As I was looking into Whitesnake’s 1987 self-titled album, since today’s the 39th anniversary of its release, I stumbled across something I never knew. The 1987 version of Here I Go Again is not the original version. They initially recorded it for an album that was either not released in America, or was almost completely ignored in America, Saints And Sinners.

As I listened to the original version I heard the bones of what would become the amazing song we all know and love. But there’s a very different feel to it. For starters there’s more of a church organ sound that launches the song instead of the keys in the ‘87 version. Also the harmonies during the chorus are more poppy than rock with what sounds like a 3 part harmony, instead of mainly Dave’s killer vocal. And the guitars are a more stuttering sound than the explosive, distorted, in your face guitar grooves we all air guitar along to.

Check out the original version here, and let’s all say a thank you to John Kalodner and Geffen Records for encouraging Dave to re-record the song and give us this version.

Plus listen for the chorus where Dave sings ‘hobo’ instead of ‘drifter’. I assumed he probably changed it to drifter because a passing listener might think he had said ‘homo’ instead of ‘hobo’. And I was right! Although Dave says he originally had drifter in the lyrics.

From the Wiki: “The chorus of the original version features the lines:

And here I go again on my own

Going down the only road I’ve ever known

Like a hobo I was born to walk alone

In an interview, Coverdale explained that initially the lyrics had “drifter” but as that was already used in different songs he decided to use “hobo” instead. However, the lyric was changed back to “drifter” in the re-recorded ’87 version, reportedly to ensure that it would not be misheard as "homo“.^[13][15]"