"Fishin' in the Dark" is a song written by

Wendy Waldman Wendy Waldman (born Wendy Steiner on November 29, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Biography Early life Waldman grew up in the Los Angeles area and was raised in a musical environment. Her father Fred Steiner was a ...

and

Jim Photoglo James G. Photoglo is an American soft rock singer and songwriter from Inglewood, California. He released two charting albums in the early 1980s and had two hit singles, " We Were Meant to Be Lovers" (No. 31, 1980) and " Fool in Love with You" (No ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (sometimes abbreviated NGDB), also known as the Dirt Band, is an American band founded in Long Beach, California, in 1966. Since 2018, the band has consisted of Jeff Hanna and his son Jaime Hanna, both guitarists and voc ...

, with

Jimmy Ibbotson James Arvey Ibbotson (born January 21, 1947) is an American musician who is best known as a longtime member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He has also released albums as a solo artist, as a member of the Wild Jimbos, and with John McEuen. Ca ...

singing lead vocals. It was released on June 7, 1987, as the second single from their album '' Hold On''. The song reached number one on the country charts of both ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' in the United States and ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' in Canada, and has been described as the band's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

Content

The song is about a couple who plan to have a romantic encounter together at night while fishing. "Fishin' in the Dark" has a fast tempo in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

, with its verses based mainly around an open fifth consisting of D and A.

, then the band's bass guitarist, sings lead vocals. Co-writer

, a native of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, made trips to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, in 1984 at the suggestion of songwriter

. While staying at a Shoney's Inn in Nashville, he began playing open fifths on his guitar into a tape recorder. Waldman suggested the title "Fishin' in the Dark" after listening to ''

A Prairie Home Companion ''A Prairie Home Companion'' was a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...

'' on the radio. As both they and record producer Josh Leo lived in the same apartment complex, Leo became aware of the song and recommended it to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, for whom he was producing at the time. Before the band recorded it,

Ed Bruce William Edwin Bruce Jr. (December 29, 1939 – January 8, 2021) was an American country music songwriter, singer, and actor. He was known for writing the 1975 song "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and recording the 1982 cou ...

also included a version on his 1986 album ''Night Things''. Almost three decades after the song's release, Photoglo would join Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, taking over for Ibbotson on bass guitar.

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an "A", stating that "The lyrics paint such a clear picture that you feel you’re out on the water with this young couple getting ready to do some fishin’ in the dark. No word on whether they catch any fish, but they’re definitely catching feelings, and that’s the secret sauce of this little gem. It captures the euphoria of those early days of a new romance, where the activity doesn’t matter so much as the chance to be alone together." Group member

Jeff Hanna Jeffrey R. Hanna (born July 11, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and performance musician, best known for his association with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. His professional music career has spanned six decades. Early life Hanna was born in ...

later stated that the song was considered Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's

, and became most popular during summertime. It was certified platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), honoring one million certified

music download A music download is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. This term encompasses both legal downloads ...

s, on September 12, 2014.

Charts and certification

Weekly charts

Certifications

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1987 singles 1986 songs Ed Bruce songs Nitty Gritty Dirt Band songs Song recordings produced by Josh Leo Warner Records Nashville singles Songs written by Wendy Waldman Songs written by Jim Photoglo