After learning guitar at the age of 12, Scaggs met Steve Miller at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. In 1959, he became the vocalist for Miller's band The Marksmen. The pair later attended the University of Wisconsin together, playing in blues bands like The Ardells and The Fabulous Knight Trains. Leaving school, Scaggs briefly left Texas to join the burgeoning rhythm and blues scene in London. After singing in bands such as The Wigs and Mother Earth, he recorded his first solo album Boz in 1965, which was not a commercial success. He traveled to Sweden as a solo performer and did a brief stint with the band The Other Side with fellow American Jack Downing and Brit Mac MacLeod.
Returning to the US, Scaggs promptly headed for the booming psychedelic music center of San Francisco in 1967. Linking up with Steve Miller again, he appeared on the Steve Miller Band's first two albums Children of the Future and Sailor, which won over critical reviews. After being spotted by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, Scaggs secured a solo contract with Atlantic Records in 1968. Despite good reviews, his first Atlantic album was met with lukewarm sales, as were followup albums on Columbia Records. In 1976, he linked up with session musicians who would later form Toto and recorded his smash album Silk Degrees. The album reached number 2 on the US charts and number 1 in a number of countries across the world, spawning three hit singles: "Lowdown", "Lido Shuffle", and "What Can I Say", as well as the MOR standard "We're All Alone", later a hit for Rita Coolidge. A sellout world tour followed, but his follow-up album, the 1977 Down Two Then Left, lacked the cohesion of Silk Degrees.
Scaggs' 1980 album Middle Man would spawn two top 20 hits, "Breakdown Dead Ahead" and "Jojo," and Scaggs would enjoy two more hits over 1980 and 1981 ("Look What You've Done to Me" from the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, and "Miss Sun" from a greatest hits set).
Scaggs continued to record and tour sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although he semi-retired from the music business and turned owner of the San Francisco nightclub Slim's. His lengthy hiatus from the music industry slowed his chart career down dramatically.
Scaggs recorded Other Roads in 1988, took another hiatus, and then came back in 1994 with Some Change. In the late 190s he released Come On Home, an album of blues, and My Time, an anthology. He garnered good reviews with Dig, although the CD, which was released on September 11, 2001, was lost in the post-911 melée. In May, 2003, Scaggs released But Beautiful, a collection of jazz standards that debuted at number 1 on the jazz charts.
In 2013 he released the album Memphis
Near You
Boz Scaggs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(As long as I'm near you) Nothing will seem to pass away
Long as I'm near you, longing to hear you
Long as I'm near you
(I want to believe you) When you say the things you do
(And so I believe you) You make it all appear so true
Glad that I found you, it's good to be around you
When it comes to making time
Little girl, you sure made mine
You made my day, you made my way to stay
(I want to be near you) You're my all, you're my everything
(As long as I'm near you) There's a song in my heart to sing
The song of your laughter is all that I'm after
I want to be near you
Love is such a happy song
And when love comes along
It's good to be alive, it's good that you arrived on time
(I want to be near you)
I want to be near you, I want to be near you
(As long as I'm near you)
As long as I'm near you, as long as I'm near you
(I want to believe you)
I want to believe you, I want to believe
(And so I believe you)
And so I believe you, and so I believe you
(I want to believe you)
I want to believe you, I want to believe
(As long as I'm near you)
As long as I'm near you, as long as I'm near you
The lyrics of Boz Scaggs's song Near You express the deep desire to be near someone and the reassurance that being near that person will dispel all worries and troubles. The singer of the song insists that he wants to be near the subject of the song, to listen to her words and believe her words because being near her makes everything seem more truthful and real. He is grateful to have found her and to be near her because it feels good to be around her. The singer acknowledges that love is a happy song and says that when love comes along it is good to be alive, and that it was good that she arrived on time.
Line by Line Meaning
(I want to be near you) I want to hear what you have to say
The singer wants to be close to the person they are addressing so they can listen to and understand what they have to say.
(As long as I'm near you) Nothing will seem to pass away
Being close to the person will make time pass more slowly and make it feel like everything is standing still.
Long as I'm near you, longing to hear you
The singer desires to be near the person they address and to continue listening to them.
Long as I'm near you
The artist wants to remain near the person they address.
(I want to believe you) When you say the things you do
The artist desires to have trust and faith in what the addressed person say.
(And so I believe you) You make it all appear so true
The person the singer is addressing makes their words seem sincere and trustworthy.
Glad that I found you, it's good to be around you
The singer is happy and content to be around the addressed person.
Good to be near you
The artist values and cherishes being close to the addressed person.
When it comes to making time
The artist is reflecting on how the addressed person has had a positive impact on their life.
Little girl, you sure made mine
The artist is addressing someone they deeply care for and implying that they have made a significant impact on their life.
You made my day, you made my way to stay
The addressed person has made a huge difference in the singer's life and provided them with a renewed sense of hope.
(I want to be near you) You're my all, you're my everything
The person the artist is addressing is incredibly important to them and means the world to them.
(As long as I'm near you) There's a song in my heart to sing
Being near the addressed person brings the singer immense happiness and joy.
The song of your laughter is all that I'm after
The addressed person's laughter is what the singer craves and desires most.
I want to be near you
The singer deeply longs to be near the addressed person.
Love is such a happy song
The artist is reflecting on the positive and uplifting feeling of love.
And when love comes along
The artist is remarking on the transformative power of love.
It's good to be alive, it's good that you arrived on time
The singer is happy and content to be alive and feels grateful that the addressed person came into their life.
(I want to be near you)
The singer has a strong desire to be close to the person they are addressing.
I want to be near you, I want to be near you
The artist repeats their desire to be near the addressed person.
(As long as I'm near you)
Being near the addressed person is a vital and important aspect of the artist's life.
As long as I'm near you, as long as I'm near you
The artist repeats the importance of being near the addressed person.
(I want to believe you)
The singer desires to trust and have faith in what the addressed person says.
I want to believe you, I want to believe
The artist repeats their desire to believe what the addressed person says.
(And so I believe you)
The addressed person has instilled a sense of trust and faith in the singer.
And so I believe you, and so I believe you
The singer repeats their belief in the addressed person's words.
(I want to believe you)
The singer deepy desires to trust and have faith in the addressed person.
(As long as I'm near you)
Being near the addressed person is integral to maintaining trust and faith in what they say.
As long as I'm near you, as long as I'm near you
The artist repeats the importance of being near the addressed person.
Contributed by Hudson O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.