When I Need You - Leo Sayer (cover-live by Bill Sharkey)

When I Need You (Leo Sayer, 1977). Live cover performance by Bill Sharkey, Home Studio, Hawaii Kai, HI. 2025-08-31. "Keeping the Oldies & Classics Alive"

"When I Need You," written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager, was Leo Sayer's third top 10 hit and second no. 1 hit landing at the top position in 1977 (Whitburn, 2013). Sayer stated: "I was still a singer/songwriter and so I had to find something I believed in. . . . I liked Albert Hammond's songs and of course, Carole wrote 'Groovy Kind Of Love.' '99 Miles From LA,' 'The Air That I Breathe' and 'It Never Rains In Southern California' were all great songs, so I put on 'When I Need You' and wow! My wife, Janice, was home in England and those were the words I wanted to say on the phone. To me it was like a blues, and we recorded it first with Booker T on organ . . . It was completely wrong for the song, and we went back to how it was on the demo" (songfacts, 2025). As a side note, someone sued Hammond and Bayer Sayer on behalf of Leonard Cohen. It turns out that "the chorus of 'When I Need You' is musically identical to the portion of Leonard Cohen’s song 'Famous Blue Raincoat' where Cohen sings, 'Jane came by with a lock of your hair / She said that you gave it to her that night / That you planned to go clear.' When asked about it in 2006 by The Globe and Mail, Cohen replied, 'Somebody sued them on my behalf…and [Hammond & Bayer Sayer] did settle,' then he laughed and admitted, 'They hired a musicologist who said that particular motif was in the public domain and, in fact, could be traced back as far as Schubert'” (rhino, 2019).

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Lyrics:

When I need you
I just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so wanna give you
It's only a heartbeat away

When I need love
I hold out my hands and I touch love
I never knew there was so much love
Keeping me warm night and day

Miles and miles of empty space in between us
The telephone can't take the place of your smile
But you know I won't be travelin' forever
It's cold out but hold out and do I like I do

When I need you
I just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so wanna give you babe
It's only a heartbeat away

It's not easy when the road is your driver
Honey that's a heavy load that we bear
But you know I won't be traveling a lifetime
It's cold out but hold out and do like I do

Oh, I need you

When I need love
I hold out my hands and I touch love
I never knew there was so much love
Keeping me warm night and day

When I need you
Just close my eyes
And you're right here by my side
Keeping me warm night and day

I just hold out my hands
I just hold out my hand
And I'm with you darlin'
Yes, I'm with you darlin'
All I wanna give you
It's only a heartbeat away

Oh I need you darling