Heart Full of Soul

Background and Commentary

The piece, a lament over a lost love, is a 1965 single by the The Yardbirds. It was written by Graham Gouldman, who later had a lengthy career as a member of 10cc. It charted in the United States at number nine and at number two in the United Kingdom. The song makes an early use of the fuzz box by guitarist Jeff Beck during the guitar solo. Originally, a sitar was going to be used, in keeping with the “Eastern-exotic” atmosphere of the song, but the sound was too thin, and eventually Beck produced a sitar-like effect on the guitar. An outtake exists, with the sitar part intact.—Wikipedia

Chris Isaak covered the song in 1986, Dokken in 2002, and Gouldman returned to the song in his 2000 solo album.

Neil in the liner notes to the Feedback album suggests neither he nor his bandmates covered the song in their early years, but they included it in their EP because it was among the songs they liked from the era and they thought they could cover it effectively “meaning not too many backing vocals” and have some fun with.

About a quarter of the way through the band’s 30th anniversary tour, in 1994, the song had become an audience sing-along favorite. In a journal he was keeping, Neil made a notation after a day of motorcycling through Ohio on the way to the next gig in Cuyahoga Falls. “Note how loud the background vocals [crowd] were last night for ‘Heart Full of Soul.’ Seems to be an audience-participation act that’s catching on more and more night by night.”—Neil in Roadshow

Lyrics

The Yardbirds

Sick at heart and lonely
Deep in dark despair
Thinking one thought only
Where is she tell me where
And if she says to you
She don’t love me
Just give her my message
Tell her of my plea

And I know if she had me back again
Well I would never make her sad
I’ve gotta heart full of soul

She’s been gone such a long time
Longer than I can bear
But if she says she wants me
Tell her that I’ll be there
And if she says to you
She don’t love me
Just give her my message
Tell her of my plea