Songwriting: Night Moves (Edit)

Bob Seger: Night Moves

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The song Night Moves by Bob Seger recalls a youthful love affair. Seger has explained that the song was written about an Italian woman whom he dated when he was 19. He starts out the song by introducing the couple. Her “points” are self-explanatory; his “points” refer to metal objects worn by rebels on their shoes in the late 50’s and early ‘60s:

I was a little too tall
Could’ve used a few pounds
Tight pants, points, hardly renowned.
She was a black-haired beauty with big dark eyes
And points all her own, sitting way up high,
Way up firm and high.

As the love affair begins, the couple is found in the back seat of his car--practicing their “night moves.”

Out past the cornfields where the woods got heavy
Out in the back seat of my 60 chevy
Working on mysteries without any clues

Working on our night moves
Trying to make some front page drive-in news
Working on our night moves
In the summertime
In the sweet summertime

As Seger continues to describe this youthful rendezvous, he is quick to point out that the relationship was not about love or marriage, it was just a summertime romance.

We weren’t in love, oh no, far from it
We weren’t searching for some pie in the sky summit
We were just young and restless and bored
Living by the sword

And we’d steal away every chance we could
To the backroom, to the alley or the trusty woods
I used her, she used me
But neither one cared
We were getting our share

Working on our night moves
Trying to lose the awkward teenage blues
Working on our night moves
And it was summertime

For anyone who thinks sexy has to be explicit, the next verse dispels that myth. The verse concludes the first part of the song with a consummation of the physical relationship.

And oh the wonder
We felt the lightning
And we waited on the thunder
Waited on the thunder

My favorite part of the song is the pregnant pause which follows the onslaught of the lyrical thunder. The sparseness of this interlude has flavors of intimacy, solitude, but most of all satisfaction.



The song could have been a rock and roll anthem at this point. However, when the lyrics resume, the story is elevated to greatness.

It is not clear how much time has elapsed when he “awoke last night.” But it is clear that the “thunder” is not the same thunder from the previous verse. The girl is gone and the ’60 Chevy too. We don’t know if he is married, divorced, or single--whether he lives in the same town anymore, but it doesn’t really matter. All we know is that the song that he is humming from 1962 won’t be found in that week’s hit parade.

I awoke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered
Started humming a song from 1962
Ain’t it funny how the night moves
When you just don’t seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing in . . .

When Seger sighs, “Ain’t it funny how the night moves,” the “night moves” no longer describe the physical acts of the couple. Instead, the title phrase is now talking about the passage of time.

The remembrance in this verse transforms the song. Seger is not simply bragging about a girl he dated; he is talking about more than the end of one youthful summer. The song now becomes universal. Even though the autumn of our lives is closing in, even though we may have become established “with something to lose,” even as we slog through our daily routine, the grind of the rat race, all it takes is one moment, one bolt of thunder, and all the memories of youth and vibrancy and angst and vigor come flooding back.

But why the refrain?

So Bob Seger has given us one of the classic rock songs of all time, one of my all-time favorites, and now I’m going to criticize it. Sorry, that’s how it goes.

The song should end after the line about “autumn closing in.” Instead we get a big refrain that adds nothing new and seems false. You can try to recapture the glory days, but it’s like the 50 something man at the dance club trying to pick up 18 year old women. No matter how hard you try, you can’t go back. When you hear the female back-up singers, it’s as if Seger is haunted by the memory of his first time even when he is with other women.

Had the song ended with “autumn closing in”, it would have recognized the fragility of youth, that the night has moved. To maximize the effect, it could have ended the first side on vinyl. Song fades to silence, the needle lifts and returns to rest. Time to contemplate the impact of the end of innocence and acknowledge that life moves on. Also, it would have left everyone wanting more.

The lyrics of the refrain do not add to the feeling of the song. Although Seger ends with a repetition of “I remember,” that point was already made when he started humming a song from 1962.

This is definitely one of my favorite lyrical songs of all time, but could it be better? Listen to the song again and cut it off after “autumn closing in” and consider the silence.

Bob Seger: Night Moves - Edited

What do you think?

For numerous insights into the song, try segerfile.com.

A lengthy description of the history and production (including technology) of the song and album is found at mixonline.com

For miscellaneous song facts that have not been verified for accuracy, see songfacts.com

There is undoubtedly plenty of commentary about this song in cyberspace. One that I found interesting is at popdose.com

Reader submission from Dave.