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Pachelbel's Canon - Wikipedia
2003-10-09
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<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Pachelbel%27s_Canon_-_Mus.MS_16481-8_Page_1.jpg"></a></p><div><p>First page of manuscript 16481-8 at <a href="/wiki/Berlin_State_Library">Berlin State Library</a>—oldest surviving copy of Pachelbel's "Canon and Gigue in D major"</p></div></div>
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<p><b>Pachelbel's Canon</b> (also known as the <b>Canon in D</b>, P 37) is an <a href="/wiki/Canon_(music)">accompanied canon</a> by the German <a href="/wiki/Baroque_music">Baroque</a> composer <a href="/wiki/Johann_Pachelbel">Johann Pachelbel</a>. The canon was originally scored for three violins and <a href="/wiki/Basso_continuo">basso continuo</a> and paired with a <a href="/wiki/Gigue">gigue</a>, known as <i>Canon and Gigue for 3 violins and basso continuo</i>. Both <a href="/wiki/Movement_(music)">movements</a> are in the <a href="/wiki/Key_(music)">key</a> of <a href="/wiki/D_major">D major</a>. Although a true canon at the unison in three parts, it also has elements of a <a href="/wiki/Chaconne">chaconne</a>. Neither the date nor the circumstances of its composition are known (suggested dates range from 1680 to 1706), and the oldest surviving manuscript copy of the piece dates from 1838 to 1842.<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup>
</p><p>Like his other works, Pachelbel's Canon went out of style, and remained in obscurity for centuries. A 1968 arrangement and recording of it by the <a href="/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Paillard">Jean-François Paillard</a> chamber orchestra gained popularity over the next decade, and in the 1970s the piece began to be recorded by many ensembles; by the early 1980s its presence as background music was deemed inescapable.<sup><a href="#cite_note-prisoners-2">[2]</a></sup> From the 1970s onward, elements of the piece, especially its <a href="/wiki/Chord_progression">chord progression</a>, were used in a variety of <a href="/wiki/Pop_music">pop songs</a>. Since the 1980s, it has also found increasingly common use in weddings and funeral ceremonies in the Western world.<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-co-op_funeral_care-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Creation[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In his lifetime, Pachelbel was renowned for his organ and other keyboard music, whereas today he is also recognized as an important composer of <a href="/wiki/Church_music">church</a> and <a href="/wiki/Chamber_music">chamber music</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Nolte-5">[5]</a></sup> Little of his chamber music survives, however. Only <i><i>Musikalische Ergötzung</i></i>—a collection of <a href="/wiki/Partita">partitas</a> published during Pachelbel's lifetime—is known, apart from a few isolated pieces in manuscripts. The Canon and Gigue in D major is one such piece. A single 19th-century manuscript copy of them survives, Mus.MS 16481/8 in the <a href="/wiki/Berlin_State_Library">Berlin State Library</a>. It contains two more chamber suites. Another copy, previously in <a href="/wiki/Berlin_University_of_the_Arts">Hochschule der Künste</a> in Berlin, is now lost.<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup>
</p><p>The circumstances of the piece's composition are wholly unknown. <a href="/wiki/Hans-Joachim_Schulze">Hans-Joachim Schulze</a>, writing in 1985, suggested that the piece may have been composed for <a href="/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Bach_(organist_at_Ohrdruf)">Johann Christoph Bach</a>'s wedding, on 23 October 1694, which Pachelbel attended. <a href="/wiki/Johann_Ambrosius_Bach">Johann Ambrosius Bach</a>, Pachelbel, and other friends and family provided music for the occasion.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Schulze,_Hans-Joachim_1721-7">[7]</a></sup> Johann Christoph Bach, the oldest brother of <a href="/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach">Johann Sebastian Bach</a>, was a pupil of Pachelbel. Another scholar, Charles E. Brewer, investigated a variety of possible connections between Pachelbel's and <a href="/wiki/Heinrich_Ignaz_Franz_Biber">Heinrich Biber</a>'s published chamber music. His research indicated that the Canon may have been composed in response to a chaconne with canonic elements which Biber published as part of Partia III of <i>Harmonia artificioso-ariosa</i>. That would indicate that Pachelbel's piece cannot be dated earlier than 1696, the year of publication of Biber's collection.<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> Other dates of the Canon's composition are occasionally suggested, for example, as early as 1680.<sup><a href="#cite_note-altogether_now-9">[9]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Rediscovery and rise to fame[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The canon (without the accompanying gigue) was first published in 1919 by scholar Gustav Beckmann, who included the score in his article on Pachelbel's chamber music.<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> His research was inspired and supported by early music scholar and editor <a href="/wiki/Max_Seiffert">Max Seiffert</a>, who in 1929 published his arrangement of the "Canon and Gigue" in his Organum series.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> However, that edition contained numerous <a href="/wiki/Articulation_(music)">articulation</a> marks and <a href="/wiki/Dynamics_(music)">dynamics</a> not in the original score. Furthermore, Seiffert provided <a href="/wiki/Tempo">tempi</a> he considered right for the piece, but that were not supported by later research.<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> The canon was first recorded in 1940 by <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Fiedler">Arthur Fiedler</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 1968, the <a href="/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Paillard">Jean-François Paillard</a> chamber orchestra made a recording of the piece that would change its fortunes significantly.<sup><a href="#cite_note-prisoners-2">[2]</a></sup> This rendition was done in a more <a href="/wiki/Romanticism">Romantic</a> style, at a significantly slower tempo than it had been played at before, and contained <i><a href="/wiki/Obbligato">obbligato</a></i> parts, written by Paillard.<sup><a href="#cite_note-prisoners-2">[2]</a></sup> The Paillard recording was released in June in France by <a href="/wiki/Erato_Records">Erato Records</a> as part of an <a href="/wiki/LP_record">LP record</a> that also included the Trumpet Concerto by <a href="/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Fasch">Johann Friedrich Fasch</a> and other works by Pachelbel and Fasch, all played by the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra. Paillard's interpretation of the canon was also included on a widely distributed album by the mail-order label <a href="/wiki/Musical_Heritage_Society">Musical Heritage Society</a> in 1968.
</p><p>In July 1968, Greek band <a href="/wiki/Aphrodite%27s_Child">Aphrodite's Child</a> released the single "<a href="/wiki/Rain_and_Tears">Rain and Tears</a>", which was a baroque-rock adaptation of Pachelbel's Canon.<sup><a href="#cite_note-rain_and_tears-14">[14]</a></sup> The band was based in France at the time, although it is unknown whether they had heard the Paillard recording, or were inspired by it. "Rain and Tears" was a success, reaching number 1 on the pop charts of various European countries. Several months later, in October 1968, Spanish band <a href="/wiki/Pop-Tops">Pop-Tops</a> released the single "Oh Lord, Why Lord", which again was based on Pachelbel's Canon.<sup><a href="#cite_note-one_hit_wondering-15">[15]</a></sup> Again, it is unknown whether they were aware of or had been inspired by the releases from earlier that year. "Oh Lord, Why Lord" was covered by American band <a href="/wiki/Parliament_(band)">Parliament</a> on their 1970 album <i><a href="/wiki/Osmium_(album)">Osmium</a></i>.
</p><p>In 1970, a classical radio station in San Francisco played the Paillard recording and became inundated by listener requests. The piece gained growing fame, particularly in California.<sup><a href="#cite_note-move_over-16">[16]</a></sup> In 1974, <a href="/wiki/London_Records">London Records</a>, aware of the interest in the piece, reissued a 1961 album of the <a href="/wiki/Arcangelo_Corelli">Corelli</a> <a href="/wiki/Christmas_Concerto">Christmas Concerto</a> performed by the <a href="/wiki/Stuttgart_Chamber_Orchestra">Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra</a>, which happened to contain the piece, now re-titled to <i>Pachelbel Kanon: the Record That Made it Famous and other Baroque Favorites</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-move_over-16">[16]</a></sup> The album was the highest-selling classical album of 1976.<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> Its success led to many other record labels issuing their own recordings of the work, many of which also sold well.<sup><a href="#cite_note-move_over-16">[16]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 1977, the <a href="/wiki/RCA_Red_Seal">RCA Red Seal</a> label reissued the original Erato album in the United States and elsewhere. In the U.S. it was the 6th-highest-selling classical album of 1977. (Two other albums containing Pachelbel's Canon charted for the year: the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra album at number 17, and another album featuring the Paillard recording, <i>Go For Baroque!</i>, at number 13.)<sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup> The Paillard arrangement of the piece was then featured prominently in the soundtrack of the 1980 film <i><a href="/wiki/Ordinary_People">Ordinary People</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-prisoners-2">[2]</a></sup> The Erato/RCA album kept climbing the <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i> Classical Albums chart, and in January 1982 it reached the number 1 position,<sup><a href="#cite_note-prisoners-2">[2]</a></sup> where it remained until May 1982, when it was knocked out of first place by an album featuring Pachelbel's Canon played by the <a href="/wiki/Academy_of_Ancient_Music">Academy of Ancient Music</a> directed by <a href="/wiki/Christopher_Hogwood">Christopher Hogwood</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup> The canon was selected for the soundtrack of <a href="/wiki/Carl_Sagan">Carl Sagan</a>'s popular 1980 American <a href="/wiki/PBS">PBS</a> television series <i><a href="/wiki/Cosmos:_A_Personal_Voyage">Cosmos: A Personal Voyage</a></i>, and the astronomer cited this work as one of his <i><a href="/wiki/Desert_Island_Discs">Desert Island Discs</a></i> on the <a href="/wiki/BBC">BBC</a> on 18 July 1981.<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup> In 1981 <i>The Music of Cosmos</i>, an album by <a href="/wiki/RCA_Records">RCA Records</a>, and in 2000 a CD by the Cosmos Studios label of the soundtrack were published, that feature an arrangement of the canon by Glenn Spreen and <a href="/wiki/James_Galway">James Galway</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 1982, pianist <a href="/wiki/George_Winston">George Winston</a> included his "Variations on the Kanon by Johann Pachelbel" on his solo piano album <i><a href="/wiki/December_(George_Winston_album)">December</a></i>, which has sold over three million copies.<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Analysis[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Canon[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<div><div><p></p></div><p>First 10 bars; colors highlight four of a total of 28 <a href="/wiki/Variation_(music)">variations</a>.</p></div>
<p>The canon is in three voices, two measures apart, over a repeating (<a href="/wiki/Ostinato">ostinato</a>) bass, which provides a harmonic basis for the piece, implying a series of eight <a href="/wiki/Chord_(music)">chords</a>:
</p>
<dl><dd><table>
<caption>Chord progression of the Canon
</caption>
<tbody><tr>
<th>No.</th>
<th>Chord</th>
<th>Scale degree</th>
<th><a href="/wiki/Roman_numeral_analysis">Roman<br />numeral</a>
</th></tr>
<tr>
<th>1
</th>
<td>D major</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Tonic_(music)">tonic</a></td>
<td>I
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>2
</th>
<td>A major</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Dominant_(music)">dominant</a></td>
<td>V
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>3
</th>
<td>B minor</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Submediant">submediant</a></td>
<td>vi
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>4
</th>
<td>F♯ minor</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Mediant">mediant</a></td>
<td>iii
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>5
</th>
<td>G major</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Subdominant">subdominant</a></td>
<td>IV
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>6
</th>
<td>D major</td>
<td>tonic</td>
<td>I
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>7
</th>
<td>G major</td>
<td>subdominant</td>
<td>IV
</td></tr>
<tr>
<th>8
</th>
<td>A major</td>
<td>dominant</td>
<td>V
</td></tr></tbody></table></dd></dl>
<p>The eight chords of this progression follow a <a href="/wiki/Sequence_(music)">sequential</a> pattern known as the <a href="/wiki/Romanesca">Romanesca</a>. This progression has been identified as a common seventeenth- and eighteenth-century schema by <a href="/wiki/Robert_Gjerdingen">Robert Gjerdingen</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Gjerdingen-24">[24]</a></sup>
</p><p>In Germany, Italy and France of the 17th century, some pieces built on an ostinato bass were called <a href="/wiki/Chaconne">chaconnes</a> or <a href="/wiki/Passacaglia">passacaglias</a>; such works sometimes incorporate some form of <a href="/wiki/Variation_(music)">variation</a> in the upper voices. While some writers consider each of the 28 statements of the ground bass a separate variation,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Nolte-5">[5]</a></sup> one scholar finds that Pachelbel's canon is constructed of just 12 variations, mostly four bars in length, and describes them as follows:<sup><a href="#cite_note-welter-25">[25]</a></sup>
</p>
<ol><li>(bars 03–06) <a href="/wiki/Quarter_note">quarter notes</a></li>
<li>(bars 07–10) <a href="/wiki/Eighth_note">eighth notes</a></li>
<li>(bars 11–14) <a href="/wiki/Sixteenth_note">sixteenth notes</a></li>
<li>(bars 15–18) leaping quarter notes, rest</li>
<li>(bars 19–22) thirty-second-note pattern on scalar melody</li>
<li>(bars 23–26) <a href="/wiki/Staccato">staccato</a>, eighth notes and rests</li>
<li>(bars 27–30) sixteenth-note extensions of melody with upper neighbor notes</li>
<li>(bars 31–38) repetitive sixteenth-note patterns</li>
<li>(bars 39–42) <a href="/wiki/Dotted_note">dotted</a> rhythms</li>
<li>(bars 43–46) dotted rhythms and sixteenth-note patterns on upper neighbor notes</li>
<li>(bars 47–50) <a href="/wiki/Syncopation">syncopated</a> quarter- and eighth-note rhythm</li>
<li>(bars 51–56) eighth-note octave leaps</li></ol>
<p>Pachelbel's canon thus merges a strict polyphonic form (the canon) and a variation form (the chaconne). Pachelbel skillfully constructs the variations to make them "both pleasing and subtly undetectable."<sup><a href="#cite_note-welter-25">[25]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Gigue[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The <a href="/wiki/Gigue">gigue</a> is set in <sup><b>12</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub> time and consists of 2 equal sections of 10 bars each. Unlike the canon, the gigue neither has a repeating bass voice nor a set chord progression. The gigue exhibits <a href="/wiki/Fugue">fugal writing</a>, with each section introducing a brief melodic statement which is then imitated in the other voices.
</p>
<h2>Parodies[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In its August 17, 1981, issue the magazine <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Yorker">The New Yorker</a></i> published a cartoon by Mick Stevens captioned "Prisoner of Pachelbel,"<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup> in which a prisoner hears over the loudspeaker: "For your listening pleasure, we once again present Pachelbel's Canon."<sup><a href="#cite_note-prisoners-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p><p>The 1991 musical parody album <i><a href="/wiki/WTWP_Classical_Talkity-Talk_Radio">WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/P._D._Q._Bach">P. D. Q. Bach</a> is set at a fictional radio station whose call letters stand for "Wall-To-Wall Pachelbel".<sup><a href="#cite_note-prisoners-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 2017, <a href="/wiki/BBC_Radio_4">BBC Radio 4</a> sketch show <i><a href="/wiki/John_Finnemore%27s_Souvenir_Programme">John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme</a></i> featured a sketch entitled "One Hit Wonder" in which Pachelbel is annoyed by the fact the only thing people know him for is his Canon. The same episode features a parody called "Loose Canon" in which Pachelbel sings about his frustrations to the tune of the Canon.<sup><a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Influence on popular music[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Several months after the Paillard recording was released, two groups released successful singles with a backing track based on Pachelbel's Canon: Greek band <a href="/wiki/Aphrodite%27s_Child">Aphrodite's Child</a> with "<a href="/wiki/Rain_and_Tears">Rain and Tears</a>"<sup><a href="#cite_note-rain_and_tears-14">[14]</a></sup> and Spanish group <a href="/wiki/Pop-Tops">Pop-Tops</a> with "Oh Lord, Why Lord".<sup><a href="#cite_note-one_hit_wondering-15">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 2002, pop music producer <a href="/wiki/Pete_Waterman">Pete Waterman</a> described Canon in D as "almost the godfather of pop music because we've all used that in our own ways for the past 30 years". He also said that <a href="/wiki/Kylie_Minogue">Kylie Minogue</a>'s 1988 UK number one hit single "<a href="/wiki/I_Should_Be_So_Lucky">I Should Be So Lucky</a>", which Waterman co-wrote and co-produced, was inspired by Canon in D.<sup><a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/The_Farm_(British_band)">The Farm</a>'s 1990 single "<a href="/wiki/All_Together_Now_(The_Farm_song)">All Together Now</a>" has its chord sequence lifted directly from Pachelbel's Canon.<sup><a href="#cite_note-altogether_now-9">[9]</a></sup>
</p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Pet_Shop_Boys">Pet Shop Boys</a>' 1993 cover of "<a href="/wiki/Go_West_(song)#Pet_Shop_Boys_version">Go West</a>" played up that song's resemblance to both Pachelbel's Canon and the <a href="/wiki/State_Anthem_of_the_Soviet_Union">Soviet Anthem</a>. <a href="/wiki/Coolio">Coolio</a>'s 1997 "<a href="/wiki/C_U_When_U_Get_There">C U When U Get There</a>" is built around a sample of the piece. Other songs that make use of the Pachelbel's Canon chord progression include "<a href="/wiki/Streets_of_London_(song)">Streets of London</a>" by <a href="/wiki/Ralph_McTell">Ralph McTell</a> (1974), "<a href="/wiki/Basket_Case_(song)">Basket Case</a>" by <a href="/wiki/Green_Day">Green Day</a> (1994), and "<a href="/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Back_in_Anger">Don't Look Back in Anger</a>" by <a href="/wiki/Oasis_(band)">Oasis</a> (1996) (though with a variation at the end), while <a href="/wiki/Maroon_5">Maroon 5</a> used the harmonic sequence of Pachelbel's Canon (and part of the melody) for their 2019 single "<a href="/wiki/Memories_(Maroon_5_song)">Memories</a>".<sup><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 2012, the UK-based Co-Operative Funeralcare compiled a list of the most popular, classical, contemporary and religious music across 30,000 funerals. Canon in D placed second on the Classical chart, behind <a href="/wiki/Edward_Elgar">Edward Elgar</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/Enigma_Variations#Variation_IX_.28Adagio.29_.22Nimrod.22">Nimrod</a>".<sup><a href="#cite_note-co-op_funeral_care-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Orchestra">Trans-Siberian Orchestra</a>'s 1998 song "<a href="/wiki/Christmas_Canon">Christmas Canon</a>" is a "take" on Pachelbel's Canon.<sup><a href="#cite_note-30">[30]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/JerryC">JerryC</a>'s version, titled "Canon Rock", was one of the earliest viral videos on YouTube when it was covered by <a href="/wiki/Lim_Jeong-hyun">Funtwo</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup> "Sunday Morning" on <a href="/wiki/Procol_Harum">Procol Harum</a>'s 2017 album <i><a href="/wiki/Novum_(album)">Novum</a></i> is based on just the chords of the canon.<sup><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://opac.rism.info/metaopac/search?View=rism&amp;id=455034292&amp;Language=en">"Pachelbel, Johann (1653–1706): Canon and Gigue in D major"</a>. <a href="/wiki/R%C3%A9pertoire_International_des_Sources_Musicales">Répertoire International des Sources Musicales</a>. Retrieved 21 October 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-prisoners_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-prisoners_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-prisoners_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-prisoners_2-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-prisoners_2-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-prisoners_2-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-prisoners_2-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Fink, Robert (2011). <a href="https://www.academia.edu/581670">"Prisoners of Pachelbel: An Essay in Post-Canonic Musicology"</a>. <i>Hamburger Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft</i>. Frankfurt am Main. <b>27</b>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-631-61732-8"><bdi>978-3-631-61732-8</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <cite>Levine, Alexandra S. (9 May 2019). <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/fashion/weddings/canon-in-d-major-wedding-song.html">"How 'Canon in D Major' Became the Wedding Song"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_York_Times">The New York Times</a></i>. Retrieved 29 November 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-co-op_funeral_care_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-co-op_funeral_care_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="http://www.co-operativefuneralcare.co.uk/about-us/our-news/funeral-survey-charts-the-demise-of-popular-hymns/">"Funeral survey charts the demise of popular hymns"</a>. Co-Operative Funeralcare. