“Waiting for a Girl Like You” is a power ballad by the British-American rock band Foreigner. It was written by Mick Jones, Lou Gramm, and Ian McDonald and released in 1981 as part of their album “4.”
The song’s genesis can be traced back to when Foreigner was on tour in the late 1970s. Mick Jones had just separated from his wife and was feeling lonely and despondent. He had also recently moved to New York City, where he found it hard to meet people and make friends.
One day, Jones was sitting in a hotel room in New York, looking out of the window at the city below. He started thinking about his situation and how he wished he could find someone special to share his life with. He picked up his guitar and started playing a few chords, which eventually became the opening riff of “Waiting for a Girl Like You.”
Jones showed the riff to Lou Gramm and Ian McDonald, and together they started working on the song. Gramm took on the task of writing the lyrics, which are about a man who has been searching for love for a long time and finally finds the girl of his dreams. The song’s chorus is particularly memorable, with Gramm singing: “I’ve been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life. I’ve been waiting for a girl like you, your loving will survive.”
The song was a huge commercial success, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and staying there for ten weeks. It also topped the charts in several other countries, including the UK, Canada, and Australia. “Waiting for a Girl Like You” is now considered a classic of the 1980s power ballad genre and continues to be a popular song to this day.
