Someday, Someway

"Someday, Someway" was one of the first songs Marshall Crenshaw wrote, following "You're My Favorite Waste of Time" and some others. The song was written while Crenshaw was in New York, where he had played John Lennon in the musical Beatlemania; he explained, "While I was [in New York], I wrote 'Someday, Someway' and five or six of the other tunes on my first album. I wrote those in my hotel room. That was my next move in life, to be a recording artist. I actually had a sense of artistic direction and off I went." Crenshaw described "Someday, Someway" as "the first [song] I wrote where I really thought 'Eureka'." Calling it a "breakthrough moment," he later said the song was the result of a "particular sound and style had been forming in my mind during this period." "Someday, Someway" was recorded along with other songs for his debut album by Crenshaw with producer Richard Gottehrer at the Power Station in New York. ==Music and lyrics==

"Someday, Someway" was based on the 1957 Gene Vincent song "Lotta Lovin'." As Crenshaw explained, "I wanted to take the beat and atmosphere of a 1950s Rock and Roll record that I loved ... and build something around that. I came up with the music first for 'Someday' and dug that it was kind of hypnotic, very spare and succinct." Crenshaw wrote the lyrics to the song after finishing the music, explaining, "they were nice and spare but had some depth, lots of possible meanings and implications, etc. There was something kind of mysterious about it and I liked that." ==Release==

The first version of "Someday, Someway" to be released was in 1981 by neo-rockabilly musician Robert Gordon. This version of the song became a regional hit in New York. Crenshaw's version of "Someday, Someway" came out in May 1982. He was initially hesitant to release it as his debut single, given Gordon had already released it, but was overruled by the label. He joked, "Thank goodness they talked me out of my stupidity." The single release of the song, backed by "You're My Favorite Waste of Time", was a moderate chart hit in the United States, reaching number 36 on the Billboard chart and number 31 on the Cashbox chart. The single would be Crenshaw's only top 40 hit. An archival release of the San Francisco concert was released in 2017. ==Critical reception==

At the time of its release, "Someday, Someway" saw positive reception from critics. In a 1982 review of Marshall Crenshaw for Billboard, Thomas Gabriel praised the song's "lean, emotionally direct lyrics" and noted that the song's bridge is just as catchy as its melody. The song has since seen critical acclaim and has been praised as one of Crenshaw's best songs. Jim Bessman of Billboard called the song a "masterful pop creation" while Dave McKenna of The Washington Post called the song "irresistible". Don Harrison of Richmond Magazine called the song "impossibly catchy" and Juliet Pennington of The Boston Globe said the song was "such a catchy tune that you can't get it out of your head after you hear it". "Someday, Someway" has been called Crenshaw's signature song. ==Charts==