Mainstreet (xl) by jmjiloveyou

jmjiloveyou - Mainstreet (xl)

jmjiloveyou

Aug 18, 2025 12:10pm

<img src="https://i3.cpcache.com/merchandise_zoom/82475093/510_750x750_Front_Color-WhiteBlack.jpg?region={%22name%22:%22FrontCenter%22,%22width%22:1.4788733,%22height%22:1.5,%22alignment%22:%22MiddleCenter%22,%22orientation%22:0,%22dpi%22:200,%22crop_x%22:0,%22crop_y%22:0,%22crop_h%22:400,%22crop_w%22:200,%22scale%22:0,%22template%22:{%22id%22:82475093,%22params%22:{}}}&AttributeValue=NA&c=False&cid=PUartJBjiF%2Fyg4FdKqiggQ%3D%3D+%7C%7C+lLoY69gCwulSN7CEijlPkA%3D%3D&ProductNo=2007184580" alt="Trendy Blue Stipper Pole Dancer Shot Glass | CafePress">Mainstreet" is a song written and recorded by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Seger" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band</a>. It was released in April 1977 as the second single from the album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Moves_(album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Night Moves</a>. The song peaked at number 24 on the U.S. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard Hot 100</a> and has become a staple of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_rock" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">classic rock</a> radio; it also reached number one on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Singles_Chart" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Canadian Singles Chart</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[2]</a> <h2>Lyrics and music</h2>Seger has stated that the street he was singing about is Ann Street, just off Main Street in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Arbor,_Michigan" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ann Arbor</a>, Michigan, where he grew up. There was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_hall" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pool hall</a> there where they had girls dancing in the window and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26B" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">R&B</a> bands playing on the weekends.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[3]</a> He said, "Again, that's going back to the '<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Moves_(Bob_Seger_song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Night Moves</a>' situation where I was writing about my high school years in Ann Arbor and what it was like — the discovery, the total naivete and fresh–faced openness that I went through. It was sort of an entire awakening of my life; before that I was kind of a quiet, lonesome kid."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-rocker-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[4]</a> Seger later expanded on the origins of the song:<blockquote>Just like "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Moves_(Bob_Seger_song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Night Moves</a>," that song rings true. What do they tell you about writing? They say you have to write about what you know. I grew up near that street corner. My older brother was a lot of trouble and I was not. My parents always called me "the good one" and they said: "You're the one we can trust." So at age 10, 11, 12 I was able to walk through Ann Arbor until midnight if I felt like it.</blockquote><blockquote>There was a club, and this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">blues</a> band from Chicago named Washboard Willie was playing there. In the window of this club there were people dancing, and occasionally there would be a beautiful girl dancing in the window. And at my age you were starting to wake up to girls. I would sit out there and watch through the window and listen to this great R&B. I'm looking and I'm listening and thinking this is what I wanna do with my life.</blockquote><blockquote>The club was very lively, and to a 12, 13-year-old that was pretty cool. I loved the groove because it's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_blues" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chicago blues</a>, and the women are dancing and you're starting to think the women are looking pretty good. So all that stuff ended up becoming the elements for the song "Mainstreet."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a></blockquote>Ultimate Classic Rock critic Jed Gottlieb cites "Mainstreet" as an example of Seger's love for "beautiful losers".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-classic-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> He notes that Seger sings about a "dancer in a downtown dive" rather than the waitresses, prom queens, or college girls who would be the subject of other singers' songs.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-classic-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a> And he notes that unlike in their songs, the singer doesn't try to save or run away with the girl, but is content to just watch her walk on by him.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-classic-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billboard</a> felt that the imagery used by the singer to remember his love for the bar dancer was reminiscent of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Morrison" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Van Morrison</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-bb-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a> Billboard also found the organ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterpoint" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">counterpoint</a> to be "clever".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-bb-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash_Box" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cash Box</a> compared it to "Night Moves" saying that "this haunting ballad hits home with the same emotive chording, expressive vocalization and dramatic close."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-cb-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[8]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_World" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Record World</a> said that it focuses on "Seger's mellower, more introspective side."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-rw-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[9]</a>Classic Rock History critic Janey Roberts rated it as Seger's 7th best song, calling it "an ode to the romantic backstreets of hope and despair found on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Springsteen's</a> classic 1975 work [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_to_Run" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Born to Run</a>]."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreet#cite_note-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[10]</a>It is in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(music)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">key</a> of E♭. During live performances the iconic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Carr" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pete Carr</a> guitar intro was replaced with a sax intro.