"When I See You Smile" is a song written by

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

and performed by American-British

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

band

Bad English Bad English was an American/British glam metal supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Neal Schon ...

. It was released in September 1989 as the second single taken from their self-titled debut album released in 1989. The

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

is the band's most successful song, reaching number-one in both the United States and Canada.

Music video

In the video the band are performing on a stage, which contains close-up shots of its members. The footage was taken at one of their arena concerts. It shows

Jonathan Cain Jonathan Leonard Friga (born February 26, 1950), known professionally as Jonathan Cain, is an American musician and songwriter best known as the keyboardist for Journey. He has also worked with the Babys and Bad English. Cain was inducted into ...

's distinctive synthesizer opening and moves into the soft initial vocal work of

John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...

. The tempo picks up with

Deen Castronovo Deen J. Castronovo (born August 17, 1964) is an American drummer and singer, best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands Jo ...

's drum work and

Neal Schon Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hono ...

's trademark guitar during which Waite becomes more emphatic vocally; the song finishes with Waite's soft vocals. The video was directed by Jonathan Cain.

Track listings

7-inch, cassette, and mini-CD single # "When I See You Smile" – 4:16 # "Rockin' Horse" – 5:26 12-inch and CD single # "When I See You Smile" – 4:17 # "Tough Times Don't Last" – 4:40 # "Rockin' Horse" – 5:28

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1989 songs 1989 singles Bad English songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Epic Records singles Glam metal ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Richie Zito Songs written by Diane Warren 1980s ballads