Thursday Inspiration #209 I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You

Respond to this challenge, by either using the prompt word hold, or going with the above picture, or by means of the song ‘I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You’, or by going with another song by the Bee Gees, or anything else that you think fits.  Robin and Barry Gibb wrote this very different type of love song, which was released as a single in 1968.  It became the group’s second UK #1 single, also went to #1 in Ireland and it reached #8 in the US, their first top-ten hit in the Billboard Hot 100.  In the UK, the song was released as a single only.  The song appeared on the US edition of the Bee Gees’ third album Idea.  This song tells the story of a man who is in the electric chair, awaiting his execution as he begs the prison chaplain to deliver a final message to his wife.  According to Robin Gibb, the man is in jail for the murder of his wife’s lover, but this song puzzled listeners, as it never states exactly what the message is that he wanted delivered.  This prisoner is on Death Row and he only has an hour to live.  He urgently wants the prison chaplain to pass on a final message to his wife.

The preacher asks the prisoner to take a walk with him and they discuss his miserable life.  He has an hour left to live before being executed and he is unsure if he broke his wife’s heart or not, but in case he did, he wants the preacher to tell her that he is sorry.  He doesn’t express guilt for his actions, and he actually laughs because he is glad that his life is coming to an end soon as he doesn’t think it will hurt.  He tells the preacher that the love he has for his wife is what kept him alive and since he killed her lover, it is only fair that he dies also.

One more hour and my life will be through
Hold on, hold on
I told him I’m in no hurry
But if I broke her heart
Then won’t you tell her I’m sorry
And for once in my life I’m alone