About The Song
“Some Guys Have All the Luck” is a song written by Jeff Fortgang. It has been a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 twice, as the original by The Persuaders in 1973 reaching No. 39. In 1982 it was covered by Robert Palmer, which was a hit in the UK peaking at No. 16. Then it was recorded by Rod Stewart in 1984 when it hit No. 10 in the U.S. and No. 32 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
In 1982, English singer Robert Palmer released a version of the song as a single from his live/studio album Maybe It’s Live. It reached No. 16 in the UK Singles Chart.
Palmer’s version has a significantly altered melody and lyrics in comparison to other versions of the song. Palmer told Max Bell in 1989:
I was working with Moon Martin when I wrote “Some Guys”. I played it to him and a few days later he said he’d just heard someone singing it in the studio across the road, which seemed impossible since I hadn’t finished it myself! What happened was that I must have heard it subliminally, I think it was on Australian radio, and just hadn’t realised. The only thing I remembered was the title line.Upon release, Ian Birch of Smash Hits described Palmer’s version as “a great combination of limb-loosening rhythm and immediate melody” and predicted the song would reach the UK Top 5. Billboard considered it “one of Palmer’s most enticing singles” since “Every Kinda People”. They also noted the “offbeat rhythm” and “eccentric arrangement”. Cash Box commented: “This cover paints yet another picture of the ever-changing Palmer. Here he plays a jumpy electronic popper”.
Video
Lyrics
Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain
Alone in a crowd on a bus after working, I’m dreaming
The guy next to me has a girl in his arms, my arms are empty
How does it feel when the girl next to you says she loves you?
Seems so unfair when there’s love everywhere but there’s none for me
Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain
Woo woo woo
Woo woo woo
Someone to take on a walk by the lake Lord, let it be me
Someone who’s shy, someone who’d cry at sad movies
I know I would die if I ever found out she was foolin’ me
You’re just a dream, and as real as it seems, I ain’t that lucky
Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain
All of my friends have a ring on their finger, they have someone
Someone to care for them, it ain’t fair, I got no one
The car overheated, I called up and pleaded, there’s help on the way
I called you collect, you didn’t accept, you had nothing to say
Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain
But if you were here with me
I’d feel so happy, I could cry
You are so dear to me
I just can’t let you say goodbye
Woo woo woo, Woo woo woo
Woo woo woo, Woo woo woo
Woo woo woo, Woo woo woo
Woo woo woo, Woo woo woo
Woo woo woo, Woo woo woo
Woo woo woo, Woo woo woo
Woo woo woo, Woo woo woo