Bee Gees, I Started A joke - A Classical Musician’s First Listen and Reaction
5,013
Published 2024-08-10
This song feels tragically humorous, as if it could fit will within some theatrical production.
Here’s the link to the original song:
• THE BEE GEES "I STARTED A JOKE" 19...
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Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA.
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Credits: Music written and performed by Bee Gees
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All Comments (21)
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Robin was 17 when he wrote and sang this song. Ask yourself, where were you at 17yrs. old.
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This song is actually dead serious and intensely personal to the singer, Robin Gibb. I assume that's why he didn't want to discuss the meaning. He's regretting some hurtful words, feeling guilty, and thinks everyone would just be happier without him (if he were dead). This was his signature song, brought down the house at concerts, and was played at his funeral. Robin's voice sounds 'theatrical' here, but honestly, that's his voice: he was beloved for his distinctive & unique light quavering voice, which gave a heart-breaking vulnerability to his performances.
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Everyone should be aware that the Bee Gees are second only to Lennon and McCartney as the most successful songwriting unit in British popular music. — Music historian Paul Gambaccini —
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The Bee Gees have a 1970 song called LONELY DAYS that I fell in love with back then as an 8 year old.
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I knew a guy in college who had major depression issues. He played this constantly. We became friends and I tried to get him off dead center by introducing him to more upbeat stuff. He'd been blind since birth but I don't know whether that had much to do with it. I read books for him to make some extra money. I read some fantasy and science fiction, which seemed to help a bit. Eventually he got himself together and married a nice partly sighted girl and did well. But it was dicey at first.
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One of my favourite BeeGees songs that I keep returning to. Robin‘s voice is just so haunting
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A very early BeeGees song that struck a chord with me was “I’ve just got to get a message to you”
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Being longtime fans of the Bee Gees, Chris and Neil ( Pet Shop Boys ) decided to cover their 1968 classic "I Started a Joke" as a tribute to Robin Gibb, who succumbed to cancer in May 2012, and to release it as one of the bonus tracks with their single "Winner" the following August. It's an apt choice for such a tribute: "I Started a Joke" was, in fact, Robin's signature tune, written and sung primarily by him, inspiring a great vocal performance that almost invariably earned him tremendous ovations during the Bee Gees' live shows.
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Massachusetts may be a good next BG song.
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bee gees too much heaven
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"New York Mining Disaster 1941" was the first song I heard from the Bee Gees in 1967. It sounded beatles.
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They also had their share of challenges. Born into poverty and singing for tossed coins as kids, the Gibbs (who also had a fourth, younger brother, singer Andy Gibb) experienced humiliating setbacks, suffered battles with substances, fought with each other, and witnessed their biggest success become, for a while, a cultural joke. But they endured. Robin and Maurice Gibb were twins. Barry Gibb is three years older. The trio had a younger brother, singer Andy Gibb, who they announced would become the fourth Bee Gees in 1988.
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Brothers Gibb = BeeGees😊
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It amazes me that someone might so profoundly miss the desperately sad and serious lyrical and musical semiotics screaming from this song and just giggle as if it were a trivial scherzo. The heart-wrenching crying crescendo, the lyric that his dying allowed the world to live and so on And Amy laughs at the end of it, as if she has just listened to "Shuddup Your Face" by Joe Dolce. A peculiar shallowness.
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I am kind of surprised that you didn't mention the unique vibrato/tremolo on the lead vocal
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Bee Gees became my favorite band of all time after I dove into thier full catalog. They were quite famous in the 60s, then went to mega stardom in the late 70s during thier disco era, but it is their extensive and diverse catalogue that won me over with decades of brilliant music across many genres. There is something to suit any taste and mood and you will never be bored with the Bee Gees. Try sampling a few different things across the years to get a sense of the variety they have to offer.
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I think what you are missing is context of music of the time. Unusual voices were common- Bob Dylan, Melanie, Donovan, Leo Sayer. Also lyrics from those same artists were full of imagery which were not meant to be literal. There were some artists who tended toward the comical, but Bee Gees at this period were very young, and very earnest. Watch a video of this song
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"Too Much Heaven" is one of the finest vocal performances you'll ever hear in pop music.
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To me this song is about living your life out of synch with the world. Never feeling that you quite fit in. I can relate.
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I remember this song, older siblings had the 45, it's definitely of its time! . I liked it but wasn't crazy about the Bee Gees, but over time, I came to appreciate their songwriting craft, even if I didn't particularly like the genre. I also saw the documentary on them and was pretty moved at the end by the surviving brother Barry saying he'd trade it all in just to have his brothers back.
