An Undying Testament to the Simple Joy of Young Love
In the annals of rock and roll’s vibrant, fleeting, and tragically short early years, few figures loom as large and as affectionately remembered as the bespectacled Texas native, Buddy Holly. His 1958 recording, “It’s So Easy!”, released as a single by The Crickets on Brunswick Records, is an exhilarating, minute-and-a-half burst of pure, unadulterated rockabilly energy that perfectly captured the effervescence of falling head over heels. While the original release with its B-side, “Lonesome Tears,” surprisingly failed to chart on the major national pop charts in the United States at the time, its impact was felt far beyond the numbers. Regionally, it showed more promise, even hitting as high as #2 in Charlottetown, PEI, and charting in other cities, demonstrating a bubbling popularity that the national figures overlooked. Its enduring appeal was cemented not by its initial commercial success, but by its sheer musical vitality and its profound influence on future legends.
The Song’s Bright, Brief History
Co-written by Buddy Holly and his producer, Norman Petty, “It’s So Easy!” was captured during the fertile recording sessions between June and August of 1958 at Petty’s studio in Clovis, New Mexico. These sessions were among the last that Holly would record with the initial lineup of The Crickets, and the single itself was the final release by the band before Holly decided to move to New York, seeking more creative control and a break from Petty’s management. This move marked a significant pivot, as Holly began to explore a more nuanced, orchestrated sound, evident in later recordings like “True Love Ways,” demonstrating an artist eager to expand his musical horizons. Yet, “It’s So Easy!” remains a glorious snapshot of his signature, lean, dynamic rock and roll style.
The story behind the song is often understood as a simple, celebratory declaration of love, arriving at a time of personal joy for Holly. Just as the song was recorded, Holly had met and swiftly married Maria Elena Santiago in August 1958, a whirlwind romance that brought a new, palpable joy into his life. The lyrics themselves are incredibly direct and optimistic: “It’s so easy to fall in love / Well, people tell me love is for fools / So here I go breaking all of the rules.” The meaning is straightforward—a joyous, almost breathless admission that surrendering to love, despite conventional warnings, is the most natural and easy thing in the world when you find the right person. There’s a wonderful, youthful defiance in the line about “breaking all of the rules,” an insouciance that was the very essence of early rock and roll itself.
An Enduring Legacy and Nostalgic Echo
For those of us who remember the late 1950s, the song is a bittersweet echo. We hear the familiar, driving rhythm, the sharp clarity of Holly’s vocal, and that unforgettable, bright guitar work, and we are transported back to sock hops and soda fountains—to a moment when everything felt simple, electric, and, yes, so doggone easy. The tragic loss of Buddy Holly in February 1959, an event famously dubbed “The Day the Music Died,” instantly imbued all of his earlier recordings with an elegiac quality. “It’s So Easy!”, in particular, shines as a beacon of the optimism and sheer talent that was so tragically cut short.
Its influence cannot be overstated. Long before its massive resurgence via Linda Ronstadt’s #5 hit cover in 1977, the song was a formative piece for the generation of musicians who would become The British Invasion. The Beatles, then The Quarrymen, regularly performed “It’s So Easy!” live between 1958 and 1962, recognizing in Holly’s work a perfect blend of melodic craftsmanship and rock and roll power. That youthful energy, the clear vocal delivery, and the tight, focused arrangements were a blueprint for much of the music that followed. Listening to “It’s So Easy!” today isn’t just listening to a classic song; it’s listening to the foundational chords of modern pop music, a vibrant, short-lived testament to a talent that made the complex art of a perfect song seem so effortlessly, well, easy.