Islands in the Stream

Islands in the Stream was written by the Bee Gees as an R&B song for another singer, then handed to Kenny Rogers for his 1983 album Eyes That See in the Dark, where producer Barry Gibb suggested bringing in Dolly Parton for a duet. It topped the US chart and reached the UK top ten, and it has been a British wedding floor filler for forty years. Couples who do not want a slow dance use it as a bright, jokey opener that gets both families up. The pace is an easy disco country strut. The title is borrowed from an Ernest Hemingway novel, and Parton joined Rogers to sing it one last time at his farewell concert in 2017.