Can’t Fight This Feeling

Story of Song

Having a feeling and fighting it for so long until you finally have to surrender, like falling in love with a girl who’s been your friend for a long time.  Kevin Cronin explained the story behind this song: “Well, the song title for ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ strangely enough.. the song wasn’t always called ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’, when I wrote the verses for that song I felt like I really captured some lightening in a bottle. It was just a very emotional night for me when I wrote’ em, but I never wrote a chorus. The song was called ‘My Guiding Light’ for a few years! You know… a little too soap opera. So one day I was set to co-write the chorus with ‘Eric Carmen’ from ‘The Raspberries’ I woke up that morning and I was deathly sick, I called Eric and I was like “Dude I can’t do it today, I’m really sick”. But I was laying there in bed and I was thinking ‘I don’t really wanna co-write this song, this song is so special for me I gotta figure this out’. I sat there with fever, sweating, and I’m like ‘what is the essence of this song? What am I missing here?’ so I went back to the lyrics and I looked at the lyric and I was like… the opening line of the song is ‘I can’t fight this feeling any longer’… That’s what the song is about! It’s about having a feeling and fighting it for so long until you finally have to surrender… just go, I gotta throw this out there, I might get shot down, I might not… but that was what the song’s about’. I’m like… Alright I guess the title of the song is ‘I can’t fight this feeling’ and I’m like… that’s a terrible song title, I can’t believe that I’m gonna call this song that I’m so proud of with this ‘shitty’ song title. But I was like… I got to… That’s the title of the song.”

Release date

Released on December 31, 1984 in the US, and January 23, 1985 in the UK.

Songwriter/s

Kevin Cronin

Label

Epic

Chart Rankings

US – 1

UK – 16

GERMANY  – 34

The song was certified Gold in Canada and the US for sales over half a million copies. It reached number 1 in Canada, number 5 on the Irish Singles Chart, number 8 on the South African Singles Chart and Peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the UK it peaked at number 16.

‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ featured on TV series and movie soundtracks such as Not Another Teen Movie, Waiting…, Kickin’ it Old Skool, Sex Drive, Rock of Ages, Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy, the Fringe episode ‘Power Hungry, The Goldbergs, Queer as Folk, King of the Hill episode “My Own Private Rodeo” and Glee.

Artist’s age on release date

R.E.O Speedwagon band was active for 17 years. Kevin Cronin was 33 years of age.

Cover Versions

Cory Monteith for Glee – Russel Brand & Alec Baldwin