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Nolte_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Nolte_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Nolte, Ewald V.; <a href="/wiki/John_Butt_(musician)">Butt, John</a> (2018). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.6002278237">"Johann Pachelbel"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians#Grove_Music_Online_and_Oxford_Music_Online">Grove Music Online</a></i> (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-56159-263-0"><bdi>978-1-56159-263-0</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite>Welter, Kathryn J. (1998). <i>Johann Pachelbel: Organist, Teacher, Composer: A Critical Reexamination of His Life, Works, and Historical Significance</i> (PhD). <a href="/wiki/Harvard_University">Harvard University</a>. p. 363.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Schulze,_Hans-Joachim_1721_7-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Hans-Joachim_Schulze">Schulze, Hans-Joachim</a> (1985). "Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721) <i>Organist and Schul Collega in Ohrdruf, Germany</i>, Johann Sebastian Bachs erster Lehrer<i>". </i><a href="/wiki/Bach-Jahrbuch">Bach-Jahrbuch</a><i>. <b>71</b>: 70, footnote 79.</i></cite><i></i>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <cite>Brewer, Charles E. (2013). <i>The Instrumental Music of Schmeltzer, Biber, Muffat and their Contemporaries</i>. Ashgate Publishing. p. 335. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781409494225"><bdi>9781409494225</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-altogether_now_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-altogether_now_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Green, Thomas H (27 May 2004). <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3617770/Altogether-now-with-Pachelbel.html">"Altogether Now with Pachelbel"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Daily_Telegraph">The Daily Telegraph</a></i>. Retrieved 20 August 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <cite>Beckmann, Gustav (1918–1919). <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/2377440">"Johann Pachelbel als Kammerkomponist"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Archiv_f%C3%BCr_Musikwissenschaft">Archiv für Musikwissenschaft</a></i> (in German). <b>1</b>: 267–274. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F929723">10.2307/929723</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/929723">929723</a>.</cite> The canon appears on page 271.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <cite>Perreault, Jean M. (2004). <i>The Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Works of Johann Pachelbel</i>. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 32. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8108-4970-4"><bdi>0-8108-4970-4</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b> <cite>Dohr, Christoph (2006), <a href="http://www.dohr.de/autor/pachelbel.htm">"Preface"</a>, <i>Canon und Gigue für drei Violinen und Basso continuo (Urtext). Partitur und Stimmen</i> (in German), Dohr Verlag, <a href="/wiki/ISMN_(identifier)">ISMN</a> 979-0-2020-1230-7</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> Daniel Guss, CD booklet to <i>Pachelbel's Greatest Hit: The Ultimate Canon</i>, BMG Classics (RCA Red Seal)
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-rain_and_tears_14-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-rain_and_tears_14-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> 
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-one_hit_wondering_15-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-one_hit_wondering_15-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Kim, Kristen Yoonsoo (27 September 2012). <a href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_ca/article/65g3b6/one-hit-wondering-johann-pachelbel">"One-Hit Wondering—Johann Pachelbel"</a>. Noisey.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-move_over_16-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-move_over_16-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-move_over_16-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Walton, Mary (17 January 1979). <a href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&amp;dat=19790117&amp;id=7AdPAAAAIBAJ&amp;pg=3482,2952844&amp;hl=en">"Move over Mick Jagger; here's Johann Pachelbel"</a>. Knight-Ridder Newspapers.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xCQEAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=PT83">"<i>Billboard</i> Year-end Issue"</a>. 25 December 1976. Retrieved 15 May 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=k0UEAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=PT101">"<i>Billboard</i> Year-end Double Issue"</a>. 24 December 1977. Retrieved 15 May 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=JSQEAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=PT60">"Classical LPs Chart <i>Billboard</i>"</a>. 15 May 1982. Retrieved 15 May 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p009mtyx">"Desert Island Discs: Carl Sagan"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/BBC">BBC</a></i>. 18 July 1981. Retrieved 28 September 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <i><a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/1498417">The Music of 'Cosmos'</a></i> at <a href="/wiki/Discogs">Discogs</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/335931/versions#nav-entity">"Canon &amp; Gigue in D by Johann Pachelbel – Versions"</a>. SecondHandSongs. Retrieved 9 May 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> <cite>Moser, John J. (9 April 2015). <a href="http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/music/mc-george-winston-sands-bethlehem-20150409-story.html">"Pianist George Winston, playing in Bethlehem, finds inspiration in illness, recovery"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Morning_Call">The Morning Call</a></i>. Retrieved 2 February 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Gjerdingen_24-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Robert_Gjerdingen">Gjerdingen, Robert</a> (2007). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ItghP4WKVyMC"><i>Music in the Galant Style: Being an Essay on Various Schemata Characteristic of Eighteenth-Century Music for Courtly Chambers, Chapel, and Theaters, Including Tasteful Passages of Music Drawn from Most Excellent Chapel Masters in the Employ of Noble and Noteworthy Personages, Said Music All Collected for the Readers Delectations on the World Wide Web</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/Oxford_University_Press">Oxford University Press</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780190095819"><bdi>9780190095819</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-welter_25-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-welter_25-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Welter, Kathryn (1998). <i>Johann Pachelbel: Organist, Teacher, Composer: A Critical Reexamination of His Life, Works, and Historical Significance</i> (PhD diss.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. pp. 207–208.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.themorgan.org/literary-historical/266773">"Prisoner of Pachelbel: 'For your listening pleasure we once again present Pachelbel's Canon.' (cartoon)"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Yorker">The New Yorker</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Morgan_Library_%26_Museum">The Morgan Library</a>. pp. 91–93]. Retrieved 16 June 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.comedy.co.uk/radio/finnemore_souvenir_programme/episodes/6/3/">"John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme: Series 6, Episode 3"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/British_Comedy_Guide">British Comedy Guide</a></i>. Retrieved 11 June 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/2306337.stm">"Pop mogul 'inspired by classics'"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/BBC_News">BBC News</a></i>. 7 October 2002. Retrieved 30 May 2013.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b> <cite>Rowat, Robert (20 September 2019). <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/music/maroon-5-s-new-song-memories-is-basically-pachelbel-s-canon-1.5291343">"Maroon 5's new song, 'Memories,' is basically Pachelbel's Canon"</a>. <i>CBC</i>. Retrieved 21 September 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b> <cite>Chan, Lorne (18 December 2014). <a href="http://www.expressnews.com/entertainment/article/Trans-Siberian-Orchestra-takes-you-to-The-5965539.php">"Trans-Siberian Orchestra dusts off "The Christmas Attic""</a>. San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 15 May 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b> <cite>Heffernan, Virginia. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/arts/television/27heff.html">"Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_York_Times">The New York Times</a></i>. Retrieved 9 December 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b> <cite>Warne, Jude (18 April 2017). <a href="https://observer.com/2017/04/procol-harum-novum-interview-gary-brooker/">"Prog Rock Icons Procol Harum Return With Their 50th Anniversary Album"</a>. Observer.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Pachelbel%27s_Canon&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/File:Commons-logo.svg"></a> Media related to <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pachelbel%27s_Canon">Pachelbel's Canon</a> at Wikimedia Commons</li>
<li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Canon_and_Gigue_in_D_major,_P.37_(Pachelbel,_Johann)">Pachelbel's Canon</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li></ul>
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 * 1 Creation
 * 2 Rediscovery and rise to fame
 * 3 Analysis
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 + 3.1 Canon
 + 3.2 Gigue
 * 4 Parodies
 * 5 Influence on popular music
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links
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 Pachelbel's Canon

