Broken Wings – Mr. Mister | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#1 for 2 weeks), 1985
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
By mid-1984 Mr. Mister had a label, an album in the bins, and three released singles. All they lacked were sales. Evaluating their next move, the band members agreed that I Wear The Face contained too much calculated effort to score a hit, and that, for the second album, they needed to do it their own way.
Welcome To The Real World, for which the Misters were completely responsible, hit the stores in May of 1985, and featured more mature lyrics plus a closer-to-live sound. Singer Richard Page, keyboardist Steve George, and Richard’s cousin John Lang magically wrote the first single, Broken Wings, in 20 minutes.
Taking its title from Kahlil Gibran’s 1912 book, Wings picked up on Gibran’s themes of unconditional love pitted against worldly trials. Four months after its release, it nested atop the Hot 100. In 1986 Broken Wings was used in the film, Band Of The Hand.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Mr. Mister
- Paul De Villiers
Lyrics Written by:
- Richard Page
- Steve George
- John Lang
Award:
- Grammy Awards Nominee for Best Pop Group Vocal for “Broken Wings” (1986)
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).