Your Love Will Save the World
Bee Gees time again!
The Bee Gees wrote over 1000 songs, and many of them were never released. Particularly during the early 70s, when their sound was in transition from their earlier baroque rock British Invasion sound to a more R&B and disco genre, their manager kept rejecting albums and songs. Some of the albums they did release were ignored, although many of those songs have since become big favorites with today’s Bee Gees fans.
At this point I know an awful lot of Bee Gees songs, but I keep discovering new ones from that era. Some are only so-so (although I have yet to find one I’d call bad). But some are quite good, and some of these previously-rejected songs are really really good. I recently came across the following one, called “Your Love Will Save the World” (a rather grandiose sentiment), and I like it quite a bit although it’s not up there with my favorites. But for a rejected song, it’s good, and it’s been growing on me.
I’m putting it up here as an example of the sort of thing they regularly threw in the wastebasket. It features Robin’s warbly upper-range (but not falsetto) “blue-eyed soul” voice and Barry’s “raspy-gruff” voice. Each Bee Gees member had a large variety of voices he could employ, and if you’re only familiar with Barry’s falsetto, you’re in for a surprise here.
The song also shows how well the Bee Gees could sing not just the harmonies they’re known for as a group, but how they could use the unique solo voices of Robin and Barry to play off each other in contrast to add texture and interest. Robin sings the verses here and Barry the choruses; I think Maurice chimes in a bit, too, but I’m not sure. If you don’t like Robin’s voice – and many people don’t – you probably really won’t like this. But I love all their voices.
The song was written in 1975 and never released. But it’s on YouTube, and that’s where I found it (if you’re having trouble understanding the lyrics, you can find them here)
This is just a demo, by the way, not a polished and finished version:
It actually was soul singer Percy Sledge who first released the song, in 1994. Here’s his version, which I also think is good although I somewhat prefer the Bee Gees. Quite a few soul and R&B singers had success with Bee Gees covers:
Ugh. No way. So sorry.
Hello Neo,
I quite enjoy you drilling ever deeper into the Bee Gees’ music – you are a devoted and knowledgeable fan and the brothers’ catalog is immense. It is such fun to see you dive into material that brings you joy unlike so much of what you write about here.
So nice song! I listen it for the first time, and i`m really impressed! It’s no wonder because it’s The Bee Gees 😉
Thank you very much for sharing, dear Neo <3
One thousand songs? SiriusXM should have a BeeGees channel and Neo should be the host!
Cornhead:
One of the deepest YouTube rabbit holes ever.
The entire thousand isn’t there, but an awful lot of them are. However, some songs the Bee Gees wrote were recorded by others who made them famous, like for example “Islands in the Stream.”
Sorry Neo – I don’t know where to put this, but I want to bring it to your attention.
https://abigailshrier.substack.com/p/how-activist-teachers-recruit-kids
This used to be called “grooming”
A well-intentioned older relative gave me a BeeGees LP one Christmas — it was the album “Odessa,” the one with faux red velvet flocked polyester on the cover. I can just vaguely remember the lyrics of the title song. The same gambit as their radio hits, the “Mine Disaster” and the one about a guy on death row: dramatic monologue, unspecified backstory. They must have been trying for “art rock,” taking rock to a higher level. And like Pink Floyd and Procol Harum and the rest, their ambitions went way beyond their abilities. Suitable for marketing to teenagers though. The BeeGees wrote top-notch pop-rock melodies, and the orchestration & production clinched it.
After that I heard nothing from them for a few years, so when they re-emerged as a disco band it came out of nowhere. I had to blink more than a few times before I registered that they were good at it. Really, very good.
My friends at that time hated everything disco. I agreed then and still do that it was an unfortunate era for fashion sense. But I can’t hate a music that aims to get people dancing. Yes, too much of what was released as disco music was nothing but a mechanical beat, dully repeating. The BeeGees were in a better class of disco acts: they knew how to weave a tune around a beat, or layer one rhythm over another. Their music doesn’t narcotize you — it doesn’t have to — it’s smart without having a thing to say — just happy — and does it get your body moving!
Baceseras:
I think the Bee Gees raised disco music to an art. Their disco is exceptionally well-crafted and somewhat complex.
But some of it actually does have “a thing to say,” although it might not be up there with “The Waste Land.” For example, take a look at the lyrics of “Stayin Alive” or of “Wind of Change.”
Re Bee Gees lyrics, in Night Fever I always heard:
I got hair in my mouth
I get higher in Milwaukee
But genius.com says it is:
I got fire in my mind
I got higher in my walkin’
https://genius.com/Bee-gees-night-fever-lyrics
Sometimes we mis-hear the words of songs in peculiar ways.
Wesson: “Sometimes we mis-hear the words of songs in peculiar ways”
Don’t get me started on “Louie Louie”.