It’s one of the only rock songs I know that uses a bolero style beat as the song reaches its climax, so it’s tons of fun, great harmonies throughout.” “It’s got that classic Styx trajectory to a song, which starts kind of ballad-like then suddenly transforms into a rock beast. Their seventh album “The Grand Illusion” (1977) featured “Fooling Yourself” and “Come Sail Away,” an epic story that transcends its nautical setup: “I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise, we climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies.” Soon, Tommy Shaw replaced Curulewski for the band’s hottest period. “It’s an invitation to a great adventure and people just want to jump aboard,” Gowan said. Their next album “Pieces of Eight” (1978) featured “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights),” which grabs listeners immediately with its unique organ instrument and holds them to the end with the lyric, “Give me a job, give me security, give me a chance to survive, I’m just a poor soul in the unemployment line, my God, I’m hardly alive.” “It’s got that progressive rock shape to it, which again starts as a piano ballad but opens up and turns into a rock song, then goes through a whole instrumental section that carries the listener into another realm … suddenly we realize that it may not be a sea-going vessel but actually something carrying us through the galaxy and beyond. “‘Blue Collar Man’ starts off with a classic Hammond B3 Organ, very heavily distorted,” Gowan said. “Tommy Shaw said he got the idea for that rhythm when he was on a motorboat and the motor kept cutting out. The real charm of ‘Blue Collar Man’ is that it’s such a relatable lyric, everyone can relate to that, the nobility of work is something that everyone has in there somewhere.” He liked the rhythm of that and he kept that in mind.
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