"Words" | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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File:BeeGeesWords.jpg | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Single by Bee Gees | |||||||||||||||||||||||
B-side | "Sinking Ships" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Released | January 1968 May 1977 (live version) |
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Format | 7" single | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Recorded | 3 October 1967 IBC Studios, London 20 December 1976 The Forum, Los Angeles, California (live version) |
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Genre | Blues ballad | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Length | 3:13 4:23 (live version) |
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Label | UK: Polydor 56229, USA/CA: Atco | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Writer(s) | Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb/Maurice Gibb | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Producer | Robert Stigwood | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bee Gees singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Words" is the title of a song by the Bee Gees, written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. Barry said in 1996 on the VH1 Storytellers television show that it was written for their manager, Robert Stigwood.
The B-side for "Words" was "Sinking Ships," one of the very rare songs by the Bee Gees to feature all three brothers with lead vocals: Barry and Robin Gibb in the verses and Maurice Gibb on the song's chorus.
"Words" has been recorded by many other artists. Among them are a hit version by Rita Coolidge in 1978 and Boyzone on the 1996 album A Different Beat. This was Boyzone's fifth single and their first number one hit in the UK.
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It was originally written and intended for Cliff Richard, but he never got around to recording the track as he wasn't making an album at the time. Rather than wasting the song, the Bee Gees decided to record it themselves.[citation needed]
The vocals feature a very strong vibrato.[1] Barry Gibb sings lead vocal and possibly all the backing vocals as well. The band consisted of: Barry Gibb (rhythm guitar), Maurice Gibb (piano and bass guitar), Robin Gibb and Colin Petersen (drums), with an orchestral arrangement by Bill Shepherd. Some backing vocals near the end are heard only on the mono mix used on the single, some compilations, and the Studio Albums 1967-1968 box set.
Mixes for "Words" suffered many different problems. Since it was originally used only as a single, no stereo mix was made until Atlantic wanted one for the Best of Bee Gees album in 1969, where it made its first appearance on LP. For this someone made an extremely bad stereo mix with the piano, bass and drums mixed way down and the vocals pushed forward. Polydor in the UK passed it up and used the mono mix on their version of the album. Once again Bill Inglot saved the day in 1990 by preparing a good stereo mix for the first time and while doing so, he noticed that two short sections of backing vocal near the end of the song are on the mono mix but not on the four-track master, as if Barry added them while the mono mix was made. The Studio Albums 1967-1968 passed up Bill's mix and has only the original mono mix with all the backing vocal.
As stated on the Bee Gees single the song was featured in the film The Mini Bob (1968), where it was sung by Georgie Fame in an arrangement by Bill Shepherd similar to the Bee Gees single but recorded earlier.[citation needed] The very limited distribution of the film and the pre-emptive release of the Bee Gees version eclipsed the Georgie Fame recording.[citation needed]
Country | Peak position |
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Germany | 1 |
Netherlands | 1 |
China | 1 |
Belgium | 4 |
Austria | 4 |
Canada | 4 |
Norway | 7 |
United Kingdom | 8 |
France | 9 |
Italy | 11 |
Australia | 13 |
United States | 15 |
Japan | 19 |
The live version of this song was released as the B-side of "Edge of the Universe (live)" released in May 1977 and appeared on their first live album Here at Last...Bee Gees...Live also released in that month.
Lill Lindfors covered the song in 1968, in Swedish as "Nu".[2]
Glen Campbell released a version of the song on his 1968 #1 album Wichita Lineman.
Cilla Black released a version of the song on her 1969 album Surround Yourself with Cilla.
Country singer Susie Allanson covered the song in 1978, reaching #8 on the country charts.
Elvis Presley performed the song live in the late 60's and early 70's as part of his concerts and is available on the 1970 live album Elvis in Person at the International Hotel.
Rita Coolidge's version reached the Top 40 in the UK peaking at #25 in 1978.
Roy Orbison sang a rare cover version on his 1973 album Milestones.
Jessica Mauboy sang a cover of the song on Australian Idol season 4 on the Final 5 ARIA Hall of Fame theme night.
"Words" | ||||
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File:Boyzone words.jpeg | ||||
Single by Boyzone | ||||
from the album A Different Beat | ||||
Released | US: 2 October 1996 UK: 7 October 1996 |
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Format | CD | |||
Recorded | 1995 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 4:02 | |||
Writer(s) | Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb | |||
Boyzone singles chronology | ||||
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"Words" became the first single from Irish Boyband Boyzone's album A Different Beat. The single was their seventh single overall, becoming their first number one hit in the UK. The song was also the 10th biggest selling boyband single of the 90's in the UK,[citation needed] selling 520,000 copies[citation needed] and receiving a Gold certification.[3] The song was the 16th best selling single of 1996 in the UK.[citation needed]
Chart (1996) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA)[4] | 96 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[5] | 2 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] | 3 |
Belgium (Ultratop 40 Wallonia)[7] | 16 |
France (SNEP)[8] | 31 |
Ireland (IRMA)[9] | 1 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] | 18 |
Norway (VG-lista)[11] | 14 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[12] | 4 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] | 2 |
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company)[14] | 1 |
End of year chart (1996) | Position |
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Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[citation needed] | 67 |
UK Singles Chart[citation needed] | 16 |
Preceded by "How Bizarre" by OMC |
Irish IRMA number-one single 5 October 1996 (5 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Rat Trap" by Dustin & Bob Geldof |
Preceded by "Setting Sun" by Chemical Brothers |
UK Singles Chart number-one single 13 October 1996 (1 week) |
Succeeded by "Say You'll Be There" by Spice Girls |
"Words" is a 1982 song by F. R. David, which sold eight million copies worldwide and peaked at number two on the British charts in spring of 1983. The song was originally released only in France and Monaco in the winter of 1981, later it was released in the rest of Europe. In 1983, it finally was released in America and the UK. It was a huge European hit, peaking at number one in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Norway. It also went to number one in South Africa in late 1982 and spent 25 weeks on the charts. The photography of the 7" vinyl was made by Vassili Ulrich.
Initial copies of the recording on both LP and single credit the composition of "Words" solely to Robert Fitoussi, which is the real name of F. R. David. All later reissues of F. R. David's original recording of "Words", as well as all re-recordings, credit the composition of the song to Fitoussi (music), and Marty Kupersmith & Louis S. Yaguda (lyrics).
In the 2000s, David released a French language duo version of the song with the singer Winda entitled "Words, j'aime ces mots". F. R. David and Winda included also an English version as a duo.
"Words" is a song by American R&B singer-songwriter Anthony David, from his third studio album Acey Duecy. It features fellow contemporary R&B singer-songwriter India.Arie. The song peaked at #53 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, since its release. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 2009.
D'eux means "of them" or "about them," "Deux" is "two" in French.