For My Sunday Song #467, we are going to talk about the song “Anytime” by the McAuley Schenker Group. I ordered a new box set from them and it got me thinking about this song and how much I love it. The song is off their 1989 album ‘Save Yourself’. The song was released as a single in April 1990 and I remember seeing it on MTV and get swept up in it. Ballads were huge and every band needed one and this delivered on all fronts.
The song was written by singer Robin McAuley and guitarist Steve Mann. The song is about longing for that lost love. It appears that the singer had not truly appreciated what he had until she was gone from his life. He realized he treated her poorly relegating her to “the corner of my empty room”…which I am assuming is a cold dark place in his heart. When she was gone, he realized he loved her and wanted her back. The song is plea for her that anytime she wants him back, he will be there. If she’s lonely and needs to someone to simply call because it sounds like he will come a runnin’.
Robin McAuley’s vocals are what make this song work so well. You can hear the longing in his vocals. He pulls out so much emotion you start to feel bad for him and hope she will call so they can get back together. As good as his vocals are, the music has to match to make it all work. The atmospheric keyboards at the beginning then accompanied by an acoustic guitar are so soft and gentle. If you thought the vocals were longing, the music will break your heart as well. There is a co-solo in the song with both Schenker and Mann that works so perfectly for the song. It accentuates the feelings and adds even more texture to the overall song. When all is said done, it is a brilliant masterpiece. It shows that when a ballad is done well, it can’t be beat. One of my all time favorite ballads from this era.
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2 Loud 2 Old Music 