Jimmy Webb

Released: September 7, 1993

Songwriter: Jimmy Webb

Producer: Linda Ronstadt George Massenburg

[Verse 1]
Dear friend of mine, the weather's fine
Today I saw some ruins of the Roman world's decline
And I climbed up those Spanish stairs, you've heard of them no doubt
But Rome has lost its glory, I don't know what it's about

[Chorus]
(And I wish you were here)
When the shadows fall and all the rushing traffic stills
(Wish you were here)
And the bells are ringin' on the seven hills
I make my way to a small café
I wonder what you did today
I wish you were here

[Verse 2]
Dear one at home, I just flew in from Rome
And Paris is a postcard all decked out in color chrome
And so I climbed the Eiffel Tower and I prayed at Notre Dame
But I just can't find the romance and I wonder why I came

[Chorus]
(And I wish you were here)
On the Champs-Élysées, lovers walkin' hand in hand
(Wish you were here)
They take one look at me and seem to understand
The City of Light is a lovely sight
But the first bright star I see tonight
I wish you were here

[Bridge]
And now I write this from the plane
Drinkin' cheap champagne
And wond'rin' how two people got so far apart

[Chorus]
And I wish you were here
Here in London where the rain is pouring down
(Wish you were here)
On this airplane headed back to New York
I'll never leave you alone again
I'm comin' home, but until then
I wish you were here
I wish you were here
I wish you were here

[Bridge]
I wish you were here, baby
I've been all around this great big world, all on my own

[Chorus]
(Wish you were here)
Don't know if it's any good when you're travellin' all alone
(Wish you were here)
You people talkin' on the tower about that Taj Mahal
(Wish you were here)
When you get up close and it ain't really much of anything at all

[Outro]
Went down to Costa Rica to a little place called Taqueria Bay
Didn't do much but sit around and think about you all day
Mmm, mmm, mmm...

Jimmy Webb (also known by the names James Layne Webb, Jim Webb and J. Webb) was born on the 15th of August, 1946. He has written and produced countless platinum-selling hits such as “Highwayman”, “MacArthur Park”, “Galveston”, “Wichita Lineman”, “Up, Up and Away,” the recently popular “Do What You Gotta Do” (made famous from being sampled in a Kanye West song), and many more. Ever since his first released song “My Christmas Tree”, Jimmy Webb has received much professional attention and many awards for his compositions. During his career, he became the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame (which he was chairman of for a number of years), and is the only musician to receive Grammy awards for music, lyrics and orchestration.

In addition to his songwriting career, Webb has also composed film soundtracks for “The Last Unicorn”, “Voices” and “The Naked Ape”. Along with this, he has penned the main themes and soundtrack scores for television shows, including “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “E/R”.

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