Ten Years After is an English blues rock band, most popular in the late 196… Read Full Bio ↴Ten Years After is an English blues rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band scored eight Top 40 albums in the UK Albums Chart, twelve albums in the US Billboard 200, and are best known for tracks such as "I'm Going Home", "Hear Me Calling", "I'd Love to Change the World" and "Love Like a Man". Their musical style is blues rock and hard rock.

Originally from Nottingham in the UK, this band of virtuoso musicians under the leadership of Alvin Lee conquered the UK scene and then spread their wings to the USA. Their blend of jazz, blues and rock was initially slightly awkward but their first album provided an opening for them. In October, their 1967 self-titled debut album was released.

In 1968, after touring Scandinavia and the United States, Ten Years After released their second album, live Undead, which brought their first classic, "I'm Going Home." This was followed in February 1969 by studio issue, Stonedhenge, a British hit, that included another classic, "Hear Me Calling" (it was released also as a single, and covered in 1972 by British glam rock rising stars, Slade). In July 1969 they appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival, in the first event to which rock bands were invited. In August, the band performed a breakthrough American appearance at Woodstock; their furious-to-soft-to-furious rendition of "I'm Going Home" featuring Alvin Lee as the lead singer was featured in both the subsequent film and soundtrack album and catapulted them to star status.

During 1970, Ten Years After released "Love Like a Man", their only hit in the UK Singles Chart. This song was on their fifth album, Cricklewood Green. The name of the album comes from a friend of the group who lived in Cricklewood, London. He grew a sort of plant which was said to have hallucinogenic effects. The band did not know the name of this plant, so they called their album Cricklewood Green. It was the first record to be issued with a different playing speed on each side – one a three-minute edit at 45rpm, the other, a nine-minute live version at 33rpm. In August, Ten Years After played the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 to an audience of 600,000.
In 1971, the band released the album A Space in Time which marked a move toward more commercial material. It featured their biggest hit, "I'd Love To Change The World". But a few albums later, the band broke up after the 1974 album Positive Vibrations. They re-united in 1983 to play the Reading Festival and this performance was later released on CD as The Friday Rock Show Sessions - Live At Reading '83. In 1988, they re-united for a few concerts and recorded the album About Time (1989). Finally, in 1994, they participated in the Eurowoodstock festival in Budapest.

Alvin Lee has since then mostly played and recorded under his own name. In 2003, the other band members replaced him with Joe Gooch and recorded the album Now. Material from the following tour was used for the 2005 double album Roadworks.

Lee died on March 6, 2013. According to his website, he died from "unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure."[2][3][4] He was 68. His former bandmates lamented his death, Leo Lyons called him "the closest thing I had to a brother", while Ric Lee (no relation) said "I don't think its even sunk in yet as to the reality of his passing." Billboard Magazine wrote of his passing, highlighting such landmark performances as "I'm Going Home" from the Woodstock festival and his 1974 hit single "I'd Love to Change the World."[5]

Band members:
Alvin Lee – guitar, vocals
Leo Lyons – bass
Chick Churchill – keyboards
Ric Lee – drums
Joe Gooch – guitar, vocals (joined in 2003)

You can also see Alvin Lee and / or Alvin Lee & Ten Years After and / or Alvin Lee & Co and / or The Alvin Lee Band on Last.fm.

Hard Monkeys
Ten Years After Lyrics

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Got no monkey on my back
And I'm never gonna crack

Cause it's a good life
Too good to lose
But it's a hard world
With the junkie blues

Got no street car called Desire
And I'll never light the fire

Cause it's a good life
Too good to lose

But it's a hard world
With the junkie blues

Overall Meaning

In Ten Years After's song, Hard Monkeys, the lyrics speak of a life free from addiction and the struggles that come along with it. The singer states that they have no monkey on their back, which is a reference to the common phrase "monkey on my back" meaning addiction or dependency. They are determined to never crack under the pressures of addiction and to maintain the good life they currently have. However, they acknowledge that the world is hard and that the "junkie blues" are a constant presence. This could be interpreted as a recognition that even though they have avoided addiction, they are still affected by its presence in the world around them.

The lyrics also reference the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. The singer claims to have "got no streetcar called Desire" which is a clever wordplay that means they have no desire for the streetcar or, in a broader sense, material possessions that may lead them down a dangerous path. The phrase "never light the fire" could be a reference to the character Blanche in the play who is known for saying the famous line "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers" before ultimately being led down a destructive path.

Hard MonkeysTen Years After Lyrics

Hard Monkeys
Ten Years After Lyrics