["Cherish the love we have, for as long as we both shall live","Cherish the love we have, we should cherish the life we live","Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love","Will you be by my side","","","Could I make it through the night","And if you receive your calling before I awake","Could I make it through the night","I often pray before I lay down","Let's take a walk together near the ocean shore","Cherish the love we have, for as long as we both shall live","Cherish the love we have, for as long as we both shall live","Cherish the love we have, we should cherish the life we live","Cherish the love we have, we should cherish the life we live","Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love","Cherish the life","I often pray before I lay down","Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love","Cherish the love we have, for as long as we both shall live","","Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love","Hand in hand you and I","The world is always changing, nothing stays the same","Cherish the love we have, we should cherish the life we live","Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love","Cherish the love","Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love","The time is passing by","","Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love","Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love","But love will stand the test of time","","The next life that we live in remains to be seen","","If you receive your calling before I awake","By your side","","","Let's cherish every moment we have been given","By your side"]
Performed by: Kool & The Gang Written by: Robert Bell; Ronald Bell; James L. Bonnefond; George Brown; Claydes Smith; James Taylor; Curtis Williams
Credits: Bell, Robert (Songwriter); Bell, Ronald (Songwriter); Bonnefond, James L. (Songwriter); Brown, George (Songwriter); Smith, Claydes (Songwriter); Taylor, James (Songwriter); Williams, Curtis (Songwriter); WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP (Publisher)
"Cherish" is the title of a 1985 single by American R&B band Kool & the Gang. The song was the third single released from the band's multi-platinum album, Emergency, which came out earlier in the year. The song is a romantic ballad that proved to be extremely popular when it was released and has since been a wedding song staple of sorts. "Cherish" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1985, remaining in the runner-up position for three weeks.[1] It was a number-one hit on both the R&B[1] and adult contemporary charts in the U.S., spending one week atop the R&B chart and six weeks atop the AC chart. In the UK, the song reached number four on the UK Singles Chart.[2]
There are several different mixes of Kool and the Gang's version (the original) of "Cherish." The original album version (length: 4:47) begins with a the sound of a wave crashing on the beach followed by a (solely) keyboard intro. The entire first verse is sung without drums and percussion, which do not begin until the first chorus.
The single (and video) version of "Cherish" (length: 3:58) adds additional "beach" effects at the beginning and combines an acoustic guitar with the original keyboard introduction. Additional percussion, which this time starts right as J.T. Taylor begins singing the first verse, is also added throughout the song. Whereas the chorus is repeated (sung twice) after the first verse in the album version, it is only sung one time on the single.
There is also an extended 12-inch version of "Cherish" (length: 5:43) which includes the same flourishes that were added to the single/video version of the tune, plus a saxophone part during various sections of the song (introduction, bridge, etc.), including a sax interlude after the first chorus.
Furthermore, there is an edited mix of this 12-inch version (length: 4:22), where the bridge that appears in all of the other versions of the song is replaced by the saxophone interlude.
Cover versions
Rap Artists Pappa Bear and Jan Van Der Toorn did a remix of this song in 1997. The music video features Pappa Bear picking up two young women from a hotel and Van Der Toorn singing the chorus. The music video was hot in Miami, Florida.
The Best of Kool and the Gang • Kool Jazz • Kool & the Gang Greatest Hits! • Twice as Kool (The Hits of Kool & The Gang) • Everything's Kool & the Gang: Greatest Hits & More • The Best Of Kool & The Gang (1969-1976) • Celebration: The Best Of Kool & The Gang (1979-1987) • Still Kool
