As a member of Genesis, Mike Rutherford understood the benefit of switching up singles between darker tracks and more lighthearted songs. He remembered that strategy when he began fronting Mike + The Mechanics in the mid-80s.
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After a debut single that was moody and mysterious, his “side project” band delivered the shimmering pop gem “All I Need Is A Miracle”. Most people missed the fact that the lyrics weren’t as breezy as the music sounded.
Mechanics Assemble
Mike Rutherford found that he had more musical ideas than Genesis had room to cultivate. That’s not an uncommon problem when there are multiple talented musicians involved in a single act. But Rutherford didn’t really like the idea of putting out a solo album.
He had gone that route before. And he found that he felt uncomfortable acting as a “frontman”. That’s why, when he formed Mike + The Mechanics during a break between Genesis projects, he recruited two outstanding lead singers. Paul Carrack had already proven himself on hit singles for Squeeze and Ace and as a solo act. And Paul Young earned plaudits as the lead vocalist in The Sad Café. (And not as the singer of “Everytime You Go Away”. That’s a different Paul Young.)
The new band’s lead single was “Silent Running”, which hinted at a kind of dystopian science fiction scenario. Carrack took the lead on that track, which hit the US Top 10 in 1985. Paul Young took lead vocals on the second single, “All I Need Is A Miracle”, which copped a much different vibe.
“Miracle” Workers
Christopher Neil had been recommended to Mike Rutherford as a possible producer and collaborator for the Mike + The Mechanics project, and the two men hit it off. Neil produced the band’s debut album. He also came through as the writer of “All I Need Is A Miracle”, albeit with an assist from Rutherford.
When the two men started working together, Rutherford passed along a cassette tape containing a hodgepodge of musical ideas to Neil. Neil used a few of those snippets as the musical foundation for “All I Need Is A Miracle” and then supplied the lyrics.
The song stood out a bit from what Genesis usually did in that it utilized programmed drum beats. Bubbly synthesizers provided much of the melodic thrust. But the end result was another Top 10 US single in 1986, making it two for two for Mike + The Mechanics right out of the gate.
Behind the Lyrics of “All I Need Is A Miracle”
If you just get swept up in the chorus (“All I need is a miracle / All I need is you”), you might hear this as a song from a guy who has little chance of winning over a dream girl. But when you listen to the lyrics of the verses, you find out that he was once with her as a couple. But he frittered his relationship away through his own carelessness and cruelty.
“I didn’t care if you weren’t around me,” he admits of the past. “I didn’t care if you went away.” It gets worse: “But I went out of my way just to hurt you / The one I shouldn’t hurt at all.” At the very least, he’s learned the error of his ways. “If I ever catch up with you,” he promises. “I’m gonna love you for the rest of your life.”
The thrillingly upbeat music seems to suggest that this guy might just get what he desires, even if his past behavior doesn’t warrant it. With “All I Need Is A Miracle”, Mike + The Mechanics showed off their versatility and scored big because of it.
Photo by Jim Dyson/Getty Images
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