"Broken Wings" is a #1 hit song released as a 1985 single by
the band Mr. Mister.
The band's first single from their 1985
Welcome to the Real Worldalbum, "Broken Wings" reached
the number one position on the U.S. charts in December 1985,
where it remained for two weeks. It was released as the band
was just about to embark on a U.S. tour opening for Tina
Turner. The song reached number four in the UK Singles Chart,
the highest the group ever achieved in that country. Broken
Wings also ranked #32 on VH1's list of the most awesomely bad
songs of all-time.
The song was co-written with lyricist John Lang, who was
inspired by a book called "Broken Wings" written by Khalil
Gibran . The lyrics "Take these broken wings and learn to fly
again" may be a reference to The Beatles' song "Blackbird." The
song is a mix of synth, digitally delayed guitar, bass and
drums. The song's hissing intro was an effect created by the
sound of crash cymbal played in reverse . There is a distinct
guitar sound in this track thanks to Steve Farris' innovation
of the electric guitar, managing to extract a delay effect at
an odd timing to create a contrast to the steadiness of the
bass and beat. The outro to the song features Page singing very
high and lengthy falsetto notes.
The music video for "Broken Wings" was directed by Oley
Sassone and filmed in black & white. It features lead
vocalist Richard Page driving through the desert in a classic
old convertible. There is a scene of striking imagery where
Page is sitting in a church when an eagle flies in through the
window and lands next to him on the pew and they exchange a
gaze. The full band is also featured in performance scenes
during the video. Also appearing in the video are an unknown
man and woman dancing Tango. They are only shown from the waist
down and their faces are never seen.,