Get Here
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"Get Here" is a pop ballad written by American singer/songwriter Brenda Russell: the title track of her 1988 album Get Here, it became a moderate hit on the Billboard R&B chart. In 1990 American vocalist Oleta Adams recorded the song which became a major international hit, reaching the Top 5 in the UK[1][2] Adams' version of "Get Here", co-produced by Roland Orzabal from the band Tears for Fears, became her signature song.
Composition and first release
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Charts |
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US Billboard R&B Chart • #37 |
Brenda Russell had written the song while staying at a penthouse in Stockholm: the tune came to her as she viewed some hot air balloons floating over the city, a sight Russell recalls set her "really tripping on how many ways you can get to a person" (the eventual song's lyrics include the line: "You can make it in a big balloon but you'd better make it soon"). Although Russell did not pursue the musical ideas that came to her as her current record label saw her as a dance artist and she thought would not be interested in a song such as the one which became "Get Here", the song was still in the singer's mind when she woke up the next day: "I don’t read or write music [therefore] it’s extraordinary if a song is still in my head that I haven’t jotted down or recorded. So if it’s still in my head overnight, I think that’s something extra special, it’s like somebody trying to tell me something."[3] Russell recorded the song as the title cut of her 1988 album from which it was issued as a single - the album's third - reaching #37 on the Billboard R&B charts.[4]
Oleta Adams version
It was while Oleta Adams was visiting Stockholm that she heard Russell's song playing in a record store and was sufficiently impressed with the song to record it for her 1990 album Circle of One.[3] Adams' version of "Get Here" was issued as a single in early 1991. World events at this time gave the song a resonance as an anthem for the US troops in the Gulf War - underscored by the lyrics: "You can reach me by caravan/ Cross the desert like an Arab man" - which sent Adams' single into the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1991.[5][6][7] |
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| Chart | Peak position | Chart | Peak position |
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| UK Singles Chart[1] | 4 | US Billboard R&B Chart | 8 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[8] | 5 | Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart | 3 |
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Release History |
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UK • 1 January 1991
Sweden • 11 February 1991
US • 15 March 1991 | |
Other versions
- An uptempo cover version was released in the UK in 1993 by the dance act Q featuring Tracey Ackerman and reached number 37 in the UK Top 40.
- A signature number of Justin Guarini during season #1 of American Idol and included on the Justin Guarini album.
- "Get Here" has also been recorded by Vanessa Amorosi, Paul Anka, David Archuleta, Alexia Gardner, Salena Jones, Patti LuPone,[9] Barbara Mandrell, Omar Chakil (who wrote French lyrics for his version: "Tu m'as tout donné "), Jennifer Rush, Livingston Taylor, Siti Nurhaliza, Jonalyn Viray, Susan Wong, and Francesca Mariani.
- Also Edsilia Rombley recorded "Get Here" for her 1998 album Edsilia from which it was taken as a single reaching #88 on the Netherlands charts: previously Rombley had recorded a Dutch rendering of the song entitled "Zorg Dat Je Er Bent" which had appeared on the singer's 1997 Thuis album.
- A humorous cover of "Get Here", which featured comedy sound effects after each method of transport mentioned, was performed by fictional singer Michelle Coffee in the Peter Kay series Phoenix Nights.
- The song was performed by Andy Hallett as his character Lorne on the series Angel, in the season 2 episode "First Impressions."
- During American Idol's American Juniors, Lucy Hale sang "Get Here" in the top-20 semi-final 2. She was chosen as one of the 5 contestants who advanced to the next competition.
- Nils Landgren recorded a cover of the song on his album Chapter Two (2009)
- Lulu Roman (of Hee Haw fame) recorded a cover for her 2013 album At Last.
- Will Downing covers the song on his album Black Pearls (2016).
The Beautiful South's album Gaze included a song with the same title and, partially, similar lyrics - but reversed the theme, with Paul Heaton protesting his unwillingness to travel any distance at all for his lover. (Sample lyric: "You can get here by helicopter"/"I can barely make Blackpool sands").
References
- 1 2 "Oleta Adams - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ↑ Peak Position noted, Billboard.com
- 1 2 "Songfacts". Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- ↑ "Get Here" album, Allmusic.com
- ↑ Norment, Lynn (August 1996). "Moving on and up with Oleta Adams: with new husband and renewed religious faith, soulful singer scores with new album". Ebony. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
Circle of One spawned three Top-20 pop singles, including an impassioned take on Brenda Russell's "Get Here," which became a big anthem during the Persian Gulf War.
- ↑ Mann, Brent (2003). 99 Red Balloons and 100 Other All-Time Great One-Hit Wonders. New York: Bristol Park Books, Inc. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-88486-435-6.
- ↑ Schoenherr, Steven (2006-05-01). "Get Here by Oleta Adams, 1990". Songs in American History. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
Get Here" became the unofficial anthem for the Gulf War (Desert Storm) in 1991. The lyrics express the longing for a loved one who's many miles away, and the different methods of transportation he can use to return. The song was sung to US troops in the Middle East whose loved ones were home in America, awaiting their return.
- ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1991". Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ↑ http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/music/patti-lupone-live
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 Book:Brenda Russell
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