The melody of the "hook" line, or chorus of "When I Need You" is identical to the part of the Leonard Cohen song "Famous Blue Raincoat", where the lyrics are as follows: "Jane came by with a lock of your hair, she said that you gave it to her that night, that you planned to go clear". The melody of these lyrics matches the lyrics of "When I Need You" as follows: "(When I) need you, I just close my eyes and I'm with you, and all that I so want to give you, is only a heart beat away".
I once had that nicking happen with Leo Sayer. Do you remember that song 'When I Need You'?" Cohen sings the chorus of Sayer's number one hit from 1977, then segues into 'And Jane came by with a lock of your hair', a lyric from 'Famous Blue Raincoat'. 'Somebody sued them on my behalf ... and they did settle', even though, he laughs, 'they hired a musicologist, who said, that particular motif was in the public domain and, in fact, could be traced back as far as Schubert.[5]
The same melody can be heard in Elton John's "Little Jeannie" in the lyrics: "Stepped into my life from a bad dream / Making the life that I had seem / Suddenly shiny and new"
"When I Need You" is a promotional single from Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love album, released on 7 September 1998 in Brazil only.[34]Entertainment Weekly editor David Browne called the cover, "an obligatory remake (a precisely enunciated version of Leo Sayer's When I Need You)".[35] The New York Observer editor Jonathan Bernstein: "A sliver of redemption is found in the passable version of Leo Sayer's “When I Need You”".[36]
The Indian music composer R.D. Burman used the music of the song for his song, "Tumse Milke", used in the 1989 movie, Parinda.
Lani Hall versionedit
Lani Hall recorded a Spanish version of the song, retitled "Si me amaras (If you Loved Me)," for her 1985 album Es Fácil Amar, produced by Albert Hammond.
Referencesedit
^"VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs". Stereogum. SpinMedia. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
^Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 336–7. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications)
^Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
^"This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
^3 December 2014: Leo Sayer has paid tribute to his friend Bobby Keys who died at the age of 70. Keys, the sax player for the Rolling Stones since 1969, also played on Sayer's global hit ‘When I Need You’.
In a statement Sayer said, “R.I.P. Bobby Keys. Bobby played the solo on “When I Need You”, 20 secs of tenor sax that no other player has ever been able to emulate. We toured together in the mid 70s, and Bobby was always fun to work with, a great musician everybody now knows as the sax man with the Rolling Stones. I'm so proud to have known you ‘Texas’!”[citation needed]
^"Leo Sayer – When I Need You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^"Leo Sayer – When I Need You" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 7 May 1977. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
^"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 21 May 1977. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
^"The Irish Charts – Search Results – When I Need You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
^* Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: singles chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
^"Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
^"Jaaroverzichten 1977". Ultratop. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^Canada, Library and Archives (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
^"Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1977". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^"Jaaroverzichten – Single 1977". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
^"Top Selling Singles of 1977 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 31 December 1977. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
^Hunter, Nigel; Scaping, Peter, eds. (1978). "Top 100 Singles in 1977". BPI Year Book 1978 (3rd ed.). London, England: The British Phonographic Industry Ltd. pp. 216–17. ISBN 0-906154-01-4.
^"Top 100 Hits of 1977/Top 100 Songs of 1977". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 13 October 2016.