Stuck In The Middle With You – Stealers Wheel | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#6); 1973
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Throughout the summer of 1978, the sax-driven Gerry Rafferty hit, Baker Street, rode the airwaves of American radio. For Gerry, it was his second shot at success.
Five years earlier he and Joe Egan had collaborated on Stuck In The Middle With You, a standout classic rock track amongst the pop lite of Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree and You Are The Sunshine Of My Life of the day.
Born in Scotland, Gerry’s first main gig was with folkies The Humblebums before he struck out on his own. Joe first joined voices with Gerry on the latter’s Can I Have My Money Back?, then they formed Stealer’s Wheel.
One of those revolving-members bands, Gerry was no longer with SW when Stuck In The Middle – produced by the famed team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller – became a surprise hit.
Gerry returned, yet, constant turmoil thwarted long term success. In 1992 Stuck played a featured role in the Quentin Tarantino film, Reservoir Dogs.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Lyrics Written by:
- Gerry Rafferty
- Joe Egan
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).