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"Broken Wings" is the title of a song recorded by band Mr. Mister.

The band's first single from their 1985 Welcome to the Real World album, "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.

Background and music

The song was co-written with lyricist John Lang, who was inspired by a book called "Broken Wings" written by Kahlil 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.

Music video

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.

Track listing

7" single

1. "Broken Wings" (single edit) - 4:29
2. "Uniform of Youth" - 4:25

12" single

1. "Broken Wings" (album length) - 5:45
2. "Uniform of Youth" - 4:25
3. "Welcome to the Real World" - 4:18

Charts

Notable covers

This article is in list format but may read better as prose. You can help by converting this article, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (August 2008)

• In 1986, it was covered by Rodney Franklin on his album "It Takes Two".
• In 1992, Prince's ex-wife Mayte covered the song, with backing vocals by her older sister Janíce García.
• In 1995, it was covered by John Tesh on his CD "Sax By the Fire".
• In 1998, it was covered by C-Block on their CD "Keepin' It Real".
• In 2001, this song was sampled for a Tupac Shakur song on his posthumous album Until the End of Time, for the title song.
• In 2001, it was sampled and performed on the title song of Foxy Brown's Broken Silence album.
• In 2001, it was covered by New Zealand singer K'lee
• In 2002, the song was featured in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on fictional station Emotion 98.3 and in the opening scene of the game.
• In 2003, the song was covered by American A Cappella group Naturally 7 on their album "What is it?"
• In 2003, it was covered for the video game Karaoke Revolution.
• In 2004, Richard Cheese performed this live in Las Vegas on his album I'd Like a Virgin.
• In 2005, Rick Springfield sang this song on his "tribute" album The Day After Yesterday as a duet with original vocalist Richard Page.
• In 2006, it was covered by Clay Aiken on his CD A Thousand Different Ways.
• In 2006, Joe Budden released a freestyle using the beat and chorus from "Broken Wings".
• In 2007, it was covered by The Panic Division on their CD "Songs From The Glasshouse".
• In 2007, it was covered by Northern Kings on their CD "Reborn".
• In 2010, Jason Donovan recorded a cover version of "Broken Wings" for his 80s covers album "Soundtrack of the 80s".

References

1. ^ Notes on Broken Wings - from Mr. Mister fansite
2. MVdbase entry - music video details

External links

• Broken Wings - video courtesy of YouTube

• Articles needing cleanup from August 2008
• Articles with sections that need to be turned into prose from August 2008
• 1985 singles
• Mr. Mister songs
• Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Pop ballads
• Rock ballads