Come To Me On A Summer Breeze

Bee Halton at The Bee Writes Love Is In Da Blog 2019 ~ A Music Festival has buzzed us to write about A Love Song from 1969-1978.  I chose the 1977 song ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ by the Bee Gees.  The Bee Gees wrote ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ for the American singer Yvonne Elliman and it was released on their album Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack.  This song was released as a single before the film or the soundtrack were issued, and it rose to the top spot a week after the film debuted.  The Bee Gees had more than 30 Top 40 records, nine of which went to #1, putting them in an exclusive group, up there with the Beatles, Elvis, the Supremes, and a few others, actually very few others.  But unlike many super groups outside of the Beatles, the brothers Gibb wrote their own songs, which indeed makes them elite.

Robin and Maurice are twins.  Barry is three years older.  They had huge success singing disco songs in the ‘70s, and popularized the falsetto singing style of that era.  Bill Goode ran the Redcliffe Speedway and he gave the Gibb brothers their first opportunity to perform before a crowd, in 1959.  The Bee Gees were discovered by Bill Gates, a disc jockey in Brisbane, Australia.  The group’s name was originally The BG’s, contrived from the common initials between Barry Gibb, Bill Goode, and Bill Gates.  The name then evolved from The BG’s to the Bee Gees which eventually came to mean the Brothers Gibb.  Maurice died in 2003 after he was rushed to a hospital for stomach pains.  After being diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer, Robin died of kidney and liver failure in 2012 at the age of 62.  Robin Gibb requested that ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ should be played at his funeral.  The Bee Gees are in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.  ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ is the Bee Gees most covered song, with over 400 versions.

Yvonne Elliman sang her #1 hit “If I Can’t Have You” in “Saturday Night Fever” which was specifically written for her by the Bee Gees.  Yvonne already had a music career that included releasing four albums and early fame from the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ, Superstar.  She moved from her native Hawaii to London while she was still a teenager, and then Yvonne was discovered by the legendary duo of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice.  They invited her to sing the part of “Mary Magdalene” with the ballad ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ for their concept album, before the rock opera made its Broadway debut in 1971 with Yvonne in the only female principal role.  Her role in the film version earned her a 1974 Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.  While on Broadway, Yvonne met Bill Oakes, the president of RSO Records and the two married after knowing each other a short while.  Oakes introduced her to Eric Clapton, who invited Yvonne to sing backup vocals on ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ which led to Yvonne becoming a member of Eric’s band, and touring with them.  Her fourth album, released in 1976, gave her two Top-20 hits, the title-song ‘Love Me’ was written by Bee Gees members Barry and Robin Gibb, as well as Yvonne’s cover of ‘Hello Stranger’.

‘How Deep Is Your Love’ was written by Barry Gibb, Maurice Ernest Gibb and Robin Hugh Gibb.  This won the 1977 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance By A Group.  The song also received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 35th Golden Globe awards in 1978.  This was a massive hit in the US. It was #1 for three weeks and stayed in the Top 10 for 17 weeks, which was a record at the time.  The song was also a huge hit on the Adult Contemporary chart, where it spent six weeks at #1, which is more than any other Bee Gees song.  When Billboard listed their top 100 Adult Contemporary song of all time in 2011, ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ came in at #13.  The song was ranked number 366 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

I know your eyes in the morning sun
I feel you touch me in the pouring rain
And the moment that you wander far from me
I want to feel you in my arms again
And you come to me on a summer breeze
Keep me warm in your love, then you softly leave
And it’s me you need to show

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
How deep is your love?
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

I believe in you
You know the door to my very soul
You’re the light in my deepest, darkest hour
You’re my savior when I fall
And you may not think I care for you
When you know down inside that I really do
And it’s me you need to show

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
How deep is your love?
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

And you come to me on a summer breeze
Keep me warm in your love, then you softly leave
And it’s me you need to show

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
How deep is your love?
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

Written for Love Is In Da Blog “A Love Song from 1969-1978”.