As I listen to “Forever” from 1986’s Chicago 18, I wonder about the meaning of the word and the weight it carries. As the lyrics remind us:
Forever
Is a long, long time
Longer than we ever realize
If you make a commitment to be with someone forever, it’s the entirety of your life. Not one year, not six months or two months. Your whole life. Since we are imperfect beings, we either make mistakes or an event happens that is out of our control which prevent people from getting to forever. So, to some lovers a relationship that lasts forever is impossible, while for others it’s not.
Chicago’s “Forever” is meant to challenge people who say they will love someone forever: Do they really mean it? Are they serious? Do people know how much of a commitment forever is? I believe the nature of Robert Lamm, who cowrote this with Bill Gable, is to write songs that make you think and examine. And that’s certainly what “Forever” does for me. It makes me use my brain to ask questions.
The song follows a man who tells his lover how he feels about spending the rest of his life with another person. He’s for sure, and serious about it. To me, it almost sounds like a marriage proposal already happened, or perhaps it’s a promise made at the alter. Either way, Lamm was great vocally; he sang “Forever” as if he meant what he described.
I love the drum beats, especially the ones at the very beginning. Yes, I happen to like ‘80s drum sounds and synthesizers so when they were used in songs from this era, they don’t particularly bother me. The horns! The sax! The horns and the mini-saxophone solo at the end made this sound like a classic Chicago pop song. No Chicago song is complete without horns (even though there are hornless songs), and “Forever” is no exception.
But, in the end, the lyrics are what made “Forever” stand out to me most. The narrative really captures questions (like, “how do they know?”) that people might ask. It’s a beautiful, thought-provoking love song, and – though I wouldn’t call it a Lamm co-written masterpiece – probably one of my favorites off Chicago 18.
