Music of the Day, 12 December 2024

i'm not content to wait in line

Two songs—by my two favorite bands—have been on my mind lately. They weren’t playing on the radio station in my mind, though; I’ve been thinking about the lyrics and what they mean to me. My friend and colleague

Al Bellenchia

’s excellent post today prompted the older song to start playing, which I took as my signal to feature it.

In 1979, I’d been a Bee Gees fan for years,¹ adoring all of their discography that I’d explored to date: romantic songs; lush psychedelia; and their soulful sound that went up-tempo and helped give rise to disco. Thus, I knew I’d like Spirits Having Flown—the only real question was which song would enchant me most.

To my surprise, it was this ethereal ballad. “Too Much Heaven” was the first single from Spirits Having Flown and was a huge hit worldwide, taking the top spot on several countries’ music charts. Today I learned that there are 27 vocal tracks alone, and that Chicago’s horn section—Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, and Walter Parazaider—appear on it and another track.² No wonder it was so successful.

“Heaven” is clearly about romantic love, but even as a doe-eyed teenager I recognized that it goes deeper. My family was not emotionally expressive, especially of positive emotions, and that hurt me. For me, love was hard to come by until I started dating; and even then, that love filled only part of my needs.

Much of American society/culture today has become even colder … more materialistic … less community-minded … more transactional. Those of us who value community and supporting one another have an alternative to simply decrying the state of things. We can take our love and start climbing the mountain so that it flows wider and further rather than “waiting in line.”

I may have given up on romantic love, but I will never give up on the power of love to heal and to help build a better world.

1. plug “Bee Gees” in to the search function here to get a sense of my affection for them

2. Barry, Maurice, and Robin had appeared on a Chicago song, “Little Miss Lovin’,” which I now am impelled to find