"Seasons of Wither" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

. It was written by lead singer

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

and is five minutes and thirty-eight seconds in length. It was released in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

on the band's second album ''

Get Your Wings ''Get Your Wings'' is the second studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 1, 1974. The album was their first to be produced by Jack Douglas, who also was responsible for the band's next three albums. Three singles were rele ...

''.

Background

According to Tyler, the song was inspired by the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

landscape in wintertime. He stated that " used to lie in my bed at dawn, listening to the wind in the bare trees, how lonely and melancholy it sounded. I was pissed off about my taxes and getting mad helps me to write, so one night I went down to the basement where we had a rug on the floor and a couple of boxes for furniture and took a fun Tuinals and a few Seconals and I scooped up this guitar Joey gave me, this Dumpster guitar, and I lit some incense and wrote ‘Seasons of Wither.'” The song's lyrics also discuss a relationship. It is one of Tyler's favorite Aerosmith songs. The song features acoustic guitars, slow haunting vocals, and a strong rhythm. The ''Get Your Wings'' version starts off with a crowd of people cheering, which gradually fades into the howling wind and acoustic guitar (played by Tyler) that signal the beginning of the song. This is a segue from the previous track, "

Train Kept A-Rollin' "Train Kept A-Rollin'" (or "The Train Kept A-Rollin'") is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier son ...

Legacy

While not released as a single, the song has gained prominence over the years. It was featured on the career-spanning compilation's ''

Pandora's Box Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem ''Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing phys ...

'' in 1991, ''

O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits ''O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits'' is a greatest hits album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released in 2002 by Columbia Records and Geffen Records. A double-disc album, it includes 27 of the band's biggest hits in chronological order and ...

'' in 2002 and on the live album '' Rockin' the Joint'' in 2005. Additionally, the song has been resurrected as a live staple among Aerosmith shows in the 2000s, after not being played much on tours in the late 1980s and 1990s. However, the song was performed at the band's

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

performance in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. On the

Just Push Play Tour The Just Push Play Tour was a concert tour by Aerosmith that took the band across North America and Japan. Supporting their 2001 album '' Just Push Play'', it ran from June 2001 to February 2002. The tour was successful, despite several cancel ...

in 2001, Tyler and Joe Perry would start off the song at the top of a dual staircase. On the

Route of All Evil Tour Route or routes may refer to: * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * Route, County Antrim, an area in Northern Ireland * ''The Route'', a 2013 Ugandan film * Ro ...

(2006) and World Tour (2007), Tyler and Joe Perry would start off the song sitting down on chairs at the end of the catwalk. The song has been covered by

Die Kreuzen Die Kreuzen (/ˈdiːˈkɹɔɪtsn̩/) is an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin formed in 1981. The name, which was taken from a German Bible, is grammatically incorrect German for "the crosses."Larkin, Colin (1995) "Die Kreuzen", in ''Th ...

on the album Gone Away, Tesla on the Real to Reel 2 album and by

Vitamin String Quartet Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ) is an American musical group from Los Angeles known for its series of tribute albums to rock and pop acts. VSQ is a series of string quartet projects developed and produced by CMH Label Group, an independent reco ...

on their Aerosmith tribute album. Boston pianist Yoko Miwa has recorded an instrumental jazz version with her trio, and Seattle's defunct

Mother Love Bone Mother Love Bone was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. The band was active from 1988 to 1990. Frontman Andrew Wood's personality and lyrics helped to catapult the group to the top of the burgeoning late 1980s/ear ...

( Pearl Jam's precursor) also recorded their version, which is available on scattered bootlegs. It can be found on YouTube as well as the “Dogtown and Z-boys” motion picture soundtrack.

References

{{Authority control Aerosmith songs 1974 songs Songs written by Steven Tyler Song recordings produced by Jack Douglas (record producer)