‘Right Here, Right Now’ is a song by British alternative rock band Jesus Jones from their second studio album, Doubt (1991). It was released as the album's second single on 24 September 1990. Although it spent only nine non-consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 31, it became a top-10 hit in the United States; it topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1991. The single sold over one million copies, won a BMI award, and was the song most played on college radio in 1991.
The song was inspired by the Revolutions of 1989 in Europe, particularly Perestroika in the Soviet Union. Mike Edwards has said that some of the lyrics were influenced by the band's experiences playing in Romania in February 1990 shortly after the overthrow of Nicolae Ceaușescu. The lyrics were also inspired by the 1987 Prince song ‘Sign o' the Times’ and a 1989 cover version of it by Simple Minds, which the members of Jesus Jones had first heard during television coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Edwards' original demo for ‘Right Here, Right Now’ featured samples of the Prince song, as well as guitar solos by Jimi Hendrix, but producer Martyn Phillips removed both elements from the song before the band recorded it.
Band leader Mike Edwards wrote this song. He told the Guardian newspaper August 9, 2003: "With hits around the world we became famous for a few years. At the start of 1990 I wrote a song called 'Right Here, Right Now,' a title I disliked but intended to change before the final recording. Thirteen years later, I'm still making a living from that title, even if Fatboy Slim's identically titled song may have eaten into my action."
The official video for the song shows the band performing on stage mixed with images from contemporary political events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, news footage of the collapse of the Soviet Union and speeches by American and Soviet leaders. The song was number 14 on a list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs by the National Review in June 2006. The list's author John J. Miller explained, "The words are vague, but they’re also about the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War."
Labels – Food, EMI, SBK
Songwriter – Mike Edwards
Producer – Martyn Phillips
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]A woman on the radio talks about revolution
When it's already passed her by
Bob Dylan didn't have this to sing about
You know it feels good to be alive
[Chorus]
I was alive and I waited, waited
I was alive and I waited for this
Right here, right now
There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history
[Verse 2]
Oh, I saw the decade in
When it seemed the world could change at the blink of an eye
And if anything, then there's your sign
Of the times
[Chorus]
I was alive and I waited, waited
I was alive and I waited for this
Right here, right now
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
I was alive and I waited, waited
I was alive and I waited for this
Right here, right now
There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history
Right here, right now
There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history
Right here, right now
There is no other place I want to be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up