Walk Into The Wind: a definite maybe

“Walk Into The Wind” was the last Vegas single. It came out on 29th March 1993, peaked at number 65, and quietly brought the whole project to a close.

That chart position does it no justice at all. For many fans, this is the most beautiful thing Vegas ever recorded.

A beatnik love affair

The song is built around one lovely, old fashioned phrase. Terry asks for a beatnik love affair.

Beatniks belong to the late fifties. Poetry readings, black polo necks, jazz in smoky cellars, Kerouac on the bookshelf. It is a romantic idea of romance, slightly bohemian and slightly unreal. Terry knows that, and he knows we know it.

The verses have a lovely pattern. You have to learn to love by loving. You have to learn to give by giving. You have to learn to touch by touching. It is the kind of thing that sounds obvious until you think about it. You don’t get good at love by reading about it.

A definite maybe

Then comes one of Terry’s best little jokes. The shooting stars go crazy, and he asks for an answer. The reply is “a definite maybe”.

It is such a Terry Hall answer. Not yes, not no, but something in between, said with total confidence. You could build a whole personality around that phrase.

Later he says they have reached the end of the beginning. That is borrowed from Churchill, who used it in 1942 about a turning point in the war. Here it marks the moment a fling starts to become something more serious.

Maybe fall when autumn falls

The chorus is short and lovely. Should we walk into the wind, maybe fall when autumn falls?

It is a pun, of course. Falling in love and the season falling. But it is also an image of two people leaning into the weather together, choosing the hard way because it is more interesting.

The bridge pushes it even further, with a place where rainbows end and a kingdom of the final kiss. It is the most openly romantic writing on the whole album. Terry doesn’t do this very often, which makes it count.

Siobhan’s voice

The song features Siobhan Fahey, of Bananarama and Shakespears Sister, who was married to Dave at the time. It is a neat bit of history. Terry had worked with Bananarama back in the Fun Boy Three days, so in a way the circle closes here.

On the telly, and in Poland

Vegas promoted the single with a performance on Saturday Zoo, Jonathan Ross’s Channel 4 show, in March 1993. Four days later, they played it at their one and only London gig, at Subterania.

There were two different promo videos made for the song, and the single came out on 7″, cassette and CD. One of the oddest items in the whole catalogue is a Polish DJ 12″ on the DJ Mix Club label that includes the song. Someone in a Polish club in 1993 clearly loved it as much as we do.

And when Vegas reunited to support Bob Dylan in Tokyo in 1997, this was the only Vegas song they played. That says a lot about how they felt about it.

The right ending

It is a shame the single didn’t do better. But as a final word, it is perfect. After an album full of irony and side eyes, Vegas signed off with something warm and hopeful.

A definite maybe. Not a bad motto for life.