In their early years, Whitesnake played in a hard-edged blues rock and heavy metal influenced style. By the mid-80s, the band had moved towards a more commercially friendly arena rock and pop metal ethos, garnering them major hits such as "Love Ain't No Stranger", "Now You're Gone", "Slide It In", "Still of the Night", and the iconic tune "Here I Go Again" (arguably their 'signature song'). They were named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1.
Whitesnake were active primarily in the 80s, but they still tour, albeit with an entirely new line-up (bar Coverdale), to this day. Some of the most famous musicians who have joined the band for a time include Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Rudy Sarzo, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell, Tommy Aldridge, and Steve Vai.
The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple. This is not only because three past members of the band were once in Deep Purple but also because of their sound and influences. Later, the band took on a sound more in line with the hair metal style popular in the mid to late 80s, but they never truly left their heavy, blues rock roots behind
Formed in 1978 by David Coverdale after leaving Deep Purple, Whitesnake were originally a straightforwards heavy rock group with Jon Lord and Ian Paice from Deep Purple in the band. Despite a few album releases and constant touring, Whitesnake was unable to attain any significant commercial success in America, though becoming popular in the U.K., Europe, and Japan. Their critical reviews as well for their albums were somewhat mixed.
After acquaintance with Chris Cuttler, Fred Frith and most importantly, young guitarist John Sykes, David Coverdale decided to turn to a slicker, more commercially viable sound. Whitesnake made their first major splash in the States in 1984 with the album 'Slide It In', featuring the self-titled single as well as rock tracks "Slow An' Easy" and "Love Ain't No Stranger". All three of them gained major airplay and were eaten up by fans. Sykes was not involved in any of the song writing for 'Slide It In', though re-did some of Micky Moody's guitar work in the American remastering of the U.K. version of the album.
Three years later, thanks to radio-friendly, Zeppelin-ish songwriting and MTV friendly Tawny Kitaen's automobile acrobatics, Whitesnake became superstars with the album 'Whitesnake' (titled '1987' in Europe, and 'Serpens Albus' in Japan). Containing the U.S. smash hits "Here I Go Again", "Is This Love", "Still of the Night" and others, the album eventually sold over 10 million copies. Coverdale replaced the entire band for the subsequent tour, ditching Sykes for guitarists Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell. Also joining the band at this point were bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge.
Campbell left shortly after the tour (going on to replace Steve Clark in Def Leppard. Vandenberg, despite penning most of the material on the follow-up album, was unable to record due to a freak wrist injury. Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai was brought in to record all of the guitar parts for Slip of the Tongue, which was released in the spring of 1989. Despite going platinum, the album did not reach the stratospheric heights of Whitesnake (entitled 1987 in Europe, and Serpens Albus in Japan). With a divorce looming, and the alternative 'grunge' movement threatening to destroy the melodic rock movement, Coverdale dissolved Whitesnake.
In the late 90s, David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg finally recorded together again. Initially intended to be a Coverdale solo effort, the Whitesnake name was eventually attached (much like the Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath projects of the late 80s). The resulting products were a new studio album entitled Restless Heart, and the live acoustic set, Starkers In Tokyo.
In the early 2000's Coverdale relaunched Whitesnake fully with an entirely new lineup centred around guitarists Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich (previously of Winger and Lion/Dio). This Whitesnake embarked on tours across the globe, releasing the "Live In the Still of the Night" DVD and "Live... In the Shadow of the Blues" on CD in 2006. A new studio album, "Good to be Bad", was released in 2008 reaching the top 10 in the UK album charts.
Over the last few years Coverdale has been involved in a remastering project which has seen all albums from 1978's Trouble, to 1989's Slip of the Tongue reissued with bonus material.
Whitesnake released Forevermore, on March 25, 2011 in Europe, and on the 29th in North America. They have released a number of scheduled 2011 tour dates on their website, with six scheduled UK tour dates and other European dates. In February 2011, Whitesnake was announced as one of the headliners to play the annual Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, on Memorial Day weekend. A digital single for the song 'Love Will Set You Free' was released, along with a video for the song, on February 21.
The album Forevermore was released as a special edition 'Snakepack' through Classic Rock magazine on 25 March, a full 3 weeks before its commercial release. The fan pack includes the full, official new album Forevermore, a 132-page magazine, poster and pin badge. On 20 March 2011, Whitesnake announced that Brian Ruedy would play keyboards on the Forevermore World Tour.
