"Roll Me Away" is a song written by American rock artist
Bob Seger on the album ''
The Distance'' by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. The song was used as Seger's opening song on his Face the Promise tour in 2006–2007, his first tour in a decade.
Background
According to Seger the song was inspired by a motorcycle trip he took to
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre Range, Gros Ventre and Teton Range, Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, Wyoming, T ...
.
He stated:
[
]I wanted to do that for a long time. It was fascinating being out. The first night it was 42 degrees in northern Minnesota; the second it was 106 in South Dakota and all I had on was my shorts, and my feet were up on the handlebars to keep them from boiling on the engine. It was just silence and feeling nature.
''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' critic Dave Marsh described it as an "anthemic" song and considers it Seger's best single.[ He sings that he plans to straighten things out for as long as he is searching but at the end he admits that only next time will they be able to get it right.][ Marsh feels that Roy Bittan's "elegaic" piano chords drive home the point that the time for wild rockers to settle down.][
'']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' critic Richard Cromelin says that in the song Seger uses the continental divide as a metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...
for "confront ngquestions of right and wrong," allowing him to "shake off his spiritual malaise."Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' called it "a most powerful, Springsteenish piano-based hymn" and said that it is fitting that Seger only finds personal freedom at the Great Divide.
''Classic Rock History'' critic Janey Roberts rated it as Seger's all-time best song, noting some influence from Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
.
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards.
Origin
Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
of Seger's 1994 '' Greatest Hits'' compilation.
* Bob Seger – lead vocals
The Silver Bullet Band
*Chris Campbell – bass
* Craig Frost – organ
Additional musicians
* Roy Bittan – piano
* Michael Boddicker – synthesizer
*Bobbye Hall
Bobbye Jean Hall is an American percussionist who has recorded with a variety of rock, soul, blues and jazz artists, and has appeared on 20 songs that reached the top ten in the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Early career, work for ...
– percussion
* Russ Kunkel – drums
* Waddy Wachtel – guitar
Production
*Jimmy Iovine
James Iovine ( ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, former Music executive, record executive, and media proprietor. He is the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscop ...
– producer
Charts
The song peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[ Whitburn, Joel (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)]
Popular culture
*The song is used by ''NASCAR on Fox
''NASCAR on Fox'', also known as ''Fox NASCAR'', is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races produced by Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports and have aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television network in the United States si ...
'' in the closing credits of the 2003 Dodge/Save Mart 350 and the 2006 Pepsi 400.
*The song is featured on the '' Armageddon'' soundtrack.
*In addition, the song is played in its entirety in the final scene and closing credits of the 1985 film '' Mask'' starring Cher
Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...
and Eric Stoltz.
*It was also the closing song from the 1984 film '' Reckless'', as Aidan Quinn and Daryl Hannah drove off on Quinn's motorcycle.
References
{{Authority control
1982 songs
Bob Seger songs
Songs written by Bob Seger
Capitol Records singles
1983 singles
Song recordings produced by Jimmy Iovine