Cruisin'

Album: Where There's Smoke… (1979)
Charted: 4
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Songfacts®:

  • Smokey Robinson captures a vibe on "Cruisin'," a sultry slow jam with the promise of an intimate getaway. It evokes an easygoing road trip, but a closer listen makes it clear the song takes place in the bedroom. As Smokey sings, "Cruisin' is made for love."

    When asked about the meaning, he deflected. "You'd be surprised by how many people speculate on what Cruisin' means," he told The Guardian. "'Cruisin'' is a word that I leave up to the listener. When you're with the person you're with, and you feel you're cruisin', it's whatever you want it to be."
  • Smokey Robinson was an architect of the Motown sound, landing hits like "The Tracks Of My Tears" and "Going To A Go-Go" in the '60s with his group The Miracles. He also wrote Motown classics for The Tempations like "My Girl" by "The Way You Do The Things You Do."

    Smokey was still recording for Motown when he wrote "Cruisin'" with his guitarist Marv Tarplin, who was also in The Miracles. Released in 1979, it was his biggest hit of that decade. In 1981 he had another big hit with "Being With You."
  • The Young Rascals had a #1 hit in 1967 called "Groovin'" that influenced this song. Marv Tarplin had the music written, but Robinson struggled to find the right words. He told the story to The Guardian: "It took me five years to write. I had the music, and that music is so intimate and sensual, but I couldn't get the words. Then one day I got: 'You're gonna fly away and I'm glad you're coming my way.' And then I was driving my car down Sunset Boulevard and I heard that song by the Rascals, 'Groovin' and I thought, 'That's it! Grooving.' But then, no, it wasn't intimate enough, it wasn't sensual enough for the music, and that's when I thought of 'cruisin.'"
  • Notable covers include a 1995 one by soul singer D'Angelo, which peaked at #53 in the US, and a version by Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis for the 2000 movie Duets, which topped the charts in Australia.
  • "Cruisin'" shows up in the 1999 movie Any Given Sunday. It's also in the 2008 The Simpsons episode "The DeBarted."
  • "Cruisin'" was used in a 2025 Häagen-Dazs Super Bowl commercial titled "Not So Fast, Not So Furious," where Michelle Rodriguez and Vin Diesel slow things down to enjoy an ice cream treat as the song plays. Ludacris, another star of the Fast & Furious franchise, pulls up beside them to find out what's going on.

Comments: 4

  • Tink from Concord CaWhat can I say Smokey is unbelievable I love his music and crusin is one of my favorites. I grew up in the 70”s and remember several other songs he did all are Awesome
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn October 6th 1979, Smokey Robinson performed "Cruisin'"* on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand'...
    At the time the song was at #89 on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart and it was also its first week on the chart...
    {See the next two posts below}.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyI forgot to add the following to my below post:
    This was Smokey's 2nd most sensual song, check out his "Love Bath" on You Tube!!!
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn January 27th 1980, "Cruisin'" by Smokey Robinson peaked at #4 (for 4 weeks) on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on September 30th, 1979 and spent almost a half-year on the Top 100 (25 weeks)...
    It also reached #4 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart...
    The week it peaked at #4 on the Top 100 was its 18th week on the chart; and the record spent 7 weeks on the Top 10...
    William 'Smokey' Robinson, Jr. will celebrated his 74th birthday next month on February 19th (2014).
see more comments

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