“Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake

It’s obvious that the narrator of “Here I Go Again” possesses a depressed, pessimistic mindstate. This is made most apparent in the chorus, via the way in which the titular phrase is utilized. What it points to, in context, is him being in the midst of going through a lonely era in life. 

Where the pessimism comes into play is not only in the narrator stating that he must endure such yet “again”, as if he were “born to walk alone”. But along that line, he also goes on to state that this is ‘the only road he’s ever known’. And what is further implied in the second verse is that what he’s been devoid of in life which has reduced him to such a mindstate is basically a lack of true love.

With all of that in mind, it should now be revealed that David Coverdale wrote these lyrics while, most simply put, he was going through a divorce. His first wife was one Julia Borkowski, a lady whom Coverdale dated throughout a good part of the 1970s, but their official marriage didn’t last nearly as long. 

With that backdrop in mind, yes, “Here I Go Again” does very much read like the lamentations of someone who has been romantically disappointed or, put more into layman’s terms, heartbroken.

In other words, sometimes when people go through divorces, breakups or what have you, they may feel as if they are – for lack of a better term – cursed. This is especially true if, as with this singer apparently, they’ve endured other interpersonal letdowns in the past. 

For the record, David did go on to remarry later down the line. But it’s obvious that at this specific juncture in his romantic history, he could not or perhaps wasn’t even interested in perceiving any hope for the future.

Whitesnake

Whitesnake is a band of hard rockers from London that has been around since the late 1970s. Throughout the years, the act has been consistently fronted by David Coverdale, though the rest of its membership has for the most part fluctuated.

“Here I Go Again” can be considered Whitesnake’s signature song. It is the most-successful in their discography, as well as the one which helped them break into the US market. 

When was “Here I Go Again” released?

This song was first released on 1 January 1982. During this release, it was part of the band’s fifth-studio album “Saints & Sinners”. Upon initial release, the song didn’t really perform that well. But on 7 April 1987, Whitesnake released a re-recording of the tune, that time around dubbing it “Here I Go Again ’87”. This version was featured on their self-titled LP, which was their seventh-studio album overall. 

The song’s second release saw it meet with huge success. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles. Furthermore, it made it onto the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and a couple of other music listings in Europe (as well on Recorded Music NZ in Oceania). 

Additionally, it went on to be certified platinum in the United Kingdom. Also, this track has come to be considered one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

Credits

This piece was written by the aforementioned David Coverdale alongside Bernie Marsden. The latter was one of Whitesnake from 1978 to 1982. Keith Olsen had a hand in producing the original as well as the 1987 version. In the first instance, he produced it alongside Martin Birch. In the latter instance, he produced it with Mike Stone.

Marty Caliner directed the music video to “Here I Go Again ’87”. And interesting to note is that it featured a prominent actress of the day, Tawny Kitaen (1961-2021). Tawny eventually got married to David Coverdale in 1989.

Paula Abdul also had a hand in its production.

In fact it is Tawny’s presence played an instrumental role in making the song famous. Her appearance in the clip was so significant that “Here I Go Again” recharted upon her passing in 2021.

More Facts about “Here I Go Again”

In both 1982 and 1987, the release of this song was backed by Geffen Records.

To note, there are a number of other tracks by different artists, especially during the 1960s and 1970s, that have this same title.

This song made an appearance on a number of different television shows, including:

• How I Met Your Mother (2007)
• Family Guy (2014)
• Cobra Kai (2019)

It also appears in a few movies, such as 2010’s The Fighter. David Coverdale later revealed that he really enjoyed the way the song was used in the aforementioned film. 

Amongst the companies that have used “Here I Go Again” in adverts are Wal-Mart (2016), Geico (2019) and T-Mobile (2021).