SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 4:11 Min.
Heard in 1989’s Eddie and The Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! this rock tune by John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band briefly accompanies a pivotal scene on a New Jersey beach late in the film. While this song isn’t on the official soundtrack album, it was later released off 1991’s Eddie and The Cruisers: The Unreleased Tapes. The hodgepodge Unreleased Tapes compiles the sequel’s five remaining tunes, as well as re-releases of other Cafferty/Beaver Brown songs from both films (i.e. On the Dark Side) by utilizing film dialogue clips as brief introductions.
REVIEW:
As utilized in the movie, its initially somber tone proves effective. What isn’t revealed is the song’s transition into more of the up-tempo rock sound that The Beaver Brown Band is known for.
Mirroring Eddie Wilson’s self-inflicted predicament, “When the World Was Young” contemplates middle-aged regret about one’s youthful prime. More so, the song sells the inevitability of maturing and finally owning up to one’s past mistakes well enough. In that regard, John Cafferty’s gravelly, semi-brooding vocal performance is spot-on.
The detriment is that is the song doesn’t linger outside the film’s context. In retrospect, “When The World Was Young” is at least good enough to merit inclusion on Eddie II’s soundtrack, mostly to signify why a haunted Eddie finally seeks out his old friend, Sal Amato. Further, the tune’s moodiness would have supplemented the Eddie II soundtrack with extra depth.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars
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