The Gibb brothers were born on the Isle of Man, UK to English parents in 1946 (Barry Alan Crompton Gibb, September 1) and 1949 ( twins Robin Hugh Gibb and Maurice (pronounced "Morris") Ernest Gibb, December 22). The family returned to father Hugh Gibb's home town of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England in the early 1950s where the boys began to sing in harmony, debuting in public on one memorable occasion at a local cinema. The boys were going to lip sync to a record, which other children had done at the cinema in previous weeks. However, on the way to the cinema, the record was dropped and broken. As a result, the brothers got on stage and sang themselves. They got a very good response from the crowd, which convinced them that singing was what they wanted to do with their lives.
In 1958, the Gibb family, including infant brother Andy (born March 5, 1958 in Manchester), emigrated to Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, and and went to Humpybong State School. The still very young brothers began performing where they could to raise pocket change. First called the Rattlesnakes, later Wee Johnny Hayes & the Bluecats, and even Les Tosseurs, they were introduced to radio DJ Bill Gates (not to be confused with the founder of Microsoft) by racetrack promoter Bill Goode (who saw them perform at Brisbane's Speedway Circus). Gates renamed them after his and Goode's initials – thus the name was not simply a reference to the brothers Gibb.
By 1960, the Bee Gees were featured on television shows, and in the next few years began working regularly at resorts on the Queensland coast. Barry drew the attention of Australian star Col Joye for his songwriting, and Joye helped the boys get a record deal with Festival Records in 1963 under the name "Bee Gees." The three released two or three singles a year, while Barry supplied additional songs to other Australian artists.
A minor hit in 1965, "Wine and Women," led to the group's first LP Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs. By late 1966, the family decided to return to England, and seek their musical fortunes there. Whilst at sea in January, 1967, they heard that "Spicks and Specks", a song they had recorded in 1966, had gone to #1 in Australia.
1960s in England
The act's arrival in England in January 1967 was not immediately propitious, as they were advised "Groups are out." However, the Bee Gees were signed soon after their arrival by Robert Stigwood, and added Australian musicians Vince Melouney (guitar) and former child actor Colin Petersen (drums). Their first single recorded in England was "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (1967), a surreal, haunting and macabre composition that made the Top 20 on both sides of the Atlantic. Robert Stigwood boldly claimed that the Bee Gees were "the most significant new musical talent of 1967". Their album Bee Gees' 1st scored well with critics and the public, offering an innovative blend of rock and orchestral ballads such as the charting "To Love Somebody" and the well-regarded "I Can't See Nobody."
The next big single was "Massachusetts," which launched the trio into stardom, followed shortly by the followup "Words". 1968 saw the release of two albums, "Horizontal" and "Idea." The latter contained two more hits, "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" and "I Started a Joke." To some critics and fans, these tracks represent the band's golden years, well before any of their ubiquitous disco hits.
The Bee Gees' next release was Odessa (1969), a dense and complex prog rock album with orchestral accompaniment. By this time, Barry and Robin were increasingly at odds about the creative direction of the group. Once Robert Stigwood made clear that he preferred to promote Barry as the act's leader, Robin left. Barry and Maurice released an LP as a duo, Cucumber Castle (the soundtrack to a television special), which contained the #2 UK hit "Don't Forget to Remember." Meanwhile, Robin released a solo album, Robin's Reign, which included his #2 UK hit "Saved by the Bell."
Early 1970s
The three brothers reunited in the later part of 1970, their feelings about the split evident in many songs about heartache and loneliness. Although they had lost traction on the British charts, the Bee Gees hit #3 in America with "Lonely Days" (from the reunion LP 2 Years On) and had their first U.S. #1 with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (from Trafalgar). In 1972, they hit #16 with "Run to Me" from the LP To Whom It May Concern; the single also returned them to the British top ten for the first time in three years.
By 1973, however, the Bee Gees were in a rut. The album, Life in a Tin Can, and its lead-off single, "Saw a New Morning," sold poorly with the single peaking at #94. This was followed by an unreleased album (known as A Kick in the Head Is Worth Eight in the Pants).
