Get Here
{{Short description|1988 single by Brenda Russell}}
{{For|the album|Get Here (album)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Get Here
| cover = BrendaRussellGet_Here-single.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Brenda Russell
| album = Get Here
| B-side = Le Restaurant
| released = September 13, 1988
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soul
| length = 4:06
| label = A&M
| writer = Brenda Russell
| producer = André Fischer, Brenda Russell, Peter O. Ekberg
| prev_title = Gravity
| prev_year = 1988
| next_title = Kiss Me with the Wind
| next_year = 1990
}}
"Get Here" is a ballad written by American singer and songwriter Brenda Russell. The title track of her fourth studio album, Get Here (1988), it became a moderate hit on the US Billboard R&B chart after the album's successful first hit, "Piano in the Dark".
American vocalist Oleta Adams covered and released the song in 1990, reaching the top five in both the US and the UK with her version. Adams's version of "Get Here", co-produced by Roland Orzabal from the band Tears for Fears (for whom she had performed the female vocals on the hit single "Woman in Chains" a year earlier), became her signature song.
Composition and first release
Brenda Russell had written the song while staying at a penthouse in Stockholm: the tune came to her as she viewed some hot air balloons floating over the city, a sight Russell recalls set her "really tripping on how many ways you can get to a person" (the eventual song's lyrics include the line: "You can make it in a big balloon but you'd better make it soon"). Although Russell did not pursue the musical ideas that came to her as her current record label saw her as a dance artist, the song was still in the singer's mind when she woke up the next day: "I don't read or write music [so] it's extraordinary if a song is still in my head that I haven't jotted down or recorded. So if it's still in my head overnight, I think that's something extra special, it's like somebody trying to tell me something."{{cite web|url = http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/brenda_russell/|title=Songfacts|access-date=February 2, 2011}} Russell recorded the song as the title cut of her 1988 album from which it was issued as a single – the album's third – reaching number 37 on the US Billboard R&B chart.[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r17167|pure_url=yes}} "Get Here" album, Allmusic.com]
Oleta Adams version
{{Infobox song
| name = Get Here
| cover = Get Here single.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Oleta Adams
| album = Circle of One
| B-side =
- "I've Got to Sing My Song" (international)
- "Watch What Happens" (US)
| released = November 1990
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soul
| length = 4:37
| label =
| writer = Brenda Russell
| producer = {{hlist|Roland Orzabal|David Bascombe}}
| prev_title = Circle of One
| prev_year = 1990
| next_title = You've Got to Give Me Room
| next_year = 1991
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|K2-yUQS70Kc|"Get Here"}}}}
}}
American singer-songwriter Oleta Adams released her cover of "Get Here" in 1990 by Mercury, taken from her third studio album, Circle of One (1990). It was while Adams was visiting Stockholm, Sweden that she heard Russell's song playing in a record store and was sufficiently impressed with the song to record it for her album.
World events at this time gave the song a resonance as an anthem for the US troops in the Gulf War—underscored by the lyrics "You can reach me by caravan / Cross the desert like an Arab man"—which sent Adams's single into the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1991.{{Cite web|last=Ollison|first=Rashod|title=Always Something to Get Over: Oleta Adams Offers a Hug|url=https://www.pilotonline.com/entertainment/columns/article_deac1463-9aac-5d22-bf55-3bf5845b24f2.html|access-date=January 17, 2022|website=pilotonline.com|date=April 24, 2012 }}{{Cite news|last=Harrington|first=Richard|date=March 20, 1991|title=GULF WAR SONGS, OUT OF TUNE|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/03/20/gulf-war-songs-out-of-tune/04a07e1a-1e9b-4b87-9f4e-f4ed1a30d305/|access-date=January 17, 2022|issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web|date=August 9, 2015|title=In Concert Video: 'Get Here' ~ Oleta Adams is Back + Soon Releasing Two New Songs [WATCH]|url=https://atlantadailyworld.com/2015/08/09/in-concert-video-get-here-oleta-adams-is-back-soon-releasing-two-new-songs-watch/|access-date=January 17, 2022|website=Atlanta Daily World|language=en-US}} The music video for the song was directed by Greg Gold.
