Good To Be Back
Recording Artist: Prism
Writer: Al Harlow
Jim Vallance
Bryan Adams
Date Written: 1988
Albums: Over Sixty Minutes With Prism (1988)
Jericho (1993)
The Best Of Prism (1996)
Audio:
 
Darcy Deutsch: vocal
Lindsay Mitchell: lead guitar
Al Harlow: bass, rhythm guitar
Jim Vallance: drums, keyboards
Backing vocals: Marc LaFrance, Paul Janz

Recorded and mixed at Distorto Studios, Vancouver. Produced by Al Harlow and Jim Vallance.
Comments:
Ron Tabak with Dorothy Stratten, 1980 >

(image kindly provided by
Maxine Elliott Kendall)
When Capitol Records decided to release the album "Over Sixty Minutes With Prism", they asked the band to come up with a new song for the package. I was a member of the original Prism line-up back in 1975, so long-time band-member Al Harlow kindly invited me to help him write the new song.

Prism had recently started touring again, after being out of the limelight for a number of years, so "Good To Be Back" seemed like an appropriate title for the song.

Al's a great guy to bounce ideas off, and we had a lot of fun with the lyric. In addition to paying tribute to original singer Ron Tabak, we also took a little dig at Prism's first hit song, "Spaceship Superstar".  In addition, Al and I were both approaching the age of 40 when we wrote the song, hence the line: "I still feel like a kid, I just look a bit older".

Bryan Adams contributed some lyrics to the song as well.

The track was recorded and mixed in my basement studio, with Al and I handling most of the instrumentation. Prism guitarist Lindsay Mitchell came in for the guitar solo, and singers Marc LaFrance and Paul Janz helped flesh out the backing vocals in the chorus.
Lyrics: When I first left home
My guitar on my back
I had a ticket to ride to the top of the hill
There was no lookin' back

But a five-man band rollin' 'round the world
Couldn't take the place of a small-town girl

I had it all then I threw it away
I should have known better than that

Now it's good to be back
It's good to be back in the battle again
It's good to be back
It's good to be right back where I belong

We were half-way there
We got into a fight
It was the last time I ever saw Ronnie alive
What a lonely night

I got a six-string over my shoulder
I still feel like a kid
I just look a bit older

People say it's a matter of time
But baby it's a matter of fact

That it's good to be back
It's good to be back in the saddle again
It's good to be back
It's good to be right back where I belong - ya, ya

Solo

A thousand miles in the drivin' rain
Doin' one night stands
It was a giant leap for rock 'n roll
C'mon let's do it again

It's good to be back
It's good to be back in the battle again
It's good to be back
It's good to be right back where I belong - ya, ya

Ya - right back where I belong