Mick Jones talks about the power ballads
2 min read
‘I do know what love is,” Foreigner’s Mick Jones tells me. “Love is the most important thing in the world. It gives us freedom, passion and emotion, it helps us understand the deeper meaning of things. Music has a way of conveying that better than anything else.”
It is 30 years since Jones wrote I Want To Know What Love Is. He still remembers the night. “It was two in the morning in my apartment in London, and I was with the woman who was to become my wife. I had just bought a Jupiter 8 synthesizer, and I was noodling around, trying different sounds out, and I hit on that organ sound. I put my hands on the keyboard and it just happened, it was almost a spiritual experience, four chords that set the mood up, and this line came into my head. I ran into the bedroom and woke my fiancée. I said, ‘I’ve got this great new song: I want to know what love is.’ She looked at me drowsily and said, ‘What do you mean? You don’t know already? We’re getting married!’ ”
“I’m not crazy about the term power ballad,” admits Mick Jones. “To me it conjures up metal bands thrashing away over corny love songs. A ballad doesn’t need to be over-produced. It comes from writing something that touches people’s hearts. Singing along, being part of a big chorus, has its own dynamics. At our shows, we see all ages, kids as young as 10, adults as old as me, singing all the words. That’s the real power.”
Source: The Telegraph
