John Sebastian’s Welcome Back

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John Sebastian’s Welcome Back

John Sebastian's Welcome Back

Folk Rock Music

The song was written by John Sebastian, formerly a member of The Lovin’ Spoonful, as the theme song to the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.  In the show, a teacher, played by Gabe Kaplan goes back to his old High School to teach a class of students known as “the sweathogs.” The popular program aired from 1975 to 1979. The cast, besides Kaplan, also included John Travolta, Marcia Strassman, John Sylvester White, Robert Hegyes, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Ron Palillo. The theme song was also popular, so John Sebastian added to it and released it as a single, backed with “Warm Baby,” and featured it on his 1976 album titled, not surprisingly, Welcome Back.

The song went to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary Tracks, and Cashbox Top 100. It was also #1 in Canada and #24 in Australia. The album rose to #79 on the Billboard 200 chart. On the album are John Sebastian (vocals, guitar, harmonica, autoharp, piano), David Hungate (bass), Richard Bell (piano, clavinet), Jeff Porcaro (drums) and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (pedal steel guitar).

Here are the lyrics to “Welcome Back” by John Sebastian:

Welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out
Welcome back, to that same old place that you laughed about
Well the names have all changed since you hung around
But those dreams have remained and they’ve turned around
Who’d have thought they’d lead ya
(Who’d have thought they’d lead ya)
Back here where we need ya
(Back here where we need ya)
Yeah we tease him a lot ’cause we got him on the spot
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back, welcome back
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back

We always could spot a friend, welcome back
And I smile when I think how you must have been
And I know what a scene you were learning in
Was there something that made you come back again
And what could ever lead ya
(What could ever lead ya)
Back here where we need ya
(Back here where we need ya)
Yeah we tease him a lot ’cause we got him on the spot
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back, welcome back
Welcome back, welcome back

And I know what a scene you were learning in
Was there something that made you come back again
And what could ever lead ya
(What could ever lead ya)
Back here where we need ya
(Back here where we need ya)
Yeah we tease him a lot ’cause we got him on the spot
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back, welcome back
Welcome back, welcome back

Yeah we tease him a lot, welcome back, welcome back
Cause we got him on the spot, welcome back, welcome back

Yeah we tease him a lot ’cause we got him on the spot
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back, welcome back
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back

For More 70s Tunes

The System has daily featured music from all sorts of genres of 1970s music. You’re welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections in The System. Thank you for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed “Welcome Back” by John Sebastian.

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