Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you
Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,
And I'm wondering what it is I should do,
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face,
Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place,
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Well you started out with nothing,
And you're proud that you're a self-made man,
And your friends, they all come crawlin,
Slap you on the back and say,
Please, please
Trying to make some sense of it all,
But I can see that it makes no sense at all,
Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor,
'Cause I don't think that I can take anymore
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Well you started out with nothing,
And you're proud that you're a self-made man,
And your friends, they all come crawlin,
Slap you on the back and say,
Please, please
Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you,
Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,
Stuck in the middle with you, here I am stuck in the middle with you.
Apparently, a lot of people out there think Stuck in the Middle with You was written and sung by Bob Dylan. Well, I hate to disappoint, but it was not. Stuck in the Middle with You was the brainchild of Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan of the Scottish band Stealers Wheel. They wrote the song as a joke in 1972, making fun of Bob Dylan’s paranoia. He also liked to refer to others in the music business as clowns and jokers. Gerry Rafferty, who sang lead even added some nasality to his tone, to sound more like Dylan. (Something this Cracked article says “sounds like Neil Diamond trying to eat oatmeal while having a stroke.” I like Neil Diamond, but I’ve got to admit that’s funny.)
Stealers Wheel was fortunate to have Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as their record producers for their first album. Leiber and Stoller were legendary song writers and producers, writing over 70 chart hits out of their Brill Building offices. With the two of them behind the glass, it is no surprise that at least one song off that album made it onto the charts. The surprise is that it was the joke song – Stuck in the Middle with You.
In the music video for the song, it shows Egan lip-syncing the words to Rafferty’s vocals. By the time the album was released, Rafferty had left the group. But by the time the record had gone gold, Rafferty was persuaded to return to the band.
Unfortunately, nothing else they did ever came close to the success of that joke song. And Stealers Wheel broke up in 1975.
The group reformed in 2008, but without either Rafferty or Egan. And broke up again the same year. Like a lot of groups, there was a revolving door for the departing and returning band members during their active years.
Do you have a favorite version of Stuck in the Middle with You? Let me know in the comments below. I’ll be playing some of these this week on my Minnich Music FaceBook page this week, so be sure to check them out.
Until next time!
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you
Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,
And I'm wondering what it is I should do,
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face,
Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place,
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Well you started out with nothing,
And you're proud that you're a self-made man,
And your friends, they all come crawlin,
Slap you on the back and say,
Please, please
Trying to make some sense of it all,
But I can see that it makes no sense at all,
Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor,
'Cause I don't think that I can take anymore
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Well you started out with nothing,
And you're proud that you're a self-made man,
And your friends, they all come crawlin,
Slap you on the back and say,
Please, please
Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you,
Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,
Stuck in the middle with you, here I am stuck in the middle with you.
Apparently, a lot of people out there think Stuck in the Middle with You was written and sung by Bob Dylan. Well, I hate to disappoint, but it was not. Stuck in the Middle with You was the brainchild of Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan of the Scottish band Stealers Wheel. They wrote the song as a joke in 1972, making fun of Bob Dylan’s paranoia. He also liked to refer to others in the music business as clowns and jokers. Gerry Rafferty, who sang lead even added some nasality to his tone, to sound more like Dylan. (Something this Cracked article says “sounds like Neil Diamond trying to eat oatmeal while having a stroke.” I like Neil Diamond, but I’ve got to admit that’s funny.)
Stealers Wheel was fortunate to have Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as their record producers for their first album. Leiber and Stoller were legendary song writers and producers, writing over 70 chart hits out of their Brill Building offices. With the two of them behind the glass, it is no surprise that at least one song off that album made it onto the charts. The surprise is that it was the joke song – Stuck in the Middle with You.
In the music video for the song, it shows Egan lip-syncing the words to Rafferty’s vocals. By the time the album was released, Rafferty had left the group. But by the time the record had gone gold, Rafferty was persuaded to return to the band.
Unfortunately, nothing else they did ever came close to the success of that joke song. And Stealers Wheel broke up in 1975.
The group reformed in 2008, but without either Rafferty or Egan. And broke up again the same year. Like a lot of groups, there was a revolving door for the departing and returning band members during their active years.
Do you have a favorite version of Stuck in the Middle with You? Let me know in the comments below. I’ll be playing some of these this week on my Minnich Music FaceBook page this week, so be sure to check them out.
Until next time!
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