Tom's favorite music as he grew up included Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Elvis Presley, James Brown, and other rhythm and blues artists featured on the radio in the 1950s. At the age of twelve, Tom took up guitar. He had formed his first band by age fourteen. In his early career he played in a variety of bands, including a Mexican wedding band that played half soul and half Latin music. His interest in rhythm and blues led to his singing in a soul group from a neighboring town and, eventually, his own blues band.
Tom moved to San Jose to finish college and started playing in bands around town. It was here that he met the legendary Skip Spence, original drummer with Jefferson Airplane and founding member of a group that had a major influence on the Doobie Brothers - Moby Grape. Skip introduced Tom to John Hartman. Johnston and Hartman soon formed their own band, "Pud", featuring Gregg Murph on bass. "Pud" played many clubs in and around the greater San Jose market including the "Golden Horn Lounge" in Cupertino, Ca. which no longer exists. Murph was soon replaced by Shogren, Simmons was recruited, and "Pud" gave way to the Doobie Brothers.
Johnston wrote and sang many of the the Doobie Brothers' early hits, including "Listen to the Music," "Rockin' Down the Highway," "China Grove," and "Long Train Runnin'." He also sang the hit song "Take Me in Your Arms" (written by Holland-Dozier-Holland). Johnston's gritty voice and distinctive guitar style, combining rhythmic strumming and towering solos, constituted the band's original trademark sound. He also possessed dynamic energy and stage presence, serving as the focal point of the group's live performances.
Following years of road touring lifestyle and health challenges, Johnston became severely ill and was hospitalized on the eve of a major tour in 1975 to promote Stampede. Johnston's illness led to the emergency hiring of Michael McDonald, who almost immediately took over the band that Johnston had co-founded. After a few years of restored health but diminished influence in the group, Johnston finally left in 1977 to pursue a solo career that netted two albums: Everything You've Heard Is True and Still Feels Good (reissued on compact disc by Wounded Bird Records). Johnston toured in the late '70s and early '80s with the Tom Johnston Band, which featured fellow Doobie alum John Hartman on drums.
In the 1980s, Johnston contributed a tune to the multi-platinum Dirty Dancing soundtrack entitled "Where are You Tonight?"
Where Are You Tonight
Tom Johnston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tonight (tonight) I want to know where are you tonight (tonight)
Tonight (tonight)
I've got to know (where are you) girl I've got to find you
I look at the moon and a single star
It's making me crazy wondering where you are
I reach out and touch that heavenly faceOpen my hand and there's empty space
Oh no, where are you tonight (tonight)
Tonight (tonight) I've got to know
Where are you tonight baby
The sink and the dishes spent the weekend there
Should clean up the place but I just don't care
Tonight I'll be talking to the moon and that star
Maybe they'll tell me where on earth you are
Oh no, where are you tonight (tonight)
Tonight (tonight) I've got to know where are you tonight
Please believe me when you leave me
Keeps me worrying through the night
Worry baby makes me crazy
Can't tell wrong from right
Come to me tonight
I want to know where are you tonight (tonight)
Tonight I got to know where are you tonight (tonight)
Don't you hear me calling to you baby
Where are you tonight (tonight)
Tonight (tonight) I got to know where are you, baby
Where are you tonight (tonight)I got to know where are you tonight baby baby
You baby please hear just give me some kind of sound girl
Baby of what you do to
(Where are you)
The lyrics to Tom Johnston's song "Where Are You Tonight?" express the longing for a lost love. The singer searches for this person, wondering where they might be, looking at the moon and a single star for any clues. They feel worry and madness taking over them as they can't tell what is right or wrong without knowing where this person is. The lyrics plead for this person to be found through a sense of desperation, obsessing over their whereabouts.
The imagery of the moon and the star is a reflection of the singer's emotional state. The symbol of the moon and a single star represents the lost love and the feeling of being lost without them. The emptiness in their hand, after reaching out and grasping for the heavenly face, represents the absence of the person they are searching for. The singer also describes their surroundings, such as the sink and the dishes, to indicate they are not doing well without this person in their life.
The lyrics are emotional and underlined by a sense of longing, sadness and desperation for the lost love. The search and longing for someone lost is a common theme in many love songs, and this song is no exception.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to know where are you tonight (tonight)
I am desperate to learn your current whereabouts tonight
Tonight (tonight) I want to know where are you tonight (tonight)
This very evening, I need to discover your location
Tonight (tonight)
This specific night, as opposed to any other night
I've got to know (where are you) girl I've got to find you
I am compelled to find out where you are, my dear
I look at the moon and a single star
I gaze up at the sky at night and see one moon and one star
It's making me crazy wondering where you are
This uncertainty about your location is driving me insane
I reach out and touch that heavenly face
I extend my hand as if to touch the beauty of the night sky
Open my hand and there's empty space
But my hand remains empty, and you are still missing from my life
Oh no, where are you tonight (tonight)
This is a lamentation of my inability to locate you tonight
Tonight (tonight) I've got to know
On this particular evening, I must find out your whereabouts
Where are you tonight baby
My darling, please tell me where you are right now
The sink and the dishes spent the weekend there
This household chore has been neglected all weekend
Should clean up the place but I just don't care
I should take care of the cleaning, but my mind is elsewhere
Tonight I'll be talking to the moon and that star
Tonight, my plan is to address my concerns to the celestial bodies in the sky
Maybe they'll tell me where on earth you are
I hope to receive an answer from the heavens about your physical location
Please believe me when you leave me
Do not doubt my sincerity when you depart from me
Keeps me worrying through the night
This causes me to worry all night long
Worry baby makes me crazy
My anxieties about your location are driving me insane
Can't tell wrong from right
I cannot distinguish between what is right and what is wrong in my desperate state
Come to me tonight
Please reunite with me this evening
Don't you hear me calling to you baby
Can you not hear my desperate pleas to you, my dear?
I got to know where are you tonight baby baby
I must learn your location tonight, my beloved
You baby please hear just give me some kind of sound girl
My love, please listen to my cries and give me some indication of your whereabouts
Baby of what you do to
My darling, what have you done to me?
(Where are you)
This is a constant refrain indicating the song's central query about your location
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MARK SCOLA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind