By My Side



It's all right I'm not lost,
I've got a reading on the Southern Cross,
And I've been listening to the radio,
For signs of new life,
Some people find the game too tough,
And there are those who've simply had enough,
But I'm still here and I'm not giving up,
I'm going the distance;

Whatever it takes ... I have to fight,
To build a better world ... and make it right,
And when I am alone ... it's late at night,
I reach out and you're right here by my side;

When everything has gone,
You help me carry on,
You lift me up, you make me strong,
You give love to see me through,
Oo oo oo what would I do,
Without you by my side,

By my side,

And out here on the flight,
I'm on a wing and a prayer tonight,
The moon is showing me the way to go,
I'm flying forever.

I've got what it takes ... to win the fight,
And build a better world ... and make it right,
But when I am alone ... it's late at night,
I reach out and you're here by my side,

When everything has gone,
You help me carry on,
You lift me up, you make me strong,
You give love to see me through,
Oo oo oo what would I do,
Without you by my side,

Always you're in my heart,
Always by my side,
Always you're in my life,
Always right here, and I love you now,
Always you're in my world,
Always I think what would I do without you, without you,
By my side,
Always you're in my heart...
And I need you now...
"I originally started writing this song as a way of saying to my audience down the years, 'thank you for your support.' I just wanted to say to my friends and to my fans 'thanks for your support so far, It's been terribly important to me - and will continue to be terribly important to me.' Because I've been away for so long, the first line is a kind of wry, tongue in cheek 'It's alright, I'm not lost.' So I've taken it from the point of view of a pilot up in the sky, but I'm in the aeroplane - and although I've been away for a while, it's OK; I know where I am. There's also a line 'I've got a reading on the Southern Cross' and 'I've been listening to the radio for signs of new life'. And what that's supposed to mean is, maybe I'm getting to the point where I'm getting just hyper-critical about new music and what I hear on the radio, but I think it's incredibly rare to find anything of real, long-term international talent. There's an awful lot of dross out there - and even the music business is agreeing with this point of view now. So, that's just a little thing in the song, but there are two of three ways of looking at the lyric. You can either take it as a suggestive, straight message from me to my fans - of 'thanks for always being by my side. I've come back stronger than ever, I'm feeling fantastic... let's go! You know, 'Let's take on the world.' Also, it could be construed as being from me to one other person; 'thank you for supporting me during my dark moments. When everything is gone you're always here by my side, lifting me up.' And I think some people might even view the song from a religious aspect. It could be suggested that this could be about Christ always being by my side, supporting my through. Although that's not necessarily what I mean, I'm sure it will be taken that way. Tempo-wise, it's really crisp - 116 beats per minute! That's the engineers's favourite song, incidentally. Yup, it's a good one."
The Getaway Gazette, March 1992

Albums

"By My Side" appears on the following albums:

Power Of TenThe Ultimate Collection