Bachman–Turner Overdrive (frequently known as BTO) is a Canadian rock group… Read Full Bio ↴Bachman–Turner Overdrive (frequently known as BTO) is a Canadian rock group from Winnipeg, Manitoba that's best known for its series of five Top 40 albums and six Top 40 singles in the 1970s, selling over 7 million albums in that decade alone. Overall, the band has sold nearly 30 million albums worldwide. Many of their songs, including "Let It Ride", "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", "Takin' Care of Business", "Hey You" and "Roll On Down the Highway", still receive play on classic rock radio stations. BTO fans are affectionately known as "gearheads" (derived from the band's gear-shaped logo).

The precursor to BTO was the band Brave Belt, which was formed in 1970 by Randy Bachman and Chad Allan (both of The Guess Who), Robbie Bachman and Fred Turner. An original form of the group included musician Keith Emerson of The Nice (and later of Emerson, Lake & Palmer), but he was dropped due to illness. After two moderately successful Brave Belt albums came out, Allan was replaced by Tim Bachman, the third of the Bachman brothers, and the band changed its name to Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Hailing from Winnipeg, Canada as stated before, BTO released their first album under that name in the spring of 1973. Their second album was Bachman-Turner Overdrive II, and it became a massive hit in the US and their native Canada. It also yielded their best-remembered single, "Takin' Care of Business" written by Randy Bachman. BTO were one of the early hard rock bands which opted for songs backed by catchy melodies and powerful riffing. The band also promoted a strait-laced lifestyle due to the Mormon religious beliefs of Randy Bachman.

Tim Bachman left because of limited performance skills and personal lifestyle issues, and was replaced by Blair Thornton. The first album with the modified lineup, 1974's Not Fragile became a hit, including the #1 single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet". The band continued to steadily produce successful albums through the mid-1970s including Four Wheel Drive and Head On (both 1975).

After the release of Freeways in 1977, Randy Bachman left the group for a solo career and another band, Ironhorse. Randy was replaced by Jim Clench, formerly of April Wine, and BTO released a pair of albums before breaking up in 1979. They reunited in 1983, leading to a lawsuit between the brothers, as one group, led by Randy, toured as Bachman-Turner Overdrive and another, led by Robbie, toured as BTO (Robbie Bachman, Fred Turner, Blair Thornton, and Randy Murray). Interestingly enough, in 1984 the line up for Bachman-Turner's first studio LP in 5 years consisted of Randy and Tim Bachman, Fred Turner and Garry Peterson on drums. In 1986 they were the opening band for the newly reformed Van Halen. By that time Fred Turner had left the band, probably to join the "other" BTO. Robbie Bachman's BTO toured and performed until early 2005.

Musicians Randy Bachman and Fred Turner reunited in 2010 for a tour and collaboration on new songs. In 2010, they notably played the half-time show at the Grey Cup in Edmonton, AB.

Website: http://www.bachmanandturner.com/

Blown
Bachman-Turner Overdrive Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I used to smoke my brains out
Fly through the sky
I used to freak out
Didn't wondered why
I heard the Stones a rollin'
And I'd roll too
I didn't care what I was doin'
As long as I was with you

I was blown (woo woo)
And that's what you are now
I was blown (woo woo)
Didn't care why or how
I was blown (woo woo)
Ran and jumped and screamed
I was blo-o-own
Right inside a dream

I used to tell my story
Right out loud
I sure was in my glory
I sure was proud
But then one day I fell down
I couldn't get up
People crowdin' all around
That was when they locked me up

I was blown (woo woo)
And that's what you are now
I was blown (woo woo)
Didn't care why or how
I was blown (woo woo)
Ran and jumped and screamed
I was blo-o-own
Right inside, Right inside
Right inside a dream

I was blown (woo woo)
And that's what you are now
I was blown (woo woo)
Didn't care why or how
I was blown (woo woo)
Ran and jumped and screamed
I was blo-o-own
Right inside, Right inside
Right inside a dream

I was blown (woo woo)

I was blown (woo woo)
I was blown blown blown (woo woo)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Blown" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive tell the story of a person who used to live life recklessly, enjoying smoking and experimenting with drugs as well as living in the moment with someone else, not caring about the consequences. They were living their life without any real consideration for the future, and felt that they were invincible. The reference to the Rolling Stones suggests that they were living in the time period of the 60s or 70s when rock and roll and drugs were prevalent in society.

However, after a while, the singer falls down and cannot get up, which leads to them being locked up. This illustrates that while living in the moment may seem exciting and free, it is not sustainable in the long term. The singer ends up paying a price for their reckless behaviour, which clashes with the previous carefree attitude of the song.

The repeated chorus of "I was blown" suggests that the singer was under the influence of drugs, but it can also be interpreted as being blown away by life or by a particular experience. The phrase "didn't care why or how" conveys that the singer was not thinking about the implications of their actions, and was just living in the moment.

Overall, the song highlights the dangerous and unpredictable consequences of living recklessly with no concern for the future. The chorus, with its repetition of "I was blown," implies that there is a sense of being out of control or overwhelmed when one lives this way.

Line by Line Meaning

I used to smoke my brains out
I used to smoke a lot of weed until my brain shut down

Fly through the sky
I felt like I could fly because of the drugs

I used to freak out
I used to panic a lot

Didn't wondered why
I didn't wonder why I was doing drugs

I heard the Stones a rollin'
I heard The Rolling Stones music playing

And I'd roll too
I would also roll my joints to smoke

I didn't care what I was doin'
I didn't care about what I was doing

As long as I was with you
As long as I was with my drug dealer

I was blown (woo woo)
I was high and out of my mind

And that's what you are now
That's what you are feeling now

Ran and jumped and screamed
I was running around, jumping and screaming because of the drugs