America Keeps On Loving Rock Song Thirty Years Since It Topped The Charts
Don’t try to tell me you don’t like this song. Don’t try to say that it’s too earnest and simplistic or that the big dumb chord progression is too big and dumb or that Kevin Cronin sounds too much like a dweeb or that his clothes or his acting in this video are too ridiculous for you to take anything he’s ever done seriously ever. Don’t try to tell me that you never wrote this song’s lyrics into a love note to an old ex-girlfriend you were trying to win back. Don’t try to tell me that you don’t turn up the volume and sing along aloud every time it comes on the radio when you’re driving in a car by yourself. I won’t believe you. Because it’s just too perfect, this song. It’s just too good at what it’s trying to do to make you do anything but give in and swear your allegiance. And because you’re an American, and you lied about having lost your virginity before you actually lost it. 30 years ago this week, REO Speedwagon’s “Keep On Loving You” was the number one song in the country. And when you really think about, if you’re honest with yourself, it’s pretty much stayed that way since.