Feels Like The First Time
“”Feels Like The First Time” was written about a bit of a change in my life. I was coming out of a previous marriage with somebody I’d met in France. I’d gone back to England and then finally made the journey to America while I was in the band Spooky Tooth. And to me it was this challenge of really going for a new start in my life. And that just came naturally out of the blue. People probably thought, “Well, this is a song that he’s written specifically for this album.” In hindsight I guess that’s a natural feeling, but to me it was signifying a new start. I’d met somebody, I got re-married and moved with her to America, and that was the song that described that experience.”Mick Jones (147)
That Was Yesterday
“”That Was Yesterday,” which is a song about a relationship that failed, which you’re still clinging onto. You still feel that there’s a chance to resurrect it. Some of these songs require really digging down deep, and sometimes they bring out very painful moments that you’ve had. A lot of the songs that I’ve written of that kind of emotion, they bring me to tears. They’re painful to recall.”Mick Jones (147)
I Want To Know What Love Is
“”I Want To Know What Love Is” also started off on more of a personal level. I’d been through a lot of relationships that eventually failed, and still searching for something that could really endure. And that sort of took a life of its own as well. It became more of a universal feeling.”Mick Jones (147)
Double Vision
“We were at a hockey game. I was an avid Rangers fan in those days, and Lou and I went to a game, and the goaltender for the Rangers got a concussion, and it was announced over the PA that he was taken off and was suffering from double vision. I’d never heard that term before, and we picked up on it. And then that led to the title for that song. I know it was received by a majority of the public as a drug song. I didn’t mind that, you know. It wasn’t the intention in the beginning, but that’s how a lot of people interpreted it.”Mick Jones (147)
Juke Box Hero
“That stemmed from an experience that we had, I think it was in Cincinnati. We’d gone to the arena for a sound check, and it was pouring down rain, and there were a bunch of fans waiting at the door when we went in. When we came back for the show later on, all that was left was one lonely fan, a young guy waiting out there in the rain, soaked to the skin. I thought, well, he’s waiting like five hours here, maybe we’ll take him in and give him a glimpse of what happens backstage at a show. And this kid was just mesmerized with everything. I saw this look in his eyes, and I thought, he’s seeing this for the first time, he’s having this experience. And I just imagined what was going through his mind. And I’d been toying with this title, “Juke Box Hero,” I thought it was almost a satire on what we did and how it was perceived from an audience level, and public. That’s how it originated.”Mick Jones (147)
When It Comes To Love
“It’s quite personal, so I don’t know how far I could go into it. But I’d had a romantic interlude after a pretty painful divorce, and this was a breath of fresh air into my life. But that ended up not going much further, and I was emotionally a bit unsettled at the time. Then after it ended, I felt regret about it. And I felt that maybe after all I should have put more into the relationship, and maybe I’d missed a chance. “It could have been you” was basically the message in the song. And was, in fact, the original title of the song. It also reflected some of the times that I’ve messed up the relationships I’d had, and I’m a bit introspective about it.”Mick Jones (147)