The Story of... 'Stayin' Alive' by the Bee Gees

18 September 2019, 14:30 | Updated: 19 September 2019, 15:43

It's one of the most iconic movie songs, and the track that cemented the Bee Gees as the ultimate disco kings.

The Bee Gees topped the charts around the world with this Saturday Night Fever track, but what inspired it and how was it made?

Here's all you need to know about 'Stayin' Alive':

1. Who wrote 'Stayin' Alive'?

   

   The executive producer of the Saturday Night Fever movie soundtrack and future Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood asked the group to write some songs for the soundtrack.

   At the time, the film was only just being developed and didn't have a title. Stigwood only knew that it had something to do with discomania.

   Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb wrote the song over a few days while working on a staircase at the Château d'Hérouville studio near Paris.

   The Bee Gees preferred to record the majority of the soundtrack in France for tax reasons, like many artists at the time.

2. What is the song about?

   

   RSO Records wanted the song to share the title of the film (at the time) - 'Saturday Night' - but the Bee Gees refused to change the title, as there had been too many songs with 'Saturday' in the title. Plus, the album already had a song called 'Night Fever'.

   Instead, Stigwood expanded the name of the film to include the title of 'Night Fever'.

   Several words from Robin Gibb's Concorde ticket actually inspired the lyrics for 'Stayin' Alive'.

   Robin said: "The subject matter of 'Stayin' Alive' is actually quite a serious one; It's about survival in the streets of New York, and the lyrics actually say that".

   Barry Gibb added: "People crying out for help. Desperate songs. Those are the ones that become giants. The minute you capture that on record, it's gold. 'Stayin' Alive' is the epitome of that.

   "Everybody struggles against the world, fighting all the bullshit and things that can drag you down. And it really is a victory just to survive. But when you climb back on top and win bigger than ever before, well that's something everybody reacts to everybody".

   Maurice further explained: "We'd also written a song called 'Saturday Night'. But there were so many songs called 'Saturday Night' even one by the Bay City Rollers, so when we rewrote it for the movie, we called it 'Stayin' Alive'.

3. How was the song made?

   The track was recorded at Criteria Studios, with Maurice Gibb playing a bass line similar to the guitar riff, Barry Gibb and Alan Kendall on guitar riffs, and Blue Weaver on synthesizers.

   Barry chose to sing falsetto on the whole song, except on the line "life’s going nowhere, somebody help me".

   Due to the death of backing drummer Dennis Bryon's mother in the middle of the sessions, the group looked for a replacement.

   The greatest Bee Gees songs, ranked

   However, as there was a shortage of qualified drummers in the area, they tried out a drum machine, with unsatisfactory results. After listening to the drum track of the already-recorded 'Night Fever', they took two bars from that track, and re-recorded them as a loop on a separate tape.

   As a joke, the group listed the drummer as 'Bernard Lupe' (a riff on session drummer Bernard Purdie). 'Lupe' became a highly sought-after drummer soon after!

4. Where was the music video filmed?

   

   Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (1977)

   The music video shows the group singing the song on an abandoned subway terminal set at MGM Studios, directly opposite the one where the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie was being filmed at the same time.

   The European video for 'Stayin' Alive' (featuring Barry without facial hair, weird) was also made, but were scrapped and re-shot in California after Barry grew back his beard.

5. Is it really used in medical training?

   

   Vinnie-Jones-hard-and-fast-Hands-only-CPR

   'Stayin' Alive' was later used in a study to train medical professionals to provide the right number of chest compressions per minute while performing CPR.

   It has close to 104 beats per minute, with 100–120 chest compressions per minute being the recommended amount by the British Heart Foundation.

   A study on medical professionals found that the quality of CPR is better when thinking about the song.

6. Who has covered it?

   

   N-Trance - Stayin' Alive

   Dance group N-Trance covered the song in 1995, reaching number two in the UK, featuring rapping from Ricardo Da Force. In fact, we often can't hear 'Stayin' Alive' without thinking of the line "Get rolled with the fever on the dance floor".

   There have also been covers by:

   - Ozzy Osbourne (yes, really)

   - The Happy Mondays

   - Lizzo

   - Capital Cities

   - Say Lou Lou

7. What are the lyrics?

   Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
   I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
   Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around
   Since I was born
   
   And now it's alright, it's okay
   And you may look the other way
   We can try to understand
   The New York Times' effect on man
   
   Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
   You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
   And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive

   Well now, I get low and I get high
   And if I can't get either, I really try
   Got the wings of heaven on my shoes
   I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose
   
   You know it's alright, it's okay
   I'll live to see another day
   We can try to understand
   The New York Times' effect on man
   
   Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
   You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
   And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive
   
   Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me
   Somebody help me, yeah
   Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me, yeah
   I'm stayin' alive
   
   Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
   I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
   Music loud and women warm
   I've been kicked around since I was born
   
   And now it's all right, it's okay
   And you may look the other way
   We can try to understand
   The New York Times' effect on man
   
   Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
   You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
   And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
   Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive