Walking in Memphis

Cohn has said that "Walking in Memphis" is "100 percent autobiographical". He has described it as a song about "a Jewish gospel-music-lover",[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[6]

After reading that James Taylor overcame writer's block by going to a place he had never been, Cohn visited Memphis.[6] A friend had told him "there were two things in particular that I had to do [in Memphis], things that would forever change me. They later became the centerpieces of 'Walking in Memphis'."[6] 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 [soon] 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."[6]

The second piece of advice was that Cohn visit the Hollywood Café in Robinsonville, Mississippi (present-day Tunica Resorts, 35 miles south of Memphis), to see Muriel Davis Wilkins, a retired schoolteacher who performed at the cafe on Friday nights.[6] 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."[6]

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.[6]

Cohn mentions Muriel Wilkins:

Now Muriel plays piano every Friday at the Hollywood

And they brought me down to see her and they asked me if I would

Do a little number, and I sang with all my might

She said "Tell me are you a Christian child?" I said "Ma’am I am tonight."[7]

In 2014, Cohn noted:

The line: 'Tell me are you a Christian child, and I said 'Ma'am I am tonight' – even in the moment I wrote it down, I knew I was getting closer to finding my songwriting voice. To this day, people still ask me if I am a Christian. While I have to admit that I enjoy the confusion the lyric brings, the thing that makes that line work is the fact that I'm a Jew. So many great artists over the years needed to hide the fact that they were Jewish to protect themselves and their families from anti-Semitism, so I'm proud of the fact that I could come right out and practically announce my religion on the first song I ever released.[6]

In 1986, Cohn returned to the Hollywood Café to play "Walking in Memphis" and the other songs from his new album for Wilkins. After he finished, Wilkins said, "'You know the one where you mention me at the end? That's the best one you got!'"[6] She died before Cohn released "Walking in Memphis".[8]

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,[9] 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 (number 12) and crossed-over to the magazine's C&W chart (number 74).[10][11] In Canada the song peaked at number three on the week dated July 13, 1991.[12]

During its original release, "Walking in Memphis" reached number seven in Ireland but stalled at number 66 in the United Kingdom;[13][14] 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.[13][15] (The re-release of "Walking in Memphis" replaced the original B-side: "Dig Down Deep," with a live version of "Silver Thunderbird" recorded July 17, 1991.) "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.[16][17] In Europe, the single charted in France (number 45), Germany (number 25), the Netherlands (number 54) and Sweden (number 36).[16]

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".[18][7] Cohn did not win either award, although he did win the Grammy for Best New Artist that same year.[19]

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" (live) – 5:26

CD maxi

1. "Walking in Memphis" – 4:18
2. "Dig Down Deep" – 5:08
3. "Saving the Best for Last" – 5:31

In the summer of 2005, Wouter (nl), 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 (vinyl) box set of Church recordings titled 61 Days in Church.[61]

• 1991 in music

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics