About The Song
After signing a recording deal with RCA, reportedly worth an estimated $20 million, Kenny Rogers selected an unusual recording partner in the guise of producer Barry Gibb, one-third of the pop/disco act, The Bee Gees. With Rogers’ first RCA album in the planning stages, Barry and his brothers, Robin and Maurice, set to work on writing songs to fill it.
The brothers came up with nine tunes for Kenny’s “Eyes That See in the Dark” album, but the tenth one, “Islands in the Stream” (written in a rhythm and blues style), they decided to hold back for Marvin Gaye to record. When that deal fell through, a re-working of the song’s arrangement was done to suit Rogers and he ended up taking it.
Originally planned as a solo recording, an idea was soon developed to turn it into a duet. By chance, Barry Gibb’s favorite female singer at the time was Dolly Parton, and since Dolly was already on RCA, there were no hassles with the legal department in signing her onto the project. Before Rogers’ RCA signing, she and Kenny had never worked in the studio together (being on different labels), although they previously sang duets on a couple of television shows.
The “Islands in the Stream” session turned out beautifully. Everyone in the studio was very relaxed with each other. Kenny & Dolly did all of their vocals live, with no separate overdubs from each artist.
Not surprisingly, the dream combination of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton was an instant winner with both country and pop radio. “Islands in the Stream” (its title taken from the first posthumously-published Ernest Hemingway novel) simultaneously topped Billboard’s country and pop charts for two weeks each (beginning October 29, 1983), while on its way to racking up a slew of awards. Kenny & Dolly earned the American Music Award for “Best Country Single,” and picked up trophies for “Single Record of the Year” and “Vocal Duet of the Year” from the Academy of Country Music.
On October 18, 1983, “Islands in the Stream” joined the Oak Ridge Boys’ 1981 megahit, “Elvira,” as one of only two country records, up to that time, certified by the Recording Industry Association of America as “platinum” singles, with sales of over two million copies.
The “Eyes That See in the Dark” album also provided several other successes for Rogers. “Buried Treasure,” a song the Gibbs’ specifically wrote for Kenny and then-wife Marianne, reached #3, while “Evening Star” peaked at #11. Both featured Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers Band as guest vocalists (the riff apparently mended over Kenny’s unfortunate use of the “Gatlin” name in 1980’s “Coward of the County”). “Buried Treasure’s” flip side, “This Woman,” also earned a #23 peak on Billboard’s “Hot 100” pop chart and was a near-miss on the adult contemporary side, coming in at #2.
Video
Lyrics
Baby, when I met you there was peace unknown
I set out to get you with a fine tooth comb
I was soft inside
There was something going on
You do something to me that I can’t explain
Hold me closer and I feel no pain
Every beat of my heart
We got something going on
Tender love is blind
It requires a dedication
All this love we feel needs no conversation
We ride it together, ah ha
Making love with each other, ah ha
Islands in the stream
That is what we are
No one in between
How can we be wrong?
Sail away with me
To another world
And we rely on each other, ah ha
From one lover to another, ah ha
I can’t live without you if the love was gone
Everything is nothing if you got no one
And you did walk in the night
Slowly losing sight of the real thing
But that won’t happen to us and we got no doubt
Too deep in love and we got no way out
And the message is clear
This could be the year for the real thing
No more will you cry
Baby, I will hurt you never
We start and end as one
In love forever
We can ride it together, ah ha
Making love with each other, ah ha
Islands in the stream
That is what we are
No one in between
How can we be wrong?
Sail away with me
To another world
And we rely on each other, ah ha
From one lover to another, ah ha
Sail away
Oh, come sail away with me
Islands in the stream
That is what we are
No one in between
How can we be wrong?
Sail away with me
To another world
And we rely on each other, ah ha
From one lover to another, ah ha
Islands in the stream
That is what we are
No one in between
How can we be wrong?
Sail away with me
To another world
And we rely on each other, ah ha
From one lover to another, ah ha
Islands in the stream
That is what we are
No one in between