WRITTEN IN ROCK
 (Lyrics and Music by Rick Springfield)


On my way back from a wedding
I drove 'round some of the old streets
I got swept up by the memories
Of cold nights and warm sheets
I parked outside the house we'd lived in
I tried to think of all the pain
But all I remembered was the laughter
And the precious trust we can't reclaim

There are no second prizes
And there will be no consolation wreath
We may as well miss by a mile
As miss by the skin of our teeth
They all thought we were some sure thing
I had the bloody coat and wedding ring

Nothing's written in rock
I know I'm not the one
Was I just the great pretender
Written in rock
There was no battle won
Only a mutual surrender
No guarantees, that's alright
If I was gonna stay, I would have stayed all night
Bye bye love, you were so damn right
Nothing's written in rock
Nothing's written in rock

You finally learned the deep dark secret
That I knew you were waiting for
So I watched the death of innocence
Of the young dreamer at life's door
This world can tear your soul to pieces
If you give it half a chance
There are no rules to remember
There are no written steps to the dance

I don't believe in fate
I don't believe in blind luck of the draw
I don't believe in love
I mean I don't believe anymore
They all thought we were the real thing
I had the bloody coat and the wedding ring

Nothing's written in rock
I know I'm not the one
Was I just the great pretender
Written in rock
There was no battle won
Only a mutual surrender
No guarantees, that's alright
If I was gonna stay I would have stayed all night
Bye bye love, you were so damn right
Nothing's written in rock
Nothing's written in rock

I remember you all dewy-eyed and breathless
Pointing the direction to the great promised land
I remember me all petrified and restless
Wondering what you were hiding in the other hand

Everybody keeps a lonely heart
And everybody gets that feeling
Everybody needs another heart
To give a little bit of healing to a battered soul

Oh, nothing's written in rock
Oh
Nothing's written in rock
I know I'm not the one
Was I just the great pretender
Written in rock
There was no battle won
Only a mutual surrender
No guarantees, that's alright
If I was gonna stay I would have stayed all night
Bye bye love, you were so damn right
Nothing's written in rock
Nothing's written in rock

Oh, nothing's written in rock

Oh...
(total playing time 4:33) 

Song Facts:
Rick performed this song at least once post Tao, at Konocti Harbor on 4/4/03.

Written in Rock appears on the following releases: Tao, Calling All Girls (Romantic Collection), and Anthology (written in rock).

 According to US

Let me start off by saying I love this song. This is my favorite off of Tao. For the record, it's probably my number two favorite if I'm naming a top ten. I've played this song over and over and over - wore out two cassette tapes in my car, they were totally warped in the middle. (kind of exactly where this song ends up - no coincidence there). I wrote a video for this song way back when Tao first came out. I could just "see" the way this could play out in my head and I had to write it down. I guess that was my first foray into writing about Rick. lol I still have that somewhere stashed away. All I can remember now is that I had Rick in a tux for most of it. (on my way back from a wedding) Seems that most of my fantasies about Rick have him dressed in a tux. :-)

I can't explain why I love this song so. I've never experienced what Rick is singing about, about a relationship gone kaput, gone sour - however you want to say it. Especially at the age I was when it was released. I was in the middle of my teens and still looking for something this grand, something that would shatter me this much if it had ended. Maybe that's what attracted me to it, that Rick sounds so passionate, yet so hurt in his words. From the beginning sounds, which to me always sounded like someone striking a match and it's afire, to the hard beat of the drums throughout, almost too hard, like they are angry, like the words. This song is almost the opposite of State of the Heart. I interpreted this song as this was a wonderful relationship. "I got swept up by the memories of cold nights and warm sheets" that somehow ended by someone cheating or lying, "I tried to think of all the pain, but all I remembered was the laughter and the precious trust we can't reclaim" He's telling this person that hurt him, that "it's okay, I can walk away - it's not like our commitment was Written in Rock."

There is one phrase that I still don't understand in this song, and throughout the years, I kind of forgot that I really didn't get this, it was just part of the song, you know? Now that I'm looking back on it again though, I always wondered what Rick meant by "I had the bloody coat and the wedding ring" The ring of course is clear, but what's with the coat? I just chalked it up to being some kind of English and/or Australian thing. You know, bloody this, bloody that. 

My favorite part of this song? "I remember you all dewy-eyed and breathless, pointing the direction to the great promised land. I remember being all petrified and restless wondering what you were hiding in the other hand." When you're singing along (and you all do, right?) and you get through this part, you ARE all dewy-eyed and breathless, right? Or is it just me? I also love the metaphors in these lines. When you're in the beginning of a relationship you are all dewy-eyed and breathless around that other half. However, it seems that you know that the other shoe will drop at some point, and reality will sink in. Wondering what that other person is hiding in their other hand, what skeletons are in their closet, or what kind of freak they'll turn out to be.  - Michelle  P.

This is one of the songs I do like on this album. Since it's not about the imminent destruction of the world, I guess that's why I like it. He seems to show such insight.

I tried to think of all the pain 
But all I remembered was the laughter 
And the precious trust we can't reclaim

I think this is something that happens a lot. People tend to remember the good times more than the bad times.

We may as well miss by a mile 
As miss by the skin of our teeth 

This is my favorite line in the song

There are no rules to remember 
There are no written steps to the dance

You always hear people say that life doesn't have a "handbook" and Rick says that same thing so eloquently.

I remember you all dewy-eyed and breathless 
Pointing the direction to the great promised land 
I remember me all petrified and restless 
Wondering what you were hiding in the other hand

I take this to mean that she was young and innocent, he wasn't and he was just waiting to see what hidden agenda she had (because, after all, everyone has one). - rlh