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 First page of manuscript 16481-8 at Berlin State Library—oldest surviving copy of Pachelbel's "Canon and Gigue in D major"
 Canon in D Major
 Arrangement for violins, harps and bass by Kevin MacLeod, 2006
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 Pachelbel's Canon (also known as the Canon in D, P 37) is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue, known as Canon and Gigue for 3 violins and basso continuo. Both movements are in the key of D major. Although a true canon at the unison in three parts, it also has elements of a chaconne. Neither the date nor the circumstances of its composition are known (suggested dates range from 1680 to 1706), and the oldest surviving manuscript copy of the piece dates from 1838 to 1842.[1]

 Like his other works, Pachelbel's Canon went out of style, and remained in obscurity for centuries. A 1968 arrangement and recording of it by the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra gained popularity over the next decade, and in the 1970s the piece began to be recorded by many ensembles; by the early 1980s its presence as background music was deemed inescapable.[2] From the 1970s onward, elements of the piece, especially its chord progression, were used in a variety of pop songs. Since the 1980s, it has also found increasingly common use in weddings and funeral ceremonies in the Western world.[3][4]

 Creation [ edit ]

 In his lifetime, Pachelbel was renowned for his organ and other keyboard music, whereas today he is also recognized as an important composer of church and chamber music.[5] Little of his chamber music survives, however. Only Musikalische Ergötzung—a collection of partitas published during Pachelbel's lifetime—is known, apart from a few isolated pieces in manuscripts. The Canon and Gigue in D major is one such piece. A single 19th-century manuscript copy of them survives, Mus.MS 16481/8 in the Berlin State Library. It contains two more chamber suites. Another copy, previously in Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, is now lost.[6]

 The circumstances of the piece's composition are wholly unknown. Hans-Joachim Schulze, writing in 1985, suggested that the piece may have been composed for Johann Christoph Bach's wedding, on 23 October 1694, which Pachelbel attended. Johann Ambrosius Bach, Pachelbel, and other friends and family provided music for the occasion.[7] Johann Christoph Bach, the oldest brother of Johann Sebastian Bach, was a pupil of Pachelbel. Another scholar, Charles E. Brewer, investigated a variety of possible connections between Pachelbel's and Heinrich Biber's published chamber music. His research indicated that the Canon may have been composed in response to a chaconne with canonic elements which Biber published as part of Partia III of Harmonia artificioso-ariosa. That would indicate that Pachelbel's piece cannot be dated earlier than 1696, the year of publication of Biber's collection.[8] Other dates of the Canon's composition are occasionally suggested, for example, as early as 1680.[9]

 Rediscovery and rise to fame [ edit ]

 The canon (without the accompanying gigue) was first published in 1919 by scholar Gustav Beckmann, who included the score in his article on Pachelbel's chamber music.[10] His research was inspired and supported by early music scholar and editor Max Seiffert, who in 1929 published his arrangement of the "Canon and Gigue" in his Organum series.[11] However, that edition contained numerous articulation marks and dynamics not in the original score. Furthermore, Seiffert provided tempi he considered right for the piece, but that were not supported by later research.[12] The canon was first recorded in 1940 by Arthur Fiedler.[13]

 In 1968, the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra made a recording of the piece that would change its fortunes significantly.[2] This rendition was done in a more Romantic style, at a significantly slower tempo than it had been played at before, and contained obbligato parts, written by Paillard.[2] The Paillard recording was released in June in France by Erato Records as part of an LP record that also included the Trumpet Concerto by Johann Friedrich Fasch and other works by Pachelbel and Fasch, all played by the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra. Paillard's interpretation of the canon was also included on a widely distributed album by the mail-order label Musical Heritage Society in 1968.

 In July 1968, Greek band Aphrodite's Child released the single "Rain and Tears", which was a baroque-rock adaptation of Pachelbel's Canon.[14] The band was based in France at the time, although it is unknown whether they had heard the Paillard recording, or were inspired by it. "Rain and Tears" was a success, reaching number 1 on the pop charts of various European countries. Several months later, in October 1968, Spanish band Pop-Tops released the single "Oh Lord, Why Lord", which again was based on Pachelbel's Canon.[15] Again, it is unknown whether they were aware of or had been inspired by the releases from earlier that year. "Oh Lord, Why Lord" was covered by American band Parliament on their 1970 album Osmium.

 In 1970, a classical radio station in San Francisco played the Paillard recording and became inundated by listener requests. The piece gained growing fame, particularly in California.[16] In 1974, London Records, aware of the interest in the piece, reissued a 1961 album of the Corelli Christmas Concerto performed by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, which happened to contain the piece, now re-titled to Pachelbel Kanon: the Record That Made it Famous and other Baroque Favorites.[16] The album was the highest-selling classical album of 1976.[17] Its success led to many other record labels issuing their own recordings of the work, many of which also sold well.[16]

 In 1977, the RCA Red Seal label reissued the original Erato album in the United States and elsewhere. In the U.S. it was the 6th-highest-selling classical album of 1977. (Two other albums containing Pachelbel's Canon charted for the year: the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra album at number 17, and another album featuring the Paillard recording, Go For Baroque!, at number 13.)[18] The Paillard arrangement of the piece was then featured prominently in the soundtrack of the 1980 film Ordinary People.[2] The Erato/RCA album kept climbing the Billboard Classical Albums chart, and in January 1982 it reached the number 1 position,[2] where it remained until May 1982, when it was knocked out of first place by an album featuring Pachelbel's Canon played by the Academy of Ancient Music directed by Christopher Hogwood.[19] The canon was selected for the soundtrack of Carl Sagan's popular 1980 American PBS television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, and the astronomer cited this work as one of his Desert Island Discs on the BBC on 18 July 1981.[20] In 1981 The Music of Cosmos, an album by RCA Records, and in 2000 a CD by the Cosmos Studios label of the soundtrack were published, that feature an arrangement of the canon by Glenn Spreen and James Galway.[21][22]

 In 1982, pianist George Winston included his "Variations on the Kanon by Johann Pachelbel" on his solo piano album December, which has sold over three million copies.[23]

 Analysis [ edit ]

 Canon [ edit ]

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.
 First 10 bars; colors highlight four of a total of 28 variations.

 The canon is in three voices, two measures apart, over a repeating (ostinato) bass, which provides a harmonic basis for the piece, implying a series of eight chords:

 Chord progression of the Canon
 No. Chord Scale degree Roman 
 numeral
 1 D major tonic I 
 2 A major dominant V 
 3 B minor submediant vi 
 4 F ♯ minor mediant iii 
 5 G major subdominant IV 
 6 D major tonic I 
 7 G major subdominant IV 
 8 A major dominant V 
 

 The eight chords of this progression follow a sequential pattern known as the Romanesca. This progression has been identified as a common seventeenth- and eighteenth-century schema by Robert Gjerdingen.[24]

 In Germany, Italy and France of the 17th century, some pieces built on an ostinato bass were called chaconnes or passacaglias; such works sometimes incorporate some form of variation in the upper voices. While some writers consider each of the 28 statements of the ground bass a separate variation,[5] one scholar finds that Pachelbel's canon is constructed of just 12 variations, mostly four bars in length, and describes them as follows:[25]

 1. (bars 0 3– 0 6) quarter notes
 2. (bars 0 7–10) eighth notes
 3. (bars 11–14) sixteenth notes
 4. (bars 15–18) leaping quarter notes, rest
 5. (bars 19–22) thirty-second-note pattern on scalar melody
 6. (bars 23–26) staccato, eighth notes and rests
 7. (bars 27–30) sixteenth-note extensions of melody with upper neighbor notes
 8. (bars 31–38) repetitive sixteenth-note patterns
 9. (bars 39–42) dotted rhythms
 10. (bars 43–46) dotted rhythms and sixteenth-note patterns on upper neighbor notes
 11. (bars 47–50) syncopated quarter- and eighth-note rhythm
 12. (bars 51–56) eighth-note octave leaps

 Pachelbel's canon thus merges a strict polyphonic form (the canon) and a variation form (the chaconne). Pachelbel skillfully constructs the variations to make them "both pleasing and subtly undetectable."[25]

 Gigue [ edit ]

 The gigue is set in 12
 8 time and consists of 2 equal sections of 10 bars each. Unlike the canon, the gigue neither has a repeating bass voice nor a set chord progression. The gigue exhibits fugal writing, with each section introducing a brief melodic statement which is then imitated in the other voices.

 Parodies [ edit ]

 In its August 17, 1981, issue the magazine The New Yorker published a cartoon by Mick Stevens captioned "Prisoner of Pachelbel,"[26] in which a prisoner hears over the loudspeaker: "For your listening pleasure, we once again present Pachelbel's Canon."[2]

 The 1991 musical parody album WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio by P. D. Q. Bach is set at a fictional radio station whose call letters stand for "Wall-To-Wall Pachelbel".[2]

 In 2017, BBC Radio 4 sketch show John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme featured a sketch entitled "One Hit Wonder" in which Pachelbel is annoyed by the fact the only thing people know him for is his Canon. The same episode features a parody called "Loose Canon" in which Pachelbel sings about his frustrations to the tune of the Canon.[27]

 Influence on popular music [ edit ]

 Several months after the Paillard recording was released, two groups released successful singles with a backing track based on Pachelbel's Canon: Greek band Aphrodite's Child with "Rain and Tears"[14] and Spanish group Pop-Tops with "Oh Lord, Why Lord".[15]

 In 2002, pop music producer Pete Waterman described Canon in D as "almost the godfather of pop music because we've all used that in our own ways for the past 30 years". He also said that Kylie Minogue's 1988 UK number one hit single "I Should Be So Lucky", which Waterman co-wrote and co-produced, was inspired by Canon in D.[28] The Farm's 1990 single "All Together Now" has its chord sequence lifted directly from Pachelbel's Canon.[9]

 The Pet Shop Boys' 1993 cover of "Go West" played up that song's resemblance to both Pachelbel's Canon and the Soviet Anthem. Coolio's 1997 "C U When U Get There" is built around a sample of the piece. Other songs that make use of the Pachelbel's Canon chord progression include "Streets of London" by Ralph McTell (1974), "Basket Case" by Green Day (1994), and "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis (1996) (though with a variation at the end), while Maroon 5 used the harmonic sequence of Pachelbel's Canon (and part of the melody) for their 2019 single "Memories".[29]

 In 2012, the UK-based Co-Operative Funeralcare compiled a list of the most popular, classical, contemporary and religious music across 30,000 funerals. Canon in D placed second on the Classical chart, behind Edward Elgar's "Nimrod".[4]

 The Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 1998 song "Christmas Canon" is a "take" on Pachelbel's Canon.[30] JerryC's version, titled "Canon Rock", was one of the earliest viral videos on YouTube when it was covered by Funtwo.[31] "Sunday Morning" on Procol Harum's 2017 album Novum is based on just the chords of the canon.[32]

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ "Pachelbel, Johann (1653–1706): Canon and Gigue in D major". Répertoire International des Sources Musicales . Retrieved 21 October 2022 .
 2. ^ a b c d e f g Fink, Robert (2011). "Prisoners of Pachelbel: An Essay in Post-Canonic Musicology". Hamburger Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft. Frankfurt am Main. 27. ISBN 978-3-631-61732-8.
 3. ^ Levine, Alexandra S. (9 May 2019). "How 'Canon in D Major' Became the Wedding Song". The New York Times . Retrieved 29 November 2021 .
 4. ^ a b "Funeral survey charts the demise of popular hymns". Co-Operative Funeralcare. 24 October 2012 . Retrieved 28 December 2016 .
 5. ^ a b Nolte, Ewald V.; Butt, John (2018). "Johann Pachelbel". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
 6. ^ Welter, Kathryn J. (1998). Johann Pachelbel: Organist, Teacher, Composer: A Critical Reexamination of His Life, Works, and Historical Significance (PhD). Harvard University. p. 363.
 7. ^ Schulze, Hans-Joachim (1985). "Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721) Organist and Schul Collega in Ohrdruf, Germany, Johann Sebastian Bachs erster Lehrer". Bach-Jahrbuch. 71: 70, footnote 79.
 8. ^ Brewer, Charles E. (2013). The Instrumental Music of Schmeltzer, Biber, Muffat and their Contemporaries. Ashgate Publishing. p. 335. ISBN 9781409494225.
 9. ^ a b Green, Thomas H (27 May 2004). "Altogether Now with Pachelbel". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 20 August 2015 .
 10. ^ Beckmann, Gustav (1918–1919). "Johann Pachelbel als Kammerkomponist". Archiv für Musikwissenschaft (in German). 1: 267–274. doi:10.2307/929723. JSTOR 929723. The canon appears on page 271.
 11. ^ Perreault, Jean M. (2004). The Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Works of Johann Pachelbel. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-8108-4970-4.
 12. ^ Dohr, Christoph (2006), "Preface", Canon und Gigue für drei Violinen und Basso continuo (Urtext). Partitur und Stimmen (in German), Dohr Verlag, ISMN 979-0-2020-1230-7
 13. ^ Daniel Guss, CD booklet to Pachelbel's Greatest Hit: The Ultimate Canon , BMG Classics (RCA Red Seal)
 14. ^ a b Luhrssen, David; Larson, Michael (2017). Encyclopedia of Classic Rock. Greenwood. p. 7. ISBN 9781440835148.
 15. ^ a b Kim, Kristen Yoonsoo (27 September 2012). "One-Hit Wondering—Johann Pachelbel". Noisey.
 16. ^ a b c Walton, Mary (17 January 1979). "Move over Mick Jagger; here's Johann Pachelbel". Knight-Ridder Newspapers.
 17. ^ "Billboard Year-end Issue". 25 December 1976 . Retrieved 15 May 2022 .
 18. ^ "Billboard Year-end Double Issue". 24 December 1977 . Retrieved 15 May 2022 .
 19. ^ "Classical LPs Chart Billboard". 15 May 1982 . Retrieved 15 May 2022 .
 20. ^ "Desert Island Discs: Carl Sagan". BBC. 18 July 1981 . Retrieved 28 September 2020 .
 21. ^ The Music of 'Cosmos' at Discogs
 22. ^ "Canon & Gigue in D by Johann Pachelbel – Versions". SecondHandSongs . Retrieved 9 May 2019 .
 23. ^ Moser, John J. (9 April 2015). "Pianist George Winston, playing in Bethlehem, finds inspiration in illness, recovery". The Morning Call . Retrieved 2 February 2022 .
 24. ^ Gjerdingen, Robert (2007). Music in the Galant Style: Being an Essay on Various Schemata Characteristic of Eighteenth-Century Music for Courtly Chambers, Chapel, and Theaters, Including Tasteful Passages of Music Drawn from Most Excellent Chapel Masters in the Employ of Noble and Noteworthy Personages, Said Music All Collected for the Readers Delectations on the World Wide Web. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190095819.
 25. ^ a b Welter, Kathryn (1998). Johann Pachelbel: Organist, Teacher, Composer: A Critical Reexamination of His Life, Works, and Historical Significance (PhD diss.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. pp. 207–208.
 26. ^ "Prisoner of Pachelbel: 'For your listening pleasure we once again present Pachelbel's Canon.' (cartoon)". The New Yorker. The Morgan Library. pp. 91–93] . Retrieved 16 June 2020 .
 27. ^ "John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme: Series 6, Episode 3". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 11 June 2022 .
 28. ^ "Pop mogul 'inspired by classics'". BBC News. 7 October 2002 . Retrieved 30 May 2013 .
 29. ^ Rowat, Robert (20 September 2019). "Maroon 5's new song, 'Memories,' is basically Pachelbel's Canon". CBC . Retrieved 21 September 2019 .
 30. ^ Chan, Lorne (18 December 2014). "Trans-Siberian Orchestra dusts off "The Christmas Attic"". San Antonio Express-News . Retrieved 15 May 2022 .
 31. ^ Heffernan, Virginia. "Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last". The New York Times . Retrieved 9 December 2021 .
 32. ^ Warne, Jude (18 April 2017). "Prog Rock Icons Procol Harum Return With Their 50th Anniversary Album". Observer.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
      First page of manuscript 16481-8 at Berlin State Library—oldest surviving copy of Pachelbel's "Canon and Gigue in D major"  
   
 Pachelbel's Canon (also known as the Canon in D, P 37) is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue, known as Canon and Gigue for 3 violins and basso continuo. Both movements are in the key of D major. Although a true canon at the unison in three parts, it also has elements of a chaconne. Neither the date nor the circumstances of its composition are known (suggested dates range from 1680 to 1706), and the oldest surviving manuscript copy of the piece dates from 1838 to 1842. [1] 
 Like his other works, Pachelbel's Canon went out of style, and remained in obscurity for centuries. A 1968 arrangement and recording of it by the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra gained popularity over the next decade, and in the 1970s the piece began to be recorded by many ensembles; by the early 1980s its presence as background music was deemed inescapable. [2]  From the 1970s onward, elements of the piece, especially its chord progression, were used in a variety of pop songs. Since the 1980s, it has also found increasingly common use in weddings and funeral ceremonies in the Western world. [3]   [4] 
Creation[edit]
In his lifetime, Pachelbel was renowned for his organ and other keyboard music, whereas today he is also recognized as an important composer of church and chamber music. [5]  Little of his chamber music survives, however. Only  Musikalische Ergötzung —a collection of partitas published during Pachelbel's lifetime—is known, apart from a few isolated pieces in manuscripts. The Canon and Gigue in D major is one such piece. A single 19th-century manuscript copy of them survives, Mus.MS 16481/8 in the Berlin State Library. It contains two more chamber suites. Another copy, previously in Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, is now lost. [6] 
 The circumstances of the piece's composition are wholly unknown. Hans-Joachim Schulze, writing in 1985, suggested that the piece may have been composed for Johann Christoph Bach's wedding, on 23 October 1694, which Pachelbel attended. Johann Ambrosius Bach, Pachelbel, and other friends and family provided music for the occasion. [7]  Johann Christoph Bach, the oldest brother of Johann Sebastian Bach, was a pupil of Pachelbel. Another scholar, Charles E. Brewer, investigated a variety of possible connections between Pachelbel's and Heinrich Biber's published chamber music. His research indicated that the Canon may have been composed in response to a chaconne with canonic elements which Biber published as part of Partia III of Harmonia artificioso-ariosa. That would indicate that Pachelbel's piece cannot be dated earlier than 1696, the year of publication of Biber's collection. [8]  Other dates of the Canon's composition are occasionally suggested, for example, as early as 1680. [9] 
Rediscovery and rise to fame[edit]
The canon (without the accompanying gigue) was first published in 1919 by scholar Gustav Beckmann, who included the score in his article on Pachelbel's chamber music. [10]  His research was inspired and supported by early music scholar and editor Max Seiffert, who in 1929 published his arrangement of the "Canon and Gigue" in his Organum series. [11]  However, that edition contained numerous articulation marks and dynamics not in the original score. Furthermore, Seiffert provided tempi he considered right for the piece, but that were not supported by later research. [12]  The canon was first recorded in 1940 by Arthur Fiedler. [13] 
 In 1968, the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra made a recording of the piece that would change its fortunes significantly. [2]  This rendition was done in a more Romantic style, at a significantly slower tempo than it had been played at before, and contained  obbligato  parts, written by Paillard. [2]  The Paillard recording was released in June in France by Erato Records as part of an LP record that also included the Trumpet Concerto by Johann Friedrich Fasch and other works by Pachelbel and Fasch, all played by the Jean-François Paillard chamber orchestra. Paillard's interpretation of the canon was also included on a widely distributed album by the mail-order label Musical Heritage Society in 1968.
 In July 1968, Greek band Aphrodite's Child released the single "Rain and Tears", which was a baroque-rock adaptation of Pachelbel's Canon. [14]  The band was based in France at the time, although it is unknown whether they had heard the Paillard recording, or were inspired by it. "Rain and Tears" was a success, reaching number 1 on the pop charts of various European countries. Several months later, in October 1968, Spanish band Pop-Tops released the single "Oh Lord, Why Lord", which again was based on Pachelbel's Canon. [15]  Again, it is unknown whether they were aware of or had been inspired by the releases from earlier that year. "Oh Lord, Why Lord" was covered by American band Parliament on their 1970 album  Osmium .
 In 1970, a classical radio station in San Francisco played the Paillard recording and became inundated by listener requests. The piece gained growing fame, particularly in California. [16]  In 1974, London Records, aware of the interest in the piece, reissued a 1961 album of the Corelli Christmas Concerto performed by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, which happened to contain the piece, now re-titled to Pachelbel Kanon: the Record That Made it Famous and other Baroque Favorites. [16]  The album was the highest-selling classical album of 1976. [17]  Its success led to many other record labels issuing their own recordings of the work, many of which also sold well. [16] 
 In 1977, the RCA Red Seal label reissued the original Erato album in the United States and elsewhere. In the U.S. it was the 6th-highest-selling classical album of 1977. (Two other albums containing Pachelbel's Canon charted for the year: the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra album at number 17, and another album featuring the Paillard recording, Go For Baroque!, at number 13.) [18]  The Paillard arrangement of the piece was then featured prominently in the soundtrack of the 1980 film  Ordinary People . [2]  The Erato/RCA album kept climbing the  Billboard  Classical Albums chart, and in January 1982 it reached the number 1 position, [2]  where it remained until May 1982, when it was knocked out of first place by an album featuring Pachelbel's Canon played by the Academy of Ancient Music directed by Christopher Hogwood. [19]  The canon was selected for the soundtrack of Carl Sagan's popular 1980 American PBS television series  Cosmos: A Personal Voyage , and the astronomer cited this work as one of his  Desert Island Discs  on the BBC on 18 July 1981. [20]  In 1981 The Music of Cosmos, an album by RCA Records, and in 2000 a CD by the Cosmos Studios label of the soundtrack were published, that feature an arrangement of the canon by Glenn Spreen and James Galway. [21]   [22] 
 In 1982, pianist George Winston included his "Variations on the Kanon by Johann Pachelbel" on his solo piano album  December , which has sold over three million copies. [23] 
Analysis[edit]
Canon[edit]
     First 10 bars; colors highlight four of a total of 28 variations. 
The canon is in three voices, two measures apart, over a repeating (ostinato) bass, which provides a harmonic basis for the piece, implying a series of eight chords:
  
