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)

Tomorrow Is A Long Time
Rod Stewart Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

If today was not an endless highway
If tonight was not a crooked trail
If tomorrow wasn't such a long time
Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all

Ah but only if my own true love is waitin'
Yes and if I could hear her heart a softly poundin'
Only if she were lying by me

Would I rest in my bed once again

I can't see my reflection in the mirror
I can't speak the sounds that show no pain
I can't hear the echoes of my footsteps
And can't remember the sound of my own name

Ah but only if my own true love is waitin'
Yes and if I could hear her heart a softly poundin'
Only if she were lying by me
Would I rest in my bed once again

There's beauty in the silver singin' river
There's beauty in the sunlight in the sky
But none of these, and nothing else
Can steal the beauty
That I remember in my true love's eyes

Ah but only if my own true love is waitin'
Yes and if I could hear her heart a softly poundin'
Only if she were lying by me
Would I rest in my bed once again

Ah but only if my own true love is waitin'
Yes and if I could hear her heart a softly poundin'

Only if she were lying by me
Would I rest in my bed once again

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Rod Stewart's Tomorrow Is Such a Long Time express a deep sense of longing and desperation for the singer's true love. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the song, with the singer yearning for a life where he is not so lonely. He sings that if today were not an endless highway, if tonight were not a crooked trail and if tomorrow were not so far away, he wouldn't feel so lonesome. In the second stanza, the singer expands on this idea, lamenting that he cannot function properly without his true love beside him. He talks about being unable to see his reflection in the mirror, speak without pain, hear the echoes of his footsteps, or even remember his own name. These are all physical manifestations of his emotional pain, and they are only remedied by the presence of his true love.

The chorus reiterates this idea, that the singer's happiness is only possible if his true love is waiting for him, and if he can hear her heart softly pounding. This is the ultimate comfort for him, and he would be able to rest in his bed once again. The final stanza is perhaps the most poignant, as the singer acknowledges the beauty of the world around him, but concludes that nothing can compare to the beauty he sees in his true love's eyes. This reinforces the idea that he is incomplete without her, and that his happiness and sense of self-worth are entirely intertwined with her presence.

Overall, the lyrics to Tomorrow Is Such a Long Time are a powerful expression of love and loss. They paint a vivid picture of the singer's emotional state, and the depth of his longing for his true love. The song is a classic for a reason, and it continues to resonate with listeners today.

Line by Line Meaning

If today was not an endless highway
If life wasn't so monotonous

If tonight was not a crooked trail
If things didn't go wrong often

If tomorrow wasn't such a long time
If waiting for someone didn't take so long

Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all
You wouldn't feel so lonely

Ah but only if my own true love is waitin'
The only thing that could make life better is if my true love was here

Yes and if I could hear her heart a softly poundin'
Being close to my true love would bring me comfort

Only if she were lying by me
Only being with my true love would make me feel complete

Would I rest in my bed once again
I would finally find peace

I can't see my reflection in the mirror
I'm lost, and don't recognize who I am anymore

I can't speak the sounds that show no pain
I can't pretend everything is okay when it's not

I can't hear the echoes of my footsteps
I'm not sure where I'm going in life

And can't remember the sound of my own name
I feel like I've lost my identity

There's beauty in the silver singin' river
Nature is beautiful

There's beauty in the sunlight in the sky
Nature is beautiful

But none of these, and nothing else
Nothing else can compare

Can steal the beauty
Nothing can take away

That I remember in my true love's eyes
The beauty I see in my true love's eyes is unmatched