Items described on this page:
I've been wandering around the house all night
Wondering what the hell to do
Yeah, I'm trying to concentrate but
All I can think of is you
Well, the phone don't ring cause my friends ain't home
I'm tired of being all alone
Got the TV on cause the radio's playing
Songs that remind me of you
Baby, when you're gone
I realize I'm in love
Days go on and on
And the nights just seem so long
Even food don't taste that good
Drink ain't doing what it should
Things just feel so wrong
Baby, when you're gone
Yeah
I've been driving up and down these streets
Trying to find somewhere to go
Yeah, I'm looking for a familiar face
But there's no one I know
Oh, this is torture, this is pain
It feels like I'm gonna go insane
I hope you're coming back real soon
Cause I don't know what to do
Baby, when you're gone (When you're gone)
I realize I'm in love
Days go on and on (On and on)
And the nights just seem so long
Even food don't taste that good
Drink ain't doing what it should
Things just feel so wrong
Oh yeah
Baby, when you're gone
Oh, baby, when you're gone
Oh, baby, when you're gone (When you're gone)
I realize I'm in love (You're in love)
Days go on and on
And the nights just seem so long
Even food don't taste that good (Ohh)
Drink ain't doing what it should
Ah, things just feel so wrong (So wrong)
Baby, when you're gone (Yeah, you're gone)
Oh, baby, when you're gone
Yeah, baby, when you're gone
Genius - When you're gone, Bryan Adams
When You're Gone is a song by Canadian musician Bryan Adams, written by him with Eliot Kennedy and produced by Canadian singer-songwriter in partnership with Bob Rock.
This Bryan Adams song features English singer Melanie C.
Released on November 30, 1998, by A&M Records, it became the second single from the album “On a Day Like Today”, also being Melanie C's debut single. It's played by the singer in a duet with Melanie C., with a guitar solo and contains pop, pop rock and soft rock genres.
Melanie C. was not Bryan's first choice to perform the duet. Her first choice was American musician Sheryl Crow, however she did not receive any response from her.
Later, the singer found, by chance, Melanie C. in a hotel in Los Angeles and immediately invited her to be part, as an extra, in the song When You're Gone. Bryan Adams had met the singer on the British television show Top of the Pops, when the Spice Girls, (a band that Melanie was part of), presented the song “Wannabe” from 1996. The production of the song was carried out by Bryan Adams and Bob Rock, at Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, Canada. Kennedy sent the recording of Melanie C.'s vocals to the studio where Bryan Adams worked, so that they could be inserted into the song.
Bryan Adams performed two versions of When You're Gone: one with Canadian-American actress Pamela Anderson for her 2005 compilation album, Anthology, and another with Melanie C. for her re-recording album, Classic Pt II.
Before the song was shared as a single, on November 30, 1998, When You're Gone was released for the first time on radio in Europe. A&M Records in the United States released the song to radio on March 2, 1999.
When You're Gone ranked well several times, as well as receiving some certifications: it was positioned at number three on the UK Singles Chart, having remained at the top for fifteen weeks.
It has achieved 921,000 sales in the UK as of May 2021, for which it has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.
In Scotland, it ranked second on the Scottish Singles Sales Chart.
For sixteen weeks, the song was number three on the Irish Singles Chart.
Number six on the Norwegian VG-lista for fifteen weeks and was certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
It was positioned, for seventeen weeks, in eighth place in the Swedish Sverigetopplistan.
On the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, When You're Gone peaked at number four and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association as a result of having sold 70,000 equivalent units in the country.
It was positioned at number fifteen on the New Zealand singles chart for thirteen weeks and, finally, in Canada, the song was at number twelve on the RPM Top 100 Singles.
In the opinion of Dave Simpson of The Guardian, When You're Gone is Bryan Adams' best-written song, on the other hand NME writer Alexandra Haddow, in a 2021 article, considered the song as "a of the best pop songs of the last twenty years". JC Villamere of Entertainment Tonight Canada called the song an "absolute banger" and the Daily Record called it a "catchy tune". Chuck Taylor in Billboard praised the melody for being natural, the chorus sparkling and the song's infectious vigor, but added that Melanie C's "robust background vocals" are nothing more than a ploy to give the song exposure in the UK. And yet, for Sam Taylor of The Observer the song is "shocking" and in the vocals of Melanie C. it seems that she is "crying atonally".
Several music videos were made: one directed by German film director Marcus Nispel and released in 1998, where Bryan Adams and Melanie C. can be seen running around a house; another that was uploaded to YouTube, in HD and another re-recorded version of When You're Gone by Bryan Adams and Melanie C., released in 2022.
References
(Youtube link) Bryan Adams - When you're gone