Tonight She Comes

"Tonight She Comes" is a 1985 song by American rock band the Cars, from their Greatest Hits album. It was released as a single in October 1985, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1986.[1] The song reached number 1 on the Top Rock Tracks charts, where it stayed for three weeks.

"Tonight She Comes"
Single by the Cars
from the album Greatest Hits
B-side"Just What I Needed"
ReleasedOctober 14, 1985
Length3:52
LabelElektra 69589
Songwriter(s)Ric Ocasek
Producer(s)The Cars and Mike Shipley
The Cars singles chronology
"Why Can't I Have You"
(1985)		 "Tonight She Comes"
(1985)		 "I'm Not the One"
(1986)
Music video
"Tonight She Comes" on YouTube

Background

"Tonight She Comes" was written by Cars singer and guitarist Ric Ocasek, who had originally intended to save the song for his solo career, however the song was instead recorded as a stand alone single. Ocasek recalled, "I was in the middle of recording my solo album and it was one of the songs I didn't use in the solo album at that point. That was like a one-off single that we just all came together and did."[2]

Composition

It is a straightforward, diatonic song in F major, with a guitar solo by Cars guitarist Elliot Easton. The solo was transcribed by Steve Vai in the issue of the magazine Guitar Player in February 1986, as the centerpiece to an interview with Easton.

In the interview, Easton described the custom made Kramer guitar used for the solo, and said the reason the solo was "so dense" was due to the four weeks spent recording the single, which allowed Easton ample time to compose it.[3] The title of the song is yet another Ric Ocasek double entendre, although as Easton said, "It doesn't actually say that she reaches orgasm. It could mean that tonight she's coming over to make popcorn."[3]

Release and reception

"Tonight She Comes" was the Cars' fourth Top 10 hit.[4] It was the first of two songs to be released as a single from their album of Greatest Hits. A remixed version of "I'm Not the One", previously recorded in 1981 for the album Shake It Up, was the second. [4]

AllMusic critic Greg Prato, in his review of Greatest Hits described the track as "playful", while Tim Sendra, also of AllMusic, said in his review of The Essentials that the track (among the others on said album), was "definitely essential". [5][6] Critic Donald Guarisco said the song "is one of their most straightforward pop outings and shows just how far they had moved from the acidic mindset of 'Just What I Needed' and "Let's Go'".[7]

He went on to say that the track was "a delightful, pristine pop confection".[7]

Chart performance

References
  1. "Billboard Jan 11, 1986". Billboard. 11 January 1986.
  2. Dolan, Jon; Doyle, Patrick; Hiatt, Brian; Hoard, Christian; Leight, Elias; Sheffield, Rob; Schteamer, Hank. "The Cars' Ric Ocasek: 17 Essential Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  3. Milano, Brett. Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology. Rhino.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). Billboard Books. p. 109. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4.
  5. Prato, Greg. "Greatest Hits". allmusic.com.
  6. Sendra, Tim. "The Essentials - The Cars | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  7. Guarisco, Donald. "Tonight She Comes". allmusic.com.
  8. "The Cars - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles". AllMusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  9. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JANUARY 18, 1986". Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 2017-08-20.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Cash Box magazine.
  10. "Top 100 Hits of 1986/Top 100 Songs of 1986". Music Outfitters. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  11. "Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. December 27, 1986. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
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