When I Need You
Written by Carol Jill Bayer Sager / Albert Louis Hammond.

Released on the 1996 album The Show Must Go On.

This song was previously sung by Leo Sayer. For more detailed information about Leo Sayer see the biography from the official Leo Sayer website.

For a detailed biography of Albert Hammond see the official website.

In the 1960s, Carol Bayer Sager, also known as Carole Bayer Sager, attended New York's High School of Music and Art, where she began writing poems - as lyrics. In 1966, she came to the attention of Screen Gems president Don Kirshner, who signed her to his publishing company, where she soon was penning songs for such groups as 'The Monkees' and 'The Mindbenders'. In 1970, she wrote the lyrics for the off-Broadway show Georgy.

In 1975, she co-composed "Midnight Blue", and "Don't Cry Out Loud" (also performed by Shirley Bassey). In 1978, Elektra issued her 'debut' album. After producing "When I Need You" Sager next worked with husband, Marvin Hamlisch, on the Broadway musical They're Playing Our Song, which may have had some autobiographical content exploring the romantic entanglements of a songwriting team. Later, Carole and Marvin were nominated for an Oscar nomination their song "Nobody Does It Better," -the theme of the James Bond movie thriller The Spy Who Loved Me . In 1981, Sager's third LP Sometimes Late at Night, had her biggest solo hit, - the single "Stronger Than Before".

Regretfully, her marriage to Hamlisch ended in divorce, and she began working with another composer, Burt Bacharach. Their 1981 song "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", - a hit for singer Christopher Cross, earned them an Academy Award. The next year, Sager and Bacharach, were married, and though this marriage also, sadly, ended in divorce (1991), their partnership was very fruitful. The song "That's What Friends Are For" (also performed by Shirley) originally written in 1982 for the comedy Night Shift, is perhaps their most notable. For singer Neil Diamond, Sager, and Bacharach wrote the hit "Heartlight". For a Patti Labelle /Michael McDonald duet, they wrote "On My Own". In 1988 the team scored the soundtrack for the sequel Arthur 2: On the Rocks, and also wrote some tracks for Barbra Streisand's LP Till I Loved You.

Since her divorce from Bacharach; Carol has continued to work, writing songs for such films as Beethoven's 2nd and Junior. She is currently (2002) married to Robert Daly.
 

Lyrics

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

Miles of empty space in between us
A telephone can't take the place of your smile
But you know I won't be travelling forever
It's cold out, but hold out
And do like I do
When I need you
I just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so want to give you
Is only a heart beat away

It's not easy when the road is your driver
That's a heavy load that we bear

But you know I won't be travelling a lifetime
Its cold out, but hold out
And do like I do
I need you

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

But you know I won't be travelling a lifetime
Its cold out, but hold out
And do like I do
Its cold out, but hold out
And do like I do
I need you

(Transcribed by Roman)