Come to My Window

"Come to My Window" is a song by Melissa Etheridge released as the second single from her 1993 album "Yes I Am". This was the first song to become a hit after Etheridge publicly announced that she was a lesbian. With the driving force of gay rights, the song gained a lot of airplay on radio stations, mostly through call-in requests. The song debuted on the "Billboard" charts after the first week of its release, reaching number 25 on the chart. The song also charted in Canada, reaching number 13 on the "RPM" Top Singles chart. It was the second song from Etheridge that earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Song information.
When the song was being promoted, a portion of the song's beginning was omitted. This was to help accommodate some radio stations that wanted an instrumental beginning rather than a vocal one. The song's lyrics describes the intense love that Etheridge has for another person. It describes situations that she is willing to endure and how happy the other person makes her feel. In addition, the song implicitly alludes to the singer's sexual orientation and activism by the lyrics:
Etheridge tells both in her autobiography and during the interview on the bonus DVD of her greatest hits album that out of all songs she has written, "Come to My Window" is the one that surprises her the most, and that she almost did not put it on the album. She states that while she wrote the song, she did not realize what she was actually writing and that it was not before meeting Tammy Lynn Michaels that she understood what this song means to other people. She also says that it has the best musical bridge part of all her songs.
The sound effect at the beginning was created by Mauricio Fritz Lewak who put coins inside of a pair of clash cymbals. This song was also about her girlfriend at the time.
Music video.
The black-and-white music video, directed by Samuel Bayer, cuts between a mental patient (Juliette Lewis) and Etheridge playing her guitar and singing.
The video also features "child-like" drawings in certain scenes. According to an episode of VH1's "Pop Up Video", these drawings were created by a crew member's five-year-old daughter. Additionally, the video was to have included an appearance by a little girl; the mental patient's "lost childhood". While the appearance was filmed, it got lost during editing.
Live performances.
Etheridge performed "Come to My Window" during The Concert for New York City, the benefit concert following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Early during her performance, her microphone failed, leaving Etheridge to play her guitar without singing while an alternate mic was found. Famously, the audience, made up largely of members of the New York City fire and police departments (and survivors of NYPD and FDNY personnel who were lost in the attacks) sang the lyrics themselves until Etheridge's mic was restored.
The song was played by the World Wrestling Federation in the background of a tribute to wrestler Owen Hart who died during a match.
Track listings.
All songs written by Melissa Etheridge.
US and UK CD single
US and Canadian cassette single
European and Australian CD single
Other versions.
In 1997, The John Tesh Project featuring Brandon Fields on saxophone, covered the song from their album "Sax All Night."
In the American Dad! episode, "Standard Deviation", Etheridge is an alter ego of Roger and Stan plays a record of Roger singing "Come to My Window".