Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters, having written fourteen Number 1 singles and twenty four top 10 hits. He has had three Number 1 singles, six top 10 singles and two Number 1 albums as a solo artist, and has had seventeen top 5 hits, twelve Number 1 singles and seven Number 1 albums with Take That. He is also a six-time recipient of the Ivor Novello Award and has sold over 50 million records worldwide. He was appointed an OBE in 2012 for services to music and charity.
Barlow's solo career was predicted to be very successful, being described as 'the next George Michael'. His first two solo singles "Forever Love" (released July 1996) and "Love Won't Wait" (composed by Madonna and Shep Pettibone) both leapt to the number one spot in his home country. "Forever Love" was also used as the soundtrack to the film The Leading Man. His debut album "Open Road" reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart and went on to sell 2 million copies worldwide. Barlow's first single to be released in the United States as a solo artist was "So Help Me Girl", which reached number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 1 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. He then achieved another top ten hit in the UK with "Open Road" peaking at number 7 and number 8 in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now".
After the success of his first solo album he released his second LP "Twelve Months, Eleven Days" in 1999. Barlow released "Stronger" as the lead single preceding the album. However, due to an expected backlash against Barlow, it received minimal support and airplay and only peaked at number 16. The second single "For All That You Want" again was subjected to minimal radio play and peaked at number 24, however it peaked just outside the top 5 in Finland. "Twelve Months, Eleven Days" was released soon after the first single to little promotion and peaked at a disappointing number 35, which led to Sony recalling Barlow's 'greatest' song according to critics, the scheduled third single from his second album "Lie to Me". This resulted in both Barlow and BMG parting company. To date Barlow has sold 5 million records worldwide as a solo artist.
On September 2013, Barlow announced via his Twitter account that he would be releasing his first full-length solo album in 14 years, on 25 November 2013. Barlow encouraged his followers and fans to tweet #GBSOLO to reveal the album artwork and title, with their profile pictures being used to create a collage of the album cover. On 4 October 2013, Barlow revealed his new album would be called "Since I Saw You Last", and would be preceded by his first single from the LP, titled "Let Me Go", released worldwide on 17 November 2013. He also announced that he would be touring the album in April 2014, playing some of the biggest arenas in the UK.
Looking for Change
Gary Barlow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
yes I think that you can feel it too,
the past won't tell us what the future can bring,
it is worth the fight,
whether wrong or right,
join hands and sing out your hearts,
reach for every corner of this world,
our message has so much emotional feelin',
believe in every word,
woo ooh hoo yeah,
We're all lookin' for change,
life we hold in our hands,
you can help turn a page,
let's work it out together,
'cos we're all lookin' for change,
Some people ask what's the meanin'?
I tell them, " we have this cause we believe in",
sometimes they laugh and say that they have no time,
'till they feel the blue,
then they sing it too,
whoa whoa ho yeah,
We're all lookin' for change,
life we hold in our hands,
you can help turn a page,
let's work it out together,
'cos we're all looking for change,
we're looking for change,
we're looking change, yeah,
you gotta look for change, yeah eh eh yeah,
oh,
oh,
you better lookin' for change yeah eh yeah,
whoa oo hoo,
let's work it out together 'cos we're all lookin' for change,
we're lookin' for change yeah eh yeah,
whoo,
whoo, hoo hoo,
I look at you,
you gotra change, you gotta change yeah eh yeah,
you gotta work it out together,
'cos we're all lookin' for change,
we're lookin' for change,
you gotta look for change yeah eh eh yeah,
oh,
oh,
you know you're better lookin' for change yeah eh yeah,
whoo hoo,
let's work it out together 'cos we're all lookin' for change,
we're better lookin' for change yeah eh yeah,
whoo
hooo, hooo,
I look at you,
you gotta change, you gotta change yeah eh yeah,
you gotta work it out together,
'cos we're all lookin' for change.
The song "Looking for Change" talks about our desire to seek change in our lives and in the world. The opening line "We're all here for a reason, yes I think that you can feel it too" suggests that we all have a purpose in life and we have a sense of it within ourselves. The past is not a determining factor in our future and we must fight for our beliefs, whether right or wrong, and stand by them. The song urges us to come together with one voice and reach every corner of the world to spread our message of change. The chorus emphasizes that we all have the power to bring about change and that we should work together, as we all share the same goal.
The verse "Some people ask what's the meanin'?" suggests that some may not understand why we seek change or our cause, and may not take it seriously until they are directly affected. The line "then they sing it too" points out that we all have the power to make a difference and even those who were initially dismissive can support the cause when they fully comprehend it. The repetition of the phrase "you gotta look for change" in the outro echoes the central message of the song.
Overall, "Looking for Change" is a call to action for individuals to seek and be the change they want in their lives and in the world. It emphasizes the importance of unity, perseverance, and belief in oneself to bring about meaningful transformations.
Line by Line Meaning
We're all here for a reason,
Every human being has a purpose in life, and we're all here for a reason.
yes I think that you can feel it too,
I believe that you also feel that there's a reason why we're all here.
the past won't tell us what the future can bring,
We can't predict the future based on what has happened in the past.
it is worth the fight,
It's worth the effort to fight for what we believe in.
whether wrong or right,
No matter what, we must stand up for what we believe in.
join hands and sing out your hearts,
Let's come together and express our deepest feelings through singing.
reach for every corner of this world,
Let's spread our message of hope and change to every part of the world.
our message has so much emotional feelin',
Our message is filled with emotion and depth.
stand in turn,
It's important for everyone to take their turn to stand up and make a difference.
believe in every word,
Believe in the power of our message and the impact it can have on the world.
woo ooh hoo yeah,
An expression of enthusiasm and positive energy.
Some people ask what's the meanin'?
Some people are curious about the meaning behind our cause.
I tell them, " we have this cause we believe in",
I explain to them that we're fighting for a cause we strongly believe in.
sometimes they laugh and say that they have no time,
Sometimes people dismiss our cause and say they're too busy to get involved.
'till they feel the blue,
Until they experience hardship or struggle themselves, they may not understand why our cause is important.
then they sing it too,
But once they do understand, they join us in singing our message.
whoa whoa ho yeah,
An expression of enthusiasm and positive energy.
We're all lookin' for change,
We all want to see positive change in the world.
life we hold in our hands,
We have the power to shape our own lives and the world around us.
you can help turn a page,
You can be a part of making history and creating positive change.
let's work it out together,
Let's collaborate and work together to achieve our goals.
'cos we're all lookin' for change,
Because we all share the desire to see positive change in the world.
we're looking for change,
Our search for positive change is ongoing.
you gotta look for change, yeah eh eh yeah,
We must actively seek out positive change and work towards it.
oh,
An expression of contemplation or emotion.
you better lookin' for change yeah eh yeah,
It's important to actively seek out positive change for the betterment of ourselves and the world.
whoa oo hoo,
An expression of enthusiasm and positive energy.
let's work it out together 'cos we're all lookin' for change,
Let's collaborate and work together towards our common goal of positive change.
we're lookin' for change yeah eh yeah,
Our search for positive change is ongoing.
whoo,
An expression of enthusiasm and positive energy.
hooo, hooo,
An expression of enthusiasm and positive energy.
I look at you,
I'm speaking directly to the listener.
you gotra change, you gotta change yeah eh yeah,
You must make changes in your life to be a part of positive change in the world.
you gotta work it out together,
We must work together towards positive change.
'cos we're all lookin' for change.
Because we all want to see positive change in the world.
Contributed by Max E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.