“Whenever You Come Around”
Vince Gill
Written by Vince Gill and Pete Wasner
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
June 10, 1994
Vince Gill’s heartsick instead of heartbroken this time around.
The Road to No. 1
After five No. 1 singles from his CMA Album of the Year, I Still Believe in You, Gill previewed his follow-up set, When Love Finds You.
The No. 1
On “Whenever You Come Around,” Vince Gill applies his lost love ballad formula to a love that has gone unrequited.
It’s nearly as desperate in its loneliness as “When I Call Your Name,” capturing the inner monologue of a man who simply can’t find the words to express his feelings to a woman he also can’t seem to avoid coming in contact with on a regular basis.
Trisha Yearwood turns in a strong harmony vocal that adds additional impact to an already powerful vocal performance from Gill.
Gill proves the old adage that it’s better to have loved and lost than to never loved at all, because this as sad as he has ever been on record.
The Road From No. 1
Gill’s streak of ten consecutive No. 1 singles will continue with the second single from When Love Finds You. We’ll cover it later in 1994.
“Whenever You Come Around” gets an A.
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Gill is such a talented singer, he can make crippling sadness still sound pretty. How can “holding the biggest heartache in town” sound so clean and pure? Shouldn’t it take groaning and straining vocal intensity to convey that level of hurt while describing the emotional mess of that imagery? As much as he can open up vocally, this performance works as a soft sigh of sadness. It whispers more than it whimpers.
It’s a brilliant and devastating vocal performance.