A Slow Song
The seven-minute closer of Night and Day, a plea for the DJ to play something slow, and the song Jackson has ended his concerts with since 1982.
Joe Jackson, from Night and Day (1982)
- Written by
- Joe Jackson
- Released
- 1983 (UK single, A&M AM 114)
- Producer
- Joe Jackson and David Kershenbaum
- Length
- 7:15
- Album
- Night and Day
A Slow Song ends Night and Day. Introducing it on stage in 1983, Jackson described it as a romantic song about being with someone special late at night and waiting for the slow dance, and the lyric is aimed at the DJ who will not stop playing loud, fast music. It builds over seven minutes from piano and voice to a climax with the full band and Ed Roynesdal's violin. The Boston Globe's Brett Milano called the vocal Jackson's strongest on record, and Dave Lifton of Ultimate Classic Rock named it his best song in 2015, for its cathartic ending.
It was the fifth and last single from the album, released in Britain in 1983 with Real Men on the B-side, and barely charted. Its life has been on stage: Jackson has closed his concerts with it since 1982, and setlist.fm logs nearly 450 performances. The version filmed at the Regal Theatre in Hitchin in January 1983, on At the BBC, stretches to eight and a half minutes.
On stage
- 1983-01-22, Regal Theatre, Hitchin 8:30, on At the BBC (2009)
More songs by Joe Jackson
Sunday Papers, It's Different for Girls, Jumpin' Jive, Steppin' Out, Breaking Us in Two, Real Men, You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want), Fools in Love, Got the Time
Sources
- A Slow Song, Wikipedia
- A Slow Song: song statistics, setlist.fm
- Singles 1982-1984, The Joe Jackson Archive