Stewart's music career began in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica. In 1963, he joined The Dimensions as a harmonica player and vocalist. In 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars before moving to the Jeff Beck Group in 1967. Joining Faces in 1969, he also maintained a solo career releasing his debut album that year. Stewart's early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music, and R&B. His third album, 1971's Every Picture Tells a Story, was his breakthrough, topping the charts in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, as did its ballad "Maggie May". His 1972 follow-up album, Never a Dull Moment, also reached number one in the UK and Australia, while going top three in the US and Canada. Its single, "You Wear It Well", topped the chart in the UK and was a moderate hit elsewhere.
After Stewart had a handful more UK top ten hits, the Faces broke up in 1975. Stewart's next few hit singles were ballads with "Sailing", off the 1975 UK and Australian number-one album, Atlantic Crossing, becoming a hit in the UK and the Netherlands (number one), Germany (number four) and other countries, but barely charting in North America. A Night on the Town (1976), his fifth straight chart-topper in the UK, began a three-album run of going number one or top three in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia with each release. That album's "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" spent almost two months at number one in the US and Canada, and made the top five in other countries. Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977) contained the hit "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" as well as the rocker "Hot Legs". Blondes Have More Fun (1978) and its disco-tinged "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" both went to number one in Canada, Australia and the US, with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" also hitting number one in the UK and the top ten in other countries. Stewart's albums regularly hit the upper rungs of the charts in the Netherlands throughout the 70s and in Sweden from 1975 onward.
After a disco and new wave period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stewart's music turned to a soft rock/middle-of-the-road style, with most of his albums reaching the top ten in the UK, Germany and Sweden, but faring less well in the US. The single "Rhythm of My Heart" was a top five hit in the UK, US and other countries, with its source album, 1991's Vagabond Heart, becoming, at number ten in the US and number two in the UK, his highest-charting album in a decade. In 1993, he collaborated with Bryan Adams and Sting on the power ballad "All for Love", which went to number one in many countries. In the early 2000s, he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook.
In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists". A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at No. 33 in Q Magazine's list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time. As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and he was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Stewart
Studio albums
An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (1969)
Gasoline Alley (1970)
Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)
Never a Dull Moment (1972)
Smiler (1974)
Atlantic Crossing (1975)
A Night on the Town (1976)
Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977)
Blondes Have More Fun (1978)
Foolish Behaviour (1980)
Tonight I'm Yours (1981)
Body Wishes (1983)
Camouflage (1984)
Every Beat of My Heart (1986)
Out of Order (1988)
Vagabond Heart (1991)
A Spanner in the Works (1995)
When We Were the New Boys (1998)
Human (2001)
It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook (2002)
As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook, Volume II (2003)
Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III (2004)
Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Volume IV (2005)
Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time (2006)
Soulbook (2009)
Once in a Blue Moon: The Lost Album (2010)
Fly Me to the Moon... The Great American Songbook Volume V (2010)
Merry Christmas, Baby (2012)
Time (2013)
Another Country (2015)
Blood Red Roses (2018)
The Tears of Hercules (2021)
Better Off Dead
Rod Stewart Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tonight I felt like suicide
Roll them dice and pour the wine
Shuffle them cards and deal them fine
Got nobody to kiss tonight
Nothing to lose but my appetite
want to be silly and sing and shout
Gotta get legless and fall about
Cheer me up don't bring me down
Gonna lose my job next week
Getting replaced by a silicone chip
I might have been a hero
But I chose to stay in bed
I might have been prime minister
but right now honey I'm better off dead
I might have been a hero
But I chose to stay in bed
I might have been prime minister
but right now honey I'm better off dead
Don't like the scenery don't like the set
Tear it all down and start again
Man keeps talking on the radio
Telling me what I don't want to know
Radiation wars and layatril
If tax don't get ya then cancer will
I might have been a hero
But I chose to stay in bed
I might have been prime minister
but right now honey I'm better off dead
I might have been a hero
But I chose to stay in bed
I might have been prime minister
but right now honey I'm better off dead
Better off dead, better off dead
Better off dead, better off dead
Rod Stewart's "Better Off Dead" is a sardonic and reflective social commentary on modern life. The lyrics describe a man who is dissatisfied with life and feels that he has nothing to live for, hence the thought of suicide. He is tired of the mundane nature of his life and wants to indulge in vices such as gambling, drinking, and partying to distract himself from his problems. The line, "got nobody to kiss tonight, nothing to lose but my appetite," suggests that he has no love in his life, and he is looking for a temporary escape through these activities. The chorus, "I might have been a hero, but I chose to stay in bed, I might have been prime minister, but right now honey, I'm better off dead," emphasises how the singer's life could have been different, but the current state of affairs has left him feeling hopeless.
The singer's worldview is coloured by pessimism, as he disdains the political and social status quo. He feels the world is broken and wants to "tear it all down and start again" because of the bleak news delivered by the media. The line "if tax don't get ya then cancer will" alludes to the never-ending cycle of life and death, with no control over one's fate. The chorus is a reflection of how the singer views his life within the larger context of society. He views himself as a failure, despite the political and societal expectations placed on him. Therefore, death offers a refuge from the societal pressure that he cannot seem to bear.
Line by Line Meaning
Call the girls and dress up fine
I want to dress up and spend time with some female company.
Tonight I felt like suicide
I am feeling really low and down on myself today.
Roll them dice and pour the wine
Let's have some fun, let's play some games and have a drink.
Shuffle them cards and deal them fine
Let's play cards and have some fun doing it.
Got nobody to kiss tonight
I'm feeling lonely tonight with nobody to spend time with.
Nothing to lose but my appetite
I don't have much to lose, so I might as well let loose and have some fun.
want to be silly and sing and shout
I want to let loose and have some fun without a care in the world.
Gotta get legless and fall about
I want to drink so much that I am too drunk to stand up and just fall around.
Turn the music up nice and loud
Let's get the party started and turn up the volume on the music.
Cheer me up don't bring me down
I want someone to make me feel better, not worse.
Gonna lose my job next week
I am going to be out of work soon and am feeling stressed about it.
Getting replaced by a silicone chip
The company is replacing me with technology and I feel useless.
I might have been a hero
I could have done great things in life.
But I chose to stay in bed
But instead of doing great things, I chose to do nothing.
I might have been prime minister
I could have had a great career in politics.
but right now honey I'm better off dead
But right now, I feel so low that I wish I could just die.
Don't like the scenery don't like the set
I am not happy with my current situation or surroundings.
Tear it all down and start again
I wish I could just start over and do everything differently.
Man keeps talking on the radio
I am sick of hearing negative news on the radio.
Telling me what I don't want to know
I am tired of hearing about all the bad things happening in the world.
Radiation wars and layatril
The news is filled with stories about war and disease, which just makes me feel worse.
If tax don't get ya then cancer will
Even if you survive taxes, you might succumb to a deadly disease like cancer.
Better off dead, better off dead
I feel so low that I wish I could just die and not have to deal with all this pain.
Better off dead, better off dead
I feel so low that I wish I could just die and not have to deal with all this pain.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CARMINE APPICE, PHILIP CHEN, STEVE COE, JAMES CREGAN, GARY GRAINGER, KEVIN SAVIGAR, P SPENCER, ROD STEWART
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind