“Music” by John Miles
It seems that back around the early 1970s, songs that served as an ode to music by personifying it were sort of a fad. Well, at least Michael Jackson did so with his 1973 outing “Music & Me”. And John Miles acted likewise with “Music”, such as describing this form of entertainment as his “first love”.
But as with Michael, he was not being literal in that regard. Rather the point is that music plays an important, irreplaceable role in his life. Indeed as far as this vocalist is concerned, the idea of living life devoid of music is something he cannot fathom. And that would be because, as described, music serves as an anti-depressant to him.
Ultimately, that is the notion which all of the colorful metaphors are meant to lead us to. Of course music isn’t literally necessary for survival, like say food, water or what have you. But most of us would likely agree that it’s “impossible” to imagine life without it. And such was even more true for the likes of John Miles who, according to these lyrics, was actually in love with music.
When was “Music” released?
It was released in March of 1976 as a single from John Mile’s first solo album which goes by the title, “Rebel”.
Credits
The song was composed by Miles himself whilst its production was handled by Alan Parsons.
According to Miles, the writing of this song was swift. He said it took him about half an hour to compose it. He claimed it was meant to be a foundation on which other songs would be composed. It was however converted to a song on its own due to its unique nature.
Chart Performance
This classic found itself atop charts in Netherlands. It peaked at No.88 in the United States, and No.3 in the UK.
Covers of “Music”
Several remakes of “Music” have been released by a number of musicians since the song was officially released in the 1970s. Here are a few attention catching versions:
- Shirley Bassey (2010)
- Peter Hofmann (1987)
- Volker Eckhardt (1976)
- Sylver ft. John Miles (2009)
- Roger Martin (2019)
- Fargetta ft. Ann Marie Smith (1992)
- David Garrett (2012)
- Karel Gott (1998)
The “Rebel” Album
The album, “Rebel” was released in 1976 through two British record labels namely, London Recordings and Decca Recordings. Alan Parsons, a British musician, record producer and songwriter holds production credits for the album.
The song, “Highfly” is another song from the album which was released as a single. “Highfly” together with “Music” helped push the album to the No.171 on the Billboard 200.