On the advice of Ahmet Ertegun of their U.S. label Atlantic Records, Stigwood arranged for the group to record with famed soul music producer Arif Mardin. The resulting LP, Mr. Natural, included few ballads and foreshadowed the R&B direction of the rest of their career. But when it too failed to attract much interest, Mardin encouraged them to work with the soul music style.
The brothers attempted to assemble a live stage band that could replicate their studio sound. Lead guitarist Alan Kendall had come on board in 1971, but didn't have much to do until Mr Natural. For that album, they added drummer Dennis Bryon, and they later added ex-Strawbs keyboard player Blue Weaver, completing the late 1970s "Bee Gees band". Maurice, who'd previously performed on piano, guitar, organ, mellotron, and bass guitar, as well as exotica like mandolin and Moog, now confined himself to bass.
At Eric Clapton's suggestion, the brothers relocated to Miami, Florida early in 1975 to record. After starting off with ballads, they eventually heeded the urging of Mardin and Stigwood and crafted more rhythmic songs like "Jive Talkin'" and "Nights on Broadway." The latter featured Barry Gibb's first attempts at singing falsetto, in the backing vocals toward the end. The band liked the resulting new sound, and this time the public agreed, sending the LP Main Course (album) up the charts. Barry Gibb's falsetto would become a staple of subsequent recordings. Mardin was unable to work with the group afterwards, but the Bee Gees enlisted Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson who'd worked with Mardin during the Main Course sessions. This production team would carry the Bee Gees through the rest of the 1970s.
The next album, Children of the World, was drenched in Barry's new-found falsetto and Blue's synthesizer dance licks. Led off by the single "You Should Be Dancing," it pushed the Bee Gees to a level of stardom they had not previously achieved in the USA, though the new disco sound was not as popular with some diehard fans from the 1960s. The stereotype of disco was canned, fabricated music, but the Bee Gees' band was closer to a rock act, with rhythm guitar and real drums behind the falsetto.
Late 1970s: Saturday Night Fever
"Saturday Night Fever", became the number one best-selling soundtrack of all time, selling over 40 million of copies.
Following a successful live album, Here at Last...The Bee Gees...Live, The Bee Gees agreed to participate in the creation of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It was the turning point of their career. The cultural impact of both the film and the soundtrack was tremendous not only in the United States but in the world, bringing the nascent disco scene into the mainstream.
Three Bee Gees singles ("How Deep Is Your Love", "Stayin' Alive", and "Night Fever") reached #1 in the United States and in most countries around the world, launching the most popular period of the disco era. They also penned the song "If I Can't Have You" which became a #1 hit for Yvonne Elliman. Such was the popularity of Saturday Night Fever that two different versions of the song "More Than a Woman" received airplay, one by The Bee Gees, which was the B-side of "Stayin' Alive," and another by Tavares, which was the hit. The Gibb' sound was inescapable. During an eight-month period beginning in the Christmas season of 1977, the brothers wrote six songs that held the #1 position on the U.S. charts for 25 of 32 consecutive weeks-- three under their own name, two for brother Andy Gibb, and the Yvonne Elliman single.
Fueled by the movie's success, the album broke multiple records, becoming the highest-selling album in recording history to that point. Saturday Night Fever has since sold circa 40 million copies worldwide [1], making it the best selling soundtrack album of all time.
During this era, Barry and Robin wrote "Emotion" for Samantha Sang, who made it a Top Ten hit (the Bee Gees sang back-up vocals). A year later, Barry wrote the title song to the movie version of the Broadway musical Grease for Frankie Valli to perform, which went to #1. At one time, five songs written by the brothers Gibb were in the U.S. top ten at the same time. It was the first time this kind of chart dominance had been seen ever.
The three Bee Gees also co-starred with Peter Frampton in the movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band loosely inspired by the classic Beatles album released in 1967. The film had been heavily promoted prior to release, and was expected to enjoy great commercial success. However, the disjointed film was savaged by the movie critics, and ignored by the public, while the accompanying soundtrack was the biggest flop of that year, with hundreds of thousands of records being returned by retailers for credit.
