“The power an old song can have in your life”
– What Boston’s website says about the song
Back then, the radio played this kind of great music all day long. Well, so they tell me – since I was only two years old at the time. More Than a Feeling is one of those songs I hadn’t heard in aeons until it popped up in my YouTube feed under one of those “Listening to for the first time” videos that are all the rage these days (and which, more often than not, want to make me barf). I’m glad I clicked on this one though, because it reunited me with this ‘70s rock classic. And the “listener” in question – DeaDevi – happens to be a pretty good singer herself (check out a snippet of her cover of Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez).
Few songs capture the euphoria of hearing music that completely sweeps you away quite like More Than a Feeling. That’s the irony and the genius of it – it’s a song about the transcendent feeling of losing yourself in music, yet it creates that same feeling in real time. Watching DeaDevi tear up while listening almost feels like the song gazing at its own reflection – she’s reacting to the very emotion the song was written to evoke. A bit trippy, right? It’s like that hall of mirrors scene in Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon – music reflecting emotion reflecting music until you can’t tell which is which.
To my ears, the first verse and chorus are the song’s crowning moment – that soaring crescendo of guitar and harmony that hits like a burst of sunlight. From there, it has nowhere higher to climb. I’m not saying the rest is filler – far from it – but the song kind of peaks early. After that, it coasts along never quite reaching those dizzying heights again except in brief patches. Plenty of great rock songs take the slow-burn approach – building tension, layering emotion, and saving the knockout punch for the finale. Think of Dire Straits’ Tunnel of Love, which finishes with arguably the greatest guitar solo in the history of rock. But More Than a Feeling isn’t about restraint, rather it’s about that sudden rush – the moment the music hits and lifts us somewhere beyond words.
It took Tom Scholz, the principal guitarist and founder and only remaining member of the band Boston, more five years to write More Than a Feeling. He worked on it in his basement from 1968 to 1975, before Boston got its record contract. He wrote the lyrics based on the idea of losing someone close, and on the way in which music can connect a person to memories of the past. Scholz credits Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke as the song’s main inspiration.
More Than a Feeling was released as the lead single from American band Boston’s debut album. It peaked at no. 5 on the Billboard. The track is now ofcourse a staple of classic rock radio, and in 2008, it was named the 39th-best hard rock song of all time by VH1. It was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll“.
[Verse 1: Brad Delp]
I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away
[Chorus: All]
It’s more than a feeling (More than a feeling)
When I hear that old song they used to play (More than a feeling)
And I begin dreaming (More than a feeling)
‘Til I see Marianne walk away
[Post-Chorus: Brad Delp]
I see my Marianne walkin’ away
[Verse 2: Brad Delp]
So many people have come and gone
Their faces fade as the years go by
Yet I still recall as I wander on
As clear as the sun in the summer sky
[Chorus: All]
[Verse 3: Brad Delp]
When I’m tired and thinking cold
I hide in my music, forget the day
And dream of a girl I used to know
I closed my eyes and she slipped away
She slipped away
References:
1. More Than a Feeling – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I was never a big Boston fan but I love this song. I also love “Don’t Look Back”. But in general, I always thought Boston’s music was way over produced, like so many bands of that era. They were the poster child of why punk bands played simple, 3-chord tunes that was minimally produced.
I like your description – ‘poster child’ and punk bands hehe. Apart from ‘More than a feeling’, and the song you pointed me to, I can’t recall anything else by them.
While I think it’s fair to say “More Than a Feeling” has been overexposed, to me, it’s always been one hell of a song. That guitar sound Tom Scholz created was just something else! Plus, it’s got a bloody catchy melody. So, yes, I’ve heard it countless times, but I still dig it!
I don’t know how I didn’t already have this one in my collection — yet another gem that somehow fell through the cracks over the decades. A big part of that, I think, has to do with where I’m located. We don’t exactly get the classic rock stations blasting Western hits over here, though I can only imagine how often this one’s played yonder. I agree — it’s a humdinger of a track, and that opening verse and chorus are truly one for the ages.
This entire first album is basically a greatest hits collection.
Ah, okay — I whizzed through the first half on YouTube and didn’t recognise any of the music, apart from the opening track of course. Not that I’m the least bit familiar with the band anyway. Thanks for chiming in — cheers!
was on every station constantly…radio was everywhere..graduated from high school 1976..saw them play this one time…great memories thanks Matt…
Since I’ve been out of touch with Western rock on the radio for so long, it was great to hear this one again. It must’ve been pretty special seeing them, Tom, especially at that breakout time in your life.