For My Sunday Song #468, we are going to talk the brand new song by Def Leppard called “Rejoice”. It was released prior to the start of their latest Las Vegas Residency that is occurring as we speak. The song isn’t from any album (yet) and is the 2nd single they’ve released over the last year, the last one being ’77’. Still no album. I am assuming they will play this during the residency as it would be a great place to debut the song live. I still want an album.
The song was written by Joe Elliott and Phil Collen. The song is about a guy, who according to Joe, is at rock bottom. The guy seems to be at that point where you realize the only way to go is up. He wants to fight his way to the top, he wants to feel Joy again, he wants to hit the point that he can rejoice.
Per Leppard’s press releases…Phil Collen stated…
“I had this riff, this idea for a song a while ago actually, so when Joe came to me I created this drum loop based with a tribal sound and it fit perfectly with this other arrangement I had,” adds Collen. “I sent it to Joe and it was like magic – he sang straight over the top of it. And that’s how the song was formed.
“Then we gave it to Ronan [McHugh, Leppard’s long-serving sound engineer] who’d done a proper drum loop with different sounds. It all started gelling and just sounded like a powerful chant. We love it. It’s hard rock for us. It’s got a bit more of an ‘oomph’ than stuff we’ve been doing for a while. It’s kind of magical.”
Musically, this song takes me back to around their ‘Euphoria’ era with that that guitar sound. The song definitely is heavier than anything they’ve done in awhile. As the band said above, “It’s got a bit more ‘oomph”. I would agree with him as it is a real banger of a song. I like the drum sound with its tribal beat, the harmonies are classic Leppard and Joe Elliott sounds great. It is so great to see Leppard still putting out material and finally having a little balls behind it. A great way to kick of 2026!! So why don’t we all rejoice we have a new Def Leppard Single!!
Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. Is it a more classic sounding Leppard? I am simply hoping we get a full album this year. They need to do that badly! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Sunday…go “Rejoice”!!
“Rejoice”
I’m bored with boredom
I’m sick of all this flack
I want some indigo
But all I see is black
Won’t someone save me
Put an end to all this pain
I need a miracle
To make me live again
I won’t stop this night
Until I hit the Speed of sound
I only come alive
When the sun goes down
I wanna go higher
I wanna touch the sky yeah
I wanna shout it from the
Rooftops shake it up
Listen to my voice
I got a back beat feel the heat
So let us all rejoice
Are you angel are you devil
‘Cause tonight it’s not a sin
Everybody loves a loser
But I just wanna win
So get on board
Join the hoard
I would be delighted
It’s party time
In this head of mine
And you are all invited
I won’t stop this night
Until I hit the Speed of sound
I only come alive
When the sun goes down
I wanna go higher
I wanna touch the sky yeah
I wanna shout it from the
Rooftops shake it up
Just listen to my voice
I gotta back beat feel the heat
So let us all rejoice
I won’t stop this night
Until I hit the Speed of sound
I only come alive
When the sun goes down (Down, down, down, down)
I wanna go higher
I wanna touch the sky yeah
I wanna shout it from the
Rooftops shake it up
Just listen to my voice
I gotta back beat feel the heat
So let us all rejoice
Writer(s): Joe Elliott, Phil Collen
