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Stories Behind This Week's Single, Pt. 2
Wed., Mar. 13. 2019 9:56pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here yet again.
Hey, check this out:
Our brand-new single features a song called "Go Home with the Prodigal Son," which is a parody of "Take the Money and Run" by The Steve Miller Band.
It's the second parody we've ever done about the Prodigal Son. The first one was "Hurry Home Wayward Son," a parody of "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas, which we released on our Recovery CD in 2008.
But that one was from the father's perspective, whereas the new song is a narrative.
Although "Go Home with the Prodigal Son" is coming out 11 years after "Hurry Home Wayward Son," it's a much older parody. I actually wrote my first draft of lyrics for "Go Home with the Prodigal Son" back in the mid-90's but didn't write "Hurry Home Wayward Son" till 2007.
Nevertheless, I probably overhauled almost all of the original "Go Home with the Prodigal Son" aside from the theme, the title, the opening line, and the final chorus.
Anyway, on Monday, it hit me; both songs we spoofed for Prodigal Son parodies were originally released on singles in 1976 — "Take the Money and Run" in April and "Carry On Wayward Son" in November. But that's not all: Both songs peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart!
Back in those days, it often took several months for a single to reach its peak position on the charts. Only eight songs peaked at #11 in 1976, and "Take the Money and Run" did so on July 24. Only six songs peaked at #11 in 1977, and "Carry On Wayward Son" did so on on April 2.
I never noticed the parallels till today, but I'm a chart geek, so I guess it was only a matter of time. :)
What's more, "Hurry Home Wayward Son" was one of the very first songs Tom Milnes ever sang backing vocals on for us, where as "Go Home with the Prodigal Son" is now the most-recent. '
Here's something else interesting: Even though songs rarely just peak at #11, ApologetiX has already spoofed one other #11 song from 1976, "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac ("Resist Him") and another #11 song from 1977, "Life in the Fast Lane" by The Eagles ("Life in the Last Days").
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