Lonely Days

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

"Lonely Days"
Single by Bee Gees
from the album 2 Years On
B-side	"Man For All Seasons"
Released	November 1970
Format	7", 45rpm
Recorded	August 1970 IBC Studios, London, England
Genre	Soft rock
Length	3:45
Label	Polydor (UK) Atco (US), CA
Writer(s)	Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb
Producer	Robert Stigwood, Bee Gees
Bee Gees singles chronology
"I.O.I.O." (1970) "Lonely Days" (1970) "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (1971)
Music sample "Lonely Days"

"Lonely Days" is a ballad by the English rock band, Bee Gees. Written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, and featured on their album 2 Years On, in the US it reached #3, their highest chart up to that point. Atco released it a few weeks ahead because the Bee Gees were touring the US.

Recording and background

This song was sung by all three together to Maurice's piano and bass and Bill Shepherd's string and horn arrangement, the slow verses contrast nicely with the pounding chorus.

The song incorporated the innovative structure and knack for changing tempos exemplified by the second side of The Beatles' Abbey Road album, released the previous year and a clear influence on this single. "Lonely Days" shifts back and forth between a piano-and-strings-dominated verse reminiscent of "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Golden Slumbers," and an up-tempo stomping chorus that echoes "Carry That Weight"; perhaps as an acknowledgment of the debt, as the record approaches its fade-out, the lead singer's voice is filtered to sound like John Lennon's. The record's success helped establish the band as expert pop stylists. It was their first Top Five hit in the US, peaking at number three in the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching number one on the Cashbox and Record World charts.

In many interviews, the Bee Gees have said that they recorded this song and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" in the same night that they reunited.

Chart performance

References

v t e Bee Gees Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb Colin Petersen Vince Melouney Geoff Bridgford Alan Kendall Dennis Bryon Blue Weaver Studio albums The Bee Gees Sing and Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs (1965) Spicks and Specks (1966) Bee Gees' 1st (1967) Horizontal (1968) Idea (1968) Odessa (1969) Cucumber Castle (1970) 2 Years On (1970) Trafalgar (1971) To Whom It May Concern (1972) Life in a Tin Can (1973) A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants (1973) (unreleased) Mr. Natural (1974) Main Course (1975) Children of the World (1976) Spirits Having Flown (1979) Living Eyes (1981) E.S.P. (1987) One (1989) High Civilization (1991) Size Isn't Everything (1993) Still Waters (1997) This Is Where I Came In (2001) Singles 1960s "The Battle of the Blue and the Grey" (1963) "Timber!" (1963) "Peace Of Mind" (1964) "Claustrophobia" (1964) "Turn Around, Look at Me" (1964) "Every Day I Have To Cry" (1965) "Wine and Women" (1965) "I Was A Lover, A Leader Of Men" (1965) "I Want Home" (1966) "Monday's Rain" (1966) "Spicks and Specks" (1966) "Born A Man" (1967) "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (1967) "To Love Somebody" (1967) "Holiday" (1967) "Massachusetts" (1967) "World" (1967) "Words" (1968) "And The Sun Will Shine" (1968) "Jumbo/The Singer Sang his Song" (1968) "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (1968) "I Started a Joke" (1968) "First of May" (1969) "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" (1969) "Don't Forget to Remember" (1969) 1970s "Let There Be Love" (1970) "If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else" (1970) "I.O.I.O." (1970) "Lonely Days" (1970) "Melody Fair" (1971) "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (1971) "When The Swallows Fly" (1971) "In The Morning" (1971) "Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself" (1971) "My World/On Time" (1972) "Israel" (1972) "Run to Me" (1972) "Sea Of Smiling Faces" (1972) "Alive" (1972) "Saw a New Morning" (1973) "Wouldn't I Be Someone" (1973) "Mr. Natural" (1974) "Throw a Penny" (1974) "Charade" (1974) "Jive Talkin'" (1975) "Nights on Broadway" (1975) "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)" (1976) "You Should Be Dancing" (1976) "Love So Right/You Stepped Into My Life" (1976) "Boogie Child" (1977) "Children Of The World" (1977) "Edge of the Universe" (1977) "How Deep Is Your Love" (1977) "Stayin' Alive" (1977) "Night Fever" (1978) "More Than A Woman" (1978) "Too Much Heaven/Rest Your Love on Me" (1978) "Tragedy" (1979) "Love You Inside Out" (1979) "Spirits (Having Flown)" (1979) 1980s "He's a Liar" (1981) "Living Eyes" (1981) "Paradise" (1981) "The Woman in You" (1983) "Someone Belonging to Someone" (1983) "Life Goes On" (1983) "You Win Again" (1987) "E.S.P." (1987) "Crazy For Your Love" (1988) "Angela" (1988) "Ordinary Lives" (1989) "One" (1989) 1990s "Bodyguard" (1990) "Secret Love" (1991) "When He's Gone" (1991) "The Only Love" (1991) "Happy Ever After" (1991) "Paying the Price of Love" (1993) "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1993) "How to Fall in Love, Part 1" (1994) "Kiss Of Life" (1994) "Alone" (1997) "I Could Not Love You More" (1997) "Still Waters (Run Deep)" (1997) 2000s "This Is Where I Came In" (2001) Soundtracks Melody (1971) Saturday Night Fever (1977) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) Staying Alive (1983) Live albums Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live (1977) One Night Only (1998) Compilation albums Best of Bee Gees (1969) Best of Bee Gees, Volume 2 (1973) Bee Gees Gold (1976) Bee Gees Greatest (1979) Tales from the Brothers Gibb (1990) The Very Best of the Bee Gees (1990) Their Greatest Hits: The Record (2001) Number Ones (2004) Love Songs (2005) The Ultimate Bee Gees (2009) Mythology (2010) Gibb Productions Andy Gibb's "Flowing Rivers" (1977), "Shadow Dancing" (1978) & "After Dark" (1980) Jimmy Ruffin's "Sunrise" (1980) Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" (1980) Dionne Warwick's "Heartbreaker" (1982) Kenny Rogers' "Eyes That See in the Dark" (1983) Diana Ross' "Eaten Alive" (1985) Carola's "Runaway" (1986) Barbra Streisand's "Guilty Pleasures" (2005) Videography Cucumber Castle (1969) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) The Bee Gees Special (1979) One For All Tour (1990) Keppel Road (1997) One Night Only (1998) This Is Where I Came In (2001) Live By Request (2002) In Our Own Time (2010) Related articles Discography 1979 Spirits Having Flown Tour Andy Gibb The Barry Gibb Talk Show Book

This 1970s pop song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e