Richman became enamored with the Velvet Underground while he was still in high school, and after graduating in 1969, he moved to New York City where he became personally acquainted with the band. Richman spent a couple of weeks sleeping on Velvets manager Steve Sesnick's sofa before moving into the Hotel Albert, a residence known for its poor conditions. After nine months in New York, Richman moved back to his native Boston and organized a band modeled after the Velvets. Christening themselves "the Modern Lovers," the group included Richman's childhood friend John Felice as guitarist, David Robinson on drums, and Rolfe Anderson on bass. The Modern Lovers played their first date in September 1970, barely a month after Richman's return to Boston.
In early 1971 Anderson and Felice departed; they were replaced by bassist Ernie Brooks, and keyboardist Jerry Harrison, completing the classic lineup of the Modern Lovers. This new configuration became very popular in the Boston area, and by the fall of 1971, enthusiastic word-of-mouth led to the Modern Lovers' first exposure to a major label when Stuart Love of Warner Bros. Records contacted them and organized the band's first multi-track session at Intermedia Studio in Boston. The demo produced from this session generated more attention from the industry, and soon A&M Records was interested in the band as well.
In April 1972, the Modern Lovers traveled to Los Angeles where they held two demo sessions; the first was produced by the Velvet Underground's John Cale for Warner Bros. while the second was produced by Alan Mason for A&M. In June 1972 producer Kim Fowley also courted the band, traveling to Boston to produce some poor-quality demos that were later released in 1981 on an album misleadingly titled The Original Modern Lovers.
Despite their continued success as a live act, the Modern Lovers had a difficult time securing a record deal. Cale produced another session for the band in Los Angeles in September 1973, but nothing usable was recorded. Soon after, Fowley produced yet another session with the band, this time at Gold Star Studios with much better results than he'd had in Boston, but by this time Richman was pushing for a drastic, new direction. Richman wanted to scrap all of the tracks they had recorded and start over with a mellower, more lyrical sound. The rest of the band, while not opposed to such a shift later, insisted that they record as they sounded now. These issues stymied efforts to complete a debut album, and, eventually, led to the band's breakup by the end of 1973.
Richman continued recording on his own, eventually moving to California in 1975 to begin working with Beserkley Records. While Richman never returned to the Velvets-inspired sound of the original Modern Lovers, the demo recordings made with that group eventually surfaced in various formats. The first of these releases came in 1976 when Beserkley compiled a posthumous LP from the first demo two sessions produced by Cale and Mason; issued on Beserkley's Home of the Hits subsidiary, the album was simply titled The Modern Lovers and included celebrated tracks such as "Roadrunner", "She Cracked", and "Pablo Picasso". Richman did not recognize this compilation as his "first album," preferring to recognize his debut as 1977's Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, an album pursuing the lighter, softer direction he had in mind with a completely different band. However, The Modern Lovers was given an enthusiastic, critical reception, with critic Ira Robbins hailing it as "one of the truly great art rock albums of all time," and it influenced numerous aspiring punk rock musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Sex Pistols (who covered "Roadrunner" on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle).
Despite the original group's premature break-up, many of its members found considerable success elsewhere: founding member John Felice formed the seminal Real Kids, Jerry Harrison later joined Talking Heads, David Robinson co-founded the Cars, and Ernie Brooks would later work with David Johansen. Richman retained use of the band name "the Modern Lovers," reusing the name for his subsequent groups in the 1970s and 1980s, but these bands were always billed as Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. Richman continues to perform, often solo and preferring acoustic instruments, and currently has no plans to undertake another group like his original band. A tribute album comprised primarily of Modern Lovers songs, If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman, was released by Wampus Multimedia in 2001.
Back in The U.S.A.
Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So they'll see that Jonathan ain't quite so bad.
I wanna be back in your life
I wanna be back in your life
Baby baby baby
Baby baby baby
Take me to the fields you used to roam
When I'm back in your life
I wanna be back in your life
Baby baby baby
Baby baby baby
Well, Take me to your favorite covered bridge,
And the road that leads high o'er the ridge.
I wanna be back in your life
I wanna be back in your life
Baby baby baby
Baby baby
well Gimme a break! Bang Bang!
Gimme a break! Bang Bang!
