Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop… Read Full Bio ↴Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 250 million records worldwide. He has had 10 number-one albums and 31 top ten singles in the UK, six of which reached number one. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.

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)

The Wild Side of Life
Rod Stewart Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well, you wouldn't read my letters if I wrote you
You asked me not to call you on the phone
There's something I've been waiting for to tell you
So I wrote it in the words of this song

You never knew there were honky tonk angels
Or you might have known I'd never make a wife
You walked out on the only one who ever loved you

So I went back to the wild side of life

Now the glamor of the good life always lead me
To the places where the wild liquor flows
I tried to be your one and only angel
But I'm not that kind of angel, heaven knows

I cried so hard the day you went and left me
'Cause some things you said, they cut me like a knife
What you wanted was another kind of angel
And you should be back to the wild side of life

No, well, I guess I'm just a honky tonk angel
I might have known I'd never make a wife
Well, you left the only one who ever loved you
And I'm back here on the wild side of life

I'm only a honky tonk angel
I might have known I'd never make a wife

You walked out on the only one who ever loved you
And you left me here on the wild side of life

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "The Wild Side of Life" by Rod Stewart tells a story of a man who has been left heartbroken by a woman he loved. The woman he loved did not love him back and walked out on him. He tried to be her "one and only angel," but he knew he was not the type of angel that she wanted. So he returned to the wild side of life, a place where he could drown his sorrows with wild liquor and a place where he felt more at home.

Throughout the song, the singer is telling his former lover why their relationship didn't work out. He wants her to understand that he tried to change for her but ultimately couldn't be the angel she wanted him to be. He also reveals that there are other "honky tonk angels" in the world, which suggests that he is not alone in feeling this way. In the end, he accepts that he is just a honky tonk angel and that he was never meant to be a wife.

Overall, this song is a lament for lost love and the pain that comes with it. It expresses the powerlessness that can come with falling in love with someone who does not feel the same way. It also speaks to the idea that there are types of people in the world who are just not meant to be together, no matter how much they may want it.

Line by Line Meaning

Well, you wouldn't read my letters if I wrote you
I understand that you do not want me to contact you, so I've resorted to expressing myself through this song instead of letters.

You asked me not to call you on the phone
You explicitly told me not to contact you through any means of communication, which is why I am using this song to express my thoughts.

There's something I've been waiting for to tell you
I have been holding onto something that I need to express to you, and this song is the only way to tell you.

So I wrote it in the words of this song
I have decided to express my feelings through the lyrics of this song so that you may understand the depth of my emotions.

You never knew there were honky tonk angels
You were unaware of the existence of honky tonk angels, which caused you to overlook my true nature and intentions.

Or you might have known I'd never make a wife
If you had known about honky tonk angels, you would have understood that I am not the kind of person who is fit to be a wife.

The Wild Side of LifeRod Stewart Lyrics

The Wild Side of Life
Rod Stewart Lyrics