Logan was born in Frankston near Melbourne, Australia. His father was an Irish tenor, Patrick O'Hagan, who performed three times at The White House, for John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. The family moved back to Ireland when Johnny was aged three. He learned the guitar and began composing his own songs by the age of thirteen. On leaving school he apprenticed as an electrician, while performing in folk and blues clubs. His earliest claim to fame was starring as Adam in the 1977 Irish musical "Adam and Eve".
Having adopted the stage name Johnny Logan, he released his first single in 1978 and took part in the Irish national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1979, but did not win. The following year, Logan entered the contest again with the Shay Healy song "What's Another Year" and won. Representing Ireland in the Netherlands, Logan won the Eurovision Song Contest on April 19. The song became a hit all over Europe and reached No.1 in the UK.
Due to a mix-up, two follow up singles were released almost simultaneously; "Save Me" and "In London". With confusion by radio stations over which to play, both singles flopped. Another single released in late 1980, a cover of a recent [arist]Cliff Richard song, "Give A Little Bit More" was a more concerted effort and although it narrowly missed the chart, the momentum from Eurovision was now lost. Logan blames his lack of success in the UK on poor management and his inexperience.
In early 1983, Logan attempted a comeback in the UK with the song "Becoming Electric" with a new sound and image and promotional push, but was unsuccessful and again in 1986 when he rebranded himself Logan with the song "Stab In The Back".
In 1987, he decided to make another attempt at Eurovision and with his self-penned song "Hold Me Now", he represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgium. The song won the contest and again, Logan had a major European hit with the song and reached No.2 in the UK (although it outsold "What's Another Year"). Keen to continue this success, Logan released a cover of the 10cc song "I'm Not In Love", produced by Paul Hardcastle as a follow-up, and an album. Both single and album made the UK charts but were not significant enough to sustain a continued chart career. The following year, Logan released his next single, "Heartland" which became a hit in the Irish charts and from then on, concentrated on his career in Ireland and Europe.
Having composed the Irish 1984 Eurovision Song Contest entry for Linda Martin, "Terminal 3" (which came 2nd), Logan repeated the collaboration in 1992 when he gave Martin another of his songs, "Why Me". The song became the Irish entry at the finals in Sweden. The song took the title and cemented Logan as the most successful artist in Eurovision history with three wins.
Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in his book The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History that Logan is the only lead singer to have sung two winning entries and one of only five authors/composers (all men) to have written/composed two winning songs.
He is sometimes referred to as "Mister Eurovision" by fans of the contest and the media at large. "Hold Me Now" has been adopted by fans of Bohemian FC as their anthem and it is sung primarily at away games. He mentioned on "TTV" on RTÉ that he was considering writing a song for Ireland in the 2010 Eurovision.
"Hold Me Now" was voted as the 3rd most popular song in Eurovision history at the 50th anniversary concert in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2005. "What's Another Year?" was also nominated amongst the 14 finalists. It has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. "Hold Me Now" is also a global million-seller.
Throughout his career, which spans four decades, Logan has issued no less than 40 singles and 19 albums. He has continued his love of participating in musical theatre, having toured Norway with Which Witch, an opera-musical originating in that country. In 2002 Logan took part in the UK TV Quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks as a team panelist in a Eurovision-special.
Logan continues to perform and write songs. In 2007 he advertised McDonald's Eurosaver menu in Ireland. In 2007 he sang "A State of Happiness", advertising the Dutch Center Parcs. In 2009 he performed in the Celtic rock opera Excalibur.
Logan lives in Ashbourne, County Meath, Ireland.
Why Me
Johnny Logan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sometimes I watch you passing by my window*
And sometimes I watch you passing through my dreams
And sometimes when I look at you
You take my breath away
Sometimes I try and understand your reason
You choose to feel the way you feel about me
And sometimes when I turn around
And I wanna say
Why me
I look at you and I get this feeling
why me
I know it's true but I can't believe it
I keep on wondering why
I’m such a lucky guy
Why me
I look at you and I ask myself
Why me
Sometimes I lie awake just to watch you sleeping
and listen to the beating of your heart
and sometimes when you're lying there
you take my breath away
and I wanna walk you and say
Why me
I look at you and I get this feeling
why me
I know it's true but I can't believe that it's me
who's gonna be holdning you in these arms tonight
and why it's me
who's gonna be the one to make you feel all right
tonight
Why me
I look at you and I get this feeling
why me
I know it's true but I can't believe it
I keep on wondering why
I’m such a lucky guy
Why me
I look at you and I ask myself
Why me
I look at you and I ask myself
Why me
The lyrics to Johnny Logan's song "Why Me" express the singer's disbelief and gratitude for being loved by someone they admire. The first two lines of the song reveal that the singer watches this person frequently, whether it's through their window or in their dreams. The second verse talks about how the singer tries to understand why this person chose to love them. Despite their confusion, the singer feels fortunate and amazed that this person has chosen them.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Why me" to emphasize the singer's disbelief at their luck. The singer watches their love interest sleeping and feels overwhelmed by the feeling of holding them in their arms. The final lines of the song express that the singer feels lucky to be the one making this person feel "alright tonight."
Overall, the lyrics to "Why Me" express a sense of awe and gratitude for being loved by someone the singer admires. The repetition of the phrase "Why me" in the chorus emphasizes the singer's disbelief at their good fortune.
Interesting facts about the song:
- "Why Me" was the winning song of the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest, written by Shay Healy and performed by Johnny Logan for Ireland.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes I watch you passing by my window
I occasionally catch sight of you as you walk past my window
And sometimes I watch you passing through my dreams
I sometimes see you in my dreams, as if you are walking through them
And sometimes when I look at you
You take my breath away
At times, your beauty or presence is so breathtaking that I am left speechless
Sometimes I try and understand your reason
You choose to feel the way you feel about me
At times, I attempt to comprehend why you hold certain feelings towards me
And sometimes when I turn around
And you're there like today
Occasionally, I unexpectedly encounter you and it surprises me
And I wanna say
Why me
At times, I feel overwhelmed and ask myself, 'Why me?'
I look at you and I get this feeling
why me
When I see you or think of you, I am filled with a sense of disbelief and awe
I know it's true but I can't believe it
I keep on wondering why
I’m such a lucky guy
I know that it's real, but I am incredulous that I am so fortunate
Sometimes I lie awake just to watch you sleeping
and listen to the beating of your heart
At times, I stay awake to witness you peacefully sleeping and to hear the rhythm of your heartbeat
And sometimes when you're lying there
you take my breath away
Occasionally, when I see you sleeping, even in that moment, you are still a vision that takes my breath away
and I wanna walk you and say
Why me
In moments of intense emotion or gratitude, I wish to express my feelings to you and ask why I am so lucky
I know it's true but I can't believe that it's me
who's gonna be holdning you in these arms tonight
and why it's me
who's gonna be the one to make you feel all right
tonight
The reality that I am the one who is able to hold you and bring you comfort seems like a dream, but it's happening now and I can hardly believe it
I look at you and I ask myself
Why me
When I see you, I am filled with overwhelming gratitude and wonder why I am so blessed to have you in my life
Writer(s): Johnny Logan Copyright: Union Of The Heart Music
Contributed by Dominic K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.