Johnson was born in the small town of Alamosa, Colorado, in the south-central part of the state; he grew up in Denver. He started playing the guitar at 13. In 1963, he began attending Colorado State University to study music but his college career was truncated when he won an international talent contest two years later. First prize included a deal with Epic Records. Epic released the song "Hills", written and sung by Johnson, as a single. Johnson began extensive touring of clubs and colleges, finding a receptive audience everywhere he went.
Wishing to hone his instrumental skills, in 1966 he set off for Barcelona, Spain, to the Liceu Conservatory, studying with the eminent classical guitarists, Graciano Tarragó and Renata Tarragó. Upon his return to the States, he joined Randy Sparks in a group called the New Society and did a tour of the Orient. When the band dissolved in 1967, he signed on with the Chad Mitchell Trio for a year, spending some of that time co-writing with another member, John Denver. The group was renamed Denver, Boise & Johnson. When the trio came to an end, Johnson made a radical departure from everything he had done previously by taking on a major supporting role in the off-Broadway production of "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris." The show visited New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago over the next year; by then, Johnson was ready to return to creating and performing his own music.
In 1971, Johnson signed with Atco Records to release his first album, There Is A Breeze, which was released in 1973 and produced by Johnson, Chris Dedrick, Peter Yarrow and Phil Ramone in New York and Toronto, Canada. Feeling this first effort wasn't a true reflection of his music (despite being a huge best seller in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area), Johnson self-produced his next LP in 1975, For All You Mad Musicians, relying more on his voice and guitar for a folk feel. He followed this up with Ain't Dis Da Life, where he added a rhythm section. With each new recording and his continued touring, his popularity was increasing. It was time to make a move on the national market.
Teaming up with Brent Maher and Steve Gibson in Nashville, Tennessee, Johnson created a two-song demo consisting of "Bluer Than Blue" and "Almost Like Being in Love" (the latter song from the Broadway musical Brigadoon). EMI America took one listen and wasted no time in signing him, quickly getting The Michael Johnson Album out in 1978. The first single, "Bluer Than Blue", became Johnson's first Top 40 hit, peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1978; the song became a chart-topping single on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Almost Like Being in Love" went to No. 91 on the R&B chart while hitting the Top 5 on the AC chart and the Top 40 on the pop chart. His next EMI album, Dialogue, provided his third big hit, "This Night Won't Last Forever" and a Gold Record for European sales of "I'll Always Love You."
Johnson recorded five albums in all for EMI and in 1985 moved over to RCA Records, where he adopted a contemporary country style that stayed compatible with his soft, mellow leanings; this shift was evident in his choice of duet partners country-pop singers Juice Newton and Sylvia. Johnson's change proved successful, as he scored five Top Ten country hits from 1986 to 1989, including the chart-toppers "Give Me Wings" and "The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder." After two country albums on RCA (plus two greatest hits collections), Johnson moved over to Atlantic Records in 1991, which effectively halted his commercial momentum. He recorded sporadically in the 1990s for smaller labels. In 1995, the country music group 4 Runner scored a minor hit with the single "Cain's Blood", for which Johnson co-wrote an updated version with Jack Sundrud of Poco. Johnson also proved to be a successful writer of print when he wrote "The Solo Performer" columns for the magazine Performing Songwriter from 1993 through 1998.
In August 2007, Johnson underwent successful quadruple bypass heart surgery. A charitable organization, "Friends of Michael Johnson," was temporarily set up to help defray medical expenses.
Johnson died July 2017, at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the age of 72.
Departure
Michael Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And be lovers out under the stars
From up there the freeways are rivers of light
With diamonds and rubies for cars
And the city is spread like a net at your feet
Catching the stars as they fall
And all of the things that are driving you crazy
Hey let's go up on the mountain tonight
You can bring all your memories along
We'll take all the very best times of our lives
Set them down into a song
And we'll stand on a peak overlooking the world
And sing it as loud as we can
Not one of the millions below us will hear it
But won't the elation be grand
And we'll catch us a ride on the wings of an angel
Flying too close to the ground
And if she is flying away to forever
Maybe we'll never come down
In "Departure," Michael Johnson uses the metaphor of the mountain to represent a space of refuge from the hectic pace of life in the city. He invites a companion to join him on the mountain to escape and find solace in the beauty of the night sky. From their vantage point on the mountain, they are able to look down at the city, its lights like diamonds and rubies. The city, which would otherwise be overwhelming and maddening, is transformed into a net that catches falling stars - a wonder to behold. Johnson suggests that the very things that are causing distress and frustration in life are small and insignificant when viewed from such a height.
Johnson then shifts the focus to the creation of memories, suggesting that our fondest memories can be set to music. The singer and his companion will take the best memories of their lives and turn them into a song, to be belted out from the mountaintop. Although the song will not likely be heard by anyone, the elation of singing it will be worth the effort. The song culminates with the prospect of never coming down from the mountain at all, as they catch a ride on the wings of an angel flying too close to the ground.
Overall, Johnson's lyrics offer an invitation to escape from the stresses of everyday life and find peace in the awe-inspiring beauty of the night sky.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey let's go up on the mountain tonight
Let's take a break from our daily routine and go to a serene mountainous destination to have an escape.
And be lovers out under the stars
We'll spend the night under the stars 'lovingly'.
From up there the freeways are rivers of light
The view of the bright and colourful traffic from the top of the mountain gives the appearance of bright rivers along the sides.
With diamonds and rubies for cars
The head and tail lights of cars look like precious gems from this view.
And the city is spread like a net at your feet
The cityscape appears like a spider web from the top, with us standing on its edge.
Catching the stars as they fall
The attractive 'web' is figuratively holding the stars which would otherwise fall with gravity, showing how small we and our problems are in the vast universe.
And all of the things that are driving you crazy
All of the things we're worried about in the city will be put into perspective, and won't matter as much anymore.
Won't really matter at all
The stress and anxiety won't have the same weight on us when we reach the mountaintop.
You can bring all your memories along
Bring all your personal experiences and previous good times along to reminisce.
We'll take all the very best times of our lives
We'll reminisce about and choose the most incredible memories from our lives.
Set them down into a song
We'll creatively compile and narrate these memories in the form of a song, a tribute to our good times.
And we'll stand on a peak overlooking the world
We'll reach the mountain top and look at the world beneath us, not from a physical yet a metaphorical perspective.
And sing it as loud as we can
Once we reach the peak we'd put our entire heart into the song, with the wind as our audience, a call for happiness.
Not one of the millions below us will hear it
The people below won't be able to hear our song, but it's still worth singing.
But won't the elation be grand
Regardless of not being able to hear it, the personal satisfaction of singing will be enormous.
And we'll catch us a ride on the wings of an angel
We'll try and attach ourselves to something bigger than us, something that carries more weight, towards good fortune.
Flying too close to the ground
We'll aim high, but not unrealistic goals, just enough to soar above our present selves.
And if she is flying away to forever
While we look up for something better for ourselves, somebody already is on a higher pedestal leaving us behind.
Maybe we'll never come down
We may like it up here so much that we might never encounter the ground or our pasts again.
Contributed by Lucas B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
JGold
on Dialogue
first time i heard this song, i teared up. there's something about this song's melody & lyrics that grip my heart. in a beautiful way. & i still tear up when i hear this song