“Roll with the Changes” is a song by REO Speedwagon written by frontman Kevin Cronin and released as the lead single from their 1978 album You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish.
It reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and served as the band’s first significant chart hit, paving the way for their later multi-platinum success.
The song was inspired by Cronin’s cross-country road trip in 1976 as he rejoined the band, which was relocating from Illinois to California. Driving a Ford Pinto with a U-Haul trailer, Cronin wrote the lyrics on a paper bag while driving between Albuquerque and Tucson, with the final lines completed after pulling over in New Mexico. The track is autobiographical, reflecting Cronin’s personal and emotional adjustments to returning to the group and moving coasts.
As soon as you are able
Woman, I am willing
To make the break that we are on the brink of
My cup is on the table
Our love is spilling
Waiting here for you to take and drink of
[Chorus]
So if you’re tired of the same old story
Oh, turn some pages
I’ll be here when you are ready
To roll with the changes
Yeah, yeah, woo
[Verse 2]
I knew it had to happen
Felt the tables turnin’
Got me through my darkest hour
I heard the thunder clappin’
Felt the desert burnin’
Until you poured on me like a sweet sunshower
[Chorus]
So if you’re tired of the same old story
Oh, turn some pages
I’ll be here when you are ready
To roll with the changes
Oh yeah
[Guitar Solo]
Woo
[Chorus]
So if you’re tired of the same old story
Oh, baby, turn some pages
I’ll be here when you are ready
To roll with the changes
Baby, roll with the changes
Oh, you know, you know, you know you got to
[Bridge]
(Keep on rollin’) Oh yeah
(Keep on rollin’)
Oh, roll with the changes
Keep on rollin’
(Keep on rollin’) Oh yeah
(Keep on rollin’)
Oh, now roll with the changes
Oh baby
(Keep on rollin’) Oh baby
(Keep on rollin’)
Oh, you got to learn to roll with the changes
Got to, got to, got to, got to keep on rollin’
Got to keep on (Keep on rollin’)
Oh, you got to learn to, got to learn to
Got to learn to roll
[Instrumental Break]
[Outro]
Keep on rollin’, keep on rollin’
Ooh
Keep on rollin’, keep on rollin’
Ooh
Keep on rollin’, keep on rollin’
Ooh
Keep on rollin’, keep on rollin’
Ooh
