Massachusetts (song)
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Massachusetts is a song by the Australian band Bee Gees , released in 1967. It was also featured on the album Horizontal , released the following year .
Content and background
The Bee Gees were already popular in their native Australia when they had their first hit outside of the Australian continent in 1967. Massachusetts became her first global number one hit .
The song was composed by the brothers Robin , Maurice and Barry Gibb . It is somewhat reminiscent of a folk song with a Celtic touch. It was musically accompanied by Maurice Gibb ( bass ), Vince Melouney ( guitar ) and Colin Petersen ( drums ). Outstanding features are the soft and harmonious interludes of the strings, the bass reminiscent of Donald Dunn and the acoustic guitar. The text sounds very emotional, but the actual content statement remains vague. The first verse says, “I feel like I'm going back to Massachusetts , something is telling me to go home. And the lights all went out in Massachusetts the day I left them alone ”. The song was also intended as an answer to hippie hymns like " San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) " ( Scott McKenzie ) or "Let's Go To San Francisco" ( Flower Pot Men ), which articulated the dreams of many young people to leave home and go to San Francisco . The image of the lights going out in Massachusetts alluded to this migration to San Francisco, at the other end of the United States.
Cover versions and chart placements
Of Massachusetts there are several cover versions, including those of the Seekers in 2003 (for which the song was originally written) in memory of the recently deceased Maurice Gibb .
The single reached the top position in the single charts in Germany and was awarded double platinum for over two million units sold, making Massachusetts one of the best-selling singles in Germany . Furthermore, Massachusetts reached the top position in Great Britain , New Zealand , Norway and Austria . In the US charts reached Massachusetts ranked 11th in the Japanese charts, the song was the first non-Japanese song ranked first