decade
1940s [91]
1950s [105]
1960s [203]
1970s [253]
1980s [230]
1990s [141]
2000s [129]
2010s [1]

check your birthday!
(e.g. 1965-10-31)

administrator login


(login/password)

                 advanced search
"Broken Wings"
#1 weeks: 2
weeks: 1985-12-07, 1985-12-14
genre: soft rock, pop rock
artist: Mr. Mister
album: Welcome to the Real World
writers: Richard Page / Steve George /John Lang
producers: Mr. Mister & Paul DeVilliers
label:
formats: 7", 12"
lengths: 5:42

"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.,