'It Was The Easiest Song In The World To Write': American Graffiti Inspired This Hit '70s Song

A great movie transports the viewer through time and space, separating them from the reality of their surroundings and making them feel like they are in the world that the story takes place in. That is what happened to legendary songwriter Bob Seger when he saw George Lucas' 1973 film "American Graffiti." The movie, which helped launch the careers of Harrison Ford and other '70s stars, is filled with amazing music — and cars — from that time. Those elements, along with the stories of the characters spending their last summer night together, inspired Seger to write 1976's "Night Moves," the song that launched his career into the stratosphere. 

After seeing the movie, Seger wanted to share his own memories. He told Louder Sound: "It was all about cars and peg pants and rolled-up T-shirts with a cigarette pack up here and stiletto pointed shoes. That's how I grew up, that was my high-school years." But as inspired as Seger was by the Ron Howard-led movie and his own past, actually capturing what he felt proved difficult. He explained, "It was the easiest song in the world to write but the hardest song to finish." Seger wrote the lyrics quickly, but spent half a year trying to get the sound right. It wasn't until he heard one of Bruce Springsteen's own classics that things clicked into place for him; "I'm listening to 'Born To Run' and I notice in 'Jungleland' Bruce had a double bridge. I never thought of two bridges in one song. So I have two bridges in 'Night Moves.'" Once "Night Moves" was recorded, everyone knew they had a hit on their hands. Even Seger's label told him, "This is a song that you're gonna have to play for the rest of your life."

While "American Graffiti" inspired Bob Seger to write "Night Moves," he also put a piece of himself into the song, telling the Detroit Free Press (via Newspapers.com), that the girl in the song was based on a real love of his who he met after high school. Seger explained why the relationship didn't work out; "Her boyfriend was in the service, and when he came back she married him. My first broken heart." But "American Graffiti," wasn't the only Hollywood creation that made Seger come up with a great song.

In 1978, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band followed up the multi-platinum album "Night Moves" with another multi-platinum-selling album; "Stranger in Town." While the album is best known for "Old Time Rock and Roll," a song that helped transform Tom Cruise into a star when he danced to it in his underwear in "Risky Business," another tune, "We've Got Tonight," was inspired by the Robert Redford and Paul Newman classic "The Sting." Seger revealed the connection between the movie and the song to the Detroit Free Press, explaining that it is based on a scene where Redford shows up at the apartment of a waitress and confesses, "It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody." For Seger, "That just hit me real hard. The next day I wrote 'We've Got Tonight,' this song about two people who say 'I'm tired. It's late at night. I know you don't really dig me, and I don't really dig you, but this is all we've got, so let's do it.'"