Get Here


"Get Here" is a pop ballad written by American singer and songwriter Brenda Russell. The title track of her fourth studio album Get Here, it became a moderate hit on the Billboard R&B chart on the heels of the album's massive first hit, "Piano in the Dark". American vocalist Oleta Adams recorded the song in 1990, making it a major international hit that reached the top 5 in both the US and the UK. Adams's version of "Get Here", co-produced by Roland Orzabal from the band Tears for Fears, 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". Although Russell did not pursue the musical ideas that came to her as her current record label saw her as a dance artist and she thought would not be interested in a song such as the one which became "Get Here", the song was still in the singer's mind when she woke up the next day: "I don't read or write music 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." 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 #37 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Oleta Adams version

In 1990, American singer Oleta Adams released her cover of "Get Here", which was taken from her 1990 album, Circle of One. 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. Adams's version of "Get Here" was issued as a single in early 1991. 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 Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1991.

Critical reception

The song received favorable reviews from many music critics. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song as a "gospel-tinged belter" in his review of Circle of One. Larry Flick from Billboard said in his review, that "delicate instrumental arrangement contrasts with Adams' powerful reading of a lovely Brenda Russell composition." The Commercial Appeal picked the song as a "standout" track from the album and described it as "magnificent". Karla Peterson from Copley News Service called it a "warmhearted" song. Ellen Fagg from The Deseret News wrote that the track is a "stunning love song-cum-transportation commercial". She noted 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." James Bernard from Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Get Here" is "an unrushed call to her lover" and noted that Adams' "voice can soar with intensity, hanging onto notes for dear life, or suddenly drop into hushed intimacy." Los Angeles Times said it's "one of the year's most satisfying hit singles." Stephen Holden from New York Times noted it as a "ballad of separation and longing". Philadelphia Daily News noted it as "that come-home-safe song widely connected to our troops in the gulf war." Caroline Sullivan from Smash Hits labeled it as a "wistful souly ballad" from the former Tears For Fears backing singer. Tonya Pendleton from Vibe called it "anthemic".

Music video

The music video for "Get Here" begins outside a red wall with a blue door and window. After a while, Adams is seen in front, before she is seen sitting and playing by a piano. As she begins to sing, she is back in front of the red wall. Other scenes show the singer singing in a blue-green room with a white window. In some scenes she also stands in a corner. Later in the video, Adams is seen in front of the red wall, now apparently inside and in front of one window. The video concludes with a close-up of Adams against the blue-green wall as she sings the last lines of the song.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Other versions

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..