Chord progression of the Canon
 
No.
Chord
Scale degree
 Romannumeral
 
1
D major
 tonic 
I
 
2
A major
 dominant 
V
 
3
B minor
 submediant 
vi
 
4
F♯ minor
 mediant 
iii
 
5
G major
 subdominant 
IV
 
6
D major
tonic
I
 
7
G major
subdominant
IV
 
8
A major
dominant
V
     
The eight chords of this progression follow a sequential pattern known as the Romanesca. This progression has been identified as a common seventeenth- and eighteenth-century schema by Robert Gjerdingen. [24] 
 In Germany, Italy and France of the 17th century, some pieces built on an ostinato bass were called chaconnes or passacaglias; such works sometimes incorporate some form of variation in the upper voices. While some writers consider each of the 28 statements of the ground bass a separate variation, [5]  one scholar finds that Pachelbel's canon is constructed of just 12 variations, mostly four bars in length, and describes them as follows: [25] 
 (bars 03–06) quarter notes 
(bars 07–10) eighth notes 
(bars 11–14) sixteenth notes 
(bars 15–18) leaping quarter notes, rest
(bars 19–22) thirty-second-note pattern on scalar melody
(bars 23–26) staccato, eighth notes and rests
(bars 27–30) sixteenth-note extensions of melody with upper neighbor notes
(bars 31–38) repetitive sixteenth-note patterns
(bars 39–42) dotted rhythms
(bars 43–46) dotted rhythms and sixteenth-note patterns on upper neighbor notes
(bars 47–50) syncopated quarter- and eighth-note rhythm
(bars 51–56) eighth-note octave leaps 
Pachelbel's canon thus merges a strict polyphonic form (the canon) and a variation form (the chaconne). Pachelbel skillfully constructs the variations to make them "both pleasing and subtly undetectable." [25] 
Gigue[edit]
The gigue is set in  12    8  time and consists of 2 equal sections of 10 bars each. Unlike the canon, the gigue neither has a repeating bass voice nor a set chord progression. The gigue exhibits fugal writing, with each section introducing a brief melodic statement which is then imitated in the other voices.
Parodies[edit]
In its August 17, 1981, issue the magazine  The New Yorker  published a cartoon by Mick Stevens captioned "Prisoner of Pachelbel," [26]  in which a prisoner hears over the loudspeaker: "For your listening pleasure, we once again present Pachelbel's Canon." [2] 
 The 1991 musical parody album  WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio  by P. D. Q. Bach is set at a fictional radio station whose call letters stand for "Wall-To-Wall Pachelbel". [2] 
 In 2017, BBC Radio 4 sketch show  John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme  featured a sketch entitled "One Hit Wonder" in which Pachelbel is annoyed by the fact the only thing people know him for is his Canon. The same episode features a parody called "Loose Canon" in which Pachelbel sings about his frustrations to the tune of the Canon. [27] 
Influence on popular music[edit]
Several months after the Paillard recording was released, two groups released successful singles with a backing track based on Pachelbel's Canon: Greek band Aphrodite's Child with "Rain and Tears" [14]  and Spanish group Pop-Tops with "Oh Lord, Why Lord". [15] 
 In 2002, pop music producer Pete Waterman described Canon in D as "almost the godfather of pop music because we've all used that in our own ways for the past 30 years". He also said that Kylie Minogue's 1988 UK number one hit single "I Should Be So Lucky", which Waterman co-wrote and co-produced, was inspired by Canon in D. [28]  The Farm's 1990 single "All Together Now" has its chord sequence lifted directly from Pachelbel's Canon. [9] 
 The Pet Shop Boys' 1993 cover of "Go West" played up that song's resemblance to both Pachelbel's Canon and the Soviet Anthem. Coolio's 1997 "C U When U Get There" is built around a sample of the piece. Other songs that make use of the Pachelbel's Canon chord progression include "Streets of London" by Ralph McTell (1974), "Basket Case" by Green Day (1994), and "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis (1996) (though with a variation at the end), while Maroon 5 used the harmonic sequence of Pachelbel's Canon (and part of the melody) for their 2019 single "Memories". [29] 
 In 2012, the UK-based Co-Operative Funeralcare compiled a list of the most popular, classical, contemporary and religious music across 30,000 funerals. Canon in D placed second on the Classical chart, behind Edward Elgar's "Nimrod". [4] 
 The Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 1998 song "Christmas Canon" is a "take" on Pachelbel's Canon. [30]  JerryC's version, titled "Canon Rock", was one of the earliest viral videos on YouTube when it was covered by Funtwo. [31]  "Sunday Morning" on Procol Harum's 2017 album  Novum  is based on just the chords of the canon. [32] 
References[edit]
 
  ^   "Pachelbel, Johann (1653–1706): Canon and Gigue in D major". Répertoire International des Sources Musicales. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
^    a       b       c       d       e       f       g    Fink, Robert (2011). "Prisoners of Pachelbel: An Essay in Post-Canonic Musicology". Hamburger Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft. Frankfurt am Main. 27. ISBN  978-3-631-61732-8 .
  ^  Levine, Alexandra S. (9 May 2019). "How 'Canon in D Major' Became the Wedding Song".  The New York Times . Retrieved 29 November 2021.
^    a       b     "Funeral survey charts the demise of popular hymns". Co-Operative Funeralcare. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^    a       b    Nolte, Ewald V.; Butt, John (2018). "Johann Pachelbel".  Grove Music Online  (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN  978-1-56159-263-0 .
  ^  Welter, Kathryn J. (1998). Johann Pachelbel: Organist, Teacher, Composer: A Critical Reexamination of His Life, Works, and Historical Significance (PhD). Harvard University. p. 363.
  ^   Schulze, Hans-Joachim (1985). "Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721) Organist and Schul Collega in Ohrdruf, Germany, Johann Sebastian Bachs erster Lehrer".  Bach-Jahrbuch . 71: 70, footnote 79.   
  ^  Brewer, Charles E. (2013). The Instrumental Music of Schmeltzer, Biber, Muffat and their Contemporaries. Ashgate Publishing. p. 335. ISBN  9781409494225 .
^    a       b    Green, Thomas H (27 May 2004). "Altogether Now with Pachelbel".  The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  ^  Beckmann, Gustav (1918–1919). "Johann Pachelbel als Kammerkomponist".  Archiv für Musikwissenschaft  (in German). 1: 267–274. doi:10.2307/929723. JSTOR 929723. The canon appears on page 271.
  ^  Perreault, Jean M. (2004). The Thematic Catalogue of the Musical Works of Johann Pachelbel. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 32. ISBN  0-8108-4970-4 .
  ^  Dohr, Christoph (2006), "Preface", Canon und Gigue für drei Violinen und Basso continuo (Urtext). Partitur und Stimmen (in German), Dohr Verlag, ISMN 979-0-2020-1230-7
  ^  Daniel Guss, CD booklet to Pachelbel's Greatest Hit: The Ultimate Canon, BMG Classics (RCA Red Seal)
^    a       b    
^    a       b    Kim, Kristen Yoonsoo (27 September 2012). "One-Hit Wondering—Johann Pachelbel". Noisey.
^    a       b       c    Walton, Mary (17 January 1979). "Move over Mick Jagger; here's Johann Pachelbel". Knight-Ridder Newspapers.
  ^   "Billboard Year-end Issue". 25 December 1976. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  ^   "Billboard Year-end Double Issue". 24 December 1977. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  ^   "Classical LPs Chart Billboard". 15 May 1982. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  ^   "Desert Island Discs: Carl Sagan".  BBC . 18 July 1981. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  ^   The Music of 'Cosmos'  at Discogs
  ^   "Canon &amp; Gigue in D by Johann Pachelbel – Versions". SecondHandSongs. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  ^  Moser, John J. (9 April 2015). "Pianist George Winston, playing in Bethlehem, finds inspiration in illness, recovery".  The Morning Call . Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  ^   Gjerdingen, Robert (2007).  Music in the Galant Style: Being an Essay on Various Schemata Characteristic of Eighteenth-Century Music for Courtly Chambers, Chapel, and Theaters, Including Tasteful Passages of Music Drawn from Most Excellent Chapel Masters in the Employ of Noble and Noteworthy Personages, Said Music All Collected for the Readers Delectations on the World Wide Web . Oxford University Press. ISBN  9780190095819 .
^    a       b    Welter, Kathryn (1998). Johann Pachelbel: Organist, Teacher, Composer: A Critical Reexamination of His Life, Works, and Historical Significance (PhD diss.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University. pp. 207–208.
  ^   "Prisoner of Pachelbel: 'For your listening pleasure we once again present Pachelbel's Canon.' (cartoon)".  The New Yorker . The Morgan Library. pp. 91–93]. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  ^   "John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme: Series 6, Episode 3".  British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  ^   "Pop mogul 'inspired by classics'".  BBC News . 7 October 2002. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  ^  Rowat, Robert (20 September 2019). "Maroon 5's new song, 'Memories,' is basically Pachelbel's Canon". CBC. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  ^  Chan, Lorne (18 December 2014). "Trans-Siberian Orchestra dusts off "The Christmas Attic"". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  ^  Heffernan, Virginia. "Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last".  The New York Times . Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  ^  Warne, Jude (18 April 2017). "Prog Rock Icons Procol Harum Return With Their 50th Anniversary Album". Observer.
 
