Day 56: Bee Gees – Children of the World

Album cover courtesy of RSO Records

For the first time in a long time, I’ve been properly hungover today. I can’t believe that throughout my late teens and early 20s, I felt like this pretty much every single Sunday – I can barely survive a single day of a moderate hangover these days. I knew there was only one thing that could sort me right out: washing my hair to the dulcet tones of the Bee Gees.

Here’s how little I knew about the Bee Gees: I always thought they were American. I think because I associate them so heavily with Saturday Night Fever, but no, the Disco Kings are from the Isle of Man. Bonkers! The trio is formed by brothers Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb in the late 1960s, and they were moderately successful as a pop band, but they reached stratospheric levels of fame after they pivoted to disco in the mid-70s.

First thing I’m thinking while listening to it was that I wondered how Barry Gibb came to using the iconic falsetto singing voice. Did he always like to sing like that or did he just one day go “hey fellas, I’ve got an idea”? Apparently, it was option number two – the idea to sing in falsetto came to him in a dream, but their earlier material actually features Barry singing with his regular chest voice. I am jealous both of his iconic voice and his ability to have career-changing dreams, dream-me needs to start stepping it up a bit.

Children of the World was the 14th studio album by the Bee Gees, and it features groovy upbeat disco hits along with some ballads, most of them being at least fairly fun to listen to. It starts off with a bang, with an iconic Bee Gees tune, “You Should Be Dancing”, which is an all-time great. I love the sax and synth in “Subway”, it’s probably my favourite of the record. I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of their ballads, but even I can admit that “The Way It Was” is sweet.

I’m less of a fan of the slightly schmaltzy and somewhat icky-sounding “Boogie Child” about a sexy boogie child. All the 70s songs talking about sexy little girls does make the corner of my eye twitch a little bit – surely we’re talking in hyperbole and that’s just how they referred to adults, right guys? Guys?

Anyway, as an album Children of the World is decent. Not sure if it was the experience of a shower or the Bee Gees specifically, but it sorted me right out. 7.5/10.