"Sister Christian" is a power ballad by the American hard rock bandNight Ranger. It was released in March 1984 as the second single from their album Midnight Madness. It was ranked number 32 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s. It was written and sung by the band's drummer, Kelly Keagy, for his sister. It was the band's biggest hit, peaking at number five on the BillboardHot 100, and staying on the charts for 24 weeks. It also reached number one in Canada. The song plays during the drug deal scene in Paul Thomas Anderson's film Boogie Nights.
Origin and meaning
The song is about Keagy's little sister, Christy. Keagy wrote the song at his apartment, near Divisadero and California streets in San Francisco, after he had just returned from a visit to his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. He had been struck at how fast his teenaged sister, 10 years younger than he was, was growing up. "After we started playing it a lot, Jack turned to me and said, 'What exactly are you saying?'" Keagy recalled. "He thought the words were Sister Christian, instead of Sister Christy, so it just stuck." The lyric, "You're motoring. What's your price for flight? In finding Mr. Right?" is the subject of much debate. The band stated in a VH-1Behind the Music interview that the term "motoring" was synonymous with the term "cruising."
Differences between album version and 7" single version
On the single version, part of the second chorus is omitted. More specifically, the words "You've got him in your sight. And driving through the night," are omitted from the single version. The third chorus is repeated once on the album version, but not on the single.
A newly recorded acoustic version of the song was produced for the band's ninth album, Hole in the Sun. A medley at the beginning of the movie Rock of Ages starts with a cover of this song. Glee covered the song in its Season Four premiere episode, "The New Rachel." It was sung by junior student Brody Weston in the co-ed bathrooms of NYADA. Foster Farms covered the song with singing chickens. Jensen Ackles covered the song at VegasCon 2015 , with the bandLouden Swain, and Rob Benedict.
