Midnight Blue

Album

Ready or Not

Label

Atlantic Records

Genre

Synth rock

Composer(s)

Lou Gramm;Bruce Turgon

Entered Chart

Jan 31, 1987

Peak Date

Apr 18, 1987

Released

January 1987

Recorded

1986

Catalog #

Atlantic 7-89304

B-Side

Chain Of Love

In this song, Lou Gramm sings about how life is simple, really: it's either cherry red or midnight blue. In our interview with Gramm, he explained that cherry red is "everything going as best as it can," while midnight blue is "dark and mysterious." On this track, he makes it clear that he is the darker shade, letting the girl know that he's going to forge his own path, and while they are split at the moment, he'll be coming back for her. It's a very unapologetic love song, as Gramm makes it clear that he doesn't regret the way he treated her, but is confident that everything will be cherry red once he decides to win her back. This was Gramm's first single as a solo artist. He had staggering success as the lead singer of Foreigner, which in the previous 10 years had become one of the biggest bands in America. Gramm, who co-wrote most of their songs with guitarist Mick Jones, was disheartened by the direction that band had taken, fearing that slick ballads like "Waiting For A Girl Like You" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" had gotten them away from their roots. Looking to rediscover a raw, spontaneous sound, Gramm released the album Ready Or Not in early 1987, and by April, "Midnight Blue" reached #5 on the Hot 100. Later in 1987, Foreigner released another successful album (with Gramm on lead vocals), Inside Information, which contained the hits "Say You Will" and "I Don't Want to Live Without You." Gramm released another solo album in 1989 with contained the hit "Just Between You and Me." Gramm wrote this song with Bruce Turgon, a longtime friend who was in an early band with Gramm called Black Sheep. In 1992, Turgon became the bass player in Foreigner, a position he held until Gramm left the band in 2003. Midnight Blue is the color of the sky under certain shades of moonlight. Gramm wasn't the first to use the color as a song title: Melissa Manchester had a #1 Adult Contemporary hit with her "Midnight Blue" in 1975. Jim Hershleder directed the video, which benefited from airplay on VH1, which had launched two years earlier. Hershleder's other credits include videos by Steve Earle ("Telephone Road," "Someday") and Lorrie Morgan ("Go Away"). Hershleder told us: "The concept stemmed from the power of the song, which seemed to me captured the feeling of being young, having your first car, and picking up your girlfriend who had just snuck out of her house to meet you. My teen years in Minnesota, basically." (here's the full story on making the "Midnight Blue" video.)

Ain't got no regrets
I ain't losing track of
Which way I'm going
I ain't gonna double back, no
Don't want no misplay
Put on no display
An angel? No!
But I know my way, oh yeah, oh
I used to follow
Yeah, that's true
But my following days are over
Now I just gotta follow through
I remember what my father said
He said, "Son, life is simple"
It's either cherry red or
Midnight blue, oh, oh
Midnight blue, oh, oh
You were the restless one
And you did not care
I was the trouble boy
Lookin' for a double dare
I won't apologize for
The things I've done and said
When I win your heart
I'm gonna paint it cherry red
I don't wanna talk about it
What you do to me, I can't live without it
And you might think that it's
Much too soon for us to go this far
Into the midnight blue, oh, oh
It's midnight blue, oh, oh
Things could be different
That'd be a shame 'cause
I'm the one who can feel the sun
Right in the pouring rain
I won't say where and
I don't know when
Soon there's gonna come a day, baby
I'll be back again
Yeah, I'll be back for you
You see, I'm saving up, my love
Midnight blue, oh, oh
Into the midnight blue, oh, oh
Another midnight blue, oh, oh
The deepest midnight blue, oh, oh
Into the midnight blue, oh, oh
Midnight blue, oh, oh
Midnight blue, oh, oh
The deepest midnight blue, oh, oh