Peak
39
Weeks
12
Score
1,103
Chart Year
1972
"Easy Livin" has long been a fun-time party song, a go-to for small-town cover bands on Saturday nights, sure to win over the crowds. It makes sense, as the lyrics seem to about living a comfortable, stress-free life. Like Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good" and Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing," however, the song is actually meant to be ironic. Uriah Heep member Ken Hensley, who wrote this and most of the band's biggest songs, talked to Songfacts about the inspiration for this one. "After a few long days in the studio, some of us were sharing a taxi home, and the conversation drifted to the fact that most people see our lives as easy. That we just show up at a venue, play, collect a million dollars and go home!" The words "life" and "easy" stuck in Hensley's mind, and that night when he got back to his flat, he wrote "Easy Livin" in "about 15 minutes." Hensley had no idea that "Easy Livin" would be such a hit. He told Songfacts, "I knew we had a great song for the band and it translated into a great live song but, since I never wrote (nor write) with a particular 'destination' in mind, I hardly ever considered that a song may succeed to any extent at all." This was the only Uriah Heep song to crack the Top 40 in the United States. It was an even bigger hit in the Netherlands and Finland, two countries that proved to be longtime bastions of Heep fandom. There's a live version of the song on the 1988 album Live in Moscow that was released as a single in the UK.
This is a thing I've never known before It's called easy livin' This is a place I've never seen before And I've been forgiven Easy livin' and I've been forgiven Since you've taken your place in my heart Somewhere along the lonely road I had tried to find ya Day after day on that windy road I had walked behind ya Easy livin' and I've been forgiven Since you've taken your place in my heart Waiting, watching Wishing my whole life away Dreaming, thinking Ready for my happy day And some easy livin' Somewhere along the lonely road I had tried to find you Day after day on that windy road I had walked, walked behind you Easy livin' and I've been forgiven Since you've taken your place in my heart Easy livin' and I've been forgiven Since you've taken your place in my heart
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 29, 1972 | 82 | 44 |
| 2 | Aug 5, 1972 | 75 | 51 |
| 3 | Aug 12, 1972 | 65 | 61 |
| 4 | Aug 19, 1972 | 58 | 68 |
| 5 | Aug 26, 1972 | 54 | 72 |
| 6 | Sep 2, 1972 | 45 | 81 |
| 7 | Sep 9, 1972 | 41 | 85 |
| 8 | Sep 16, 1972 | 40 | 86 |
| 9 | Sep 23, 1972 | 39 | 87 |
| 10 | Sep 30, 1972 | 39 | 87 |
| 11 | Oct 7, 1972 | 49 | 77 |
| 12 | Oct 14, 1972 | 64 | 62 |