“The Power of Love” – Single by Jennifer Rush from the album Jennifer Rush.
B-side: “I See a Shadow (Not a Fantasy)”
Released: December 1984.
Writers: Jennifer Rush and Mary Susan Applegate
Charted No.57 in US and No.1 in UK.
Jennifer Rush wrote the lyric about her boyfriend, the Harvard graduate Steven Engebretson. She said he was just her second boyfriend; the couple was still together long after the song was released.
Rush is from New York City, but she lived in Germany for a while and ended up getting her record deal with the German division of CBS Records, which paired her with the producers Gunther Mende and Candy DeRouge (real name: Wolfgang Detmann). Her songs began as poems, which she put to the music created by her producers, who didn’t speak English. On “Power Of Love,” she worked with the poet/lyricist Mary Susan Applegate, who got a songwriting credit on the track along with Rush, Mende and DeRouge.
This was the first ever million seller by a female soloist in Britain and the biggest selling single in UK in 1985. It held the record for the largest-selling single ever by a woman until Whitney Houston’s 1992 smash “I Will Always Love You.” At the time it held the record for the longest ever climb to #1 in the UK, with 16 weeks.
The accompanying music video of “The Power of Love” was directed by German director Michael Leckebusch. It was filmed in New York City. As the video begins, we see the city in the early morning hours. Some villainous types are walking around an empty office, looking for something. They are being discovered by Rush’s man, who obviously works at nights. Then the focus switches to Rush who is seen leaving Madison Square Garden. She starts singing and at home, she opens the door to her bedroom and finds her man lying asleep. When the chorus starts, Rush is standing in a freight elevator that is moving upwards. There are glimpses of the villainous men pushing her man to do things for them. Some scenes show Rush wearing black sunglasses, standing on the dock by the sea, while she watches the guys meeting on a pier to plot something. They are also hitting her man on the street by car. Apparently Rush is trying to help him out of the hands of these villains. Towards the end, she walks alone through the city in the evening hours, singing. At home, she once again opens the bedroom door, checking that her man is lying there asleep and then she shuts the door.
Lyrics:
The whispers in the morning
Of lovers sleeping tight
Are rolling by like thunder now
As I look in your eyes
I hold on to your body
And feel each move you make
Your voice is warm and tender
A love that I could not forsake
′Cause I am your lady
And you are my man
Whenever you reach for me
I’ll do all that I can
Even though there may be times
It seems I′m far away
But never wonder where I am
‘Cause I am always by your side
‘Cause I am your lady
And you are my man
Whenever you reach for me
I′ll do all that I can
We′re heading for something
Somewhere I’ve never been
Sometimes I am frightened
But I′m ready to learn ’bout the power of love
The sound of your heart beating
Made it clear suddenly
The feeling that I can′t go on
Is light-years away
‘Cause I am your lady
And you are my man
Whenever you reach for me
I′m gonna do all that I can
We’re heading for something
Somewhere I’ve never been
Sometimes I am frightened
But I′m ready to learn ′bout the power of love
Ooh, the power of love
The power of love
