BORN OUT OF TIME
(Words and Music by Rick Springfield)
I've seen all your movies, at least 3 or 4 times
And have on my wall, a large picture of you
And you were that pretty young star, so long ago
I'm born out of time with you
What can I do?
Maybe I'm silly to think we'd have made it
But what I'd have given to at least had a try
Oh take me back with you 1939,
cause black and white movies
are making me cry
And born out of time, we slipped hopelessly by
Sophia Loren, Bridgett Bardot, Jean Harlowe, Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Deitrich.
But Greta, you're better than any I've seen
Yes, you were a real beauty queen
Oh listen people, has it happened to you yet
The feeling that someone was born out of time
You love someone, physically much too young for you
Either way, it's a shame, time was so cruel
But it's nice that that, generally, isn't the rule
Sophia Loren, Bridgett
Bardot, Jean Harlowe, Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Deitrich.
But Greta, you're better than any I've seen
Yes, you were a real beauty queen
And Clark Gable's who I should have been
(total playing time: 3:45)
This song appears on Comic Book
Heroes.
More Fan Reviews:
I just don't like this song very much or identify with it, at all.
And the weirdest part of the song to me is the line:
Oh listen people, has it happened to you yet
The feeling that someone was born out of time
You love someone, physically much too young for you.
These woman are all way older than he is, why is he saying "young".....
My first response to
the above question that really, singing it as, "you love someone physically much to
old for you" just didn't sound as -um, flow-y (for lack of a better musical term)
than saying young. Or that Rick thought that Greta would never consider him a
romantic partner because of the age difference, since she was so much older than him.
But it hit me that maybe Rick already experienced that loving someone
physically much too young for you. We all know his penchant for younger women. ;-)
That and, well, you're spoiling my teenage fleeting fantasy moment here!
LOL
I don't really have that much to say about this one. This song again has
that Beatles feel for me. That is not a surprise as they were such a big influence on him,
especially back in his early writing.
A bit of fan worship I would say. The fantasy/dream of being with the star that you
worship. The feeling that if you had only met (in this case back then) that you would have
been "made for each other".
Any of this ringing any Rick Springfield poster plastered rooms bells??? How many young
girls had these same thoughts about Mr. Springfield, back then twice MOST of their
ages??
Kind of strange how the whole time he talks of going back to 1939 and then he interjects
the line about loving someone "physically much too young" for you. What?? It is
out of sync with the ENTIRE rest of the song. Even if he is writing about a
situation he found himself in at the time, it still doesn't go with the view point of the
whole rest of the song...
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Oh, if there were ever a song that I could have written about
Rick, it would be this one. "I've seen all your movies, at least 3 or 4
times" or 10 or 20...smirk. "And have on my wall a large picture of
you" or 2 or 30, or at one time too many to count...
I'm taking you back to my teenage bedroom, once again. That place that I discovered
that I was honestly and truly smitten with Rick Springfield for life. The first time
I heard this song, I'm sitting on the floor in my room with headphones on. Looking
at the pictures in the CBH album. I'm a little perplexed by the movie snippet at the
beginning (and honestly I still don't know why it's there) but the sound is
intriguing. That breathless voice comes into my head, and I've fallen in love
all over again. By the time the chorus has passed and Rick is singing, "Oh
listen people, has it happened to you yet...the feeling that someone was born out of
time...YOU LOVE SOMEONE PHYSICALLY MUCH TOO YOUNG FOR YOU" I'm
jumping up and down and singing hallelujahs all over the place over the music in my head,
because my God, he understands!! I have a chance! I'm going to
Hollywood! Tomorrow! I'm gonna find me that Rick Springfield and marry him,
because he has just told me here in this song that it could be possible. Hey, he's
only 20 years older than me, and heck I can live with that....
It took me many listens through to come down off that high. Every time I listen to
this song, even today - I think back and chuckle on those thoughts. This song is so
classic in that it explains exactly how "The Fan" feels. This song has
true feelings and emotions in it that you can reach out and pluck while you listen.
I love how he pleads for just one try into 1939, as if wishing hard enough it would come
true. He's even willing to trade off his life for Clark Gable's. I know
I've done my share of wishing I could trade places with a certain blonde.
Every time I see or hear or read an interview with Rick and he mentions about the crush he
had on Haley Mills and how he sent her a letter, it makes me think of this song - even
though she's not mentioned in it. This song so humanizes Rick, it amazes me. I
love the fact that he's said it's one of his favorites, and I had already deemed it one of
mine before I had heard him express that thought. Before I heard this song, I knew I
could relate to things Rick was singing about, but never has one touched me so much from
all that he has written until this one. With Rick's other songs, I was always
getting the message that I could get though anything that I found difficult to
experience. It was almost as if Rick was telling me he was going to be there
for me. He always was, through his music. With this song it's as if Rick let
me peek into his soul a bit, and see something he was longing for. I
don't know why I feel the need to gush about this song so, but there is just something
about it that does "It" for me. Back in those days I was a teen and
spending a lot of time in my room, I'd play this song over and over and over again...
I would beg, borrow, steal or kill someone to hear Rick do this song live. Ok
maybe not kill, but certainly maim...
This is one of my favorite songs. In January of
2000 at a show in San Diego (this was supposed to be his comeback at the Universal
Amphitheater, but got
changed) someone held up a sign requesting this song. He said he couldn't remember
it (or something like that) and then proceeded to tell us the story about
the song about how he wrote it for Greta Garbo and how surprised he was to realize how old
she was and then how young he was. We were all laughing because yes, it is exactly
the story of us and him! He wanted to know what we were laughing about and when we
told him how it was the same with us and him, that just cracked him up!
I think this could be a "theme song" of our relationship with him. It is
so us, talking about pictures on the wall. It makes me feel hopeful that he
understands us. He has been where we are.
I also love how he sings "Marlene Dietrich" and how you can hear his accent.
I've always been a fan of Greta's, so I was thrilled with this song the
very first time I heard it and still am!!
Even though Rick and I aren't "born out of time" he's only 4 years older than me, I can still
"relate" to the "fan" analogy. I really like the intro to the song, a snippet from a movie called "Susan
Lennox", starring Greta and Clark Gable, since it sets up the lyrics beautifully. Rick's soft and
whispery voice sends shivers down my spine, as he longs for a love that can not be. I
can't blame Rick for wanting to "travel" back to 1939, a great year for movies...Gone
With The Wind, arguably the best movie of all time... The Wizard Of Oz, Fantasy Deluxe... The Adventures Of Robin Hood, Errol Flynn, swashbuckling personified... Withering Heights, a
classic tear jerker, "black and white movies are making me cry"......just to
name a few. It must be the actor in Rick wanting to return to the "Golden Age"
of movies for a "shot" at working with the greats mentioned in this song. And
the sensitive, sentimental songwriter in Rick being able to express his desires so aptly.
This beautiful ballad touches a chord in us, not only because we realize Rick's
"anguish" as our own, but shows us that our "hero" is really just
"one of us", a human being with dreams and visions beyond reach, but never
beyond imagining. "Greta you're better than any I've seen, yes you were a real beauty
queen". Right on, Rick!!
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