Introduction:
The Bee Gees – Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb – appeared on MTV’s Most Wanted in 1993 and performed a stripped-down version of their 1968 hit “I Gotta Get A Message To You.”
Known for their exceptional songwriting and crowd-pleasing vocals, the Bee Gees delivered a rarely seen performance that highlighted their acoustic harmonies at their finest.
Filmed at MTV Studios in Camden, London, the performance featured the three Gibb brothers seated on high stools, with Robin on lead vocals and Maurice and Barry flanking him on either side, both playing guitar.
Clad in stonewash denim – a signature look of the early ’90s – the Bee Gees gave a spine-tingling rendition of the song, once again proving the formidable talent the trio possessed.
“I Gotta Get A Message To You” tells the story of a man on death row who pleads with the prison chaplain to deliver a final message to his wife.
Co-written by Robin Gibb, he later described the song: “[It’s] about a prisoner on Death Row who only has a few hours to live. He wants the prison chaplain to pass on a final message to his wife. There’s a certain urgency about it.
“Barry and I wrote it together. It’s like writing a script. Sometimes you can sit for hours with a guitar and get nowhere, and then something just sparks in the final moments.
“It was like acting—we imagined someone facing execution, and asked: what would be going through their mind? Let’s not make it doom and gloom, but rather a plea to the one he loves. Because in that moment, that’s all he cares about. Even if he’s done something wrong, he’s still human and wants to send one last message.
“There’s someone out there he loves. It’s a torch song, but told in a very theatrical way—not abstract, but focused on someone in a dire situation, knowing the end is near.
“What would they say? That’s it: ‘Gotta get a message to you, hold on.’”
Released as a single on September 7, 1968, “I Gotta Get A Message To You” became the Bee Gees’ second UK number one, following the success of “Massachusetts” in 1967.