The group first formed in the mind of Tom Scholz, who had long expressed interest in melodic rock and the fine particulars of recording technology. Even as a child, he tinkered with just about anything mechanical or electronic that he could get his hands on. Prior to his musical career, Scholz received both a bachelor's degree, in 1969, and a master's degree, in 1970, in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then began working for the Polaroid Corporation as a senior product design engineer. Scholz would then reside in Boston.
Creating demos in his own home, inspired by contemporary 70s progressive rock and what came to be known as "album oriented rock" ("aor"), Scholz attracted the interest of Epic Records, who signed Scholz to a recording contract. Vocalist Brad Delp, who was born in Peabody, Massachusetts in 1951 (Scholz is about four years older) to French-Canadian immigrants and was inspired to sing after seeing The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, served as a sort of not-so secret weapon for Scholz's project. Delp's "golden voice" has inspired numerous later rock artists to take up the microphone.
Scholz believed that his demos were good enough to be the released album but Epic told him to rerecord them. Most of the guitar, bass, and keyboards were performed by Scholz, although other players were involved sporadically throughout the recording of the album. Epic did not want the album recorded entirely in Scholz's home as Scholz intended (they suggested using a recording studio), but most of what ended up on the album was ultimately recorded by Scholz in his basement.
'Boston' was first released by Epic Records on August 25, 1976. Few industry insiders thought a guitar-heavy rock record could make much of a dent in the charts as disco ruled the airwaves at the time. The album broke out of Cleveland first, and the following week it had been added at 392 stations. Scholz, then 29, still worked at Polaroid during the first few weeks of the record's success and felt wary, changing his mind when the album quickly sold 200,000 copies. Critical praise also came to the band; for example, Rolling Stone wrote that Boston's "affinity for heavy rock & roll provides a sense of dynamics that coheres magnetically with sophisticated progressive structures."
The album was certified gold just two months after its release, and it sold another 500,000 copies within 30 days, going platinum for the first time in November 1976. With songs that became rock anthems such as the evergreen "More Than a Feeling", 'Boston' is the second best-selling debut album of all time in the United States, falling just short of Guns N' Roses' 'Appetite for Destruction'. Many critics have named it as one of the best American albums of all time. Its popularity was not only huge, but also durable: into the 2000s it was believed to be the only 1970s album that still had every single track in regular rotation on classic rock radio.
With a touring unit coming together around the line-up of Barry Goudreau, Tom Scholz, Sib Hashian, Brad Delp, and Fran Sheehan, the band played to a wide variety of crowds big and small, receiving strong fan support. Feeling an essentially unbearable amount of pressure to come up with another commercial mega-hit, Scholz still desired to experiment with his sound and had a growing sense of perfectionism. 'Don't Look Back' came out on August 2, 1978, viewed by Scholz as a hurried effort but picking up widespread success. It's been certified as multi-platinum, and its title track has become a classic rock staple.
Acrimonious fighting with label Epic Records, which soon became a long, drawn-out legal fight, left the future of the band stalled. Their next work, 'Third Stage' , came out in September 23, 1986, quite a while after their sophomore work. Bad luck and ill-will seemed to trail the group, with floods and power failures halting many studio sessions. Still, the album went to #1 on the Billboard 200, where it stayed for four weeks.
In addition, 'Third Stage' was only the second album to ever be certified triple-platinum in its first month of release, in November of 1986. As stated before, the first was Lionel Richie's 'Dancing On The Ceiling', which did it one month earlier. Nonetheless, Boston seemed to have gotten stuck.
On March 9th, 2007, Brad Delp (vocals) committed suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire. He was 55. Delp sang all the lead and harmony vocals on Boston's first three albums. Though well known for his "golden" voice with soaring vocals and range, Delp was also a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, harmonica and keyboards. Additionally he wrote or co-wrote several songs for Boston and many other artists.
More than 10 years in the making, Boston came out with a new studio album, "Life, Love & Hope" in 2013. Founding member, Tom Scholz stated, "These are songs from the heart, each of them taking many months of effort to write, arrange, perform and record, always up to the demands of Boston's harshest critic, me. They have all been meticulously recorded to analog tape on the same machines and equipment used for Boston's hits for the past 35 years."
The band, with Scholz and a new lineup, toured extensively in 2016-2017.
Boston's web site is at www.bandboston.com
You Gave Up on Love
Boston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So the story goes
There's no changin' what you believe
But you're the one who knows
You gave up on love
You gave up so easily
Guess you're not so tough
Saw the way so long ago
Guess it was beyond us
You won't say but you still know
You just broke your promise
You gave up on love
You gave up so easily
Guess you're not so tough
You gave up on everything love could be
Hey, you run to me but it's just not enough
Hey, you couldn't see that you had to be
You had to be in love
You gave up on love
You gave up so easily
Guess you're not so tough
You gave up on everything love could be
You gave up on love, hey
You gave up on love
And you gave up on everything love could be
The lyrics of Boston's song "You Gave Up on Love" portrays the feeling of disappointment after a loved one has given up on love. The lyrics suggest that the person had a mindset that love is all one needs. However, at some point, they lost faith in the power of love, and the relationship broke apart. The lyricist suggests that the partner who gave up will always know that they broke a promise and let love slip away easily when things got tough.
The chorus of the song highlights the fact that the partner gave up on everything love could be without trying. The words "guess you're not so tough" could mean that when things got difficult, the partner couldn't face the challenges but instead gave up on the relationship. The lines, "Hey, you run to me, but it's just not enough" depict that despite seeking refuge in the other person, the partner who gave up on love has lost the love they seek.
The lyricist draws the conclusion that the partner maybe did not fully understand the true meaning of love or that it required some effort and work to be successful. The song expresses a sense of frustration and regret, with a note of loss and the realization that the partner missed out on everything that love could have been.
Line by Line Meaning
You say love is all you need
You claim that love is the only requirement for happiness
So the story goes
This is a common belief or narrative
There's no changin' what you believe
Your convictions about love are unlikely to be altered
But you're the one who knows
You have personal experience with these beliefs
You gave up on love
You abandoned the idea of finding love
You gave up so easily
You didn't give the pursuit of love much effort
Guess you're not so tough
You lack the resilience to persist in love
You gave up on everything love could be
You forfeited all the potential happiness and growth that love could bring
Saw the way so long ago
You recognized the path to love a while back
Guess it was beyond us
It was perhaps too difficult for us to navigate together
You won't say but you still know
You won't express it, but you continue to carry this knowledge
You just broke your promise
You failed to fulfill your commitment to pursue and value love
Hey, you run to me but it's just not enough
You seek comfort or validation from me, but my presence cannot compensate for the love you lack
Hey, you couldn't see that you had to be
You failed to realize that being present and actively engaged was necessary for love to thrive
You gave up on love, hey
Again, you gave up on the idea of love
And you gave up on everything love could be
You forfeited all the potential happiness and growth that love could bring
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: TOM SCHOLZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@babybluesnowden
what a great song, damn radio missed a winner here. so so sad about brad, RIP. Rock on Boston forever, thx for posting this
@arod762
Hello from 14 years later
@marckaizer3316
Just saw Boston in Toronto at 70yrs old Tom Sholtz is still amazing! Keep on Rockin Boston. Rip Brad
@RiVaLBrite
I was there too :) Amazing concert, my first time seeing them live
@marckaizer3316
Awsome!!!!!!
@stevepettry583
Been a fan since 1976
I never thought I would like a song without Brad, but I like this.
@armenps524
Great song, unique production. I think Tom produced this album and its amazing how the guitars and vocals translate in the mix.
@GOGTOXIC
I'll give the corporate America album this. It sounds cool. It's not the Boston I love, but it still sounds cool. It will never surpass the original two albums, but it won't die either. I just wish brad Delp could have been on vocals. R.I.P Brad, R.I.P
@jondinan268
Brad sang 4 songs on Corporate America
@cbarsonfire
I gave up on love. Love is a dream of days in the past never to be found again. Many other woman have been able to replace that special person.