina Lowak - Clarence Wijewardena (2002)

This is an instrumental version of a song by Sri Lankan musician Clarence Wijewardena. It opens with a keyboard part which comes back later. The song features catchy guitars. There is a saxophone played in the Sri Lankan style. In the last section of the song there is some subtle singing by Clarence going with the guitar parts. This is a relaxing gentle song which reflects the wonder of Sri Lanka. The wonder of Sri Lanka is something to look at in these dark times. 

Working On a Dream - Bruce Springsteen (2009)

This is an optimistic song. Bruce sings of working on a dream. Many Sri Lankans are dreaming of what they wish to see for Sri Lanka. I dream of a Sri Lanka where there is clean politics, peace, no racism & discrimination, a thriving economy, a good quality of life among other much needed developments. This song features good dark, rock piano notes. There is a nice section where Bruce whistles. This song talks of the importance of working on a dream.

These are a collection of songs I selected that I feel are suitable for the current times in Sri Lanka. Music when done right can express our thoughts and feelings in a truthful manner. It can touch us, comfort us and inspire us to do better. I’m very sad by the current state of Sri Lanka, though I am pleased to see the unified call for change coming from Sri Lanka’s different communities and groups. I’m so sorry to all the people back home in Sri Lanka for the suffering you’re going through. It’s my wish to see a better Sri Lanka emerge.