Bryan Adams – Somebody

About The Song

“Somebody” is a rock song written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance for Adams fourth studio album Reckless (1984). It was the second single released from the album Reckless. The song topped the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Stewart Mason from Allmusic said “Following the Big Rawk Anthem (‘Run to You’) and the Sensitive Power Ballad (‘Heaven’), ‘Somebody’ covers the third base as a straight-ahead singalong pop song with a killer chorus. A gift to an entire generation of cover bands working the bar circuit, ‘Somebody’ has a chorus so simple and catchy that you can actually sing along to it even if you’ve never actually heard the song before, and Adams and his indispensable musical partner, Jim Vallance, helpfully point out the feasibility of said activity by incorporating a large, somewhat ragged group of backing vocalists for the lengthy vamp of a fadeout. Rather like ‘Run to You,’ ‘Somebody’ is just slightly too schematic to qualify as an all-time heartland rock classic, but it still sounds good on the radio.”

“Somebody” was released in the winter of 1985 and became one of the most successful songs from Reckless on the American rock charts and arguably one of Adams’ most recognizable and popular songs. The song was Adams’ second number one hit on the Top Rock Tracks chart, where it spent two weeks, and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Somebody” reached number 13 on the Canadian singles chart and remained in the top 20 for six weeks. “Somebody” was Adams’ third top 20 hit on the Canadian chart. “Somebody” was released the following month in Europe and peaked at the number 20 in Ireland and at 35 on the UK Singles Chart becoming his third single to chart in Europe.

There are two music videos for the song. One features visual footage shot at the Massey Hall in Toronto, ON, over three nights on January 8, 9 and 10, 1985[6] of Adams and his band performing the song live, with the audience screaming in the background. The video was produced by Concert Productions International who used the single’s soundtrack off the LP and mixed that with the sound of a taped audience. The other shows Adams walking out of a stadium and through a field, interspersed with shots of him with his guitar, as well as a woman (played by Lysette Anthony) who appears to be having relationship problems with her boyfriend; the video culminates with Adams walking out onto the field of a packed football stadium while a video of him playing the song plays on the big screen.

Video

Lyrics

I been lookin’ for someone
Between the fire and the flame
We’re all lookin’ for somethin’
To ease the pain
Now, who can you turn to
When it’s all black and white
And the winners are losers
You see it every night

I need somebody
Somebody like you
Everybody needs somebody

I need somebody
Hey, what about you?
Everybody needs somebody
When you’re out on the front line
And you’re watchin’ them fall
It doesn’t take long to realize
It ain’t worth fightin’ for

I thought I saw the Madonna
When you walked in the room
Well, your eyes were like diamonds
And they cut right through – oh, they cut right through

I need somebody
Somebody like you
Everybody needs somebody
I need somebody
Hey, what about you?
We all need somebody

Another night; another lesson learned
It’s the distance that keeps us sane
But when the silence leads to sorrow
We do it all again – all again

I need somebody
Somebody like you
Everybody needs somebody
Oh, yeah
I need somebody
Hey, what about you?
Everybody needs somebody

I need somebody
Somebody like you
Everybody needs somebody
At least somebody
I need somebody
Hey, what about you?
We all need somebody

I need somebody
Everybody needs somebody
I need somebody
Everybody needs somebody