Shooting Star (Bad Company song)
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| "Shooting Star" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bad Company | |
| from the album Straight Shooter | |
| Released | 28 March 1975 |
| Recorded | September 1974 |
| Studio | Clearwell Castle, Gloucestershire, England[1] |
| Genre | Blues rock |
| Length | 6:16 |
| Label | Island (UK) Swan Song (US) |
| Songwriter | Paul Rodgers |
| Producer | Bad Company[1] |
"Shooting Star" is a song written by Paul Rodgers that was first released by Bad Company on their 1975 album Straight Shooter. Although not released as a single, it became a radio staple and has appeared on many of Bad Company's live and compilation albums.
The lyrics of "Shooting Star" tell the story of a boy named Johnny who first heard his first Beatles song, "Love Me Do”, and went on to become a rock star, but died after overdosing on whiskey and sleeping pills.[2][3] The theme was influenced by the deaths of young rock stars as a result of drug addiction, particularly the deaths from overdoses of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and possibly Jimi Hendrix.[2][3][4][5] Rodgers stated that "At that particular time you had Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin...just a catalog of people who didn't make it, who overdosed in their beds...that was the germ of this song." It's a story and it's almost a warning.[6] The refrain summarizes the theme stating "Don't you know that you are a shooting star, and all the world will love you just as long as you are a shooting star."[7] In a contemporary review, Messenger-Press critic Steve Wosahla suggested that this line is "typical of how we treat our stars today."[7]
In 1997, Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke said of the song that:
It's a generic example of what has happened and what can happen and, I'm afraid, will happen to people who come into this business and meddle with drink and drugs. When we were younger, we all dabbled – none of us are saints. I'm not saying we didn't have fun, but I just don't do that anymore...It has a good message for me because I'm in a 12-step program and I try and adhere to it on a daily basis. It's one of those songs that just reminds me to do it.[8][5]
The song employs what Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes as an "expanded aural vocabulary" compared to the songs on Bad Company's debut album.[9] Rolling Stone Album Guide critics Mark Coleman and Mark Kemp described the song as a "half-acoustic lust ballad."[10]