No Erasin'

Album: Traces (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "No Erasin'" is Steve Perry's first new track since the 1996 Journey album Trial by Fire, and his first solo output since his 1994 album For The Love Of Strange Medicine. His last performance with Journey was in 1987, and after making Trial by Fire, the band replaced him with soundalike Steve Augeri, and later, Arnel Pineda.

    Perry made few public appearances. When Journey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, he took to the podium and spoke well of his former bandmates, but didn't perform with them. When he released this song and announced his Traces album, it marked his long-awaited return. He also offered some insight into his, er, journey.

    "My love for music had suddenly left me," he explained. "Many years passed. One day, I began sketching some musical ideas with the creative freedom that I was the only one who would ever hear them. One song led to many. My Love for Music had returned."

    Traces includes some songs he had been working on years earlier, and others inspired by more recent events in his life. He started the recording process in May 2015. He described "No Erasin'" as "an emotional homecoming."
  • This song finds Perry in the back seat of a car with an old flame, like they were many years before. The feelings are still there - there's no erasing them.

    Perry said it was inspired by going to "a class reunion in the farm community where I was raised." He graduated Lemoore High School in California in 1967.

    "Literally speaking, it's about coming back into contact with someone you haven't seen in a long time in a location where you used to hang out and make out," he said. "But metaphorically, it's about the audiences that I've not seen in years, and being in the back seat of their car once again."

Comments: 1

  • Eileen from WindsorOutstanding. Love this song and the lyrics. Great performance Steve. You’ve never lost your talent! We loved you then and love you still.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And Scandals

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And ScandalsSong Writing

Surprise exits, a catfight and some very memorable performances make our list of the most memorable Idol moments.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."