levipatrick

<p><img src="https://www.songfacts.com/img-artalbums-145-6694c5da1f0e9986938e2c4661ede175.png"></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Album:&nbsp;</strong>Stealers Wheel (<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/browse/years/1972" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">1972</a>)</p><p><br></p><ul><li>Also known simply as "Stuck In The Middle," this Stealers Wheel classic was co-written by the group's guitarist Gerry Rafferty and keyboard player Joe Egan.</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>In his obituary of Rafferty for the January 5, 2011 issue of the&nbsp;<em>Daily Telegraph</em>, Martin Chilton said of this song that it was "Written as a parody of Bob Dylan's paranoia, it ridiculed a music industry cocktail party, with the lyrics:</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li><em>Clowns to the left of me</em></li><li><em>jokers to the right</em></li><li><em>here I am, stuck in the middle with you</em></li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>To Rafferty's utter disbelief his parody, composed as little more than a joke but with a catchy pop arrangement, struck gold, selling more than a million copies. The song reached a new generation of listeners when Quentin Tarantino used it in the notorious ear-slicing scene in his 1992 movie&nbsp;<em>Reservoir Dogs</em>."</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>Commenting to the BBC shortly after Rafferty's death, music industry pundit Paul Gambaccini echoed Chilton's sentiments about the song.</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>This was the group's first album. After two more albums, Rafferty went on to a solo career and had a hit with "<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/gerry-rafferty/baker-street" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Baker Street</a>." He was replaced by Luther Grosvenor from the band Spooky Tooth.</li></ul><p><br></p>