The album did not chart highly upon its official release in the UK (number 33, possibly due to the copies released as part of the aforementioned Classic Rock Snakepack, which are not eligible for the charts). It did, however, show signs of Whitesnake's slow rebuild of support in the US with the album charting at number 49 - the band's highest charting album since the 80s.
Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach are Whitesnake longest standing guitar players, both being in the band 10 years by 2012.
Whitesnake are set to embark on their farewell tour in May 2022, beginning in the UK and Ireland with Foreigner and Europe. In July 2021, the group announced the addition of multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusick to their ranks, turning Whitesnake into a septet for the first time. Later that November, Michael Devin parted ways with the band. He was replaced by Tanya O'Callaghan, marking the first female musician to join the band.
Website: http://www.whitesnake.com/
Now You're Gone
Whitesnake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can feel my heart is breaking,
An' I can't go on
When I think of the love that you've taken
In the night I pray for your embrace,
Every time I close my eyes
I can't escape your face
But, always on my mind,
I never realized
My love could be so blind
You're all I want,
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine (this heart of mine)
You're all I need,
So maybe we could turn back the hands of time,
Maybe we could give it another try
One more time
But, now you're gone
There's an emptiness closing around me,
An' I can't go on
When all I have left is the memory
In the night I call out your name,
I wake up in a cold sweat
An' I'm all alone again
I need your love
Much more than I can say,
I realize without you
I can't face another day
You're all I want
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine (this heart of mine)
You're all that I need,
Since I lost you, girl,
I've been losing my mind (losing my mind)
You're all that I want
So maybe we could turn back the hands of time
Maybe we could give it another try
One more time
Baby, just one more time
Now you're gone
I can feel my heart is breaking
And I can't go on
When all of my love has been taken
You're all I want
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine (this heart of mine)
You're all that I need
Since I lost you, girl
I've been losing my mind (losing my mind)
You're all I want
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine (this heart of mine)
You're all that I need
Since I lost you, girl
I've been losing my mind (losing my mind)
I've been losing my mind
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine
You're all I want
Since I lost you, girl
I've been losing, I've been losing my mind
Whitesnake's song "Now You're Gone" speaks to the profound loss and heartache that follows the end of a relationship. The singer's heart is breaking, and they can't move on from the love that they've lost. They think about the person they've lost constantly, even when they close their eyes. The lyrics convey a sense of longing and desperation, as the singer reaches out for someone who's no longer there. They're convinced that they need the person to survive and that life without them isn't worth living. The song is about the pain of losing someone who was once everything to you, and how difficult it can be to move on from that kind of heartbreak.
In the first verse, the singer talks about how they pray for the person's embrace, even though they're no longer there. They can't escape thoughts of the person and their face is always present in their mind, causing the singer to realize how blind their love really was. In the second verse, the singer calls out the person's name at night and wakes up alone, realizing they need the other person more than they could ever express. The chorus emphasizes that the person is everything to them and that they need to give the relationship another try.
Overall, "Now You're Gone" explores a common theme in love songs: the pain of losing someone and the desperate need to get them back. The lyrics highlight the intense emotions that follow a breakup and the sense of loss that can linger for a long time.
