Part of our perfect pop song series, Damian Kearns’ nomination is a Bee Gees track but probably not one of the ones you might assume.
Since I write mainly pieces about post production workflows, it might surprise you to find out that I started out life spinning records or playing 8 track tapes for my mom and aunt and uncle, later attending conservatory for four years to study music, and from age 12, I’ve spent my free time in record stores and online, searching for the next great album purchase. I’ve also attended hundreds of live music shows.
I got into music editing and mixing at some point as an extension of both my job and of my passion for recorded music. That passion crosses all genres and generations. I’m a seeker when it comes to music. I’m always listening for the next thing that will blow my mind and change my perception of what music can be.
The Song
The elements that create a great tune are the vocal performance, the lyrics, the arrangement, the musical performances and the structure. A perfect pop song shouldn’t, in my opinion, last longer than 4:30. In earlier times, pop songs couldn’t even last that long since a side was typically 3 minutes or less. Bands like the Beatles had this formula nailed down but my choice of a perfectly constructed pop song is not a Beatles tune. It’s a Bee Gees tune.
Though the 1970’s would prove to be the defining decade for the Bee Gees, my favourite song from them is a pop ballad, written and recorded in 1971. “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” was a hit for the Bee Gees, as it was their first #1 single in the US.
This tune was written after a breakup of the Bee Gees. To quote Barry:
"Robin came to my place," says Barry, "and that afternoon we wrote 'How Can You Mend A Broken Heart' and that obviously was a link to us coming back together. We called Maurice, finished the song, went to the studio and once again, with only 'Broken Heart' as a basic structure, we went into the studio with that and an idea for 'Lonely Days', and those two songs were recorded that night".
Lyrically, the song is genius. Its central question about how to mend a broken heart is answered in one word never actually uttered by Robin Gibb: Love. Barry and Robin wrote the song as they were bringing the band back together after the Bee Gees had split up. It really is a song about the brothers and for the brothers but it reflects the universality of sorrow being vanquished by joy, the joy of love. This most human of truths will remain a constant as long as people live.
[Verse 1] I can think of younger days when living for my life was everything a man could want to do . I could never see tomorrow but I was never told about the sorrows
[Chorus] And, how can you mend a broken heart? How can you stop the rain from falling down? How can you stop the sun from shining? What makes the world go round? How can you mend this broken man? How can a loser ever win? Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again
[Verse 2] I can still feel the breeze that rustles through the trees and misty memories of days gone by . We could never see tomorrow . No one said a word about the sorrow
[Chorus] And how can you mend a broken heart? How can you stop the rain from falling down? How can you stop the sun from shining? What makes the world go round? And how can you mend this broken man? How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again
Bridge] La la la la la la, la la la la
La la la la la la, la la la la
[Outro] Please help me mend my broken heart and let me live again
Da da da da
Da da da da, da da da da da, da
The Arrangement
Like all good pop ballads,”How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” starts softly and ends softly and crescendos somewhere near the end. It goes verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, outro but what sets it apart from other tunes is the chorus is longer than the verses. Barry Gibb plays an open tuning on guitar (open E) which you can hear on the left side at the beginning of the stereo mix of the song. There’s piano (on the right), live strings and woodwinds, bass guitar and organ in there, all merging to form the simple-sounding melodic structure. It’s a layered piece but it seems so simple as an arrangement that it beguiles the listener.
Though Robin sang lead on this tune for the verses, it’s Barry’s entry in the choruses that are, to me, the most interesting aspect of the vocal performances. The listener is perhaps hearing a whisper of Barry’s trademark falsetto here, and this whisper sets the stage for the Bee Gees' rise to the top of the disco genre on the back of this falsetto.
They probably didn't know it at the time but moving from the dominance of Robin’s leads on many of their early songs, towards a more balanced approach of putting Barry up front on many of their biggest hits, would help propel Barry Gibb to the status of 2nd Most Successful Songwriter of All Time, behind Paul McCartney, according to Guinness World Records. Beyond his Bee Gees catalogue, Barry wrote songs for Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, his brother Andy, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, and many others. Did you know he also wrote the title song for the movie “Grease”? That’s a number one hit for Frankie Valli as well!
The Production
“How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” was recorded in about an hour. The Bee Gees recorded 5 other songs that same day, January 28, 1971, for their album, “Trafalgar”. I don’t think, from a modern standpoint, we can conceive of this type of a production schedule without a certain amount of reverence. 50 years on, people just don’t enter a studio that prepared to record. They don’t need to. But if the material is well thought out, why not?
My feeling is quick-to-tape recordings retain a sincerity and spirit that metronomically perfect, micro-managed, committee-based, weeks-long musical constructions can’t have. This is why I think the production for this tune perfectly matches the song’s intent.
The Verdict
This song has all the elements: Timeless lyrics, sublime vocals, simple musical structure, a singable melody, tasteful arrangement and an overall sense that it was at once written long ago and yet could have been written today. This is why I think “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” is the perfect pop tune.
Personal Note
I wrote this article, not just as an editorial about a song, but as a love letter to my family who regularly ask me to sing the tune at parties to laugh at my Bee Gees impression (which is ridiculously good, by the way).
Most particularly, my Aunt VIv has been a massive inspiration to me through my life and was the original Bee Gees fan in the family. Though we now mourn her, thanks to Bee Gees music, there will always be a way back to joy. And joy is how we endure.
Dxx