Round Here

"Round Here" is a song by American rock band Counting Crows, released as the second single from their debut album, August and Everything After (1993), on June 20, 1994, by Geffen Records. The song's origin predates the formation of Counting Crows, when the band's future frontman Adam Duritz wrote the song with The Himalayans members Dan Jewett, Chris Roldan and Dave Janusko.[2]

For other uses, see Round Here (disambiguation).

"Round Here"
Single by Counting Crows
from the album August and Everything After
ReleasedJune 20, 1994 (1994-06-20)[1]
Length5:32
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)T-Bone Burnett
Counting Crows singles chronology
"Mr. Jones"
(1993)		 "Round Here"
(1994)		 "Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)"
(1994)

Despite not charting on the US Billboard Hot 100 due to rules in place at the time, "Round Here" peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart and number seven on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song also reached the top 20 in Canada and Iceland, peaking at number six in the former country and number 12 in the latter. In April 2022, American Songwriter ranked the song at number five on their list of "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs".[3]

Song meaning

Duritz explained on VH1 Storytellers the meaning to the song:

The first way Counting Crows ever sounded, it was me and Dave in bars and coffee houses playing open mics, doing this song this way. The song begins with a guy walking out the front door of his house, and leaving behind this woman. But the more he begins to leave people behind in his life, the more he feels like he's leaving himself behind as well. The less and less substantial he feels like he's becoming to himself. And that's sorta what the song's about because he feels that even as he disappears from the lives of people, he's disappearing more and more from his own life. The chorus is, he sorta keeps screaming out these idioms these lessons that your mother might say to you when you were a kid, sorta child lessons ya know, "round here we always stand up straight", "carving out our names". Things that you are told when you are a kid that you do these things that.. that when you're grown up it'll add up to something, you'll have a job, you'll have a life. I think for me and the character of the song they don't add up to anything, it's just a bunch of crap kinda. Your life comes to you or doesn't come to you, but those things don't really mean anything. By the end of the song he's so dismayed by this that he's kinda screaming out that he can stay up as long as he wants and that no one makes him wait...the sort of things that are important if you are a kid. You know that you don't have to go to bed, you don't have to do anything. The sort of things that don't make any difference at all when you're an adult, they're nothing. And uh and uh this is a song about, about me.

In a concert in Amsterdam for "This Desert Life", on October 17, 1999,[4] Duritz adds,

We wrote this song in 1989 ... We were all in bands and we had shitty jobs. We would wash dishes, work in record stores and wash windows and ... by day, so that we can be in a rock and roll band at night. You know? And it was after college and our friends are getting on with their lives. And they had good jobs, well... boring jobs... but they made more money than we did, and they had futures and we didn't. And there comes a point in the life of everyone in a rock and roll band that you have to sort of decide, am I going to do this with my life, or am I going to go get one of those other jobs? Because I can't deal with washing dishes anymore and I can't dig any more holes, and I can't wash another window. And there is those that go, and there is those that stay. And you walk out on the edge of the world and you balance yourself there for a while and you try to figure out just which one you're gonna be. And a lot of our friends are doing other things right now. And we're standing right up here on this stage.

Composition

The Counting Crows version (the more well-known recording) is a slow and mellow folk rock song. The original by the Himalayans is done in a more "pure" rock style—somewhat harder and faster, with prominent electric guitar and bass parts. In a tradition that has manifested in several Counting Crows songs, the two versions of this song feature somewhat different lyrics. Various live recordings of the song also feature significantly altered lyrics.

Track listings

UK CD single[5][6]

  1. "Round Here" (LP version) – 5:28
  2. "Ghost Train" (LP version) – 4:01
  3. "The Ghost in You" (live) – 3:30

European and Australian CD single[7][8]

  1. "Round Here" (LP version) – 5:28
  2. "Rain King" (live) – 5:12
  3. "The Ghost in You" (live) – 3:30

Charts

References
  1. "Single Releases". Music Week. June 18, 1994. p. 25.
  2. "Tyrannosaurus Records". Tyrannosaurusrecords.net. April 12, 2007. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  3. Uitti, Jacob (April 29, 2022). "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs". American Songwriter. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  4. Adam, Duritz. "Counting Crows - Round Here (Melkweg Amsterdam 17/10/1999)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  5. "Counting Crows Round Here UK CD single (CD5 / 5") (126076)". Eil.com. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  6. Round Here (UK cassette single sleeve). Counting Crows. Geffen Records. 1994. GFSC 74.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. Round Here (European CD single liner notes). Counting Crows. Geffen Records. 1994. GED 21916.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. Round Here (Australian CD single liner notes). Counting Crows. Geffen Records. 1994. GEFDM-21916.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 18 Sep 1994". ARIA. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  10. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2516." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  11. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (13.–19.10 '94)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). October 13, 1994. p. 16. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  12. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  13. "Counting Crows Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  14. "Counting Crows Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  15. "Counting Crows Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  16. "Counting Crows Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  17. "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1994". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  18. "Árslistinn 1994". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). January 2, 1995. p. 25. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  19. "dustin kensrue round here (lyrics in description)". YouTube. July 22, 2011. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  20. "Panic! at the disco: Round Here". YouTube. August 29, 2007. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  21. "David Ford - Round Here (Counting Crows cover)". YouTube. December 22, 2007. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  22. "Good to You - Marianas Trench Live @ The CNE". YouTube. September 1, 2011. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
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