I’ve written often in this blog about Todd Rundgren’s 1972 album, Something/Anything? and featured several songs from that album as classic songs of the day, including “I Saw the Light,” “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference,” and “Hello It’s Me.” Well, here’s another one.
Today’s classic song of the day is “Couldn’t I Just Tell You.” This is yet another perfect piece of power pop from the master, who was only 24 years old at the time. This one was track three on side three, the first side of the double album’s second disc. Rundgren released it as a single in July of 1972 but it didn’t do too terribly well, peaking at just #93 on the Billboard Hot 100.
That’s a shame, because “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” is one of Todd’s best. Some critics regard it as the greatest power pop recording ever made, and it’s tough to argue with that. It certainly influenced future power pop practitioners, from Big Star to the Raspberries.
Like all the songs on the album’s first three sides, all the instruments on “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” were played entirely by Mr. Rundgren, recording at I.D. Sound Studios in Los Angeles. Here’s what he says about the song:
“It was quite a long time ago, so I couldn’t tell you exactly what was in my mind, but it started with the lick—just fooling around on the guitar a little bit. And I thought, ‘That could turn into a song!’
“There’s a big difference between writing on the guitar and writing on the piano. With the guitar you sort of take advantage of the limitations of it, the open strings and things like that, the places where you don’t have to put your fingers. On the piano, if you don’t put your finger down it doesn’t make a note, but on the guitar you can make notes without touching anything.
“So you have to take advantage of that sometimes when you’re writing. With ‘Couldn’t I Just Tell You,’ there’s a lot of open strings, especially on the opening lick, and that makes it sound more folky in a way.”
As to those chords, take a look at the song’s chorus. The progression goes like this: E – B – A – Asus2 – B – A – E -B – E. All easy chords on the guitar, the whole thing in the key of E Major. It’s not necessarily a progression that might come to you at a keyboard, and it’s simpler than some of Todd’s other tunes on the album. Analytically, it’s just I – V – IV with some repeats. Easy stuff, but effective.
Easy or not, “Couldn’t I Just Tell You,” as arranged and performed by Mr. Rundgren, perfectly defines the power pop genre. Some people consider it the first power pop song, which it isn’t, but it is an early one and a great one.
And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, Todd Rundgren (and band) performing “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” live on The Midnight Special back in 1974. Ferociously melodic!