During this period, the Bee Gees' younger brother Andy followed his older siblings into a music career, and enjoyed considerable success. Produced by Barry, Andy Gibb's first three singles all topped the U.S. charts.
The Bee Gees' follow-up to Saturday Night Fever was the Spirits Having Flown album. It yielded three more #1 hits: "Too Much Heaven", "Tragedy", and "Love You Inside Out." This gave the act six consecutive #1 singles in America within a year and a half (a record only surpassed by Whitney Houston). "Too Much Heaven" ended up as the Bee Gees' musical contribution to the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in January 1979, a benefit organized by the Bee Gees, Robert Stigwood, and David Frostfor UNICEF that was broadcast worldwide. The brothers donated the royalties from the song to the charity.
The Bee Gees' overwhelming success rose and sank with the disco bubble. By the end of 1979, disco was rapidly declining in popularity, and the backlash against disco put the Bee Gees' American career in a tailspin. Following their remarkable run from 1975-79, the act would only have one more top ten single in the U.S., and not until 1989. The Bee Gees' international popularity sustained somewhat less damage.
1980s and 1990s
In 1981, The Bee Gees released the album Living Eyes, but with the disco backlash still running strong, the album failed to make the US top 40. In 1983, The Bee Gees had greater success with the soundtrack to Staying Alive, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. The soundtrack was certified platinum in the US, but didn't contain a big hit single from the brothers.
Robin and Barry Gibb released various solo albums in the 1980s, but only with sporadic and moderate chart success. However, the brothers had continuing success behind the scenes, writing and producing for artists such as Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and Kenny Rogers, including Rogers' multi-million seller and U.S. #1 hit with Dolly Parton, "Islands in the Stream".
The Bee Gees released the album E.S.P. in 1987, which sold over 3 million copies. The single "You Win Again" went to #1 in numerous countries, including Britain, but only reached #75 in the US.
On March 10, 1988, the fourth brother, Andy, died at age 30 from myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle due to a recent viral infection. His brothers acknowledge that Andy's past drug and alcohol use probably made his heart more susceptible to the ailment. The Bee Gees' following album, One (1989), featured a song dedicated to Andy, "Wish You Were Here." The album also contained their first U.S. top ten hit (#7) in a decade, "One." After the album's release, they embarked on their first world tour in ten years.
Following their next album, High Civilization, which contained the UK top five hit "Secret Love," The Bee Gees went on a European tour. After the tour, Barry Gibb began to battle a serious back problem, which required surgery. In the early 1990s, Barry Gibb was not the only Bee Gee living in serious pain. Maurice had a serious drinking problem, which he had battled for many years, but finally conquered with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.
In 1993, they released the album Size Isn't Everything, which contained the UK top five hit "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Four years later, they released the album Still Waters, which sold over four million copies, and debuted at #11 in the US. The album's first single, "Alone," gave them another UK Top 5 hit and a top 30 hit in the US.
In late 1997, The Bee Gees performed a live concert in Las Vegas called One Night Only. The CD of the performance sold over 5 million copies. This led to a world tour of "One Night Only" concerts. The tour included playing to 56,000 people at London's Wembley Stadium on September 5, 1998, and concluded in the newly-built Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia. The Bee Gees closed the decade with what turned out to be their last full-sized concert, known as "BG2K," on December 31, 1999.
Later years
In 2001, they released what turned out to be their final album of new material as a group, This Is Where I Came In. The album gave each member a chance to write in their own way, as well as composing songs together. For example, Maurice's compositions and leads are the "Man in the Middle" and "Walking on Air," while Robin contributed "Déjà Vu," "Promise the Earth," and "Embrace," and Barry contributed "Loose Talk Costs Lives," "Technicolour Dreams", and "Voice in the Wilderness". The other songs are collaborative in writing and vocals. The Bee Gees' last public live show together was Live by Request, a special shown on A&E.
