How Deep Is Your Love - Bee Gees Song Meaning

In modern music, there are several well-known pieces called How Deep Is Your Love (“How strong is your love”). This article is devoted, probably, to the most popular of them. We will talk about the history of the song, which in the seventies was made an international hit by the famous British band Bee Gees.

The history of the song How Deep Is Your Love

It all started with a phone call from producer Robert Stigwood. He asked The Bee Gees to compose some compositions for the movie Saturday Night Fever he was working on. The musicians provided him with five songs, including How Deep Is Your Love. It was originally supposed to be sung by Yvonne Elliman, but Stigwood insisted that The Bee Gees sing the piece.

All members of the band are co-authors of the song. It is also known that keyboardist Derek John “Blue” Weaver participated in the process. Producer Albhy Galuten recalled:

This is one of the songs that Blue has put an incredible amount of effort into. It has a lot of his personality. His contribution was extremely significant – not in the sense of a songwriter, although when you play the piano, it’s almost the same as writing a song. Blue influenced the piano part in this song a lot.

The Bee Gees, 2015, Hector Cook, Melinda Bilyeu, Andrew Môn Hughes.

Weaver himself also talked about participating in the work on the song:

Barry and I were in the studio one morning just the two of us. He said, “Take the most beautiful chord you know.” And then I just played, throwing chords to him, and he kept saying: “No, not that chord.” I kept going like that, and all of a sudden he said, “Yes, this one will do,” and we started from there. Then I played something else. Sometimes I followed the melodic line he already had, and sometimes I probably took him in a different direction with what I was doing. At some stage, it seems Robin joined us. Later Alby also came along and I was playing the inversion of a chord and he said, “Oh no, I think it’s not this inversion, but this one,” so we changed it. But by the time Alby arrived, the song was kind of done.

The Bee Gees, 2015

Release and Achievements of How Deep Is Your Love

A demo version of the composition was recorded at the French studio Château d’Hérouville, later finalized at Criteria Studios in Miami. According to Weaver, the recording took three to four hours.

In September 1977, the song was released as a single, which climbed to number three on the UK Singles Chart and topped the Billboard Hot 100. Of course, its popularity was facilitated by the resounding success of the film Saturday Night Fever.

For How Deep Is Your Love, the Bee Gees won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

The composition was included in the list of the 500 greatest songs according to Rolling Stone readers, and the British called it their favorite Bee Gees track.

How Deep Is Your Love cover versions

The song was often covered by other famous musicians, and Take That even climbed with their cover to number one in the UK Singles Chart and ended up at the top of the official charts in several other countries.

Interesting Facts

The unique sound in How Deep Is Your Love was achieved thanks to the voices of Robin and Barry sounding in unison.
Yvonne Elliman, who didn’t get the song, did sing in the film If I Can’t Have You, also composed by the Bee Gees.
In 1983, the Bee Gees were sued by composer Ronald Selle, alleging that the group composed How Deep Is Your Love based on his work Let It End. The jury agreed with his accusations of plagiarism, but the judge annulled the verdict.

How Deep Is Your Love Lyrics Bee Gees

I know your eyes in the morning sun
I feel you touch me in the pouring rain
And the moment that you wander far from me
I want to feel you in my arms again
And you come to me on a summer breeze
Keep me warm in your love, then you softly leave
And it’s me you need to show…

chorus:
How deep is your love
How deep is your love
How deep is your love
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

I believe in you
You know the door to my very soul
You’re the light in my deepest, darkest hour
You’re my savior when I fall
And you may not think I care for you
When you know down inside that I really do
And it’s me you need to show…

Bee Gees How Deep Is Your Love Lyrics

I know what your eyes look like in the morning sun
I feel you touch me in the pouring rain
And when you wander far from me
I want to hold you in my arms again
You come to me with a summer breeze
Warm me with your love and then quietly disappear
And you need to show me…

Chorus:
How strong is your love
How strong is your love
How strong is your love
True, I want to know
‘Cause we live among fools
that break us instead of leaving us alone
We belong to each other

I believe in you
Do you know where the door to my heart is?
You are the light in my darkest hour
You are my savior in difficult times
You may think that I don’t care about you
But deep down you know it’s not
And you need to show me…