I was looking back through my stacks of notes to find one of the songs Clive has recommended in the past, preferably one I hadn’t already played, since my music posts have been a disappointment to Clive & Pete the last few days, and I came across this one by Steve Winwood.  I didn’t recognize the title, but I pulled it up on YouTube and immediately recognized the tune as one I’ve always loved!  Win/win!  And as a bonus for me, I learned something new!  Winwood co-wrote this with Will Jennings and what I did not know is how many artists Jennings has written songs for, including Barry Manilow, B.B. King, Joe Cocker and others!

According to SongFacts …

Jennings is renowned for his ability to write meaningful lyrics for talented musicians. He and Winwood spent a lot of time together, not just working, but hanging out and getting to know each other. Says Jennings, “It’s like writing… if you’re writing a play, you’re writing for a particular persona, a particular character, and you try to feel as deeply inside them as you can – where are they coming from and what they’ve been through. It’s the same with Steve, ‘While You See A Chance,’ because he was coming out of a whole period with Spencer Davis and Traffic, and then where else do you go? I was up there at his place in rural England, and I was in his life so to speak, and trying to see through his eyes as well as mine. And that’s what all those things were about, all the songs we wrote.”

Jennings explains the line, “While you see a chance take it, find romance, fake it”:

“Well the next line explains it: ‘Because it’s all on you.’ There’s an old English expression called “Fake it till you make it.” If you don’t have romance in your life, meaning in the broader sense, really, something to make life interesting, just imagine it until it’s there.”

This became Winwood’s first Top 40 hit as a solo artist. In 1986 he hit #1 in the US with “Higher Love,” also with a lyric by Jennings.

During production, Winwood accidentally erased the drum track from part of the song as he prepared to record a vocal. After months of trying to patch up the damage, he left the drums off the erased part and restructured the song.

This song charted at #3 in Canada, #7 in the U.S. and #45 in the UK.

While You See A Chance

Steve Winwood

Stand up in a clear blue morning
Until you see what can be
Alone in a cold day dawning
Are you still free? Can you be?

When some cold tomorrow finds you
When some sad old dream reminds you
How the endless road unwinds you

While you see a chance, take it
Find romance, fake it
Because it’s all on you

Don’t you know by now
No one gives you anything?
And don’t you wonder how you keep on moving?
One more day
Your way
Whoa, your way

When there’s no one left to leave you
Even you don’t quite believe you
That’s when nothing can deceive you

While you see a chance, take it
Find romance, fake it
Because it’s all on you

Stand up in a clear blue morning
Until you see what can be
Alone in a cold day dawning
Are you still free? Can you be?

And that old grey wind is blowing
And there’s nothing left worth knowing
And it’s time you should be going

While you see a chance, take it
Find romance, fake it
Because it’s all on you

While you see a chance, take it
Find romance
While you see a chance, take it
Find romance (fake it)
While you see a chance, take it
Find romance
While you see a chance, take it
Find romance

While you see a chance, take it
Find romance (oh, fake it, baby)
While you see a chance, take it
Find romance (oh)

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Steve Winwood

While You See A Chance lyrics © Blue Sky Rider Songs, Irving Music, Inc., F.s. Music Ltd