Cherokee

When you dive into Cherokee, you encounter a story that, while evoking images of the Native Americans, has a particular twist. The song, written by Joey Tempest in 1985, was the last to be added to the album The Final Countdown. What's interesting is that the music video, filmed in Almería, Spain, near where A Fistful of Dollars was shot, features a depiction of the Cherokee as inhabitants of tipis in the desert. Historically, however, the Cherokee lived in the Appalachian Mountains and were relocated to Oklahoma, and they never used tipis. This detail adds a layer of curiosity to the piece.

The production of Cherokee, like the rest of the album The Final Countdown, was a complex process. Recorded between September 1985 and March 1986 in various studios across Europe and the United States, including Powerplay in Zurich, Soundtrade in Stockholm, Mastersound in Atlanta, and Fantasy in Berkeley, the album featured production and mixing by Kevin Elson, who had previously worked with bands like Journey and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The release of Cherokee as a single in November 1987 took it to number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The song, with a duration of 4:13 on its album version, also includes a spoken introduction in Swedish by drummer Ian Haugland, saying "Nu ska vi spela!", which translates to "Let's play now!".