Walking in Memphis


"Walking in Memphis" is a song composed and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, for whom it remains his signature song. It has been described as "an iconic part of the Great American Songbook".
"Walking in Memphis" reached number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1991. It is the only top-forty hit for Cohn. The song reached number three in Canada, number seven in Ireland, and number 11 in Australia. "Walking in Memphis" has since been covered several times, notably in 1995 by Cher and in 2003 by Lonestar.

Inspiration

Cohn has said that "Walking in Memphis" is "100 percent autobiographical". He has described it as a song about "a Jewish gospel-music-lover", and added that "the song is about more than just a place; it's about a kind of spiritual awakening, one of those trips where you're different when you leave. He was inspired to write "Walking in Memphis" by a 1985 visit to the Memphis, Tennessee area. At the time, he was working as a session singer in New York City while pursuing a recording contract. In 2014, he recalled:
One night while listening to all of my demos, I came to the realization that I shouldn't be signed, because I didn't have any great songs yet... I was 28 years old and not in love with my songs. James Taylor had written 'Fire and Rain' when he was 18, and Jackson Browne wrote 'These Days' when he was only 17. I thought: 'I'm already ten years older than these geniuses. It's never going to happen for me.' So it was a pretty desperate time, and I went to Memphis with that struggle at the forefront of my mind.
Cohn made his first excursion to Memphis after reading an interview with James Taylor in which Taylor stated he overcame writer's block by going to a place he had never been. Emulating Taylor, Cohn chose Memphis as his destination.
Cohn states that a friend told him that "there were two things in particular that I had to do , things that would forever change me. They later became the centerpieces of 'Walking in Memphis'." Cohn added:
The first thing was go to the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church on a Sunday morning to hear the Reverend Al Green preach... I had chills running up and down my spine. The service was so deeply moving that I found myself with sweat running down my face and tears in my eyes, totally enveloped by everything I was seeing and hearing. There was something incredibly powerful about Al Green's voice in that context. Even after three hours of continuous singing, his voice only got stronger and his band only got better. I sat there crying in the church, aware of the irony of how I used to cry in Synagogue in Cleveland as a kid — but because I wanted to get the heck out of there! Al Green's service was one of the great experiences of my life."

The second piece of advice was that Cohn visit the Hollywood Café in Robinsonville, Mississippi to see Muriel Davis Wilkins, a retired schoolteacher who performed at the cafe on Friday nights. Cohn remembered:
When I arrived, Muriel, who... was in her 60s, was onstage playing a beat-up old upright piano and singing gospel standards... I felt an immediate connection to her voice, her spirit, her face, and her smile. I was totally transfixed by her music. While many of the patrons were busy eating and not paying close attention to Muriel, I couldn't take my eyes off her. During her breaks, the two of us would talk. Muriel asked me why I was there, and I told her I was a songwriter trying to find inspiration. I also told her a little bit about my childhood — how when I was two and a half years old, my mom had passed away very unexpectedly, and about ten years later, my dad had passed away and I'd been raised by a stepmother. My mother's death was a central event in my life, and I'd been writing a lot about it over the years, both in songs and in journals. I think a part of me felt stuck in time, like I'd never quite been able to work through that loss... By midnight, the Hollywood was still packed, and Muriel asked me to join her onstage. We soon realized that there wasn't a song in the universe that both of us knew in common. A quick thinker, Muriel started feeding me lyrics to gospel songs so that I could catch up in time to sing somewhat in rhythm with her and make up my own version of the melody. Some songs I was vaguely familiar with, and some I didn't know at all. The very last song we sang together that night was 'Amazing Grace'. After we finished and people were applauding, Muriel leaned over and whispered in my ear: 'Child, you can let go now.' It was an incredibly maternal thing for her to say to me. Just like sitting in Reverend Al Green's church, I was again transformed. It was almost as if my mother was whispering in my ear. From the time I left Memphis and went back home to New York City, I knew I had a song in me about my experience there."

Composition

Soon after returning to New York City, Cohn began constructing the melody for "Walking in Memphis" on his guitar:
The music for 'Walking in Memphis', except for the bridge, is really just the same thing over and over again. It's an attempt to keep things simple so that the narrative is what the listener focuses on. The story keeps changing; it goes from one scenario to another, all following the thread of my elation, described in the lyric 'Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale'. What's being expressed is my love of music and the spiritual transformation I've always felt through it.
Cohn mentioned Muriel Wilkins in the following lyrics to "Walking in Memphis":

In 1986, Cohn returned to the Hollywood Café to play "Walking in Memphis" and the other songs from his new album for Wilkins. Cohn recalled that after he finished, Wilkins said: "'You know the one where you mention me at the end? That's the best one you got!'"