=Critical reception=
"Get Here" received favorable reviews from most music critics. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song as a "gospel-tinged belter".{{cite web|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/circle-of-one-mw0000689877|title=Oleta Adams - Circle of One|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=February 17, 2020|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}} Larry Flick from Billboard remarked that "delicate instrumental arrangement contrasts with Adams' powerful reading of a lovely Brenda Russell composition."{{cite magazine|first=Larry|last=Flick|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1990/BB-1990-10-27.pdf|title=Single Reviews|magazine=Billboard|date=October 27, 1990|access-date=February 16, 2020|page=81|author-link=Larry Flick}} The Commercial Appeal named it a "standout" track from the album, declaring it as "magnificent"."Playbook". The Commercial Appeal. August 24, 1990. Karla Peterson from Copley News Service called it "warmhearted".{{cite magazine|first=Karla|last=Peterson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iyRKAAAAIBAJ|title=Oleta Adams offers antidote to the blues|magazine=Oxnard Press-Courier|date=January 22, 1994|page=15|access-date=March 13, 2020}} A reviewer from The Daily Telegraph said it is "the Single of the week, the year, the decade..."{{cite magazine|title= A name you will remember. |magazine= Billboard |date= 1991 |page= 2 |access-date= October 22, 2020 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-04-20.pdf}} Ellen Fagg from The Deseret News wrote that the lyrics "are creative and witty and plaintively passionate, a difficult triple combination to score. But the words are great because they're underlined by the rich power of Adams' big voice."{{cite magazine|first=Ellen|last=Fagg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LV9TAAAAIBAJ|title=Oleta Adams belts out witty, soulful, lasting music|magazine=The Deseret News|date=June 22, 1991|access-date=March 13, 2020}} James Bernard from Entertainment Weekly viewed it as "an unrushed call to her lover" and noted that the singer's voice "can soar with intensity, hanging onto notes for dear life, or suddenly drop into hushed intimacy."{{cite magazine|first=James|last=Bernard|url=https://ew.com/article/1991/04/12/circle-one/|title=Circle of One|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=April 12, 1991|access-date=February 28, 2020}}
A reviewer from Los Angeles Times named it "one of the year's most satisfying hit singles." David Quantick from NME wrote, "Oleta is a total groover. This is a huge soft ballad that sounds lots better than Mariah Carey and her lacewanky ilk."{{cite magazine|first=David|last=Quantick|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52276140757/|title=Singles|magazine=NME|date=January 19, 1991|page=19|access-date=April 3, 2023|author-link=David Quantick}} Stephen Holden from New York Times declared it as a "ballad of separation and longing",{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Holden|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DAyAAAAIBAJ|title=Twenty-year struggle yields a hit for Adams|magazine=Lawrence Journal-World|date=March 5, 1991|access-date=March 15, 2020|author-link=Stephen Holden}} while Philadelphia Daily News noted it as "that come-home-safe song widely connected to our troops in the gulf war.""Lounge Act To Opening Act, Adams Shines Successful LP, Tour Haven't Changed This Modest Singer". Philadelphia Daily News. August 15, 1991. Nick Duerden from Record Mirror wrote, "With few singers capable of matching her eloquent tones (Anita Baker excepted), 'Get Here', a wondrous three-minute love affair with the senses, is destined to scale deserving heights."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/51221375402/in/album-72157719331435173/|first=Nick|last=Duerden|title=The Adams Family|magazine=Record Mirror|date=January 12, 1991|page=5|accessdate=August 10, 2021}} Caroline Sullivan from Smash Hits labeled it as a "wistful souly ballad" from the former Tears For Fears backing singer.{{cite magazine|first=Caroline|last=Sullivan|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/smashhits90s/29298262748/in/album-72157670772584438/|title=Review: Singles|magazine=Smash Hits|issue=316|page=49|date=January 9, 1991|access-date=March 8, 2020}} Tonya Pendleton from Vibe called it "anthemic".{{cite magazine|first=Tonya|last=Pendleton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ySsEAAAAMBAJ|title=Oleta Adams - Moving On|magazine=Vibe|date=December 1, 1995|access-date=March 2, 2020}}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
=Chart performance=
"Get Here" reached the top 5 in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the UK, the single peaked at number four on February 17, 1991, after spending seven weeks on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached the top 30 in the Netherlands, peaking at number 27. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Get Here" peaked at number nine in March. Outside Europe, the song peaked at number 27 in Canada and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.
