Greetings,
And now on to day two of our Bee Gees Celebration Weekend. Today I will be discussing my top ten favorite Bee Gees songs. As some of you may know, I already did a top ten albums list, one of my most viewed posts, so now it is time for this. Much like that albums list, I am certain there will be several entries here about which many people have never heard. It's a little sad, but it will certainly separate true fans and admirers from the posers. Still, it makes this list a bit relevant. What good does it do me to tell you of things about which you already know? None, so here we go.
#10. "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" - I've always wanted to write a song about a guy going to the electric chair, but the Gibb boys beat me to it. Yes, that is what this song is about. Apparently, Robin wrote the lyrics for this one, and I've heard he said it's about a man in prison for killing his wife's lover. Hey, why not? And here I thought this was just a good song for people who aren't tough enough for "Folsom Prison Blues", but still want to say they have an edge. Maybe not. Oh, and I should mention a great version of this song from last year with Robin and The Soldiers, a group of three British Army soldiers, that was released as a charity single. Very nice.
#9. "Embrace" - This song was featured on their final album, This Is Where I Came In, and it was written by Robin alone. While I do love the structure of the song, with the way it starts with a slow tempo only to build up to something of a dance track, I always wished an acoustic version would have been recorded. Something softer and slower so we can really appreciate the great lyrics. But I'll take it any way I can get it.
#8 "Above and Beyond" - Here is one of the few songs where they let Maurice sing lead. Obviously, a lot of people would not recognize his voice as easily as they do with Barry and his falsetto or Robin and his vibrato, but I always loved Maurice's voice. It was nice to here things on the albums that were unexpected, and, when it came to what we usually heard from the Bee Gees, his voice was exactly that. Of all his moments to shine, this is my favorite. I find this tune extremely catchy with good lyrics, and it is one of the best on the album from which it came.
#7. "Country Lanes" - I could have picked any of the more popular songs from the Main Course album, which is one of their best, but I really love this one most of all. It's a ballad with a soft verse melody, but then the chorus swells a bit and the way the vocals are arranged give it this interesting feeling. The best way I can describe it is that it sounds the way it looks when two people are dancing and the man lifts the woman's arm above her head and spins her around. Does that make any sense? Well, whatever. To me, this chorus sounds the way that looks.
#6. "Miracles Happen" - I mentioned this as my favorite song off the Still Waters album which I just reviewed. So naturally, it's on this list, being a beautifully tear-jerking song. And since I just talked about it, I'll merely give a little reminder of what I said. Basically, I love it.
#5. "You Win Again" - This is a song that was originally on the E.S.P. album, but I first heard it on my American release of One. There's a fun story that Maurice told about this one. On the demo, they had this amazing beat that sounded like stomps, and it was only going to be on that demo. But when they met up with producer, Arif Mardin, to actually cut it, the first thing he said was, "So, have you got the stomps?" to which Maurice replied, "Um . . . no." And then I imagine Arif saying back to him, "Well, what the heck with that? Go get them!". Or something to that effect. Turns out, those stomps ended up being the most recognizable and sought out element of the song. Apparently, even Phil Collins asked for them, but this may just be a rumor.
#4. "Wish You Were Here" - This was one of the first songs that Barry, Robin and Maurice recorded after Andy died in 1988. It's simple and beautiful, and when you think of everything surrounding it, you won't be able to help but get a little emotional at the very least. If you're anything like me, though, you will full on cry at least once. Actually, if you're anything like me, you will full on cry pretty much every time you hear it.
#3. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - I seem to recall the late, renowned Billboard editor Timothy White saying that the Bee Gees' Size Isn't Everything album was one of the strongest of their career. Agree! So much that it placed very high on my top ten albums list. And the best song on it is, without a doubt, "For Whom the Bell Tolls". So what if they stole the title from Ernest Hemingway? It wasn't the first time they did that (Hello! "Islands in the Stream"!) But seriously, if you have a dream to write an epic ballad, this is for what you should strive.
#2. "Rings Around the Moon" - If anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, knows this song without having been involved in the making of it, I will literally pass out from shock. It's one thing for me to mention a little known song from a little known album, but this one wasn't even that. It was a bonus track on the single release for the song "Alone" in 1997. I know that "B-sides", as they used to be called, were such things for a reason. They tended to be the weaker song, but not in this case. This song is absolutely phenomenal. I cannot believe it didn't make the cut for the album. This is why I will probably never understand boys and the stuff they do. But I love the visuals of the lyrics, especially in the chorus. It's just a wonderful, clearly underrated love song.
#1. "I Started a Joke" - Not only is this my favorite song by the Bee Gees, it is my favorite song, and that is the end of the sentence. It's mesmerizing, plain and simple. I know it has a lot to do with the timeless voice of Robin Gibb, but I also love the lyrics, and I get them. I get them more than the Bee Gees themselves. No, really. I'm pretty sure I remember them saying on their episode of VH1 Storytellers that they had no idea what this song was about. Well, relax, boys. I understood it. I understood it, and it completely changed me. Thanks!
You know, I could probably make a top 100 list and still have songs to spare. The Bee Gees are just everlasting. I, like so many others, am so sad that we can no longer hear new music from them, but they left us with so much of their life's work, we should be fine. And they all have a great legacy through their talented children. So, if I may quote something that someone probably said around 1979, "Wow! We're never gonna get rid of these guys, are we?" Nope! Thank God!
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
