"High on You" by Survivor

    Hello friends, it’s time once again to kick off a month with another memory jogging spotlight from the Radio Dial! For the start to October, we turn our attention to a top 10 hit from Chicago, IL based Survivor, and their mid ‘80s classic “High on You”!

 

"There you stood… that’ll teach her... to look so good and feel so right. Let me tell you ‘bout the girl I met last night…”

 

Survivor, an ‘80s classic rock mainstay,  features lead vocalist Jimi Jamison, bassist Stephan Ellis, and drummer Marc Droubay, with lead guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboardist Jim Peterik. Frankie and Jim are the songwriting team behind “High on You”, and many of Survivor’s other hits.

 

Reaching #8 on both the Hot 100, and the US Mainstream Rock charts in 1985, “High On You” was taken from Survivor’s 1984 LP Vital Signs, which also contained the power pop hit “I Can’t Hold Back” (#13), the tender ballad “The Search Is Over” (#4), and the minor entry “First Night” (US #53). Vital Signs leaned strongly toward the pop spectrum of rock, smoothing out the rougher sound of their earlier hits like “Poor Man’s Son”, and “Eye of the Tiger”, while staying firmly rooted in a “Journey meets Bryan Adams” arena rock sound.

 

A song about the intense attraction that results when two soulmates meet each other, the lyrics of “High on You” feature cinematic imagery like crashing crowds, secret sins, complete intoxication, and screaming in the night, culminating rather grandly in the refrain…

 

“Talkin’ to myself… runnin’ in the heat… begging for your touch in the middle of the street”

 

I was but a lad of eleven years old when this song was a hit, several years out from my own first love, so even though I understood the words to the song, I didn’t really understand them from a life experience standpoint. In fact, lines like “Now I’m screaming in the night” made me question whether EVERYBODY experiences over-the-top dramatic symptoms like that in EVERY romantic relationship.

 

Of course, I soon came to learn that the song was metaphorical, explaining the “in love” euphoria in terms of a drug high, and most of us, no matter HOW deep in love we are with another person, probably are NOT screaming in the night OR begging for their lovers’ touch in the middle of the street. However, I believe it was Bryan Ferry who taught us that “Love is the Drug”, so maybe there is something more to that metaphor after all.

 

Considering that some of my earliest impressions of romance was gleaned via listening to my Mom’s record collection which largely consisted of charming, but saccharine-sweet love songs by the likes of The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, and other sensitive pop stars, “High on You” was rather instrumental in making me view romantic relationships in a different light at the time.

 

I’d also like to point out that the thinly veiled double meaning of the line

“Let me tell you about the girl I HAD last night”

wasn’t lost on me entirely, either. Yes sir, “High on You” made me think about lots of things back then.

 

“Piercing eyes… like a raven… you seemed to share my secret sin…

We were high before the night started kickin' in..."

 

And so, I still return to this forgotten top 10 hit today, and consider it among my favorite Survivor tracks. Last month, I happened to catch it on the radio, after not hearing it over the airwaves since at least the 90s. I knew right away that this great track deserved the Radio Dial’s spotlight.

 

Check it out, and drop me a line if it brings back some happy ‘80s memories for you!

 

KYLE’S RADIO DIAL – The more you listen… the MORE you remember!

 

“I can’t stop thinkin’ about you girl… I must be living in a fantasy world… I’ve searched the whole world over… to find a heart so true… such complete intoxication… I’m high on you!”