Missing You (John Waite song)

The song is a soft rock, pop rock, and white soul track.^[2][3][4][5] It is performed in the key of G♭ major with a tempo of 104 beats per minute in common time. Waite's vocals span from G♭₃ to C♭₅ in the song.^[6]

In the verses/bridge, the singer describes how much he misses his ex-lover, while in the chorus, he lies to himself and vehemently denies missing them. The opening line "Every time I think of you"^[7] is the title of a song by Waite's group the Babys.^[8]

Waite's record label was convinced they had enough songs for the No Brakes album, but he felt it lacked a hit single. He went to a songwriter's house in LA, who showed him a guitar melody on a cassette tape. Waite listened to the melody once through, and the second time, improvised the entire first verse, 'B' section, and "missing you" section without stopping. Waite said the song was about three women in his life: he was getting divorced, and he was thinking of an old love interest from when he first moved to New York City as well as a current love interest. He said, "I was singing about New York, and distance, the caving in of my marriage, and the options that I had. It was bittersweet – it was about the end of my marriage and the beginning of something new. Although, when I was singing 'I ain't missing you', it was denial too." He had to convince the record label to spend an extra $5,000 to record this one last song.^[9]

The song was later mentioned by Sheila Weller as describing O. J. Simpson's obsession with Nicole Brown Simpson and was the inspiration for the title of Weller's book Raging Heart.^[10]

The accompanying music video for "Missing You" was written, directed and produced by Kort Falkenberg III and was filmed in Los Angeles in 1984.

To start the clip, John Waite is sitting in a chair, and after seeing a picture of a woman (played by actress Elizabeth Reiko Kubota) with whom he is still in love, he, frustrated, slaps the lamp above him causing it to swing back and forth and begins to sing the song. When he opens his bedroom door, a woman playfully jumps into his arms and they embrace falling back onto the bed. Later, Waite watches through a crack in the door as the woman angrily throws her clothes into her suitcase. She pushes through the door to leave and she storms past him. He sadly remembers being at one of her photo shoots.

Waite later tries to call her from a phone booth, but when the woman finally picks up the phone, her only connection is to a dangling phone in an empty phone booth: Waite is gone. He laments "I ain't missin' you at all" as he walks down the street only to see a picture of the woman on a newspaper. He goes into a bar. There, an older woman tries to flirt with him, but for sheer sorrow he shows he is not interested. He goes home again still pining for the woman. He tries to call her but his anger and frustration gets the better of him and he smashes the phone into pieces. When she finally comes to his door and knocks, he doesn't answer, as he doesn't hear her knock over the music playing on his earphones. She leans against the door gently touching it and, with a deep breath, she turns and leaves as tears flow down her face.^[11]

• John Waite – lead and backing vocals
• Mark Leonard - keyboards
• Gary Myrick – guitars
• Donnie Nossov – bass, backing vocals
• Curly Smith – drums
• Steve Scales – percussion

"Missing You"
Single by Tina Turner
from the album Wildest Dreams
B-side	"The Difference Between Us"
Released	July 15, 1996[39]
Genre	Dance-rock
Length	4:36
Label	Parlophone
Songwriters	John Waite Mark Leonard Charles Sandford
Producer	Trevor Horn
Tina Turner singles chronology
"On Silent Wings" (1996) "Missing You" (1996) "Something Beautiful Remains" (1996)
Music video
"Missing You" on YouTube

"Missing You" was also recorded by American singer and actress Tina Turner in 1996, and was released by Parlophone Records as the third single from her ninth solo album, Wildest Dreams (1996). When Waite's original version of "Missing You" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in late 1984, it ended the reign of Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It". Turner's version of "Missing You", which was produced by Trevor Horn, hit No. 12 in the UK and No. 84 in the US in 1996. The accompanying music video was directed by Peter Lindbergh and premiered in mid-1996.

The single "Missing You" included an edited single version of the track, an alternative mix and certain formats also the European non-album track "The Difference Between Us", later featured on the US edition of the Wildest Dreams album. The B-side of the US edition of the CD single was the non-album track "Do Something" which was the B-side of the UK single for "On Silent Wings".

Larry Flick from Billboard magazine complimented Turner's version as "a lushly arranged rendition". He wrote, "Under the shrewd guidance of mega-producer Trevor Horn, Turner's distinctive growl is pushed to deliciously dramatic heights and is matched by countless layers of synths and a crisp rock backbeat. The combined attention of the singer's loyalists and those who simply never get enough of this timeless tune should make this cover an instant (and most deserving) winner at top 40 and AC."^[40] A reviewer from Music Week gave the song a score of four out of five, adding that "a lottery show appearance and a fine cover of this John Waite hit should do the business for la Turner."^[41]

• European album version – 4:36
• US album version – 4:40
• Single edit – 4:02
• Alternate mix – 4:04

"Missing You"
Single by Brooks & Dunn
from the album Tight Rope
B-side	"The Trouble with Angels"
Released	2 August 1999
Genre	Country
Length	3:46
Label	Arista Nashville
Songwriters	John Waite, Mark Leonard, Charles Sandford
Producers	Kix Brooks Ronnie Dunn Byron Gallimore
Brooks & Dunn singles chronology
"South of Santa Fe" (1999) "Missing You" (1999) "Beer Thirty" (1999)
Music video
"Missing You" on YouTube

This song was also recorded by American country music group Brooks & Dunn and was released in August 1999 as the lead single from the album Tight Rope. Their version peaked at No. 6 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks, No. 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks and reached No. 75 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

The music video was directed by Deaton Flanigen and premiered in mid-1999.

"Missing You" peaked at number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts for the week of 18 December 1999.