In their early years, Whitesnake played in a hard-edged blues rock and heavy metal influenced style. By the mid-80s, the band had moved towards a more commercially friendly arena rock and pop metal ethos, garnering them major hits such as "Love Ain't No Stranger", "Now You're Gone", "Slide It In", "Still of the Night", and the iconic tune "Here I Go Again" (arguably their 'signature song'). They were named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1.
Whitesnake were active primarily in the 80s, but they still tour, albeit with an entirely new line-up (bar Coverdale), to this day. Some of the most famous musicians who have joined the band for a time include Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Rudy Sarzo, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell, Tommy Aldridge, and Steve Vai.
The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple. This is not only because three past members of the band were once in Deep Purple but also because of their sound and influences. Later, the band took on a sound more in line with the hair metal style popular in the mid to late 80s, but they never truly left their heavy, blues rock roots behind
Formed in 1978 by David Coverdale after leaving Deep Purple, Whitesnake were originally a straightforwards heavy rock group with Jon Lord and Ian Paice from Deep Purple in the band. Despite a few album releases and constant touring, Whitesnake was unable to attain any significant commercial success in America, though becoming popular in the U.K., Europe, and Japan. Their critical reviews as well for their albums were somewhat mixed.
After acquaintance with Chris Cuttler, Fred Frith and most importantly, young guitarist John Sykes, David Coverdale decided to turn to a slicker, more commercially viable sound. Whitesnake made their first major splash in the States in 1984 with the album 'Slide It In', featuring the self-titled single as well as rock tracks "Slow An' Easy" and "Love Ain't No Stranger". All three of them gained major airplay and were eaten up by fans. Sykes was not involved in any of the song writing for 'Slide It In', though re-did some of Micky Moody's guitar work in the American remastering of the U.K. version of the album.
Three years later, thanks to radio-friendly, Zeppelin-ish songwriting and MTV friendly Tawny Kitaen's automobile acrobatics, Whitesnake became superstars with the album 'Whitesnake' (titled '1987' in Europe, and 'Serpens Albus' in Japan). Containing the U.S. smash hits "Here I Go Again", "Is This Love", "Still of the Night" and others, the album eventually sold over 10 million copies. Coverdale replaced the entire band for the subsequent tour, ditching Sykes for guitarists Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell. Also joining the band at this point were bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge.
Campbell left shortly after the tour (going on to replace Steve Clark in Def Leppard. Vandenberg, despite penning most of the material on the follow-up album, was unable to record due to a freak wrist injury. Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai was brought in to record all of the guitar parts for Slip of the Tongue, which was released in the spring of 1989. Despite going platinum, the album did not reach the stratospheric heights of Whitesnake (entitled 1987 in Europe, and Serpens Albus in Japan). With a divorce looming, and the alternative 'grunge' movement threatening to destroy the melodic rock movement, Coverdale dissolved Whitesnake.
In the late 90s, David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg finally recorded together again. Initially intended to be a Coverdale solo effort, the Whitesnake name was eventually attached (much like the Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath projects of the late 80s). The resulting products were a new studio album entitled Restless Heart, and the live acoustic set, Starkers In Tokyo.
In the early 2000's Coverdale relaunched Whitesnake fully with an entirely new lineup centred around guitarists Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich (previously of Winger and Lion/Dio). This Whitesnake embarked on tours across the globe, releasing the "Live In the Still of the Night" DVD and "Live... In the Shadow of the Blues" on CD in 2006. A new studio album, "Good to be Bad", was released in 2008 reaching the top 10 in the UK album charts.
Over the last few years Coverdale has been involved in a remastering project which has seen all albums from 1978's Trouble, to 1989's Slip of the Tongue reissued with bonus material.
Whitesnake released Forevermore, on March 25, 2011 in Europe, and on the 29th in North America. They have released a number of scheduled 2011 tour dates on their website, with six scheduled UK tour dates and other European dates. In February 2011, Whitesnake was announced as one of the headliners to play the annual Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, on Memorial Day weekend. A digital single for the song 'Love Will Set You Free' was released, along with a video for the song, on February 21.
The album Forevermore was released as a special edition 'Snakepack' through Classic Rock magazine on 25 March, a full 3 weeks before its commercial release. The fan pack includes the full, official new album Forevermore, a 132-page magazine, poster and pin badge. On 20 March 2011, Whitesnake announced that Brian Ruedy would play keyboards on the Forevermore World Tour.
The album did not chart highly upon its official release in the UK (number 33, possibly due to the copies released as part of the aforementioned Classic Rock Snakepack, which are not eligible for the charts). It did, however, show signs of Whitesnake's slow rebuild of support in the US with the album charting at number 49 - the band's highest charting album since the 80s.
Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach are Whitesnake longest standing guitar players, both being in the band 10 years by 2012.
Whitesnake are set to embark on their farewell tour in May 2022, beginning in the UK and Ireland with Foreigner and Europe. In July 2021, the group announced the addition of multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusick to their ranks, turning Whitesnake into a septet for the first time. Later that November, Michael Devin parted ways with the band. He was replaced by Tanya O'Callaghan, marking the first female musician to join the band.
