Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, England, United Ki… Read Full Bio ↴Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom) is an English singer, songwriter, pianist, composer and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of British pop-group Take That and served as head judge on series 8, 9 and 10 of The X Factor UK.

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.

Yesterday
Gary Barlow Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

He loved you much more,
Than a sister or brother,
He is honest and kind,
He's a man like no other,

And he'd give his own life,
If somebody needed it more,
Yes he laughs all the time with me,

He gives his love and friendship to all,

You hurt him real bad,
In his moments of silence,
He shares all his pain with me,
And his personal subsidence,

Still he fights with his mind,
He believes he's done you wrong,
So he goes to sleep cryin'
Again like a child, like a child,

He would go anywhere that you ask,
He would answer to all that you need,
But it's clear now to me
What he's feelin' inside,

He is thinking of yesterday's girl,
All you are now is yesterday's girl,
He is free now from all
Of your painful attacks,

Free now from all
Of your poisonous chats,
Free, yesterday's girl,

On occasions we'd smoke,
And make small conversation,
We'd pass briefly on older times,
And forgotten relations,

He's the best friend I've ever had,
Our opinions never cross,
Now you come to me needin'
A shoulder that's strong,
All of your pain is because you were wrong,

He would go anywhere that you ask,
He would answer to all that you need,
But it's clear now to me
What he's feelin' inside,
He is thinking of yesterday's girl,
All you are now is yesterday's girl,
He is free now from all
Of your painful attacks,
Free now from all
Of your poisonous chats,
Free, yesterday's girl,

Yes he would go anywhere that you ask,
He would answer to all that you need,
But it's clear now to me
What he's feelin' inside,
He is thinking of yesterday's girl,
All you are now is yesterday's girl,
He is free now from all
Of your painful attacks,
Free now from all
Of your poisonous chats,
Free

Yes he would go anywhere that you ask,
He would answer to all that you need,
But it's clear now to me
What he's feelin' inside,
He is thinking of yesterday's girl,
All you are now is yesterday's girl,
He is free now from all
Of your painful attacks,
Free now from all

Of your poisonous chats,
Free, yesterday's girl.....

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Gary Barlow's song Yesterday are about a man who has been hurt deeply by a woman, referred to as "yesterday's girl." The singer of the song is the man's friend, and he describes the man as being kind, loving, and willing to do anything for others. The man has been hurt by this woman, yet he still feels guilty and blames himself for the situation. He cries himself to sleep at night and is tormented by thoughts of what he could have done differently.

Despite his pain, the man remains loyal to the woman and is willing to go anywhere and do anything for her. However, the singer of the song realizes that the man is thinking of the past and is free from the woman's hurtful actions. The song suggests that the woman is no longer important in the man's life, and he has moved on to be free of the pain caused by her.

Overall, the song portrays the pain of an unrequited love, the power of friendship, and the desire to move on from a hurtful past.

Line by Line Meaning

He loved you much more,
The person being sung about loved you more than a typical sibling bond.

Than a sister or brother,
They had a deep and special love that went beyond the typical sibling relationship.

He is honest and kind,
The person being sung about is a genuine and compassionate individual.

He's a man like no other,
The person being sung about is unique and extraordinary in their personality.

And he'd give his own life,
This person would be willing to sacrifice themselves for someone in greater need.

If somebody needed it more,
They would put someone else's wellbeing before their own.

Yes he laughs all the time with me,
The person being sung about is happy-go-lucky and has a good sense of humor around their friend.

He gives his love and friendship to all,
The person being sung about is generous with their emotional connections and friends to many.

You hurt him real bad,
The person being addressed caused significant emotional pain to the person being sung about.

In his moments of silence,
In quiet times alone, the person being sung about is confronted by their feelings of hurt and betrayal.

He shares all his pain with me,
The person being sung to is a confidante for the person being sung about, who shares their emotional burdens with them.

And his personal subsidence,
They struggle with feeling at peace or content on a personal level.

Still he fights with his mind,
Despite their pain, the person being sung about tries to talk themselves out of feeling negative.

He believes he's done you wrong,
The person being sung about feels guilty or responsible for the actions of the person being addressed.

So he goes to sleep cryin',
They cry themselves to sleep over the situation.

Again like a child, like a child,
They feel helpless and vulnerable, like a child would in a similar situation.

He would go anywhere that you ask,
The person being sung about is willing to go wherever the person being addressed needs them to go.

He would answer to all that you need,
They would do whatever the person being addressed needs them to do in order to help them.

But it's clear now to me
The singer is now able to see the situation more clearly.

What he's feelin' inside,
The singer has an understanding of the person being sung about's emotions.

He is thinking of yesterday's girl,
The person being sung about is dwelling on a past relationship.

All you are now is yesterday's girl,
The person being addressed is seen as only a memory from the past.

He is free now from all
The person being sung about is no longer bound by the negative experiences of the past.

Of your painful attacks,
The person being addressed inflicted emotional pain on the person being sung about.

Free now from all
They are free from all negative behaviors that the person being sung about experienced from the person being addressed.

Of your poisonous chats,
The person being addressed had a toxic influence in their communication with the person being sung about.

Free, yesterday's girl,
The person being sung about is free from the burden of the past relationship and able to move on.

On occasions we'd smoke,
The person being sung about and the singer would occasionally smoke together.

And make small conversation,
They would have casual, incidental talk when smoking together.

We'd pass briefly on older times,
The two would briefly reflect on past memories during these casual conversations.

And forgotten relations,
They would discuss people or relationships that they had not thought about recently.

He's the best friend I've ever had,
The person being sung about is the singer's closest and most cherished friend.

Our opinions never cross,
The two friends never fundamentally disagree on anything.

Now you come to me needin',
The person being addressed comes to the singer in a time of need.

A shoulder that's strong,
They need someone strong and dependable to lean on for support.

All of your pain is because you were wrong,
The person being sung to is in pain because they did something wrong or hurtful.

Yes he would go anywhere that you ask,
The person being sung about is still willing to be there for the person being addressed despite everything.

He would answer to all that you need,
They would do anything the person being addressed needs them to do.

But it's clear now to me
The singer now realizes something about the situation.

What he's feelin' inside,
The singer understands the emotions of their friend who is being sung about.

He is thinking of yesterday's girl,
The person being sung about is still fixated on their past relationship.

All you are now is yesterday's girl,
The person being addressed has passed as a significant part of the person being sung about's life.

He is free now from all
The person being sung about has been released from the burden of past hurt.

Of your painful attacks,
The pain inflicted by the person being addressed is no longer present.

Free now from all
The person being sung about is unencumbered by the negative influence of the past relationship.

Of your poisonous chats,
Their communication was a negative and harmful factor in the relationship.

Free, yesterday's girl,
The person being sung about is free to move forward from the relationship.