Shame On The Moon

Bob Seger wrote most of his own material, but one of his biggest hits, "Shame On The Moon," was a cover. It was written by Rodney Crowell, who recorded it on his 1981 self-titled album. The plaintive song reflects on the burdens and compulsions every man carries, which seem to be most acute around midnight (maybe it has something to do with the moon). The only person who can really understand him is the one who lies beside him.

Some Eagles are part of this story. Don Henley is the one who turned Seger on to Crowell. When Seger bought Crowell's album, he loved "Shame On The Moon" and played it for his band. His producer, Jimmy Iovine, wasn't sold, but when Seger recorded harmony vocals with his good friend Glenn Frey, he knew they had something special. Seger co-wrote the Eagles song "Heartache Tonight" with Frey a few years earlier.

Speaking with Creem in 1983, Seger said: "It's more like a western song - a cowboy song - than it is a country & western song. And the track is flawless, the best and tightest track on the album. We cut it in like two hours, and everyone decided it was the miracle track. But then we had to decide whether to use it or not because The Distance was going to be a real rock album. I purposely didn't write any medium-tempo songs for this one because I wanted it to be hard rocking with a few ballads for pacing. But we figured we'd throw it on and see what happened. The next thing we know, the Capitol guys are saying, 'That's the single!' (laughs) Fine! Whatever it takes! So thank you, Rodney. It's a great song, and I'm beholden to the lad for writing it."