| "Guiding Lights" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Earth, Wind & Fire | ||||
| from the album Now, Then & Forever | ||||
| Released | 2012 | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Length | 3:56 | |||
| Label | Sony Music/Legacy | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Walt B. & Neal Pogue | |||
| Earth, Wind & Fire singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Guiding Lights" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as a single in 2012 by Sony Music/Legacy. The song reached No. 16 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart and No. 30 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.
"Guiding Lights" was produced by Walt B. & Neal Pogue and composed by Philip D. Bailey, Austin Jacobs, Daniel McClain with Darrin Simpson. The song came from Earth, Wind & Fire's 2013 album Now, Then & Forever . [1]
Andy Kellman of Allmusic wrote, "My Promise and Guiding Light especially rise high enough to be slotted between classics without losing listener interest." [2] Elias Leight of Popmatters wrote that it was "a break-beat driven falsetto ballad that stretches the drama out past six minutes and includes a scream at the 4:18 mark that shouldn't be humanly possible for any man above the age of 30". Heo added, "The muted brass in "Guiding Lights" touches on the early '00s neo-soul that Earth, Wind & Fire helped inspire." [3] Emerys Baird of Blues & Soul wrote, "Ballad time, with the sultry "Guiding Lights", all replete with possibly the highest note ever hit by a human (even higher that Janet Kay on Silly Games!). It's a towering performance with the waffliest of synth solos, which nobody seems to do anymore, EWF at their best!" [4] Daryl Easlea of Record Collector described the song as a "big spiritual ballad". [5]
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs [6] | 16 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult R&B Songs [7] | 30 |
| Japan (Japan Hot 100) ( Billboard ) [8] | 77 |