Maurice, who had been the musical director of the Bee Gees during their final years as a group, died suddenly on January 12, 2003 from complications of a twisted intestine. Initially, his surviving brothers announced that they intended to carry on the name "Bee Gees" in his memory. But as time passed they decided to retire the group name, leaving it to represent the three brothers together. The same week Maurice died, Robin's solo album Magnet was released.
Although there was talk of a memorial concert featuring both brothers and invited guests, nothing materialized. Since then Barry and Robin have continued to work independently and have both released recordings with other artists. In late 2004, Robin embarked on a solo tour of Germany, Russia and Asia.
Current news
During January 2005, Barry, Robin and several legendary rock artists recorded "Grief Never Grows Old," the official Tsunami relief record for the Disasters Emergency Committee. Later that year, Barry reunited with Barbra Streisand for her top-selling album Guilty Pleasures, released as Guilty Too in the UK as a sequel album to the previous Guilty. Robin continued touring in Europe.
In February 2006 Barry and Robin reunited on stage for a Miami charity concert to benefit the Diabetes Research Institute. It was their first public performance since the death of brother Maurice. Barry and Robin played at the 30th annual Prince's Trust Concert in the UK on May 20, 2006.
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Bee Gees Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never really knew what it would've been like
You're no longer there to break my fall
The heartache over you
I'd give it everything but I couldn't live through
I never saw the signs
You're the last to know when love is blind
All the tears and the turbulent years
When I would not wait for no one
Didn't stop, take a look at myself
See me losing you
When a lonely heart breaks
It's the one that forsakes
It's the dream that we stole
And I'm missing you more
Than the fire that will roar
Hole in my soul
For you it's goodbye
For me it's to cry
For whom the bell tolls
For me
I seen you in a magazine
A picture at a party where you shouldn't have been
Hanging on the arm of someone else
I'm still in love with you
Won't you come back to your little boy blue
I've come to feel inside
This precious love was never mine
Now I know but a little too late
That I could not live without you
Promise I'll be there
When a lonely heart breaks
It's the one that forsakes
It's the dream that we stole
And I'm missing you more
Than the fire that will roar
There's a hole in my soul
For you it's goodbye
For me it's to cry
For whom the bell tolls
Now I know there'll be times like this
When I couldn't reach out to no one
Am I never gonna find someone
Who knows me like you do?
Are you leaving me a helpless child
When it took so long to save me?
Fight the devil and the deep blue sea
I'll follow you anywhere
I promise I'll be there
When a lonely heart breaks
It's the one that forsakes
It's the dream that we stole
And I'm missing you more
Than the fire that will roar
There's a hole in my soul
For you it's goodbye
For me it's to cry
For whom the bell tolls
In the first verse of For Whom the Bell Tolls, the singer speaks about stumbling “in the night” and feeling lost and confused without the person he loves. He talks about how he never saw the signs that the relationship was ending and mentions that “you’re the last to know when love is blind.” The second verse goes into more detail about the heartache and loneliness he has experienced since the break-up. He sees a picture of the person he loves hanging on the arm of someone else, which only makes the pain worse.
The chorus of the song describes the achiness of a broken heart, with the lines “And I’m missing you more than the fire that will roar / There’s a hole in my soul.” The chorus also touches on themes of abandonment and yearning for someone who has left, with the lines “For you, it’s goodbye / For me, it’s to cry.” The third verse of the song shows the singer’s desperation to reconnect with his lost love, pleading for her to come back to him and promising to be there for her no matter what.
Overall, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a melancholic love song that speaks to the deep pain of losing someone you love. It explores themes of heartbreak, abandonment, and the eternal search for a love that will understand and support you.
Line by Line Meaning
I stumble in the night
I am lost without you by my side and cannot find my way in the darkness.
Never really knew what it would've been like
I never imagined that losing you would hurt so much.
You're no longer there to break my fall
Without you, I have no one to turn to when I fall or need support.
The heartache over you
The pain of losing you is unbearable.
I'd give it everything but I couldn't live through
I would do anything to be with you again, but I cannot survive without you.
