Feel Like a Number explained

Feel Like a Number
Type:single
Artist:Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Album:Stranger in Town
A-Side:Still the Same
Released:1978
Genre:Rock and roll
Length:3:42
Label:Capitol
Producer:Bob Seger
Punch Andrews
Feel Like a Number
Cover:Feel Like a Number cover.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Album:Nine Tonight
B-Side:Hollywood Nights
Released:1981
Genre:Rock
Length:4:02
Label:Capitol
Producer:Bob Seger
Punch Andrews
Prev Title:Tryin' to Live My Life Without You
Prev Year:1981
Next Title:Shame on the Moon
Next Year:1982

"Feel Like a Number" is a song written by Bob Seger that was first released on his 1978 album with the Silver Bullet Band, Stranger in Town. It was also released as the B-side of the top 5 single "Still the Same" and a live version from the album Nine Tonight was released as a single in 1981. The song was featured in the 1981 movie Body Heat.[1]

Lyrics and music

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Jim Allen describes "Feel Like a Number" as a "rough-hewn proletarian anthem."[2] Similarly, Billboard critic Ed Harrison described the song as "anthem-like," a "spirited rocker" and as a "working class dirge...that sums up the complaints of the working class."[3] The lyrics are sung by an ordinary worker who feels devalued, unrecognized and unappreciated by modern, impersonal society.[4] He feels like his coworkers to be "just another drone," the telephone company considers him "just another phone," and the Internal Revenue Service considers him just "another file."[5] At the end of the song, the singer desperately declares that "I ain't just a number/Dammit, I'm a man!"[6] According to radio hosts Pete Forntale and Bill Ayres. "With the IRS you certainly are just a number, and that's alright, as long as they don't call your number. If you feel that way at work, however, you have a problem."[4] Allen Baswell regarded "Feel Like a Number" as an example of Seger's "rich lyrics" describing "the hopes, dignity and dreams of working people."[7] According to Seger (in 1978):

I got the idea for the song after watching a show about computer banks and how many names were in them. We're all in computer banks. Lord knows how many data collections there are. Everybody is a number and in the record industry you're also thought of a lot of times as a number — the amount you sell or whatever. Some of the humanity gets lost and the hype takes over. You have to watch out. That's the whole idea of Stranger in Town as an album, actually. It's about identity and trying to survive and keep your identity.[5]

Seger also said of the song:

According to Allmusic critic Mark Deming, Seger's "pained, angry, and defiant" vocal makes the song special. He describes the Silver Bullet Band as providing "a tough wall of guitar and keyboard driven rock" to support Seger's vocal.

Reception

Deming feels that the song "could well have been the anthem of the Regular Joes who'd stuck by Seger during his lean years."[8] Forntale and Ayres feel the song "paints a powerful picture" of the unappreciated man.[4] Boston Globe contributor Steve Morse called it a "powerful rocker" and considered "Feel Like a Number" to be the key song from the Stranger in Town album, as well as the key to understanding Seger's "feet–on–the–ground roots."[5] Cash Box said that "Feel Like a Number" is "what Seger is all about."[9]

A live version of "Feel Like a Number" was included on Seger's 1981 live album Nine Tonight.[10] This version was released as a single and reached #48 on the Billboard Hot 100.[11] It performed better in Canada, reaching #29.[12] Billboard said of it that "Seger's gritty vocal and some searing guitar work standout."[13] Record World described it as a "non-stop rocker" with "boogie piano rolls" and "guitar raunch."[14]

The original studio version also appears in the ski instructor tryouts scene in the 1993 film Aspen Extreme.[15]

According to Ultimate Classic Rock contributor Jeff Giles, even though "Feel Like a Number" was not a hit single, it "has its own special place in the hearts of longtime fans who appreciate Seger's distinctive way of giving musical life to the hopes, dreams and struggles of the American middle class."[16] AnnArbor.com director Bob Needham described "Feel Like a Number" as a "terrific expression of working-class frustration," noting that although not a hit single it was a radio staple.[17]

Reprises

Sung in French by Johnny Hallyday in 1980 under the title of "Perdu dans le nombre" from the album À partir de maintenant.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Body Heat (1981) Soundtrack. IMDb. 2019-02-24.
  2. Web site: Bob Seger Albums Ranked Worst to Best. Allen, Jim. May 31, 2016. Ultimate Classic Rock. 2018-11-11.
  3. News: Closeup. Billboard. 80. 2020-07-09. June 10, 1978. Harrison, Ed.
  4. Book: All You Need Is Love. Fornatale, Pete. Ayres, Bill. 64–65. 1998. Fireside. 0684845296. registration.
  5. News: Newspapers.com. Boston Globe. Morse, Steve. 2018-11-11. Bob Seger Is Still the Same. September 14, 1978. 82.
  6. News: Newspapers.com. Seger Doesn't Mind Being Stranger in Hollywood. 2018-11-11. Lincoln Journal Star. June 20, 1978. 10.
  7. News: Newspapers.com. 2018-11-11. Baswell, Allen. Baswell Beat. The Magee Courier. February 8, 2007. 9.
  8. Web site: Feel Like a Number. Deming, Mark. AllMusic. 2018-11-11.
  9. News: CashBox Album Reviews. May 27, 1978. 18. Cash Box. 2022-01-01.
  10. Web site: Nine Tonight. AllMusic. 2018-11-11.
  11. Web site: Bob Seger Chart History. Billboard. 2018-11-11.
  12. Web site: RPM 50 Singles Volume 35 No. 26. Library & Archives Canada. 2018-11-19. February 6, 1982.
  13. Billboard. December 12, 1981. 2023-01-21. 55. Top Single Picks.
  14. Record World. December 12, 1981. 1. 2023-03-02. Hits of the Week.
  15. Web site: Aspen Extreme (1993) - Soundtracks . .
  16. Web site: Clash of the Titans: Bachman–Turner Overdrive vs. Bob Seger, Labor Day Edition. Giles, Jeff. 2018-11-11. Ultimate Classic Rock. September 7, 2015.
  17. Web site: With Bob Seger playing EMU, a look back at a dozen favorite tracks. Needham, Bob. The Ann Arbor News. 2018-11-11. October 30, 2011.