Line by Line Meaning
Now you're gone
After you left, my world fell apart
I can feel my heart is breaking
The pain of being without you is unbearable
An' I can't go on
I don't know how to live without you
When I think of the love that you've taken
Remembering how you took my love away hurts me deeply
In the night I pray for your embrace
I long for your love and comfort to ease my pain
Every time I close my eyes
Even when I try to forget, you're always on my mind
I can't escape your face
The memory of your face haunts me
You're out of sight,
You're not physically with me anymore
But, always on my mind,
You still occupy my thoughts every day
I never realized
I didn't know how much I loved you until you were gone
My love could be so blind
I couldn't see the flaws in our relationship until it was too late
You're all I want,
You are the only one I desire
Can't you feel the love
I hope you can sense how much I love you
In this heart of mine (this heart of mine)
My heart beats only for you
You're all I need,
You complete me and make me whole
So maybe we could turn back the hands of time,
I wish we could go back to how it was before
Maybe we could give it another try
Perhaps we have a chance to make it work again
One more time
I would give anything for one more chance with you
There's an emptiness closing around me,
The void you left behind is consuming me
When all I have left is the memory
The only thing that remains of us is the memory of our love
In the night I call out your name,
I cry out for you in the darkness, hoping you will hear me
I wake up in a cold sweat
The desperation of losing you wakes me up in the middle of the night
An' I'm all alone again
I'm forced to face my loneliness without you by my side
I need your love
I can't survive without your love in my life
Much more than I can say,
Words can't describe how much I need you
I realize without you
I've come to the realization that my life is incomplete without you
I can't face another day
The thought of living without you is unbearable
Since I lost you, girl,
Ever since you left, I've been incomplete
I've been losing my mind (losing my mind)
The pain of your absence is driving me insane
Baby, just one more time
Please give me one more chance to show you my love
And I can't go on
I don't have the strength to continue without you
When all of my love has been taken
My love for you has been taken away, leaving me with nothing
You're all that I want
You are my heart's desire
Since I lost you, girl
I've been incomplete without you
I've been losing, I've been losing my mind
The absence of your love is slowly driving me insane
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ADRIAAN VANDENBERG, DAVID COVERDALE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ta2770
LYRICS:
Now you're gone
I can feel my heart is breaking,
An' I can't go on
When I think of the love that you've taken
In the night I pray for your embrace,
Every time I close my eyes
I can't escape your face
You're out of sight,
But, always on my mind,
I never realized
My love could be so blind
You're all I want,
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine
You're all I need,
So maybe we could turn back
The hands of time,
Maybe we could give it another try
One more time
But, now you're gone
There's an emptiness closing around me,
An' I can't go on
When all I have left is the memory
In the night I call out your name,
I wake up in a cold sweat
An' I'm all alone again
I need your love
Much more than I can say,
I realize without you
I can't face another day
You're all I want,
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine
You're all that I need,
Since I lost you, girl,
I've been losing my mind
You're all that I want,
So maybe we could turn back
The hands of time,
Maybe we could give it
Another try
One more time,
Baby, just one more time
Now you're gone
I can feel my heart is breaking,
An I can't go on
When all of my love has been taken
You're all I want,
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine
You're all that I need,
Since I lost you, girl,
I've been losing my mind
You're all I want,
Can't you feel the love
In this heart of mine
You're all that I need,
Since I lost you, girl,
I've been losing my mind...
@hafildevrilio7852
Coverdale, Vai, Vandenberg, Sarzo, Aldridge. Really great lineup.... Legend
@aaronshoaf4644
I listened to this song for the very first time, and I absolutely love it. Great song, great vocals, great guitars, and great hair. I was born in 2004, and I grew up in the wrong generation! Today's music sucks, so I go back and discover new songs from bands. Those 2 albums in 87' and 89' were very good!
@jackprince9276
Agreed. I was born 2003 and the rock music today is lacking energy and of course big hair.
@pattycoffelt-kg5jy
YOUR RIGHT! I GOT MARRIED ON THE LATE 80'S! IT HAD A PROFOUND PLACE IN OUR HEARTS AND THE LOVE OF THE BAND❤
@alicevioleta3184
2004 music did not suck. Magna-Fi Burn Out the Stars, thank me later.
@ASTERIX3333
Agreed. I'm from 2004 too. The hair is the only thing i don't agreed, xd.
You have listen some of the Whitesnake before 1987 albums? Before the glam hair, when he were a rock & blues band. There are the originals versions of "Here I Go Again", "Fool For Your Loving", "Criying In The Rain"... and other great songs not re-recorded.
@carlledger-qr9ej
Great band for sure born in 88 born dead I was passed on the docs 12 times my dad had a radio in my room he was a rocker boy he could play the doctors were blown away with how I responded to the music being rigged up to so meny devices medical equipment but the music getting me settled down hart rate in stuff lower stableing my vitals and stuff the music of the 70,s 80,s was by far the best this garbage of today is just trash
@user-sw5qo9bw9t
Will never see a group of musicians like this. Coverdale and Via and Vandenberg, Sarzo,Aldridge!! Awesome!
@billwilliams3884
I've said this before on here but I gotta say this again. Why can't they make music like this again?? Do many people still live it. I'm 62 and I lived through the 80s and 5 more decades but the 80s was the best. Even people who weren't even born then love the music. Also imo the 80s produced the best movies too for example The Breakfast Club, Ferris Buelers Day Off, Caddy shack, Batman, Rambo the list is endless.At least we can come here on utube and for a little while we can go back to the best decade ever. And yes damnit I still think big hair is sexy. Can I get a Amen anyone?
@troylm
political correctness killed all the good stuff