‘Rosanna’ is a song written by David Paich and performed by the American rock band Toto, the opening track and the first single from their 1982 album Toto IV. This song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year at the 1983 ceremony. ‘Rosanna’ was also nominated for the Song of the Year award. It is regarded for the half-time shuffle which drummer Jeff Porcaro developed for the song. The groove has become an important staple of drum repertoire and is commonly known as the "Rosanna shuffle".
The song reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, behind ‘Don't You Want Me’ by the Human League and ‘Eye of the Tiger’ by Survivor. It was also one of the band's most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and remaining on the chart for eight weeks.
The song was written by David Paich, who has said that the song is based on numerous girls he had known. As a joke, the band members initially played along with the common assumption that the song was based on Rosanna Arquette, who was dating Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro at the time. Arquette herself played along with the joke, commenting in an interview that the song was about "my showing up at 4 a.m., bringing them juice and beer at their sessions". However, in Steve Lukather's book, "The Gospel According to Luke," Lukather states undeniably that the song was indeed about Arquette. Even going as far as to say that at one point Arquette finally relented and admitted the song was about her.
The West Side Story-inspired video was directed by Steve Barron and set in a stylized urban streetscape, with Rosanna represented by a dancer whose bright red dress contrasts with the grey surroundings. The band plays within a chain-link fence enclosure. Cynthia Rhodes is featured as the lead dancer Rosanna, which led to her being cast in Staying Alive the following year. Patrick Swayze was also uncredited as a dancer in the music video and he and Rhodes would both star in the movie Dirty Dancing. This won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and helped Toto IV win for Album of the Year. The band also won Producer of the Year for their work on the album, which they produced themselves.
Label – Columbia
Songwriter – David Paich
Producers – Toto
SONG LYRICS
[Intro][Verse 1: Steve Lukather & Bobby Kimball]
All I wanna do when I wake up in the morning is see your eyes
Rosanna, Rosanna
I never thought that a girl like you could ever care for me
Rosanna
All I wanna do in the middle of the evening is hold you tight
Rosanna, Rosanna
I didn't know you were looking for more than I could ever be
[Pre-Chorus]
Not quite a year since she went away, Rosanna, yeah
Now she's gone and I have to say
[Chorus]
Meet you all the way
Meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah
Meet you all the way
Meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah
[Verse 2: Steve Lukather & Bobby Kimball]
I can see your face still shining through the window on the other side
Rosanna, Rosanna
I didn't know that a girl like you could make me feel so sad
Rosanna
All I want to tell you is now you'll never ever have to compromise
Rosanna, Rosanna
I never thought that losing you could ever hurt so bad
[Pre-Chorus]
Not quite a year since she went away, Rosanna yeah
Now she's gone and I have to say
[Chorus]
Meet you all the way
Meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah
Meet you all the way
Meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah
[Bridge]
[Pre-Chorus]
Not quite a year since she went away, Rosanna yeah
Now she's gone and I have to say
[Chorus]
Meet you all the way
Meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah
Meet you all the way
Meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah
Meet you all the way
Meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah
Meet you all the way
Meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah
[Outro]