Yesterday I played While You See A Chance by Steve Winwood, and in the comments, Pete mentioned this one which, naturally, stuck in my head.   Now, I was debating between a couple of Bob Seger songs, after a mention of one in one of my Jolly Monday memes this morning, but since I was still undecided by the time I read Pete’s comment, I decided to redux this one and save Mr. Seger’s voice for tomorrow!  I last played this one just five days after the 2020 election here in the U.S. when Joe Biden had been declared the winner and the future looked … brighter.  Well, while that brighter vision may not have materialized, I still applaud the election of Biden/Harris …

The inspiration for tonight’s song comes from Joe Biden & Kamala Harris’ victory speech earlier tonight from Wilmington, Delaware, where they played this after giving their speeches.  It seemed as good as any to celebrate what I see as a chance to restore unity, sanity and compassion to this nation.

Released in 1986 by Steve Winwood, Higher Love was written by Winwood and Will Jennings and produced by Russ Titelman and Winwood. The female vocals on the song were performed by Chaka Khan, who also appeared in the promotional music video.

This was Winwood’s first Billboard Hot 100 number-one song, topping the chart for one week.  The song earned two Grammy Awards, for Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. It also peaked at number 13 in the United Kingdom, Winwood’s highest charting solo entry there, and reached number one in Canada for a week.

Whitney Houston covered the song in 1990, and in June 2019 Norwegian DJ Kygo reworked Houston’s cover into a tropical house track and it was released as a single worldwide.  On August 21, 2019, their version hit number one on Billboard magazine’s Dance Club Songs chart, making it Houston’s highest-charting posthumous release to date, and hit #2 in the Uk, even better than Winwood’s.

I like both the Winwood version and the Whitney Houston/Kygo one, so I thought I’d just play both and let you pick one or listen to both.

Higher Love
Steve Winwood; Whitney Houston, Kygo

Think about it, there must be a higher love
Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above
Without it, life is wasted time
Look inside your heart, and I’ll look inside mine

Things look so bad everywhere
In this whole world, what is fair?
We walk the line and try to see
Fallin’ behind in what could be, oh

Bring me a higher love
Bring me a higher love, oh
Bring me a higher love
Where’s that higher love I keep thinking of?

That love, that love
Bring me higher love, love
That love, that love
Bring me higher love, oh
That love, that love
Bring me higher love, love
That love, that love
Bring me a higher love

That love, that love
Bring me higher love, love
That love, that love
Bring me higher love, oh
That love, that love
Bring me higher love, love
That love, that love
Bring me a higher love

Worlds are turnin’, and we’re just hanging on
Facing our fear, and standin’ out there alone
A yearning, yeah, and it’s real to me
There must be someone who’s feeling for me

Things look so bad everywhere
In this whole world, what is fair?
We walk the line and try to see
Fallin’ behind in what could be, oh

Bring me a higher love (oh my Lord)
Bring me a higher love, oh (oh)
Bring me a higher love (my Lord)
It’s that higher love I keep thinking of

That love, that love
Bring me higher love, love
That love, that love
Bring me higher love, oh
That love, that love
Bring me higher love, love
That love, that love
Bring me a higher love

oh, bring me love
(Bring me a higher love, oh) we need a higher love
(Bring me a higher love) bring me, bring me, yeah
A higher love I keep thinking of, oh

That love, that love (bring me a higher love)
Bring me higher love, love
That love, that love (bring me a higher love)
Bring me higher love, oh
That love, that love (bring me a higher love)
Bring me higher love, love
A higher love I keep thinking of

Bring me a higher love (that love, that love)
(Bring me higher love, love)
Bring me a higher love (that love, that love)
(Bring me higher love) oh

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Steve Winwood / Will Jennings
Higher Love lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.