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Posh Dinner Births Iconic "Stuck in the Middle" Lyrics
23 Aug
Summary
- A tense dinner with record executives inspired Stealers Wheel's hit.
- The song's famous lyrics were coined amidst feelings of boredom and anxiety.
- The band's biggest commercial success was written in just thirty minutes.
Stealers Wheel's Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan found inspiration for their massive hit, "Stuck in the Middle with You," during a seemingly unpromising 1972 dinner. The event, hosted by A&M Records in a chic Chelsea restaurant, left the musicians, who hailed from Paisley, Scotland, feeling bored and anxious.
Rafferty described being sandwiched between dull executives and their wives, a sentiment that directly influenced the song's now-famous lyrics: "Clowns to the left of me/Jokers to the right/Here I am, stuck in the middle with you." These words highlighted the contrast between their humble backgrounds and the high-society setting.
Despite the awkwardness, the evening proved fruitful. "Stuck in the Middle with You" went on to become Stealers Wheel's most successful commercial release. It peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number eight on the UK singles chart. Remarkably, Rafferty revealed that he and Egan penned the entire song in just half an hour, two days after the dinner.
