B-side "Bloody Luxury" Format Vinyl LP Genre Hard rock | Released 15 November 1982 Recorded 1982 Length 5:09 | |
"Here I Go Again" is a song by British rock band Whitesnake. Originally released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners, the song was re-recorded for their eponymous 1987 album Whitesnake. The song was re-recorded again that year in a new "radio-mix" version. The 1987 album version hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 10 October 1987, and number nine on the UK Singles Chart on 28 November 1987. The 1987 version also hit number one on the Canadian Singles Chart on 24 October 1987. In 2006, the 1987 version was ranked number 17 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.
Contents
Background and writing
The song was written by the lead singer, David Coverdale, and former Whitesnake guitarist, Bernie Marsden. The most notable differences between the original and re-recorded versions are a slight change in the lyrics. The chorus of the original version features the lines:
"An' here I go again on my own Goin' down the only road I've ever known Like a hobo I was born to walk alone"In an interview, Coverdale explained that "hobo" was changed to "drifter" in the re-recorded version to ensure that it would not be misheard as "homo."
Composition
The Song is Composed in the Key of G Major and a Tempo of 91 BPM. Source:https://www.audiokeychain.com/track/yV/whitesnake-here-i-go-again
Music video
The first music video was made for the original 1982 version. It starts with Coverdale sitting in a concert hall seat and singing the first verses. The video continues as a lip synced "live" video showing the 1982 line-up (Ian Paice who was drumming for the recording is replaced by Cozy Powell) of Whitesnake performing the song.
The music video for the re-recorded version was directed by Marty Callner, who directed most of Whitesnake's videos in the 1980s. In the video actress Tawny Kitaen is seen posing on the hoods of two Jaguar XJs and seducing Coverdale while he is driving. Kitaen and Coverdale would later marry.
Due to Coverdale firing the other members of the band before the album was released, he is the only Whitesnake member present on both the recording and in the music video; this was the case for all music videos released for songs from the 1987 album.
Single versions
There are several different versions of the song, all recorded officially by Whitesnake. They are:
In 1987, EMI released a limited Collectors Poster Edition 'USA Single Remix' 7" vinyl [EMP 35], the B-side of which consists of an engraved signature version, and the sleeve of which unfolds into a poster of the band.
While the 1987 album version and the "Radio" version (released on Whitesnake's Greatest Hits) of the tune are fairly similar, there are several significant differences. The original 1987 version has a long and slow keyboard and vocal intro, whereas the other kicks straight in with the band. One was recorded for the album 1987, the other for a U.S single release the same year. They contain two very different guitar solos, Adrian Vandenberg plays the album and video solo, and Dan Huff plays on the radio edit version. The album version has a different rhythm in the chorus, with a syncopated kick drum beat that is not in the single version. Of the two versions, the one most widely referred to is the remastered version released in the self-titled 1987 album, although both receive significant airplay today.
Personnel
Original 1982 version from Saints & Sinners
1987 version from Whitesnake
1987 Radio-mix version