Bob Seger dropped a lyric video for the title track to Against the Wind, which turns 40 years old Friday. The clip follows the lyric video for “Night Moves,” on his newly launched YouTube channel.
Classic Seger imagery — animated horses, motorcycles, and vast American highways — flash across the screen with each line of the track. “It seems like yesterday,” he sings, “But it was long ago/Janey was lovely, she was the queen of my nights/There in the darkness with the radio playing low.”
Released on February 25th, 1980, with his Silver Bullet Band, Against the Wind is Seger’s only Number One album. “Knowing the difference between when people are using you and when people truly care about you, that’s what ‘Against the Wind’ is all about,” he told Rolling Stone of the track in 1980. “The people in that song have weathered the storm, and it’s made them much better that they’ve been able to do it and maintain whatever relationship. To get through is a real victory.”
Seger wrapped up his extensive farewell tour last fall. He finally launched his catalog on streaming services in 2017, making him one of the last major artists to do so. However, many of his earliest records, like Smokin’ O.P.’s and Back in ’72, remain unavailable both digitally and in print. “Jack White is always asking me about that,” he explained in 2018. “He wants to remix them all and said he’d do it for free. Maybe when I retire I’ll get serious about it.”