External links[edit]
    Media related to Pachelbel's Canon at Wikimedia Commons
 Pachelbel's Canon: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Pachelbel's Canon - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachelbel's_Canon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Wikipedia
2004-08-29
Authority control MusicBrainz release group MusicBrainz work
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:AlwaysLookOnTheBrightSideOfLife.jpg"></a><p>1991 7" reissue artwork</p></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Single_(music)">Single</a> by <a href="/wiki/Monty_Python">Monty Python</a></th></tr><tr><th>from the album <i> <a href="/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian_(album)">Monty Python's Life of Brian soundtrack</a> </i></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/A-side_and_B-side">A-side</a></th><td>"<a href="/wiki/Brian_Song">Brian</a>" (double A-side)</td></tr><tr><th>Released</th><td>16 November 1979<br />21 November 1988 (reissue)<br />23 September 1991 (2nd reissue)</td></tr><tr><th>Recorded</th><td>1979 Chappell Studios Bond Street – <a href="/wiki/Friar_Park">Friar Park</a> Studio, Henley-On-Thames</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Music_genre">Genre</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Comedy_music">Comedy music</a></td></tr><tr><th>Length</th><td>3:23</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_label">Label</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Virgin_Records">Virgin Records</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Songwriter">Songwriter(s)</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Eric_Idle">Eric Idle</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_producer">Producer(s)</a></th><td>Andre Jacquemin<br />Dave Howman</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python">Monty Python</a> singles chronology</th></tr><tr><td>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<td>"<a href="/wiki/Python_On_Song">Python On Song</a>" <br />(1976)
</td>
<td>"<b>Always Look on the Bright Side of Life</b>" / "<a href="/wiki/Brian_Song">Brian</a>" <br />(1979)
</td>
<td>"<a href="/wiki/I_Like_Chinese">I Like Chinese</a>" <br />(1980)
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>"<b>Always Look on the Bright Side of Life</b>" is a <a href="/wiki/Comedy_song">comedy song</a> written by <a href="/wiki/Monty_Python">Monty Python</a> member <a href="/wiki/Eric_Idle">Eric Idle</a> that was first featured in the Python film <i><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian">Life of Brian</a></i> and has gone on to become a common <a href="/wiki/Singalong">singalong</a> at public events such as <a href="/wiki/Association_football">football</a> matches as well as <a href="/wiki/Funerals">funerals</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-BBC-1">[1]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Telegraph-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p><p>Written in the British <a href="/wiki/Music_hall">music hall</a> tradition, the song touches on <a href="/wiki/Stoicism">stoicism</a> and the "<a href="/wiki/Stiff_upper_lip">stiff upper lip</a>" spirit in the face of adversity, so often associated with <a href="/wiki/Britishness">British people</a>. It became immensely popular, reaching No. 3 on the <a href="/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart">UK Singles Chart</a> in 1991.<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> Idle performed the song live to a global audience at the <a href="/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics_closing_ceremony">2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony</a> during the one-hour symphony of British Music segment.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>History[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Whilst trying to come up with a way of ending the film <i><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian">Monty Python's Life of Brian</a></i>, <a href="/wiki/Eric_Idle">Eric Idle</a> wrote an original version of the song on a <a href="/wiki/Gibson_J-45">Gibson J-50 guitar</a> using only jazz chords he learnt from a course by <a href="/wiki/Mickey_Baker">Mickey Baker</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-:0-5">[5]</a></sup> Originally the song was sung in a more straight fashion,<sup><a href="#cite_note-:0-5">[5]</a></sup> which the other Python members eventually agreed would be good enough for the end of the film. However, <a href="/wiki/Michael_Palin">Michael Palin</a> noted in his diary for 16 June 1978 that during a script meeting, "Eric's two songs—'Otto' and the 'Look on the Bright Side' crucifixion song—are rather coolly received before lunch."<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> Despite being initially underwhelmed, the group warmed to Idle's efforts and the song was retained. While practising during a break in filming, Idle found that it worked better if sung in a more cheeky manner by a character of his called "Mr Cheeky", which in turn was based on the film's <a href="/wiki/Cockney">Cockney</a> <a href="/wiki/Lighting_technician">lighting crew</a>. This new version was used in the film and became one of <a href="/wiki/Monty_Python">Monty Python</a>'s most famous compositions.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>
</p><p>The song appears at the end of the film. The film's lead character Brian Cohen (played by <a href="/wiki/Graham_Chapman">Graham Chapman</a>) has been crucified for his part in a kidnap plot. After a succession of apparent rescue opportunities all come to nothing, a character on a nearby cross (played by Eric Idle) attempts to cheer him up by singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". As the song progresses, many of the other crucifixion victims (140 in all, according to the script, though twenty-three crosses are actually seen on screen) begin to dance in a very restricted way and join in with the song's whistled <a href="/wiki/Hook_(music)">hook</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-BB-7">[7]</a></sup> The song continues as the scene changes to a long-shot of the crosses and the credits begin to roll. An instrumental version plays over the second half of the credits. Its appearance at the end of the film, when the central character seems certain to die, is deliberately <a href="/wiki/Irony">ironic</a>.
</p><p>"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was arranged and conducted by <a href="/wiki/John_Altman_(composer)">John Altman</a> and recorded at Chappell's Studio<sup><a href="#cite_note-:0-5">[5]</a></sup> with a full orchestra and the <a href="/wiki/Fred_Tomlinson_(singer)">Fred Tomlinson Singers</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-:0-5">[5]</a></sup> The whistling was performed by <a href="/wiki/Neil_Innes">Neil Innes</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Innes-8">[8]</a></sup> The song appeared on the film soundtrack album, listed as "Look on the Bright Side of Life (All Things Dull and Ugly)". The subtitle does not appear in the actual song, and is only used on the soundtrack album. "All Things Dull and Ugly" was also the title of an unrelated track on <i><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Contractual_Obligation_Album">Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album</a></i> (released the following year) which is a parody of the popular hymn "<a href="/wiki/All_Things_Bright_and_Beautiful">All Things Bright and Beautiful</a>". The song was also released as a Double A side <a href="/wiki/Single_(music)">single</a> with "<a href="/wiki/Brian_Song">Brian</a>", the film's opening theme (performed by <a href="/wiki/Sonia_Jones">Sonia Jones</a>).
</p><p>The song touched a chord with the British trait of <a href="/wiki/Stoicism">stoicism</a> and the "<a href="/wiki/Stiff_upper_lip">stiff upper lip</a>" in the face of disaster, and became immensely popular. When the destroyer <a href="/wiki/HMS_Sheffield_(D80)">HMS <i>Sheffield</i></a> was struck by an <a href="/wiki/Exocet">Exocet</a> <a href="/wiki/Cruise_missile">cruise missile</a> on 4 May 1982 in the <a href="/wiki/Falklands_War">Falklands War</a>, her crew sang it while waiting to be rescued from their sinking ship,<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup> as did the crew of <a href="/wiki/HMS_Coventry_(D118)">HMS <i>Coventry</i></a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> with the line from the song "Worse things happen at sea, you know" being especially ironic.
</p><p>When Chapman died on 4 October 1989, the five remaining Pythons, as well as Chapman's close friends and family, came together at his public memorial service to sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as part of Idle's <a href="/wiki/Eulogy">eulogy</a>. In 2005, a survey by <a href="/wiki/Music_Choice">Music Choice</a> showed that it was the third most popular song Britons would like played at their funerals.<sup><a href="#cite_note-BBC-1">[1]</a></sup> By 2014, it was the most popular.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Alternative lyrics[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>When performing the song live in a (solo) sketch within special events, Idle re-wrote one verse of the song to fit the particular occasion, and on one occasion sung a parody of the song with entirely different lyrics. What follows are two such examples of the former, and the latter.
</p>
<h3><i>We Are Most Amused</i> version (<a href="/wiki/Charles,_Prince_of_Wales">Prince Charles</a>'s 60th birthday party, 2008)[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>"If <a href="/wiki/Spamalot">Spamalot</a> is hot<br />
And you like it, or per'aps not<br />
A bunch of knights in search of <a href="/wiki/Holy_Grail">Holy Grails</a>;<br />
When you're 60 years of age<br />
And <a href="/wiki/Elizabeth_II">your mum</a> won't leave the stage,<br />
It's good to know you're still the <a href="/wiki/Prince_of_Wales">Prince of Wales</a>!" <br />
