The final song ever composed and recorded by the late Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb will be released this September, on the posthumous album 50 St. Catherine's Drive. The song is titled "Sydney," after Sydney, Australia, and was recorded onto an iPad in 2011, about nine months before Gibb passed away of liver and colon cancer at age 62. The song will appear as the last track on 50 St. Catherine's Drive in its unfinished demo form.
In a statement concerning the release of "Sydney," Gibb's widow Dwina explains the origins of the song. "Robin composed this late at night, in August 2011, at our home, The Prebenda," she says. "He used bedroom keyboards and then Garageband on an iPad."
Discussing the song's lyrical content, Dwina says that the song is a nostalgic look back at the early days of the Bee Gees in Australia, saying, "He missed his twin brother Maurice, who had passed away; but when he closed his eyes, the three young brothers were back in Sydney, Australia, happy together with their dreams and hopes for the future. Their future creations of course affected the world."
As for the tone of the song, Dwina explains, "The fragment of song is poignant, wistful, beautiful, and unfinished. It belongs on this album as one of his last works. He cried when he wrote it, and I wept when I heard it."
The rest of 50 St. Catherine's Drive, named for the house in England where Gibb was born, consists of songs that Gibb recorded between 2006 and 2008 but never released. The album is set for release on September 29.
Check out the tracklisting for 50 St. Catherine's Drive:
01. Day of Wine & Roses
02. Instant Love
03. Alan Freeman Days
04. Wherever You Go
05. I Am The World (New Version)
06. Mother
07. Anniversary
08. Sorry
09. Cherish
10. Don't Cry Alone
11. Avalanche
12. One Way Love
13. Broken Wings
14. Sanctuary
15. Solid
16. All We Have Is Now
17. Sydney
