More Than a Woman (1977) – Bee Gees

Barry certainly goes all out in his falsetto vocals here, but it never feels overdone. It’s strange how I didn’t like this light disco tune when I was young – perhaps dismissing it as cheesy, overly commercial pop that saturated the airwaves and filled my parents’ parties. But when my friend Ashley at The Gentle Chapter recently brought More Than a Woman back to my attention in a Bee Gees post, something clicked. I suddenly remembered it fondly and found a new attachment to it.

It’s remarkable how tastes can shift with age. Maybe it’s nostalgia, or just a mellowing that comes over time. I had a similar 180-degree turn with another Bee Gees song, How Deep is Your Love and even If You Leave Me Now by Chicago – interestingly, all from around the same era and all staples of radio playlists.

I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta, which features More Than a Woman, but our family did own the soundtrack. It became one of the best-selling albums of all time, and for good reason. I’ve mentioned other songs from that record before, along with the Bee Gees’ remarkable rise during the disco era.

Of course, good things don’t always last. The group’s sudden decline in popularity in the early ’80s came as disco itself faced a backlash. Second-rate imitators flooded the market, and critics turned sharply against the genre. The Bee Gees were unfairly caught in that wave – almost reduced to symbols of “disco music” itself – and became easy scapegoats.

They even faced bomb threats at one point and were forced to regroup and rebuild their image. For a time, they shifted focus to songwriting for other artists, with great success. Eventually, their own music saw a revival from the mid-’90s onward, bringing in new generations of listeners. It’s also hard not to feel the weight of their story – Barry Gibb now the last surviving brother after the loss of his siblings, with whom he shared decades of music and success.

When I hear More Than a Woman now, what really stands out – and what I find most curious – is the songwriting. It almost feels like the song is morphing as it moves between the verses, pre-chorus, and chorus. You start to think the pre-chorus is the chorus, and then the actual chorus arrives and feels like a completely different beast. Each pre-chorus builds into a strong, almost chorus-like crescendo – especially with the line “We can take forever, just a minute at a time” – and then the chorus drops into a lower register, something entirely new, but just as good.

Despite being one of the Bee Gees’ best-known songs, More Than a Woman wasn’t released as a single in the US or UK at the time, though it did see single releases in countries like Italy and Australia.

Thanks for reading.

[Verse 1]
Oh, girl, I’ve known you very well
I’ve seen you growing every day
I never really looked before
But now you take my breath away
Suddenly you’re in my life
Part of everything I do
You got me working day and night
Just trying to keep a hold on you

[Pre-Chorus]
Here in your arms, I found my paradise
My only chance for happiness
And if I lose you now, I think I would die
Oh, say you’ll always be my baby, we can make it shine
We can take forever, just a minute at a time

[Chorus]
More than a woman
More than a woman to me
More than a woman
More than a woman to me

[Verse 2]
Oh, now there are stories old and true
Of people so in love like you and me
And I can see myself
Let history repeat itself
Reflecting how I feel for you
Thinking ’bout those people then
I know that in a thousand years
I’d fall in love with you again

[Pre-Chorus]
This is the only way that we should fly
This is the only way to go
And if I lose your love, I know I would die
Oh, say you’ll always be my baby, we can make it shine
We can take forever, just a minute at a time

[Chorus]

References:
1. More Than a Woman (Bee Gees song) – Wikipedia