Music of the Day, 26 March 2025

wholeheartedly

For various reasons, I’ve been thinking a fair bit about the things I’m most passionate about. And that has led to an unusual song appearing on the radio station in my mind.

The song’s theme is romantic love. I’ve always been a sucker for these songs, even long after I knew better than to think they describe the way healthy relationships should work. The band is one of my all-time favorites. I adore the music.

I dislike the lyrics so intensely that I rarely listen to it.

“Love You Inside Out” was the last Billboard number-one hit for the Bee Gees in their run of six consecutive chart-topping singles. It’s on their 1979 album Spirits Having Flown, which is the last Bee Gees studio album I bought. The disco backlash was a small part of that; bigger contributors were lack of time and money while I was at university, and my shift in taste to harder rock and metal. The first two singles from the album were “Too Much Heaven” and “Tragedy.”

I dislike this song so much because it’s totally over the top in its romanticism that I’ve never been able to take it seriously. And the chorus invariably brings to mind those ridiculous cartoon images of a male character lusting after a female character.¹ I think if I could get over one of these, I could tolerate the song, but it hasn’t happened yet, so I think it ain’t gonna happen.

So what brought to mind today? One line—a bit of brilliance in the bridge: “Blow out the candle I will burn again tomorrow.”² It captures how I feel about a few things, including music. And maybe that is starting to work its magic on me… I’ve listened to the song four times now while writing this and am not nauseated.

1. or at least, female-presenting. Apparently Bugs Bunny in drag was super sexy

2. alas, the line immediately preceding it is one of the worst in the song (“you are the reason for my laughter and my sorrow”)