I never saw the signs
I did not see the warning signs that our love was fading away.
You're the last to know when love is blind
When love is blinding, it can be difficult to see the truth until it is too late, and I was the last to realize that our love was fading.
All the tears and the turbulent years
I have shed countless tears and been through many difficult times since you left.
When I would not wait for no one
I refused to wait for anyone and made hasty decisions without considering the consequences.
Didn't stop, take a look at myself
I did not pause to reflect on my actions or their impact on our relationship.
See me losing you
The result of my actions was losing you, and I only see that now in hindsight.
When a lonely heart breaks
When you are alone and your heart is broken, it is the worst feeling in the world.
It's the one that forsakes
The lonely heart is the one that is abandoned and left behind.
It's the dream that we stole
The dream of being together that we shared is no longer ours to keep.
And I'm missing you more
I can't stop missing you, and it only gets worse with time.
Than the fire that will roar
The pain of losing you burns inside of me like a raging fire.
Hole in my soul
The pain of losing you has created a void in my soul and my life.
For you it's goodbye
You have said goodbye to me and moved on.
For me it's to cry
For me, it is a never-ending cycle of tears and heartache.
For whom the bell tolls
It is the end of our love story.
I seen you in a magazine
I saw a picture of you in a magazine, and it broke my heart to see you with someone else.
A picture at a party where you shouldn't have been
You were at a party with someone else, and I know that you shouldn't have been there with anyone but me.
Hanging on the arm of someone else
You were with someone else, and it hurts me to see you with anyone but me.
I'm still in love with you
I cannot forget you or the love we shared.
Won't you come back to your little boy blue
I am pleading with you to come back to me, as I feel like a little boy lost without you by my side.
I've come to feel inside
I have realized that our love was precious, but I was foolish to let it slip through my fingers.
This precious love was never mine
I was never able to fully appreciate or cherish the love we shared until it was too late to fix our relationship.
Now I know but a little too late
I have come to realize the true value of our relationship, but it is too late to turn back time or make things right.
That I could not live without you
I know now that I cannot survive without you in my life.
In the dark or the broad daylight
No matter the time of day or situation, I know that I need you with me.
Promise I'll be there
I promise that I will always be there for you, no matter where life takes us.
Now I know there'll be times like this
I have come to realize that there will be many times in the future when I will need you by my side.
When I couldn't reach out to no one
There will be times when I cannot reach out to anyone but you, as no one else knows me quite like you do.
Am I never gonna find someone
I fear that I will never find someone who understands me like you do or loves me like you did.
Who knows me like you do?
No one knows me or understands me like you do.
Are you leaving me a helpless child
I fear that you are leaving me defenseless and helpless, like a child who cannot fend for themselves.
When it took so long to save me?
It took me so long to realize how much I needed you in my life and to save our love, only to lose it all in the end.
Fight the devil and the deep blue sea
I am willing to face any challenge, no matter how daunting or impossible, if it means being with you again.
I'll follow you anywhere
I will go to the ends of the earth and back to be by your side.
I promise I'll be there
I vow to always be there for you, through thick and thin, no matter what.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Barry Gibb, Maurice Ernest Gibb, Robin Hugh Gibb
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jayneharris922
Robins voice was hauntingly beautiful
@gaylelucas6295
I think Robins voice was the best ❤
@angelamyrick8411
Yes!
@brcfan9
@@gaylelucas6295 I don't. Barry had the voice in that group. Mo was a close second. Robin had one singing voice and that was warbling.
@CassiobandeirasantosCassinho
Linda
@marekbirski7246
@@doommonger7784zssaasZz,zzaaaA😘zzzm
@Scully-js4rk
This song was played at my son's funeral. he loved the Bee Gees.
@TuvshintugsBattulga-n1w
Really sad to hear that. My heart breaks for you. Rest in peace 🙏🙏🙏
@evelyncoyle760
I am 80 years old and Robins voice just makes me so emotional. Voice of an angel indeed.
@cacciato69
Me too, 84 yo 11/27