Baker Street

"Baker Street" (1978), by Gerry Rafferty, is his first released song after the lawsuits about the formal separation of the band Stealers Wheel in 1975. Rafferty supposedly was barred from the recording studio for 3 years after the band's breakup, while disputes about the band's remaining contractual recording obligations were being resolved. Named for a famous London thoroughfare, "Baker Street" was featured on City to City, Rafferty's second solo album, and was published as the first of three singles, marketed primarily to Adult Contemporary radio listeners. As a single, "Baker Street" reached #3 in the United Kingdom; it was an even greater success in the United States, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The melody's saxophone hook (in the original version) was played by Raphael Ravenscroft, and the guitar solo was by Hugh Burns.According to the Baker Street Songfacts, Rafferty wrote the song with an instrumental break, but didn't have a specific instrument in mind. Hugh Murphy, who produced the track, suggested a saxophone, so they brought in Ravenscroft to play it. The original album version (in City to City) was 6:01 minutes long. The single version released in the USA lasted 4:08 minutes, with its tempo accelerated for commercial-radio time allotments. An alternative, uncut mix of "Baker Street" (in Right Down The Line: The Very Best of Gerry Rafferty) contains 30 seconds of end-material not in the original, 1978 version—with reverb emphasized and Rafferty's singing electronically double-tracked.

[Instrumental Intro] [Verse 1] Windin' your way down on Baker Street Light in your head and dead on your feet Well another crazy day, you'll drink the night away And forget about everything This city desert makes you feel so cold It's got so many people but it's got no soul And it's taking you so long to find out you were wrong When you thought it held everything [Chorus] You used to think that it was so easy You used to say that it was so easy But you're tryin', you're tryin' now Another year and then you'll be happy Just one more year and then you'll be happy But you're cryin', you're cryin' now [Instrumental Break] [Verse 2] Way down the street there's a light in his place He opens the door he's got that look on his face And he asks you where you've been You tell him who you've seen and you talk about anything He's got this dream about buyin' some land He's gonna give up the booze and the one night stands And then he'll settle down, in some quiet little town And forget about everything [Chorus] But you know he'll always keep movin' You know he's never gonna stop movin' 'Cause he's rollin', he's the rollin' stone And when you wake up, it's a new mornin' The sun is shinin', it's a new mornin' You're goin', you're goin' home [Instrumental Outro]