BEE GEES - WISH YOU WERE HERE

WISH YOU WERE HERE

BEE GEES

SONGWRITERS: BARRY GIBB; MAURICE GIBB & ROBIN GIBB

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: ONE

LABEL: WARNER BROS RECORDS

GENRE: DISCO

YEAR: 1989

 

            The Bee Gees were a music group formed in 1958, featuring brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers of the disco music era in the mid- to late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies; Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the mid- to late 1970s and 1980s. The Bee Gees wrote all of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists. The Bee Gees have occasionally been referred to as the Kings of Disco.

             Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England until the late 1950s. There, in 1955, they formed the skiffle/rock and roll group the Rattlesnakes. The family then moved to Redcliffe, in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia, and then to Cribb Island. After achieving their first chart success in Australia as the Bee Gees with "Spicks and Specks" (their 12th single), they returned to the UK in January 1967, when producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience. The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (1977) was the turning point of their career, with both the film and soundtrack having a cultural impact throughout the world, enhancing the disco scene's mainstream appeal. They won five Grammy Awards for Saturday Night Fever, including Album of the Year.

            The Bee Gees have sold over 120 million records worldwide (with estimates as high as over 220 million), making them among the best-selling music artists of all time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; the presenter of the award to "Britain's first family of harmony" was Brian Wilson, historical leader of the Beach Boys, another "family act" featuring three harmonising brothers. The Bee Gees' Hall of Fame citation says, "Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees." The Bee Gees are the third most successful band in Billboard charts history after the Beatles and the Supremes.

          Following Maurice's sudden death in January 2003 at the age of 53, Barry and Robin retired the group's name after 45 years of activity. In 2009, Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed that the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again. Robin died in May 2012, aged 62, after a prolonged period of failing health, leaving Barry as the only surviving member of the group.

           One is the Bee Gees' eighteenth studio album (sixteenth worldwide), released in April 1989 (August 1989 in the United States).

             After the European success of their previous album, E.S.P., the Gibb brothers began to work on the One album in early 1988. In March, their brother Andy suddenly died and the Bee Gees took a break until November when they returned to the studio to complete the album, but this time they shifted to Mayfair Studios in London. The style of One was more melancholic than E.S.P., and heavily influenced by the loss of their brother. The album was dedicated to Andy and the song "Wish You Were Here" was written as a tribute to him.

           The album was co-produced with Brian Tench, who had worked with them on the previous album. Related session outtake "Shape of Things to Come" was written for the Bee Gees' contribution to the 1988 Olympics album called One Moment in Time released the same year.

        The album had varying degrees of success across the world. In Europe, the album reached the top 10 in Germany and Switzerland and reached the top 40 in the UK and France. North American audiences had still not embraced the Bee Gees as they were still regarded as a disco group and the album failed to reach the top 40 in the US and Canada, despite the success of the title track reaching No. 7 in the US and No. 11 in Canada. Other singles from the album included "Bodyguard" and "Tokyo Nights". In the UK, none of the singles from the album reached the top 40.

You're living your life

In somebody else's heart

My love is as strong

As oceans are far apart

 

A summer song keeps playing in my brain

And I feel you and I see your face again

There's no escape, I lost everything in losing you

 

Ahh, I wish you were here

Dryin' these tears I cry

They were good times

And I wish you were here

Calling my name

But you're dealing with a man insane the cost

How hopelessly I'm lost

I tried to throw your love away

But I can't let go

 

And so I awake

In somebody else's dreams

(It's not what it seems) it's only a lie

I've yet to decide who's real

 

The blood red rose that will never die

It'll burn like a flame in the dark of the night

I'm not afraid

I'd give everything if you hear me there

Ahh, I wish you were here

 

Dryin' these tears I cry

They were good times

It's that time of year for being alone

But you're dealing with a heart of stone

Try to kiss and say goodbye

Try to throw our love away

And that storm will blow

 

Wish you were here

Wish you were here

 

But you're dealing with a heart of stone

Try to kiss and say goodbye

Try to throw our love away

And I can't let go

 

They were good times

And I wish you were here

Yes, I wish you here.