Most songwriters would like to forget the very first song they ever wrote, as such songs tend to be childish and clunky. Todd Rundgren, on the other hand, came out of the gate with an accomplished, bittersweet ballad called “Hello It’s Me,” that would eventually become a big hit.
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What is the meaning of the song? What inspired Rundgren to write it? And why did he bring it back years after recording it for the first time? Let’s take a look back at everything that went into the creation of “Hello It’s Me.”
From Heartbreak to Hit
Rundgren took the inspiration for the music of “Hello It’s Me” from the delicate ballads that Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote for Dionne Warwick throughout the ’60s. He also borrowed chords from a version of the standard “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.” As for the lyrics, they came from a gut-punch of a breakup that stuck with Rundgren for about a year or so before he finally put pen to paper while writing material for his band Nazz.
“One day in May ’66, a friend dropped us off and I walked Linda to her front door,” Rundgren explained to The Wall Street Journal. “Her father, who was outside, hated me on sight. He turned the garden hose on me. Long hair on a guy was a political statement back then and a red flag for parents. A day or two later, Linda told me she was forbidden to see me anymore. Just like that, she stopped talking to me and wouldn’t take my calls. I adored her and was heartbroken, almost suicidal.”
Perhaps as a way of processing what had happened, or perhaps to ease any lingering pain from the breakup, Rundgren transposed the events. In “Hello It’s Me,” it’s the narrator (the guy) who’s trying to cut loose of the girl. And unlike as it happened to Rundgren in real life, the guy does all he can to try and make her understand his decision to leave.
Two Versions
Rundgren first took a crack at recording “Hello It’s Me” with his band Nazz; the song appeared as a B-side to their debut single as well as on their debut album. The pace is crawling, slower than those who’ve heard the hit version of the song might expect. Rundgren doesn’t sing lead, instead ceding duties to Robert “Stewkey” Antoni. This version, with the gentle tempo and big vocal harmonies, sounds a little like a lost hit by The Association.
Nazz was short-lived, and Rundgren eventually scored a deal to record a solo record. Only his ambition got a little carried away and he just kept recording song after song. He suddenly had enough songs for three sides of music, meaning the record, eventually titled Something/Anything? when released in 1972, would have to be a double album. And that meant that Rundgren needed even more material for a fourth side.
He remembered “Hello It’s Me” and decided to record his own version. Juicing the tempo slightly, he also added horns to the mix, with ace session players Randy and Michael Brecker delivering the jazzy flavor. The fourth side of Something/Anything? is also the only part of the album where Rundgren used a full band. That’s why you can hear a false start on this version of the song, as not all the players heard the cue to begin.
The Meaning of “Hello It’s Me”
Rundgren frames “Hello It’s Me” as a phone conversation between the guy about to leave and the girl he’s leaving. But you can also hear it as the protagonist trying to talk himself into the courage needed to make this big step. He certainly isn’t that decisive about it, even considering seeing her now and again and maybe staying the night, instead of making a clean break.
The narrator inherently understands the chasm that has opened up between the two of them without quite being able to put a finger on it: Maybe I think too much, but something’s wrong / There’s something here that doesn’t last too long. He also finds that his perception of his lover is changing, and not for the better: Sometimes I can’t help seeing all the way through.
In the bridge, you can hear the songwriter wishing into existence the kind of tenderness that had been denied him: It’s important to me / That you know you are free. Todd Rundgren wasn’t quite free of the anguish of heartache when he wrote “Hello It’s Me.” Not bad at all for a first try, especially considering that countless songwriters would give anything to write anything as assured at any time in their lives.
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Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NAMM