Commercial performance

Released as the first single from Cohn's self-titled debut album in March 1991, "Walking in Memphis" debuted at number 87 on the US Hot 100 in Billboard magazine dated March 30, 1991 with a subsequent two-month gradual chart ascent to the top 40, the single's number 38 ranking on the Hot 100 dated May 25, 1991, inaugurating a ten-week top 40 tenure with a peak of number 13 for two weeks, the first week of which was dated July 6, 1991—one day after Cohn's birthday. Overall "Walking in Memphis" spent 23 weeks on the Hot 100. "Walking in Memphis" was also a hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart and crossed-over to the magazine's C&W chart. In Canada the song peaked at number three on the week dated July 13, 1991.
During its original release, "Walking in Memphis" reached number seven in Ireland but stalled at number 66 in the United Kingdom; its September 1991 re-release returned "Walking in Memphis" to the Irish top 20 at number 16 and introduced the single to the UK top 30 with a peak of number 22. "Walking in Memphis" was also a top-twenty hit in both Australia and New Zealand, with respective chart peaks of number 11 and number 18. In Europe, the single charted in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
At the 34th Grammy Awards in February 1992, "Walking in Memphis" was nominated for Song of the Year. Also, Cohn was nominated for the Best Pop Male Vocalist award for his vocals in "Walking in Memphis". Cohn did not win either award, although he did win the Grammy for Best New Artist that same year.

Track listings and formats

7" single
  1. "Walking in Memphis" – 4:18
  2. "Dig Down Deep" – 5:08
7" single
  1. "Walking in Memphis" – 4:18
  2. "Silver Thunderbird" – 5:26
CD maxi
  1. "Walking in Memphis" – 4:18
  2. "Dig Down Deep" – 5:08
  3. "Saving the Best for Last" – 5:31

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cher version

Background

"Walking in Memphis" was remade by Cher for her twenty-first studio album titled It's a Man's World. It was released as the album's lead single in Europe on October 16, 1995. Her version debuted at number 11 on the UK Singles chart for the week ending October 28, 1995. Despite being a comparative failure for Cher, "Walking in Memphis" was included in the set list for the singer's 1999–2000 Do You Believe? Tour, the first Cher tour subsequent to her recording of the song. In introducing the number, Cher would overstate how low the impact of her take on "Walking in Memphis" was, first citing Marc Cohn's original as "a huge hit", then her own version as "a huge bomb". Her cover was used on The X-Files in the final scene of the fifth-season episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus".

Critical reception

AllMusic called this cover rousing. Jim Farber stated that it "must be heard to be believed."

Live performances

UK CD maxi-single Pt 1
  1. "Walking in Memphis"
  2. "Angels Running"
  3. "Walking in Memphis"
UK CD maxi-single Pt 2
  1. "Walking In Memphis"
  2. "Walking In Memphis"
  3. "Walking In Memphis"
  4. "Walking In Memphis"
UK 2 x 12" vinyl
Same track list as the UK CD Maxi-Single Pt 2.
UK 12" vinyl
  • A1. "One By One"
  • B1. "Walking In Memphis"
  • B2. "Walking In Memphis"
US 12" vinyl promo
  • A1. "One By One"
  • A2. "One By One"
  • A3. "One By One"
  • B1. "Walking In Memphis"
  • B2. "Walking In Memphis"

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Lonestar version

Background

American country music band Lonestar reached number eight on the Hot Country Songs chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2003 with a remake of "Walking in Memphis" released as a single off the Lonestar album . This version was featured on Smallville Season 3, Episode 5 "Perry" when Perry White returns to Metropolis.
Lonestar's lead vocalist Richie McDonald recalled that, during the two years of the band's inaugural phase as a bar band, "Walking in Memphis" was a staple of their set list from the beginning: "After we got our record deal, we stopped doing cover songs but... a few years later, in Memphis, Tennessee getting ready to do a benefit for St. Jude's down on Beale Street" – i.e. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – " we thought this would be a good time to do 'Walking in Memphis,' because we were right there on Beale... One of the label guys was there said, "Y'all should record that." We started doing it in our live shows and it just became something we wanted to put out."

Charts

Other versions

In the summer of 2005, Wouter, the runner-up in Idool 2004, spent eleven weeks in the top 20 of the Flemish chart with his version of "Walking in Memphis", the track spending three weeks at #3: the track was included on Rock On, Wouter's only album release to-date. "Walking in Memphis" became a #5 hit in Sweden in December 2009 via a remake by Calle Kristiansson, the runner-up finalist in Idol 2009. Kristiansson's version of "Walking in Memphis" was included on his self-titled album issued in January 2010. A concert performance of "Walking in Memphis" by Eric Church was featured in the first installment of the 15-LP box set of Church recordings titled 61 Days in Church.

Songs based on "Walking in Memphis"

Shut Up and Dance version ("Raving I'm Raving")

English electronic duo Shut Up and Dance released "Raving I'm Raving" on May 18, 1992, based significantly on "Walking in Memphis". Several lyrics were altered including the line "I'm walking in Memphis" becoming "I'm raving I'm raving".
The single reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1992, but ran into difficulties as they had not obtained clearance. As a result, the track was banned, causing it to fall to number 15 the following week then leave the charts completely. Proceeds were ordered to be given to charity. Nonetheless, near the end of 1992, the song did make another appearance on influential compilation, Rave 92, with the sample removed and the lyrics and tune re-written.

Scooter version ("I'm Raving")

In 1996, German hard dance band Scooter released a similar cover entitled "I'm Raving" as a single from their album Wicked!. The single was certified gold in Germany and peaked at number 4 on the German charts.
Music & Media wrote about the song: "Remember Marc Cohn's beautiful piano ballad Walking In Memphis? Change the lyrics in I'm Raving, I'm Raving, add some bagpipe-synths and the semi-live-gimmick patented by Scooter. This makes chart-storming seem effortless."