You're the Inspiration

Peter Cetera stated in a 2004 interview that "You're the Inspiration" started out as a song for Kenny Rogers:

"David Foster called me up and he said, ‘I’m in the studio with Kenny Rogers, and he would like you to write a song for him.’ And I said, ‘That’s great! As a matter of fact, I’m leaving for Italy...’ I was going to Europe for something. I don’t remember [why]...and this was like nine o’clock in the morning. I said, ‘I’m leaving for Italy tonight around five o’clock. I’ll be there about two weeks, and I’ll call you when I come back.’ And he goes, ‘No, no, no, he means, like, now.’ (....) And so David was in the studio...and of course...you know, last minute. And so I said, ‘Alright, well you come over here right now, and we’ll see what we can do.’ So in the midst of packing, David drove out to where I was then living. And we basically, in about three hours, came up with a little chordal structure for “You’re the Inspiration,” which it wasn’t called that at the time. And we sort of made this little tape of this chord structure; I took it on the plane, [and] went to Italy. And, of course, lying in these beautiful baroque and marble rooms, and singing out the window...I was writing things about, ‘Michelangelo you should know, Michelangelo.’ And I came up with, oh...you’re the inspiration! [So, I] came back with the words, worked on this melody, and came back and presented the song. And [Kenny] basically didn’t have the time or didn’t want to do it. Good for me!"[6]

Cetera then changed some of the words and recorded the song with Chicago for their Chicago 17 album.

• Peter Cetera – lead and background vocals, arrangements
• Bill Champlin – guitars, keyboards, background vocals
• Robert Lamm – keyboards, background vocals
• Lee Loughnane – synth bass
• James Pankow – keyboards
• Walter Parazaider – guitar
• Chris Pinnick – guitar

Additional personnel

• Carlos Vega – drums
• Michael Landau – guitar
• Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
• Mark Goldenberg – guitar
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion
• David Foster – keyboards, synth programming, synth bass (Moog), additional arrangements
• John Van Tongeren – synthesizer programming
• Erich Bulling – synthesizer programming
• Marcus Ryle – synthesizer programming
• Gary Grant – trumpet
• Greg Adams – trumpet
• Kenny Cetera – background vocals

The video depicted the band performing intercut with scenes of embracing couples of varying ages ranging from young kids to a couple resembling Billy Idol and Madonna at the time. Lead singer Peter Cetera is seen wearing a T-shirt from the British goth band Bauhaus. During his performance, Cetera is sitting the whole time. Actor Matt Dillon was also in the music video.[7]

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1985 (U.S.)

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics