KARMA
 (Words and music by Rick Springfield)

I drop a stone into the ocean
Every choice another turn of the screw
Another wheel set in motion
With every single thing I do

It's there in the air that I breathe
It's in my whisper and scream
Inside everything I believe
And it's all gonna come around someday

As the smallest stream
Runs to a river
And every river
Runs to the sea
So every little bit of love
I give to another
You know what I believe
It comes back to me

There is no absolution
Whether I'm the garden or the rose
If I ain't part of the solution...
Yeah you know how that goes
You can always leave
But you bring it all back home someday

As the smallest stream
Runs to a river
But every river
Runs to the sea
So every little bit of love
I give to another
You know that I believe
It comes back to me

Every single thing I say
Everyone that I betray
Any love that I take
When I do not make it in return
Every thing I do
And everytime I've been unfaithful to
All the things that I believe
Are lessons I must learn

As the smallest stream
Runs to a river
But every river
Runs to the sea
So every little bit of love
I give to another
You know what I believe
It comes back to me

As the smallest stream
Runs to a river
But every river
Runs to the sea
So every little bit of love
I give to another
You know what I believe
It comes back to me


(total playing time 4:20)

Rick says:
My take on what the word means to me personally. - melodicrock.com

Rick also says:  is what it is, ya know? It's my idea of what that phrase meant to me - at the time I wrote it. Which is, - "whatever goes around, comes around." - And a kind of '60s mentality, and it's something very meaningful to me. 
The last couple of years I've been into Buddhism and started meditating. That was really inspiring, I've heard that word for the longest time. It was the first time it really affected me, it was really hard to understand - had this meaning in my life. Well, rather than just the pop word, a pop culture phrase.
I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It's got the most slide in it. It gets the award for the most slide playing. - eiozine.com

Song Facts:  This song is the title song from the cd Karma.  Rick has performed part of this song live a few times including Oroville, CA 7/8/00, acoustically in Cleveland, OH 8/11/00 and Milwaukee, WI 5/7/00

According to US

Firstly, Rick went ahead and did one of my pet peeves on this song. The song title is nowhere in this song. Now before ya'll chastise me about how the whole damn song resembles the meaning of Karma (duh!) - what I'm saying is that Rick does not say the word "Karma" at all. Kind of like The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris". I'm still trying to figure out why that song is titled Iris - but at least I can figure Karma out :-)

I love this song for what it stands for, about how whatever goes around comes around, and whatever you put out *there* is gonna come back to you the same way. It's funny how Rick mentions in comments about this song that it has a 60's mentality -because it reminds me of quite a few songs that came out of that era. I don't know if it's just the words, or the melody and the sound of the guitar combined with the words that does that for me - but it does. When I'm done hearing this song, I feel like breaking into "Michael row the boat ashore" for some reason. :-)

I'm so disappointed that this wasn't released as a single or even got the opportunity to be made into a video (I'm going to make that statement a lot about the songs on this album). This song sounds a lot like what was on radio at the time Karma was released, in my opinion. The video also could have really captured Rick's "true essence" by being a live performance video and showing the love we project out to Rick and him returning it to us by being out in the audience with the fans. It could also include some of the backstage meet & greet stuff -and how affectionate Rick gets with the fans when photos are taken, by putting his arm around them and even obliging some with a kiss on the cheek. - Michelle P.

Sometimes when you absolutely love a song, it's really easy to write what it means to you and how it makes you feel, and sometimes it's impossible. I thought reviewing the songs on Karma was going to be easy. It's hasn't been. This is definitely my favorite song on the cd and I'm having a hard time finding words that relay how I feel and why. I definitely believe that almost every thing you do effects something else, which could in turn effect something else and sometimes the smallest things can end up having a huge effect - good and bad.
I think if I had written this review a few years ago I would have talked about how much I believe in Karma and doing the right thing has it's rewards. Today, as I sit here trying to explain how I feel, I think I just *want* to believe in Karma. There's just too many good deeds not only gone unnoticed but that seem to blow up in people's faces sometimes and too much bad behavior paying off to feel as strongly as I once did. I used to just *know* it worked. I don't know that anymore.
The opening music of the song just reminds me of a river flowing for some reason, and it has such a calming effect, like everything is going to be all right. You listen to this songs and it makes you want to believe, that's for sure.
I think one of the most brilliant examples of song writing that Rick has done comes with these lines:
There is no absolution
Whether I'm the garden or the rose
If I ain't part of the solution...
Yeah you know how that goes

To take the thought of "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem" and word it in this way to where you know exactly what he's saying without him having to say it completely, I find absolutely brilliant, and said so eloquently, at that.

I also like the way the tone of the song changes when he gets to the line Every single thing I say - rlh

Like a lot of you, this song has a lot of visual references to me. I love this song for the truths it speaks...though I have to admit  these days I just hope they're truths, because sometimes the world doesn't seem to always remember these lessons. I again love the words here, how they're crafted and put together. While there is no use of the word Karma in the song, it sums up the tune so perfectly that I'll forgive him that.

I guess there is really only one thing that I've never quite understood about this song, and it has to do with the use of the language and how it goes together. Every part fits to me so perfectly, like a puzzle, but this one part: "There is no absolution, whether I'm the garden or the rose, if I ain't part of the solution..." It's always seemed to me that he never found the right way to finish that thought. "Yeah you know how that goes" just never seems right to me there. I don't know why that is. I guess the whole song just feels like a perfect lesson to me, like a circle, what goes around comes around, it's all gonna come around one day...if I ain't part of the solution...WHAT? What happens? What happens if I ain't part of the solution? 

I guess nothing. I guess it's part of the never finished aspect of life, that sometimes, you have to wait a really long time for things to come around, and sometimes, you might not even recognize when they do. Because, after all, there is no absolution...no solution...so you just have to live your own life and trust in the results.
It perplexes me. - Amy SP

I have to start by saying, even though it may sound crazy, I JUST got this CD about 2 weeks ago. Hey, better late than never right? What a gem of a record. And this song! It hit me like a ton of bricks. I have always believed in Karma, and Rick, as always, put the meaning to words so perfectly. The man is a master writer & poet. I have been a fan since Jessie's Girl, but had something of a "rebirth" as a fan lately. I start and end everyday with the song Karma. And listen to it in between too. The classic guitar sound at the beginning is immaculate! It sends cold chills all over me. I love the line, "another wheel set in motion, with every single thing I do." Reminds me of the theory the butterfly effect. How true that is! I think the part where he says, "yeah you know how that goes," refers to what someone else said in their review. If we're not part of the solution, then we may be part of the problem. I too believe that's what he is saying there. The chorus is heavenly, and so visual! It brings to mind the cycle of life, and the way our lives sometimes go in a circle. "You can always leave, but you bring it all back home someday." YES.....things do come back to us someway. This song is so intelligent and I cannot understand why it was not a huge hit for Rick. What is wrong with radio these days??? This song brings me such joy and happiness. Ricks voice flows so beautifully here, and sounds so good it almost hurts! And this is a wonderful song for us to live by as well, if we don't already. Give love and kindness to others & someday it will come back to you. - Kelley Pearson