Mr. Big – To Be With You 4K Video
Today’s song of the day is the rock ballad “To Be With You” by Mr. Big.

Fun Facts:

• Lead singer Eric Martin wrote “To Be With You” when he was 16 or 17.

• The lyrics were inspired by a girl Martin was madly in love with but who kept rejecting him for men that treated her poorly in his view. The relationship between them never went past friendship.

• Martin finished the song with David Grahame, a songwriter he met through his publisher.

• Martin’s original demo was folksy and reminded Grahame of the Beatles’ song “Give Peace a Chance.” So he suggested they do something similar, leading to the pared-back instrumentation.

• “To Be With You” was the second single from the band’s second album, 1991’s Lean Into It.

• Mr. Big typically created hard rock or glam metal songs, but “To Be With You” is mostly acoustic guitar, bass drum, and hand claps. The lyrics and vocals were the main focus.

• The song was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in the U.S. and topped the charts in eleven other countries.

• The success of “To Be With You” broadened the band’s fan base, especially with younger women.

• Though the song was a critical success, many of Mr. Big’s longtime fans disliked it, and some abandoned the band completely.

• Mr. Big’s bassist Billy Sheehan said they put “To Be With You” last on the album because while they loved it, they didn’t expect it to be popular.

• Sheehan, often cited as one of the greatest bass players in rock music, said this song was particularly difficult to play. He said the simplicity and sparseness make every note count more and mistakes more obvious.

Lyrics

Hold on, little girl

Show me what he’s done to you

Stand up little girl

Broken heart can’t be that bad

When it’s through, it’s through

Fate will twist the both of you

So come on baby, come on over

Let me be the one to show you

I’m the one who wants to be with you

Deep inside I hope you feel it too (feel it too)

Waited on a line of greens and blues (waited on a line)

Just to be the next to be with you

Build up your confidence

So you can be on top for once

Wake up who cares about

Little boys that talk too much

I’ve seen it all go down

The game of love was all rained out

So come on baby, come on over

Let me be the one to hold you

I’m the one who wants to be with you (I’m the one, yeah)

Deep inside I hope you feel it too (feel it too)

Waited on a line of greens and blues (waited on a line, yeah)

Just to be the next to be with you

Why be alone when we can be together, baby?

You can make my life worthwhile

I can make you start to smile

When it’s through, it’s through

Fate will twist the both of you

So come on baby, come on over

Let me be the one to show you

I’m the one who wants to be with you (I’m the one)

Deep inside I hope you feel it too (feel it too)

Waited on a line of greens and blues (waited on a line)

Yeah, just to be the next to be with you

I’m the one who wants to be with you (I’m the one)

Deep inside I hope (deep inside) you feel it too (you feel it too)

Waited on a line of greens and blues (waited on that line)

Yeah, just to be the next to be with you

Just to be the next to be with you, ooh