CHAPTER 40 - Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey OST (1991)
40.01. God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II
Recorded by KISS for the “Bill And Ted’s Bogus
Journey” soundtrack, this recording was the last to feature Eric Carr. Eric
didn’t drum, but performed “That really sweet sensitive Beatle-type vocal
answering Paul in the acoustic part” (KISS Crazy #11). With Eric Singer
drumming on the recording, Eric performed on the recording of the video
recorded in July 1991. The song was selected for KISS by one of the owners of Interscope Records who wanted to have KISS on the movie’s
soundtrack, with Bob Ezrin producing the track. Once
the time frame for Bob’s involvement was resolved the recording took five days.
And more importantly, once it was clear a new relationship with Bob would work,
with memories of “The Elder” still being an issue, Gene lobbied to have Bob
continue producing the band as they started to record a new studio album.
Paul, Gene, and Bob Ezrin rewrote the original
Argent version which had appeared on their 1973 album “In Deep.” That original
version had been written solely by Russ Ballard and had been a top-20 hit for
the band, even though the song’s subject matter was a result of Russ’ battle
with depression. There seems to be little difference musically apart from the
added harmonizing and very slight rearrangement. Lyrically the song required
work to get it away from the original “bambi” nature.
Gene recalled, “The original lyrics went something like, ‘don’t climb any trees
/ And don’t tease the creatures,’ lines like that. I
guess the hash was very strong in the days when this was written.... It was the
chorus that really said it all to us” (Kerrang #377). Gene also liked the
subject matter of the completed song commenting, “you
know, finally a song with guitars that says something good. Nobody has a private
ear to God, not popes, not kings, not queens. They don’t get any more special
treatment than the lowliest bum that walks the face of the earth. I like that,
that’s the philosophy I subscribe to – that everyone is equally important”
(Kerrang #377).
While Gene was immediately taken by the chorus, as being what summed
everything up so well, one, in particular, of the original verses would not
have worked well within a KISS context: “Love your friend and love your neighbour / Love your life and love your labour / No, it’s never too late to change your mind /
Don’t step on snails, don’t climb in trees / Love Cliff Richard but please
don’t tease / It’s never too late to change your mind.” While that chorus may
have “said it all” it would also be changed from “God gave rock ‘n roll to you,
gave rock ‘n roll to you / Put it in the soul of everyone / God gave rock ‘n
roll to you, gave rock ‘n roll to you / Save rock ‘n roll for everyone” to “God
gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you / Gave rock and roll to
everyone (oh yeah) / God gave rock and roll to you, gave rock and roll to you /
Put it in the soul of everyone.” The second part of the second verse would be
changed from “And if you’re young and you’ll never be old / Music can make your
dreams unfold / How good it feels to be alive” to “You can take a stand, or you
can compromise / You can work real hard or just fantasize / But you don’t start
livin’ till you realize (I gotta
tell ya).”
Sadly, this song would be the final recording featuring the input of
Eric Carr. Regardless of whether he wanted to drum, Eric wasn’t ready. He
recalled, “I would like to have played, and I feel good enough to play, but the
bones in my chest are not healed. So I can’t do it, no matter how I feel,
because the fact of the matter is that I have unhealed bones in my chest, and I
have to let them heal, and that takes a couple of months” (Karen Lesniewski).
This song had already been covered by the time KISS recorded it in
1991/2. Christian rock band
40.02. God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II (Edit)
The edit version of the song is timed at