“I’d Walk A Little More For You”
Song by Ray Charles
The Doc Pomus/Ken Hirsch song “I’d Walk A Little More For You” appears as the third song on Side 2 of Ray Charles’ excellent 1988 LP Just Between Us. “I’d Walk A Little More For You” was arranged by Ray’s longtime collaborator Ralph Burns, and features Ray playing electric piano over a fun, brassy band.
The song’s lyrics are that hoariest of old clichés: a list of the Herculean tasks the singer “would” perform if the target of his affection should, for some reason, ask him to. But “I’d Walk A Little More For You” is raised above the level of “been there, done that” by its outrageous and comical lyrics. Lyricist Doc Pomus knows it’s a clichéd idea so, ever clever, he pokes fun at the pledges even while he means them.
The song starts with a reference to Ray Charles’ home state, the place that made him famous and adopted his 1960 #1 hit as its own state song:
I walk the dusty roads of Georgia
‘Til my feet break through my shoes
But if you were to ask me, babe
I’d walk a little more for you
Following this promise, Ray says he’d hop freight trains even if it meant getting beaten up by the brakeman, swim “across an ocean or two” to rescue her from a shipwreck situation, and enlist the services of Tarzan to pluck her from where she got herself “stranded in the Amazon jungle”.
All playful, fanciful scenarios, making the feel of “I’d Walk A Little More For You” not an earnest “please like me” come on, but giddy pillow talk with a woman who has already been won. An underscoring of a love already in progress.
The album that “I’d Walk A Little More For You” was on was the final of Ray’s 1980s contract with Columbia, and it made a clean break from the modern country that was sprinkled throughout his recent LPs. This song includes a funky electric piano solo by Ray, hearkening back to his earlier career. That, plus the swinging brass, having Ralph Burns as the arranger, and by covering a song by Doc Pomus who had written Ray’s 1963 hit “Busted”, all contribute to the album’s atmosphere of summing up and returning to roots.
To hear “I’d Walk A Little More For You”, find a copy of the Just Between Us vinyl LP. Copies are easily found for sale online, and highly recommended as one of the highlights of Ray’s storied career.
Listen to “I’d Walk A Little More For You”
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Songs on Just Between Us