=Music video=
The accompanying music video for "Get Here" was directed by Greg Gold.{{cite web|url=https://en.kinorium.com/name/245795/|title=Greg Gold - director, writer, producer|publisher=Kinorium.com|access-date=June 11, 2023}} It begins outside a pittoresque red wall with a blue door and window, where Adams slowly appears in front. Then she is seen sitting and playing by a piano. Other scenes shows Adams in a room with blue-green walls and a white window, or she performs while standing in a corner. As the video progresses, Adams is also seen inside the red-walled house. The video concludes with a close-up of the singer as she sings the last lines of the song, while leaning towards one of the blue-green walls.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2-yUQS70Kc|title=Oleta Adams - Get Here (Official Video)|publisher=YouTube|access-date=August 1, 2020}}
=Track listings=
{{Track listing
| headline = 7-inch single, Europe (1990)
| title1 = Get Here
| note1 =
| length1 = 4:34
| title2 = I've Got to Sing My Song
| note2 = live
| length2 = 4:30
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = 12-inch single, UK (1990)
| title1 = Get Here
| note1 =
| length1 = 4:36
| title2 = I've Got to Sing My Song
| note2 = live
| length2 = 4:32
| title3 = Birdland
| note3 =
| length3 = 3:13
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = CD single, Europe (1990)
| title1 = Get Here
| note1 =
| length1 = 4:36
| title2 = I've Got to Sing My Song
| note2 = live
| length2 = 4:32
| title3 = Birdland
| note3 =
| length3 = 3:13
}}
=Charts=
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==Weekly charts==
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==Year-end charts==
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Other versions
- An uptempo cover version was released in the UK in 1993 by the dance act Q featuring Tracy Ackerman and reached number 37 in the UK Top 40.
- "Get Here" has also been recorded by many other artists including Vanessa Amorosi, Paul Anka, David Archuleta, Alexia Gardner, Salena Jones, Patti LuPone,{{Cite web|url=http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/music/patti-lupone-live|title = Patti LuPone Live}} Barbara Mandrell, Jennifer Rush, Livingston Taylor, Siti Nurhaliza, Jonalyn Viray, and Susan Wong.
- Edsilia Rombley recorded "Get Here" for her 1998 album Edsilia from which it was taken as a single reaching number 88 on the Netherlands charts: previously Rombley had recorded a Dutch rendering of the song entitled "Zorg Dat Je Er Bent" which had appeared on the singer's 1997 Thuis album.
- Australian born Irish singer Johnny Logan recorded the song as "Get Here If You Can" for his album, We All Need Love (2003).{{cn|date=February 2024}}
- The Beautiful South's album Gaze included a song with the same title and, partially, similar lyrics – but reversed the theme, with Paul Heaton protesting his unwillingness to travel any distance at all for his lover.{{cn|date=February 2024}}
- American singer-songwriter Bootstraps recorded a version of the song for his album, Homage: Deluxe Reissue (2018).
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Brenda Russell}}
{{Oleta Adams}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Fontana Records singles
Category:Mercury Records singles
Category:Music videos directed by Greg Gold