| Tight Rope | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Leon Russell |
| Album: | Carney |
| B-Side: | This Masquerade |
| Released: | August 1972 |
| Genre: | Blue-eyed soul[1] |
| Length: | 2:59 |
| Label: | Shelter 7325 |
| Producer: | Denny Cordell Leon Russell |
| Next Title: | Queen of the Roller Derby |
| Next Year: | 1973 |
"Tight Rope" is the debut 1972 hit single by singer-songwriter Leon Russell. It was the lead track on his LP, Carney.
The song reached number 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100[2] and number 10 on the Cash Box Top 100.[3] In Canada, it reached number five.[4]
This song is a circus metaphor about clinging to life while being on a high wire.
In the instrumental section, this song quotes a couple of times, a slow version of the "Entrance of the Gladiators" March, played in a mysterious descending scale, before Russell finishes the last half of the bridge section.
The B-side of 45 RPM for "Tight Rope" was "This Masquerade", also penned by Russell, which became a Top 10 hit for George Benson in 1976.
| Chart (1972) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] | 24 | |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 5 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 11 | |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 10 |