"It took me 10 years to finish the song, but I wrote that chorus in 15 minutes! And still there was a part of me going, ‘God, that’s a terrible title for a song!’”: How an ’80s rock star agonised for a decade over a classic No.1 hit

The early ’80s were the best of times for REO Speedwagon.

The Illinois rockers had two No.1 singles in the US during those years - first with Keep On Loving You in 1981, and then with Can’t Fight This Feeling in 1985.

These are two of the all-time great power ballads - and both were written by singer Kevin Cronin.

But as Cronin admitted in an interview with Classic Rock, he took a long, long time to turn Can’t Fight This Feeling into the finished article.

“It took me ten years to finish that song!” he said. “I wrote the verses in 1974, but the chorus I had was just horrible. And what I said in those verses was so important to me that I didn’t want to record the song until I had the right chorus.”

By 1982, the pressure was building.

“The record company kept asking for the follow-up to Keep On Loving You,” Cronin recalled. “But I was just blocked.”

Fortunately, the inspiration came to him in the end.

“I realised I hadn’t written the chorus because I hadn’t really accepted what the song was really about,” he explained.

“I looked again at the opening line: ‘I can’t fight this feeling any longer.’ And really, that was the essence of what the song was about.

“I knew that was the title, and yet there was a part of me going, ‘God, that’s a terrible title for a song!’ But when I finally surrendered to it, the chorus it wrote itself.”

That chorus features a rhyming scheme of truly epic proportions: “I can’t fight this feeling anymore/I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for/It’s time to bring this ship into the shore/And throw away the oars, forever… And if I have to crawl upon the floor/Come crashing through your door/Baby I can’t fight this feeling anymore.”

Cronin told Classic Rock: “In defence of my over-use of the rhyme, I wrote that chorus in 15 minutes. It just appeared there on the paper.

“There are times when even I gag on it. But it was a sitting duck – I couldn’t resist.

“It sounded like a hit, so I went for it. Come on, you can’t blame me for that!"

REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling (Official HD Video) - YouTube

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Certainly, Cronin could see the funny side of this.

“Believe me, I get it," he said. "I’m able to look back and laugh at myself. I’m good with it.

“The only thing that makes me a little crazy about that song is the vocal performance I recorded. There’s not enough emotion in it.

"But hey, the song did okay!”