More Than a Feeling

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More Than a Feeling

Written by Tom Scholz
Performed by Boston
Released September 1976

I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away

It’s more than a feeling (more than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
Till I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin’ away

So many people have come and gone
Their faces fade as the years go by
Yet I still recall as I wander on
As clear as the sun in the summer sky

It’s more than a feeling (more than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
Till I see Marianne walk away
I see my Marianne walkin’ away

When I’m tired and thinking cold
I hide in my music, forget the day
And dream of a girl I used to know
I closed my eyes and she slipped away
She slipped away

It’s more than a feeling (more than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)
I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)
Till I see Marianne walk away

____________________________

This is a song about music’s relationship with memory and that’s a topic I find fascinating. At this moment, there are any number of people who might struggle to remember what they had for lunch two days ago, but who can recall all of the lyrics to a song they haven’t heard in decades. A melody helps to write information on our brain forever.

Doesn’t that suggest something about how our brains work? Either through evolution or design, we learn and remember more effectively through song. If we harnessed that more effectively, and with intention, a lot of people who believe themselves to be unintelligent would quickly figure out the opposite is true. It’s also strange to think our day-to-day language might work best if it’s musical to some degree.

It’s deeper than that, though. As the song suggests, we develop specific musical associations with particular people. I knew a guy in the 90s who liked Dave Matthews Band so much that everyone called him Dave Matthews. I still think of him when I hear Ants Marching. One of my best friends growing up was a huge Counting Crows fan. I have very specific memories, with him, associated with that band’s songs. One of my ex-girlfriends used to have as her phone ringtone Soul Meets Body by Dethcab for Cutie, so every time I hear that song I am reminded of her.

I used to weaponize this facet of the human brain against other people (or at least for myself.) I have, for my entire adult life, intentionally associated myself strongly with one song or another. There are a lot of people out in the world who associate me strongly with Vince Gill’s “I Still Believe in You,” the Travis Tritt “Mac in a wheelchair” music video trilogy, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and some other popular but not too popular works of musical art. I can usually figure out when someone knew me best based on what they tell me reminds them of me. As a low-profile introvert, I like to think that I ensured my ability to be remembered with this tactic.

Sidenote: I miss the “song as ringtone” era. People were more expressive in the early to mid aughts. Most normal people today leave their phones on silent, don’t talk on the phone at all, and do their best in general to not be noticed. And everyone else seems like they go too far in the other direction – usually with a similar aesthetic playbook – to be seen.

It’s okay to exist. It’s actually great that you exist.

Anyway, this song is about all of that and I like it that it makes me think. What’s it all about though? (via wiki)

“More Than a Feeling” is a song by the American rock band Boston, released as the lead single and the opening track from the band’s 1976 debut album by Epic Records in September 1976, with “Smokin’” as the B-side. Tom Scholz wrote the entire song. The single entered the US Billboard Hot 100 on September 18 and peaked at number five. The track is now a staple of classic rock radio, and in 2008, it was named the 39th-best hard rock song of all time by VH1. It was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll” and was ranked number 212 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list in 2021, updated from its previous position of number 500 on the 2004 version.

Background and writing

“More than a Feeling” took Scholz five years to complete. Scholz wrote the lyrics based on the idea of losing someone close, and on the way in which music can connect a person to memories of the past. Though not based on any specific event in Scholz’s life, he did take the name Marianne from his cousin. It is one of six songs (five of which eventually appeared on the Boston album) that he worked on in his basement from 1968 to 1975, before Boston got its record contract. The drum parts were originally developed by Jim Masdea, although Sib Hashian played the drums on the official release. The song is in compound AABA form.

Content

The Book of Rock Lists suggests that the chorus riff may itself be a subtle homage to the Kingsmen‘s classic, “Louie Louie.” Scholz has stated in multiple interviews his fondness for the James Gang, and in particular that band’s 1970s album, James Gang Rides Again. Accordingly, the signature riff for “More than a Feeling” bears a resemblance to that composed by Joe Walsh for the “Rides Again” track “Tend My Garden”. Scholz credits “Walk Away Renee” by The Left Banke as the song’s main inspiration.

Boston’s website says the song is about “the power an old song can have in your life”, with Scholz elaborating that “it was sort of a bittersweet ballad.” Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci points out that this is a common theme in Boston songs.

The lyrics express the author’s discontent with the present and his yearning for a former love named Marianne, whose memory is strongly evoked by an old familiar song. In an interview Scholz was asked, “Who is Marianne?” He replied, “There actually is a Marianne. She wasn’t my girlfriend.” He explained that when he was 8 or 9 years old he had a much older cousin who he thought was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and that he was “secretly in love” with her (laughs), but he has also stated that the lyrics were inspired by his emotions after a school love affair ended, and were influenced by the lyrics of the Left Banke song “Walk Away Renee“. Maximum Guitar author Andy Aledort pointed out that the guitar chord progression of G-D/F♯-Em7-D that follows the line “I see my Marianne walking away” also comes from “Walk Away Renee.” Aledort also explains that the guitar solo is unusual in that it incorporates mordents and inverted mordents, which are more typically used in baroque music.

Reception

Billboard described “More Than a Feeling” as an “electric guitar-dominated rocker…made commercial with an accessible beat and hand-clap backup and smooth, soaring vocals.” Cash Box said “it’s a hard-rock offering, but has a sophisticated melody that makes good use of minor chords” and has “attractive” unison guitar work and powerful vocals. Record World said that with the song Boston “shows it is adept at rocking with a heavy metal fury, yet at the same time builds a dynamic tension around the melody of the tune.” Classic Rock critic Paul Elliott rated it as “Boston’s all-time greatest song”. Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn called it a “marvelously appealing pop-rock single” and said that it ranks with Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” as one of the best singles of 1976. Hilburn also said that the song combines “the graceful splendor and rousing melodic hooks of the Moody Blues, the strident guitar impact of Queen’s Brian May and some of the romantic pop-rock consciousness of Eric Carmen and the old Raspberries.”

Guitar World states that when the radio plays “More Than a Feeling”, “few can resist indulging in fits of fleet-fingered air guitar and a spirited falsetto sing-along.” Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Paul Evans states that “as slick as it sounds, ‘More Than a Feeling’ strikes an uncommonly resonant emotional note.” Gallucci rated it Boston’s greatest song, as did Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian. Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson rated it the number-28 all-time classic rock song.

As mentioned above, this song isn’t merely a thinker. It’s one of the most popular and well-loved rock and roll songs of all time. I love the vocals and the music. Honestly, I like the music so much that I think it would have been memorable without lyrics. It charted well when it was released, but it grew in popularity over time. Maybe Boston figured out how to live in the memories of their listeners.

Chart (1976–1977)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	11
Belgium (VRT Top 30)	14
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)	41
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)	16
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	4
Japan (Oricon)	68
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	13
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	15
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	9
UK Singles (OCC)	22
US Billboard Hot 100	5
US Cash Box Top 100	4
West Germany (GfK	15

Boston’s song about musical memories is now the source of many musical memories.

Here is the song. You already know it. It’s probably making you think about a time, person, or place. If not, now maybe it will make you think of me.