Website: http://www.whitesnake.com/
Long Way from Home
Whitesnake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Walk all night in the pouring rain
To be at your side
My heart is aching for love,
My body's shaking with desire
Believe me, baby, when I say
I will drink you dry
You're everything any man could claim
I see your face in the night,
I hear you calling my name
But, it's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
I'd been looking for love for so long when I found you,
Too many years I walked alone
When I touch you inside I feel you burning me with fire,
Believe me baby when I say
I will feed the flame
I would do anything to be near you,
Walk all night in the pouring rain
I see your face in the night,
I hear you calling my name
But, it's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
I would do anything to be near you,
You're everything any man could claim
I see your face in the night,
I hear you calling my name
But, it's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
I would do anything I could to be near you,
Check in on any night time flight, I don't mind
My heart is aching for love,
My body's shaking with desire
Believe me baby when I say
I will drink you dry
I would do anything to be near you,
Walk all night in the pouring rain
I see your face in the night,
I hear you calling my name
But, it's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
It's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do,
It's a long long way from home
The lyrics to Whitesnake's song "Long Way From Home" express the intensity of the singer's desire for the person he longs to be with. He would do anything to be near this person, including walk for hours in the pouring rain, take any flight to get to them or drink them dry. The singer's heart is aching and his body is consumed with desire, indicating that this person has an irresistible pull on him.
The chorus, "It's a long long way from home, I'm just trying to get a message to you, And I don't know what I'm gonna do," suggests that the distance between them is causing the singer great frustration and confusion. He is trying to connect with this person, but it seems like an impossible task. The repetition of these lyrics throughout the song reinforces the desperation that the singer feels.
The lyrics are fairly straightforward and do not require much interpretation. They express the depth of longing and desire that a person can feel for another, regardless of the obstacles that stand in their way. The song's hard rock instrumentals complement the intense emotions expressed in the lyrics and make for a powerful and memorable ballad.
Line by Line Meaning
I would do anything I could to be near you,
I am willing to go to any length to be with you,
Walk all night in the pouring rain
Even if it means walking through heavy rain all night,
To be at your side
I just want to be by your side,
My heart is aching for love,
I am longing for love,
My body's shaking with desire
I am filled with intense desire for you,
Believe me, baby, when I say
Trust me, I mean what I say,
I will drink you dry
I will consume all of you with my love and passion,
You're everything any man could claim
You possess qualities that any man would desire in a partner,
I see your face in the night,
I see your image in my mind at night,
I hear you calling my name
I can hear you beckoning me,
But, it's a long long way from home,
Unfortunately, the distance between us is quite significant,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
I am attempting to reach out to you,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
And I am unsure of what actions I should take,
I'd been looking for love for so long when I found you,
I spent a significant amount of time searching for love until I found you,
Too many years I walked alone
I spent many years without a partner by my side,
When I touch you inside I feel you burning me with fire,
When I am in contact with you emotionally and physically, I feel intense passion and heat,
I will feed the flame
I will continue to add fuel to the fire of our passion,
Check in on any night time flight, I don't mind
I am willing to take a flight anytime, even if it is during the night,
It's a long long way from home
The distance between us remains a significant issue,
I'm just trying to get a message to you
I continue to try to communicate with you in any way possible,
And I don't know what I'm gonna do,
And I am uncertain of what steps to take next,
Lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DAVID COVERDALE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@smokinjz
I would do anything I could to be near you,
Walk all night in the pouring rain
To be at your side
My heart is aching for love,
My body's shaking with desire
Believe me, baby, when I say
I will drink you dry
I would do anything to be near you,
You're everything any man could claim
I see your face in the night,
I hear you calling my name
But, it's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
I'd been looking for love for so long when I found you,
Too many years I walked alone
When I touch you inside I feel you burning me with fire,
Believe me baby when I say
I will feed the flame
I would do anything to be near you,
Walk all night in the pouring rain
I see your face in the night,
I hear you calling my name
But, it's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
I would do anything to be near you,
You're everything any man could claim
I see your face in the night,
I hear you calling my name
But, it's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
I would do anything I could to be near you,
Check in on any night time flight, I don't mind
My heart is aching for love,
My body's shaking with desire
Believe me baby when I say
I will drink you dry
I would do anything to be near you,
Walk all night in the pouring rain
I see your face in the night,
I hear you calling my name
But, it's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do
It's a long long way from home,
I'm just trying to get a message to you,
It's a long long way from home,
An' I don't know what I'm gonna do,
It's a long long way from home
Songwriters: DAVID COVERDALE
@neilh4729
The best era and line up of Whitesnake by a million miles. Proper classic blues rock.
@tgforty5
What a great talent David is! This is one my favorite songs of theirs.
@susannas495
What is amazing is that David Coverdale still sings with the same wonderful insane intestity! Neil Murray is a brilliant bass player 👏, , Mick Moody just awesome 👌 this line up was hard to beat.
Real nostalgia here. Love this band❣
@phillipharrison7577
totally agree..saw them this year
@mjh5437
You`re kidding,his voice is completely shot now.
@andybell9245
Have you heard the way he sings now
@michaelschmidt9708
When was the last time you saw Whitesnake, Sue? DC's voice had been shot for at least 15 years before he finally retired from the road. He was a far cry from this even 20 years ago when he first put a new WS together.
@colinrgage
He sings nothing like this these days😅
@marcioeuouvindoagoramorrei6084
O melhor de todos os vocalistas do rock
@grazieleduarte9164
Tenho orgulho do meu pai, por ter me apresentado músicas boas como essa!!!