Miller was born to Dr. George "Sonny" Miller, a pathologist, jazz enthusiast and amateur recording engineer, and Bertha, a jazz-influenced singer. In 1950, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. His first guitar chords were taught to him by the legendary Les Paul, pioneer of the electric guitar and also Miller's godfather. While at St. Mark's School of Texas, Miller formed his first band, The Marksmen. Miller taught classmate Royce Boz Scaggs some guitar chords so he could join the band; Scaggs became better known by his nickname, Boz. Miller attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the 1960s, where he formed The Ardells. Scaggs joined the Ardells the next year. Ben Sidran was added to the Ardells as a keyboardist the following year. Miller was only sixteen when he started college, and dropped out six credit hours shy of a literature degree. Les Paul encouraged young Miller to utilize his prodigal talents, and much of Miller's success has been attributed to Paul's tutelage during his childhood and teenage years.
Prior to forming the Steve Miller Band, Miller was in a band with Barry Goldberg called the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band. They formed in 1965, and released one single, before Miller left the band.
In 1968, Miller formed the Steve Miller Band, with Miller handling vocals, and released an album, Children of the Future, the first in a series of discs rooted solidly in the psychedelic blues style that dominated the San Francisco music scene at the time. Scaggs would leave the band after a couple of albums. Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace and Number 5 followed. These albums performed respectably on the album charts but failed to yield a hit. This first period in Steve Miller's music formed part of double album compilation "Anthology" which includes a guest appearance on drums by the then Beatle Paul McCartney on the song "My Dark Hour".
1973's The Joker marked the start of the second phase of Miller's career: more pop-oriented and simplistic, the album featured a number one hit in the U.S. in the title track as well as several other popular tunes. In fact, "The Joker" hit Number One on the UK singles chart in September 1990 after it was used on a television commercial.
Miller followed up The Joker with Fly Like an Eagle in 1976 and Book of Dreams in 1977. This pair of albums represented the peak of Miller's commercial career, both reaching the top echelons of the album charts and spawning a seemingly-endless series of hit singles, including "Rock'n Me", "Take the Money and Run", "Jet Airliner" and "Jungle Love". While critics lambasted Miller for abandoning his more ambitious approach and socially-aware lyrics for simple pop-rock and derivative blues tunes, fans gravitated towards the catchy, melodic songs in great numbers, and the Steve Miller Band co-headlined a major stadium tour with the Eagles in 1977.
On the heels of this massive success, Miller took a long hiatus from recording and touring, emerging in 1981 with Circle of Love, an ambitious album possibly intended to appease critics of his new style. Sales were disappointing, however, and in 1982 he returned to the pop formula with another hit album, Abracadabra. This was Miller's last great commercial success; a series of collections, live albums and attempts to find a new style appeared sporadically, but after 1993 Miller gave up producing records altogether. However, he collaborated with Paul McCartney on the former Beatle's 1997 Grammy-nominated album, Flaming Pie.
Evil
Steve Miller Lyrics
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If somebody, somewhere done you wrong
Oh, don't worry about your revenge, no
I said if somebody, somewhere done you wrong
Oh, don't worry about your revenge, no no
'cause that's when evil
Oh, evil slips on in
Hey, when I first met you baby
You were nothing but a child
When I first met you baby
I used to let you run wild
But somewhere, somehow
Lord, I don't know how
All your goodness
Slipped away
And that's when evil
Yeah
Evil let it stay
Evil let it stay, yeah
Evil's with me in the morning
Evil's with me and I can't get away, no
But there's gonna come a time
Oh, when somebody else is gonna pay
Gonna pay baby
The lyrics to Steve Miller's song "Evil" explore the consequences that occur when someone becomes consumed by revenge. The song's message is that revenge and the desire for it opens the door to evil. Miller emphasizes that once evil enters a person's life, it can quickly become a part of their daily routine, to the point where they can't escape it. They become a host to an ever-present malevolence that infects every aspect of their lives. Miller's use of the phrase "evil slips on in" tells us that evil doesn't burst into our lives in a dramatic way but rather insidiously weaves into our behavior and thoughts, slowly draining us of our decency and muddying the waters of our morality. The lyrics suggest that indulging in acts of revenge is not worth the cost of having our souls corroded by evil.
The lyrics highlight that the person Miller is singing about was once a child he allowed to run wild. However, their goodness slipped away, and Miller doesn't know how it happened. It's an example that perfectly frames the kind of innocent changes that can slowly slip away from us until we are unrecognizable even to ourselves. Miller attributes the loss of the person's goodness to the power of revenge. The end of the song features a call to vengeance, where he suggests that someone is going to pay for their transgressions, but the underlying message remains that it is best to avoid revenge because doing so would allow evil to establish itself in our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
You know
The singer is addressing someone, trying to catch their attention.
If somebody, somewhere done you wrong
If someone has done you wrong, don't worry about seeking revenge against them.
Oh, don't worry about your revenge, no
The singer is urging the listener not to focus on revenge.
I said if somebody, somewhere done you wrong
The artist repeats their previous point to emphasize it.
Oh, don't worry about your revenge, no no
The artist strongly advises against seeking revenge.
'cause that's when evil
There is a warning about the consequences of seeking revenge - it leads to evil.
Oh, evil slips on in
Evil can sneak into a situation when revenge is sought.
Hey, when I first met you baby
The artist is addressing someone they met in the past.
You were nothing but a child
The person the artist is addressing was very young when they first met them.
When I first met you baby
The artist repeats their point to remind the listener of their history together.
I used to let you run wild
The singer allowed the person they are addressing to have freedom and independence.
But somewhere, somehow
The artist is unsure when things changed.
Lord, I don't know how
The singer doesn't have an explanation for the change that occurred.
All your goodness
The singer refers to the person they are addressing as someone who was once good.
Slipped away
The person the singer is addressing lost their goodness over time.
And that's when evil
The loss of goodness opened the door for evil to enter.
Yeah
The artist agrees with their own point.
Evil let it stay
The evil that entered the situation did not leave.
Evil's with me in the morning
The singer wakes up with the feeling of evil around them.
Evil's with me and I can't get away, no
The feeling of evil is strong and persistent for the artist.
But there's gonna come a time
The artist predicts a future event.
Oh, when somebody else is gonna pay
Someone other than the artist is going to face consequences.
Gonna pay baby
The singer implies that the person who will face consequences deserves it.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: STEVIE WONDER, YVONNE WRIGHT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind