Song Lyric Sunday: “Step By Step”

Song Lyric Sunday 2 Minutes

At first (so to speak), Helen’s prompt for today’s extravaganza of music and lyrics stumped me. The only song I could think of was Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” the multiple Grammy winner that launched her into the music scene in the early ’70’s. I was sure someone would pick that one up right away (and I think I’ll be upset if someone doesn’t). So I was stuck. I went to sleep on it, and woke up hearing the lyrics “First step, bla bla bla bla bla, second step, bla bla bla…” I hate when that happens, when I can’t remember the name of the song or who did it, just a few of the lyrics and the style of music.

Thanks to that washday miracle, The Internet, that turned out to be enough. My song today is “Step By Step,” title track from Eddie Rabbitt’s 1981 album, part of the explosion of “new country” that started in the late ’70’s and picked up steam in the ’80’s. It was written by Rabbitt, David Malloy, and Even Stevens. It was Rabbitt’s ninth #1 song on the Country chart, and a big crossover hit, reaching #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #5 on the Hot 100.

The lyrics, courtesy of AZLyrics:

She seems a million miles away
When she walks by you don’t know what to say
You gonna make a move, you better make it now
Don’t be afraid, cause love will show you how

You take that first step
Ask her out and treat her like a lady
Second step
Tell her she’s the one you’re dreaming of
Third step
Take her in your arms and never let her go
Don’t you know step by step
Step by step
You’ll win her love

She looks too beautiful to touch
But your heart keeps talking to you now
Don’t give up
You think you see something in her eye
But you will never know until you try

But you gotta take that first step
Ask her out and treat her like a lady
Second step
Tell her she’s the one you’re dreaming of
Third step
Take her in your arms and never let her go
Don’t you know that step by step
Step by step
You’ll win her love

Second step…
Third step…
Don’t you know step by step
Step by step

First step
Ask her out and treat her like a lady
Second step
Tell her she’s the one you’re dreaming of
Third step
Take her in your arms and never let her go
Don’t you know that step by step
Step by step
You’ll win her love

Second step…
Third step…
don’t you know step by step
Step by step

First step
Ask her out and treat her like a lady
Second step
Tell her she’s the one you’re dreaming of
Third step
Take her in your arms and never let her go
Don’t you know that step by step
Step by step
You’ll win her love

That Internet thingy… I think it’s going to catch on…

That’s Song Lyric Sunday for November 25, 2018.

Published by John Holton

I'm a writer and blogger who writes and blogs about things that interest me.

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19 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: “Step By Step””

  1. Pingback: The First Week That Was Of Advent – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  3. I haven’t heard this one in a long time. I didn’t know he wrote Kentucky Rain which is one of my favorite Elvis songs. I Love A Rainy Night is another good one. Happy Sunday, John.

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    1. “Kentucky Rain” is my favorite Elvis song. You can just hear the frustration and sadness in the lyrics. Just the image of walking through the rain, not caring how wet you get as long as you find someone, is very evocative…

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  4. This happens to me all the time. I find myself googling lyrics or partial lyrics all the time, it’s worse when I remember the words wrong. This is a great song. Eddie Rabbit is a favorite of mine from days gone by.

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    1. I didn’t realize he had passed away until I looked him up. He wrote a lot of great songs and I think country singers will be doing them well into the future (and if they don’t, they don’t know what they’re missing).

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    1. I look at “new” country, that began to permeate the airwaves after 1978 or so, as a mixture of country and popular music, although Chet Atkins and his “Nashville Sound” in the ’60’s (more of a subtracting of the twangier elements of country music) was a precursor to that. So calling it pop wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.

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