Fan Reviews/comments

COLD FEET
(words  by Rick Springfield) 

He just turned seventeen 
When the moment came 
He was standing on the corner 
In the pouring rain

She pulled up along side 
And rolled the window down 
And said "Can I drive you 
in some part of town"

He's sitting beside her
With a great big smile 
The lady had class 
It stood out a mile

His heart was beatin'
Like a big bass drum 
Thinking at last 
His time had  come

He started talkin' fast 
Trying to loosen up 
But he just felt kinda stupid 
So he shut up

She said "don't think I'm fast 
'Cause I'm really not" 
But his fevered little brow 
It was getting hot

She pulled into the driveway 
Of a big brown stone 
He was champing at the bit 
And in a husky tone

She said "My husband's working 
He'll be gone all day" 
But he couldn't believe it 
When he heard himself say

I'm getting Cold Feet 
I'm getting Cold Feet 
I'm getting Cold Feet
Lady don't ya hear me talking to you 
Hey there's something that you can do 
I'm so nervous I just might shoot through
I've got them cold, Cold Feet

Well a couple years on 
And our hero's grown 
He's a professional musician 
With a band of his own

Hadn't had much luck 
With the girls that he meets 
Might get another case of terminal Cold Feet

He met a girl not too long ago 
She thought she could change him 
But it wasn't so 
As soon as she mentioned long term romance 
He went into that same old song and dance

I'm getting Cold Feet
C-c-c-c-c- Cold Feet
I'm getting Cold Feet
Mama don't ya hear me talkin' to you 
No ain't there something that you can do 
I'm so nervous I just might shoot you

I've got cold, cold, cold, cold 
Said I've got it 
Cold, cold, cold, cold 
You know I got 'em
Cold, cold, cold, cold 
Said I've got them cold, Cold Feet

He increased his quota 
Of one night stands 
It was kind of a complex 
You understand

He would treat 'em real mean 
He was low down and dirty 
Now he's gotta make some changes 
Cause he's nearly thirty

Cause see he had a dream 
Just the other night 
He was standing in God's omni-present light 
And God said, "I'd like to let your life run it's coarse 
But you'd understand me having second thoughts"

I'm getting Cold Feet
C-c-c-c- Cold Feet
I'm getting Cold Feet
C-c-c-c-c Cold Feet

Richard don't ya here me talking to you 
I think you know what you have to do 
You gotta make some changes 
You got the 
Cold, cold, cold, cold 
They're getting rigid 
Cold, cold, cold, cold 
You're getting frigid 
Cold, cold, cold, cold 
I said you got them cold, Cold Feet



(total playing time: 3:38)

Song Facts:  This song appears on Beautiful Feelings.  Rick performed the majority of this song, with the help from a fan who brought lyrics in Harris, MI on 6/17/00 (2nd show)

More Reviews

Something bothers me about this one. "I just might shoot you"...??? Also, the fact that 'rigid' is rhymed with 'frigid', well that bothers me too. I bet you gather that I'm not really hip on this song. Truth be told, until now, I've never really paid much attention to this song. Its catchy and sing-a-long-able, so I never really gave it much thought. Perhaps that is the way I should have left it. 

I dissect the lyrics and find them not so profound. I guess I'm spoiled because I've heard a lot of Rick's later works and I know that he is a wonderful writer. He has, however, grown immensely since the time of this one, that is very obvious to me! The one thing I do respect about this song is that it does reveal his 'heart on his sleeve' style and it reveals some things that I'm sure are hard to put on display to the public. I'm not claiming that any of the things in this song are reality, but Rick has this way of opening himself up to his listener. The lyrics basically describe a man who is afraid of commitment, hence the cold feet, and he's come to the realization that he has to make some changes and settle down! The song even mentions that he is '30', and that its talking to RICHARD. Well, that is pretty obviously pointed at himself, I'd say... it appears to be part autobiographical! It does share some similarities in that sense with My Depression. It mentions a long list of one night stands, and even a possible affair with a married woman! There are so many things in this song that could have much deeper meaning, its very layered. I respect it, I think it is necessary to have as part of my collection of Rick music, however, I will never call this one of my favorites. 

OH I love this song!!!! This is one of my very favorites off of this album. Maybe even one of my favorite songs by Rick period. I really like the story-telling songs, and especially if it gives me a more personal glimpse of Rick's life and what he was "up to" when he wrote it! (kind of like the song My Depression and how he chronicles what was going on). I especially like how he starts off with "he just turned 17 when the moment came." So he is going back some years, remembering how he got into a pattern of having cold feet when it came to commitment. And from the last verse (and the year this was written) I gather he was about 28 when he wrote these lyrics. He spans nearly a ten year period in one song. (all in 3:38) Cool!

I think it's neat how there is very little guitar at the beginning & then he jumps right into the story, like it's one that HAS to be told. No long introductions! I can totally visualize a young, (wet "in the pouring rain") insecure Rick in this song: Scared of women, heart flying out of his chest, wanting to lose his virginity ("thinking at last his time had come") {or so that is what I can gather from that verse}, yet terrified with the thought. (!) This is kind of humorous to me too. It's just fun that he was able to write a song about it, and not afraid to admit his fears. Brutal honesty as always! I love it! 

