Two people can love each other and still be separated by different ideas of how they want to live their lives. In the case of Dave Loggins‘ enduring, bittersweet classic “Please Come to Boston,” a roving musician and a reliable homebody come to loggerheads about how to proceed.
Loggins, who passed away in July at age 76, didn’t have any other hits that quite approached the level attained by “Please Come to Boston.” But what a signature song it was for him, one that mused beautifully on those occasions where even love can’t salvage a relationship.
Loggins’ Journey
Dave Loggins was born and raised in Tennessee, so he certainly was in the right location to be a songwriter. It took him a while to get to that point, as he bounced around in a few different occupations before deciding to follow his passion for music. In 1972, he made his way to Nashville, and his songs earned him both a publishing agreement and eventually, a record contract as well.
While his second cousin Kenny Loggins was making hay as a member of Loggins & Messina, Dave Loggins’ singer/songwriter material didn’t immediately set the world on fire. His first album, Personal Belongings, didn’t do too much (nor did the singles released from it).
But he fared much better on the 1974 release Apprentice (in a Musical Workshop), and “Please Come to Boston” was the main reason for that. The acoustic track with stirring strings was written by Loggins as both a reflection of his life as a touring artist and a work of imagination, as he explained on his former website (as reported by Songfacts):
“The story is almost true, except there wasn’t anyone waiting [here] so I made her up. In effect, making the longing for someone stronger. It was a recap to my first trip to each of those cities and out of innocence. That was how I saw each one. The fact of having no one to come home to made the chorus easy to write. Some 40 years later, I still vividly remember that night, and it was as if someone else was writing the song.”
“Please Come to Boston” brought the relatively unknown Loggins into the limelight, as it rolled to No. 5 on the pop charts. It wasn’t a level of success he was able to maintain, as his subsequent efforts didn’t break through in the mainstream. Loggins was the type who didn’t care for the limelight anyway, as he remained content to release singles and albums in the ’70s that focused on singer/songwriter authenticity rather than the charts.
When he moved into the writer-for-hire business, he found excellent success on the country charts throughout the ’80s, including a big hit duet with Anne Murray. Loggins also wrote “Augusta,” which is famous among golf fans as being the theme song for CBS’ annual broadcast of the Masters Tournament.
What is the Meaning of “Please Come to Boston”?
“Please Come to Boston” is set up as a back-and-forth, long-distance conversation between the narrator and the love of his life. The location changes with each verse: Boston, Denver, and then Los Angeles. He implores the girl to join him, trying to convince her with all the different features of each spot.
But, in each chorus, she douses his hopes with her descriptions of these places and a suggestion that the version of him she loves is the local one: There ain’t no gold and there ain’t nobody like me / I’m the number-one fan of the man from Tennessee. He comes back in the bridge with his most earnest words: But of all the dreams I’ve lost and found / And all that I ain’t got / I still need to lean to / Somebody I can sing to.
Since she has the last word in the song, we’re left to wonder if these two ever did manage to come to some sort of compromise, or if they remained stubbornly set in their ways. “Please Come to Boston” is a travelogue that put Dave Loggins on the yacht rock map, and that song continues to occupy special musical real estate after all this time.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Local News
Comments / 0