Carry Me Away

Album: Working Class Dog (1981)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this album cut from Rick Springfield's Working Class Dog, he's all cattywampus over a girl, but afraid to fall in love. He puts his heart in her hands, telling her, "take me to heaven or to lead me to heartbreak." Like most of his songs, Springfield wrote it himself.
  • Springfield inserted a swear word into the lyric, which was generally frowned up in pop songs around this time:

    I'm so tired of all this s--t that I feel
    Show me something real


    "We slipped a few things by," he said in a Songfacts interview. "I don't throw swearing in other than when I think it really fits."
  • Thanks in part to the smash-hit single "Jessie's Girl," the album Working Class Dog was Springfield's break-out success - despite being the fifth studio album he'd released, after nearly a decade recording. He did have four prior singles that charted, however: "Speak to the Sky" (#14), "What Would the Children Think" (#70), "American Girls" (#98), and "Take a Hand" (#41).

    The album art shows a bull terrier dressed in working-class attire and sitting at a desk. That's actually Springfield's own pet dog, named Ronnie, who passed away in 1994. This photo garnered the album a 1981 Grammy nomination for Best Album Package. Working Class Dog was re-released on CD in 2006 as a 25th anniversary edition with three bonus tracks.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.