This classy (MARRIED!) woman pulls up and wants to take him home. {ok who wouldn't whip off the side of the road for a man like Rick??!! Especially if he's hanging out in the rain poor guy.} Anyway, he is obviously tongue-tied! Cute cute lyrics "but he just felt kinda stupid so he shut up." LOL! I giggle every time I hear that. He still chatters or whatever when he gets nervous! So I can totally see this happening. Then my favorite vocal part of the entire song would be where he says, "but his fevered little brow it was getting hot." Yow! I love how he growls out the word "hot." Ok so then he is thrilled he's going home with the woman after all but I suppose when she tells him she has a husband who will "be gone all day," he loses it. Uh yeah Rick you may have gotten shot! That's call for cold feet in my opinion. Good move Rick, even if he "couldn't believe it when he heard himself say I'm getting cold feet." 

I really love the sound of the verses where he says "lady don't you hear me talking to you, hey there's something that you can do." Or "mama" don't you hear me talking to you, that's good too! He has an anxiousness or determination maybe in his voice on those lines. It just adds to the feel of the story. 

So life goes on for Ricky and he's been unlucky in love, due to his insecurities & whatever else. He says he "met a girl not too long ago, she thought she could change him but it wasn't so." I wonder if it may have been the same woman he was with when he wrote the song "Why?" (he is saying in that song "why is it so hard to be yourself." Was someone trying to change him? It sure sounds that way to me). "Terminal cold feet!" I like the use of the word terminal but obviously that didn't last forever. He just thought it would be terminal!

Wow, he goes on to say that he treated women mean, "he was low-down & dirty" he DID have issues with long-term romance. (yeah he must have, because he SAYS--"it was some kind of a complex you understand.") So he was playing the heartbreaker, leaving a "trail of broken hearts," keeping his heart at a very safe distance. It's interesting to me how the general theme of this song, and his attitude at the time he wrote it, kind of shows up in many of his other songs either before or after this song was written. 

So now he's nearly 30, and he gets a revelation from God (who calls him by his full name--Richard) that he better shape up. Well that is good! I suppose he came to a point where he knew he'd better let himself love, even if it does involve some pain, or he'd grow old by himself. "Nearly 30," just a young pup he was! But I think he saw that life was passing him by, and he needed to make some serious choices for himself. I love how he adds a bit of humor here by writing the lyrics from God's perspective (as if God is looking down on him in disapproval over his wild ways) "I'd like to let your life run it's course, but you'd understand me having second thoughts." LOL! Did Rick have a guilty conscious or what?! Well, probably so I feel he has a bigger heart than that, and he is a kind soul, so yeah it was probably eating at him by this point. Even with his love for women, he saw that he couldn't go on hurting them. He throws in the word frigid near the end too. Is that one of those words he meant to have a double meaning? Frigid as in having a cold heart, and/or frigid as another way of saying cold. Either way makes sense to me.

This seems like a simple song on the surface, but to me it's really not. It dives deep into some of the personal issues he was having during those years of "looking for the one." (another song reference!) I adore this song, and hope he will continue to write these "life-story" songs. This is one Rick tune that will never grow old for me.

This is a 'fun' sorta song, and one that me and my kids can be-bop to, but not a favorite from this album. I never really pulled the song apart and looked for meaning in it, I just listened to it, and enjoyed the music itself. The lyrics sound just like something Rick would/could have gone through in his younger years, but I've never heard that story...*wink*wink* 
This song also has an 'exciting' element to it, not sure if it's the fast beat or the combination of that and how he sings it a little too fast. At times I have found it frustrating trying to keep up and sing along, but I still tend to enjoy it most times that I listen to it.

As soon as I heard this song for the first time, I had instant recall from an interview or something Rick was on where he was talking about his "first time" having occurred with an older woman. This might have been it. I think this song is put together so well, the lyrics and the tempo of the music really put across that scared, nervous, anxious feeling he was experiencing. I also noticed the "God" reference, Rick
loves these religious references. They seem to be in a lot of his music. He probably had a pretty religious upbringing and based on my own experience, that really stays with you. I really like the music and I think it just shows what great things were to come from him in the future.

Ooh, I have such a love-hate relationship with this song. This one reminds me a lot of "Bruce", and that fact alone puts it on the love side of my list of all time favorite Rick songs. I don't know if it's Rick's use once again of referring to himself as Richard, or that the song comes off as coming from the third person. However, the words and/or lyrics are just so bad....that I hesitate to keep it in the love column. One check mark for the hate side. I find it interesting that Rick is just credited with the words for this one and not the music. Knowing that just makes me want to wince.

It's a catchy little number, and one that has a good beat that you can tap your toe to. I'll give it props for that. He seems to be telling a story here, and I just love them story songs. So if I don't pick apart this one, or really listen to what Rick is singing - I'll be okay.

But that's just not me.

The song starts off okay, and pretty much in Springfield form. The words are flowing with the music and then wham! "But he just felt kinda stupid so he shut up." Screeching halt right there. That statement doesn't even come out smoothly saying it, let alone carrying a tune with it. The lyrics go downhill from here. It's like someone else took control of Rick's brain and decided that rather than make sense, we'll just make it rhyme. 

I'm not even sure I should attempt a statement on the line, "I'm so nervous I just might shoot you." That is so not what I'm hearing, and I've been appalled at myself for years for thinking what my ears are hearing at this one. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

The other part of the song that really bugs me is the "c c c c cold" - the stuttering of the world cold. Either just spit it out, or put another word there. It gives me a visual of Rick trying to imitate Eddie Money in the song "Shakin" or David Bowie in "Changes". Yeah, both of those songs irritate me as well.