Music / Vagabond Heart

Never will I roam, for I know my place is home
Where the ocean meets the sky, I'll be sailing

Let's dance together just for the night
Let's don't worry about the future or nothing else
'Cause like the music's saying you gotta take chances
Go ahead, just do it and trust yourself

There's a soul in the city
Watching over us tonight
There's a soul in the city
Saying everything's gonna be alright

—"The Motown Song"

Vagabond Heart is the sixteenth studio album recorded by British pop rock musician Rod Stewart. It was released through Warner Bros. Records on 26 March 1991.

Rod worked for a year on his next album, to build on the momentum build by Out of Order. The keystone here would be a song from his greatest hits compilation Storyteller, a cover of "Downtown Train" by Tom Waits. In addition to the new songs he was writing, he also decided to add a cover of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately".

Though still not perfect, reception to this album was generally more positive than the last. AllMusic describes Vagabond Heart as "more consistent", "more diverse", and generally stronger than Out of Order.

Commercially, Vagabond Heart peaked at #2 on the Official Charts Company album chart, and #10 on the Billboard 200. It netted him his first Platinum in the United Kingdom since 1980, and another Platinum in the United States. It also raked together a ton more Platinums across Europe.

The album spawned six singles: "It Takes Two", "Rhythm of my Heart", "The Motown Song", "Broken Arrow", "Rebel Heart", and "You Are Everything". Three each would be hits in the US and UK; with "Rhythm of My Heart" peaking at #3 on the UK pop chart, and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Downtown Train" was also added to the album; it previously hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #10 on the UK pop chart. Although not released as a single, his rendition of "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)" would see significant radio play.

Still, Rod was noticing that the songs others were writing for him were being received far better than his own work. He would come to the conclusion that songwriting simply wasn't his thing, and would soon stop writing his own work entirely.

Tracklist

1. "Rhythm of My Heart" (4:15)
2. "Rebel Heart" (4:10)
3. "Broken Arrow" (4:26)
4. "It Takes Two" (duet with Tina Turner) (4:14)
5. "When a Man's in Love" (5:34)
6. "You Are Everything" (4:09)
7. "The Motown Song" (4:00)
8. "Go Out Dancing" (4:20)
9. "No Holding Back" (5:47)
10. "Have I Told You Lately" (4:01)
11. "Moment of Glory" (4:47)
12. "Downtown Train" (4:41)
13. "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)" (4:12)
14. "If Only" (4:56)

"This old heart of mine's been troped a thousand times":

• And Starring: This album actually has a good amount of star power. In addition to the other duets below, "The Motown Song" features The Temptations.
• Animated Music Video: The music video for "The Motown Song" was animated by the same team that animated the music video for "Club at the End of the Street" by Elton John.
• Cover Version:
  • "It Takes Two" covers a duet originally recorded by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston
  • "Have I Told You Lately" by Van Morrison
  • "This Old Heart of Mine" by The Isley Brothers
  • And of course, "Downtown Train" by Tom Waits
• Everything's Louder with Bagpipes: Bagpipes feature prominently on "Rhythm of My Heart", whose chorus sounds a lot like a traditional Scottish shanty.
• Let's Duet:
  • "It Takes Two" features Tina Turner
  • "This Old Heart of Mine" features Ronald Isley, who did lead vocals on the original version