Gimme a
Well, show me the saddle and show me the stirrup,
And then we'll help your daddy when he goes out for maple syrup
I wanna be back in your life
I wanna be back in your life
Baby baby baby
Baby
I will wait a long time, if that's what it takes,
But someday I wanna help your mamma when she brings out the pancakes
I wanna be back in your life
I wanna be back in your life
Baby baby
I wanna be back in your life
And time's-a-wastin'
Cuz what once was a puppy is now a dog
And what once was a piglet is now a hog
and I wanna be back in your life
oh I wanna be back in your life.
In Jonathan Richman's song, "Back In Your Life," the singer addresses a lover, asking them to take him to their hometown so that he can meet their family and convince them that he is a good match. The singer mentions specific landmarks, such as fields and a covered bridge, that are significant to the lover's childhood memories, showing that he wants to be a part of their past as well as their present. The repeated refrain of "I wanna be back in your life" emphasizes the singer's desire to be with his lover, who he may have lost touch with for a time. In the final verse, the singer acknowledges that time is running out and compares their relationship to the fleeting youth of a puppy or piglet, further emphasizing his urgency to be reunited with his partner.
The lyrics of "Back In Your Life" suggest a sense of nostalgia combined with a willingness to move forward with a relationship. The specific references to the lover's childhood and family home evoke a longing for a simpler time in the past. The singer's repeated plea to be "back in your life" implies that he may have made mistakes or lost touch with his partner, but he is now committed to making things work.
Overall, the song suggests that love and relationships require effort and a willingness to understand and connect with one another's pasts. The specific references to the lover's hometown and memories show that the singer is interested in more than just a surface-level connection, but is invested in building a long-term relationship based on shared experiences and understanding.
Line by Line Meaning
Well take me way up north to meet your Mom and Dad,
I want to meet your parents so they can see that I'm not a bad guy after all.
So they'll see that Jonathan ain't quite so bad.
I want to change your parents' opinion of me and prove that I'm actually a decent person.
I wanna be back in your life
I want to be a part of your life again and start fresh.
Baby baby baby
I miss you and want to make things right between us.
Take me to the fields you used to roam
Take me to the special places that are meaningful to you so I can share in those memories too.
So your pal Jonathan can call them home
I want to be a part of your life to the point where even these small places are familiar to me and I feel like I belong there too.
Well, Take me to your favorite covered bridge,
Show me the places you love so I can love them too.
And the road that leads high o'er the ridge.
Take me to the scenic routes that you adore and let me share in your passion for them.
Well Gimme a break! Bang Bang!
This is exasperating! I want to get on with things and make progress between us!
Well, show me the saddle and show me the stirrup,
I want to learn about the things that are important to you, even if they're unfamiliar to me.
And then we'll help your daddy when he goes out for maple syrup
I want to be a part of your life in every way possible, even the mundane everyday things.
I will wait a long time, if that's what it takes,
I'm willing to put in the time and effort to prove to you that I'm serious about making things work between us.
But someday I wanna help your mamma when she brings out the pancakes
I want to be a part of your family and do things that families do, like helping with breakfast.
And time's-a-wastin'
We shouldn't waste any more time being apart from each other.
Cuz what once was a puppy is now a dog
Time passes quickly and things change, so we need to act fast if we want to make up for lost time.
And what once was a piglet is now a hog
If we don't act soon, we'll miss out on things that could have been great if we had just taken the opportunity when we had it.
oh I wanna be back in your life.
I miss being a part of your life and I want to make things right between us.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, MODERN LOVE SONGS
Written by: Jonathan Michael Richman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sauquoit13456
On this day in 1959 {June 22nd} Chuck Berry's "Back In The U.S.A." entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; eventually it peaked at #37 and spent 8 weeks in the Top 100... In 1978 Linda Ronstadt covered it; her version peaked at #16 on the Top 100 chart... The B-side was "Memphis"; two covered versions of this song made the Hot Top 100, in 1963 Lonnie Mack reached #5 with his instrumental version and in 1967 Johnny Rivers' 'recorded live' version peaked at #2 {for 2 weeks}...
@giuliogrifi7739
Primordial rock'n'roll...if possible, more than that of Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@chrisz6381
I'm so glad I was brought up in the USA
@nowaylon2008
It's true!