Wind Beneath My Wings

The harmony of 'Wind Beneath My Wings' is built on diatonic chords in Bb major, elevated by sophisticated voice leading and a memorable descending bass line in the chorus. The verse's pedal-tone oscillation between I and IV creates a contemplative atmosphere, while the chorus's stepwise descending bass provides the emotional arc that makes the song so affecting. The whole-step modulation to C major for the final chorus adds a dramatic lift typical of power ballads of the era.

Larry Henley had previously written a poem titled "Wind Beneath My Wings" for his ex-wife. When he and Jeff Silbar sat down to write a song intended for Bob Seger, Silbar noticed the title on Henley's legal pad and was inspired to craft a song around those words. The resulting composition did not incorporate any text from the original poem — Henley wrote entirely new lyrics while Silbar composed the music.

Written by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley in 1982, "Wind Beneath My Wings" became a defining moment in Bette Midler's career when she recorded it for the Beaches soundtrack. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 1990 Grammy Awards, becoming one of the most beloved ballads of the late 1980s.