Come to My Window

"Come to My Window"
Single by Melissa Etheridge
from the album Yes I Am
Released	1994
Format	CD single Compact Cassette
Recorded	A&M Studios, Los Angeles
Genre	Rock
Length	3:55 (Album Version) 3:35 (Edit)
Label	Island
Writer(s)	Melissa Etheridge
Producer	Hugh Padgham Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge singles chronology
"I'm the Only One" (1993) "Come to My Window" (1994) "All American Girl" (1994)

"Come to My Window" is a Grammy Award-winning song by Melissa Etheridge released in 1994 on her 1993 album Yes I Am. This was the first song to be released after Etheridge publicly announced her sexual orientation of being a lesbian. With the driving force of gay rights, the song gained a lot of airplay on radio stations, mostly through call-in requests. The song debuted on the Billboard charts after the first week of its release, reaching #25 on the chart. It was also the second song from Etheridge that earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Other versions

In 1997, The John Tesh Project featuring Brandon Fields on saxophone, covered the song from their album "Sax All Night."^[1]

Song information

When the song was being promoted, a portion of the song's beginning was omitted. This was to help accommodate some radio stations that wanted an instrumental beginning rather than a vocal one. The song's lyrics describes the intense love that Etheridge has for another person. It describes situations that she is willing to endure and how happy the other person makes her feel. In addition, the song implicitly alludes to the singer's sexual orientation and activism by the lyrics:

"I don't care what they think.

I don't care what they say.

What do they know about this love, anyway?"

Etheridge tells both in her autobiography and during the interview on the bonus DVD of her greatest hits album that Come to My Window is of all songs she has written the one that surprises her the most and that she almost did not put it on the album. She states that while she wrote the song, she did not realize what she was actually writing and that it was not before meeting Tammy Lynn Michaels that she understood what this songs means to other people. She also says that it has the best musical bridge part of all her songs.

The sound effect at the beginning was created by Mauricio Fritz Lewak who put coins inside of a pair of clash cymbals. This song was also about her girlfriend at the time.

Music video

The black-and-white music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, cuts between a mental patient (Juliette Lewis) and Etheridge playing her guitar and singing.

The video also features "child-like" drawings in certain scenes. According to an episode of VH1's Pop Up Video, these drawings were created by a crew member's five year old daughter. Additionally, the video was to have included an appearance by a little girl; the mental patient's "lost childhood". While the appearance was filmed, it got lost during editing.

Live performances

Etheridge performed Come to My Window during The Concert for New York City, the benefit concert following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Early during her performance, her microphone failed, leaving Etheridge to play her guitar without singing while an alternate mic was found. Famously, the audience, made up largely of members of the New York City fire and police departments (and survivors of NYPD and FDNY personnel who were lost in the attacks) sang the lyrics themselves until Etheridge's mic was restored.

The song was played by the World Wrestling Federation in the background of a tribute to fallen wrestler Owen Hart.

Tracklist

All songs written by Melissa Etheridge.

1. "Come to My Window" - 3:55
2. "Ain't it Heavy" (live) - 4:20
3. "The Letting Go" (live) - 3:05
4. "I'm the Only One" (live) - 5:30

Charts

Peak positions Year Chart Position 1994 Canadian Singles Chart 13 1994 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary 4 1994 U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 22 1994 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 25 1994 U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 13 1995 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 27 1995 U.S. Billboard Top 40 Adult Recurrents 4

End of year charts End of year chart (1994) Position U.S. Billboard Hot 100[2] 43

Credits and personnel

• Vocals and acoustic guitar by Melissa Etheridge
• Drums and percussion by Mauricio Fritz Lewak
• Electric guitar by Waddy Wachtel
• Keyboards by Scott Thurston
• Bass by Pino Palladino
• Engineer - Hugh Padgham
• Assistant engineers - Greg Goldman, John Aguto, Mike Baumgartner
• Mixed by Hugh Padgham
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering

References

1. ^ "Sax All Night overview". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p2809. 
2. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1994". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1994. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 

Sources

• Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled (Bonus DVD)
• Melissa Etheridge and Laura Morton: The Truth Is..., Random House 2002
• The single on amazon.de