</p>
<h3><a href="/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics_closing_ceremony">2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony</a> version[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>"When you're stuck on the world's stage<br />
With lots of loonies half your age,<br /> 
And everything is starting to go wrong,<br /> 
It’s too late to run away,<br /> 
You might as well just stay,<br /> 
Especially when they play your silly song!"
</p>
<h3>Duet with <a href="/wiki/James_Corden">James Corden</a>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>In 2018, Idle made a guest appearance on <i><a href="/wiki/The_Late_Late_Show_with_James_Corden">The Late Late Show with James Corden</a></i>; he and Corden begin to perform a duet of the song to distract from the abundance of bad-natured current events, but after they are interrupted multiple times by notifications on their cell phones where they are aghast at even more upsetting news, they instead sing a parody of the song titled "We Are Probably All Going to Die".<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Single[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was first issued as a single as a double A-side with "<a href="/wiki/Brian_Song">Brian</a>" in the UK on 16 November 1979 to promote <i><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian">Monty Python's Life of Brian</a></i> and its soundtrack album, but did not chart. Nine years later when the film was released on VHS, the song was reissued on 21 November 1988 in an edited form to remove profanity, with a full version of "Brian" on the B-side. Once again it failed to chart.
</p><p>The song became particularly popular in the early 1990s. The film had retained a cult status in the intervening years. Around 1990, <a href="/wiki/BBC_Radio_1">BBC Radio 1</a> DJ <a href="/wiki/Simon_Mayo">Simon Mayo</a>, whose breakfast show had a track record of reviving old <a href="/wiki/Novelty_song">novelty songs</a>, began playing the original version on his show,<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> which led to Virgin reissuing the track as a single on 23 September 1991.<sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup>
</p><p>The 7-inch single was backed with two tracks from <i>Contractual Obligation</i>, "<a href="/wiki/I_Bet_You_They_Won%27t_Play_This_Song_on_the_Radio">I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio</a>" and "I'm So Worried", while the cassette and CD singles added a German-language version of "<a href="/wiki/The_Lumberjack_Song">The Lumberjack Song</a>" taken from the first <i><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Fliegender_Zirkus">Fliegender Zirkus</a></i> episode. The single reached the top ten in October and prompted a deliberately chaotic performance by Idle on <i><a href="/wiki/Top_of_the_Pops">Top of the Pops</a></i>. Despite some predictions, it did not manage to bring an end to <a href="/wiki/Bryan_Adams">Bryan Adams</a>'s unprecedented run at the top of the <a href="/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart">UK Singles Chart</a> with "<a href="/wiki/(Everything_I_Do)_I_Do_It_for_You">(Everything I Do) I Do It for You</a>", instead peaking at number 3 and leading to a re-promotion for the 1989 compilation <i><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python_Sings">Monty Python Sings</a></i>, which the song opens. However, the single did get to Number 1 in Ireland on 13 October 1991, despite <i><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian">Life of Brian</a></i> having been banned in Ireland, and the <a href="/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Life_of_Brian_(album)">soundtrack</a> on Warners withdrawn when released after protests. Following this attention, the song became more popular than ever. Two cover versions, by <a href="/wiki/Tenor_Fly">Tenor Fly</a> (incorporating the piano riff from <a href="/wiki/Nina_Simone">Nina Simone</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/My_Baby_Just_Cares_for_Me">My Baby Just Cares for Me</a>"), and the cast of <i><a href="/wiki/Coronation_Street">Coronation Street</a></i> (with main vocals by <a href="/wiki/Bill_Waddington">Bill Waddington</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup> who played Percy Sugden in the show), both reached the charts in 1995, with <i>The Coronation Street Single</i> version reaching number 35.<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup>
</p><p>Eric Idle recorded alternative lyrics for the radio version, with the swearing censored, and the comments about the end of the film replaced with references to <i>the end of the record</i>, and continued rants about old people. This version was released on CD, cassette and vinyl via the compilation album <i><a href="/wiki/Now_That%27s_What_I_Call_Music!_20_(UK_series)">Now 20</a></i> in November 1991 and as a b-side on a reissue of "<a href="/wiki/Galaxy_Song">Galaxy Song</a>" (where it is billed as "1991 version") on 2 December 1991. For this radio version, the line "Life's a piece of shit" was altered to "Life's a piece of spit". In recognition of Simon Mayo's contribution to making the record a hit, a special version was also created, in which Idle addresses him by name. Mayo still uses this version when the song is played on his show. This version is also included as the penultimate track on <i>Now That's What I Call Music! 1991 – The Millennium Series</i>, released in 1999.
</p><p>On 14 July 2014 another version of the song was issued, this time as a 12" single where it was promoted as "The Unofficial England Football Anthem". The track featured a new vocal from Eric Idle and some alternate lyrics about the World Cup.
</p>
<h3>Track listing[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>1979 7"
</p>
<ol><li>"Brian"/"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (Double A side)</li></ol>
<p>1988 7"
</p>
<ol><li>"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (Edited Version)/"Brian"</li></ol>
<p>1991 7"
</p>
<ol><li>"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"/"I'm So Worried";"I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio"</li></ol>
<p>2014 12"
</p>
<ol><li>"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (2014 Version)/"An Apology From Bernard"</li></ol>
<h2>Covers[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<p><a href="/wiki/Harry_Nilsson">Harry Nilsson</a> performed "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as the closing track on his 1980 album, <i><a href="/wiki/Flash_Harry_(album)">Flash Harry</a></i>. In 1997, the song was recorded by <a href="/wiki/Art_Garfunkel">Art Garfunkel</a> and included in the soundtrack of <a href="/wiki/James_L._Brooks">James L. Brooks</a>' film <i><a href="/wiki/As_Good_as_It_Gets">As Good as It Gets</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup> In the film itself, <a href="/wiki/Jack_Nicholson">Jack Nicholson</a> sings the song fleetingly with the minor addition of "your" in "brighter side of [your] life".<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup> Garfunkel's version replaced the risqué phrase "Life's a piece of shit" with the more family-friendly "Life's a counterfeit" ("Life is hit or miss" has also replaced the lyric as with wedding bands and live radio). The song has also been performed by <a href="/wiki/Bruce_Cockburn">Bruce Cockburn</a> and released on his 1990 live CD.
</p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Brobdingnagian_Bards">Brobdingnagian Bards</a> recorded the song for their CD <i><a href="/wiki/A_Faire_to_Remember">A Faire to Remember</a></i>. American musician <a href="/wiki/Emilie_Autumn">Emilie Autumn</a> performed a harpsichord cover of the song for her compilation album <i><a href="/wiki/A_Bit_o%27_This_%26_That">A Bit o' This &amp; That</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Heavens_Gate_(band)">Heavens Gate</a> recorded a metal cover of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" for the album <i>Hell for Sale!</i>. <a href="/wiki/Green_Day">Green Day</a> has used it in their rendition of "<a href="/wiki/Shout_(The_Isley_Brothers_song)">Shout</a>" on their concert DVD <i><a href="/wiki/Bullet_in_a_Bible">Bullet in a Bible</a></i>.
</p><p>German fun metal band <a href="/wiki/JBO_(band)">JBO</a> made a version of the song with changed lyrics ("Always Look on the Dark Side of Life") for their album <i>Sex Sex Sex</i>. German fun punk band <a href="/wiki/Heiter_bis_Wolkig">Heiter bis Wolkig</a> also made a version with changed lyrics called "Versuch's mal von der breiten Seite zu seh'n". The British duo <a href="/wiki/Amateur_Transplants">Amateur Transplants</a> made a parody version of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as well, with lyrics in which only the name and the chorus of the original song are retained.
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Green_Day">Green Day</a> did a short version of the song on their <i><a href="/wiki/Revolution_Radio">Revolution Radio</a></i> tour in 2017 in Brisbane, Australia. They also covered "<a href="/wiki/(I_Can%27t_Get_No)_Satisfaction">(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction</a>" and "<a href="/wiki/Hey_Jude">Hey Jude</a>" after playing "<a href="/wiki/Nimrod_(album)">King for a Day</a>" and "<a href="/wiki/Shout_(The_Isley_Brothers_song)">Shout</a>".
</p>
<h2>Other appearances[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The song appears twice in the Broadway musical <i><a href="/wiki/Spamalot">Spamalot</a></i>, based on <i><a href="/wiki/Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail">Monty Python and the Holy Grail</a></i> – once in Act II and again during the <a href="/wiki/Curtain_call">curtain call</a>.
</p><p>The song is used at the end of <i><a href="/wiki/Not_the_Messiah_(He%27s_a_Very_Naughty_Boy)">Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)</a></i>, the comedic oratorio written by Eric Idle and collaborator <a href="/wiki/John_Du_Prez">John Du Prez</a>.
</p><p>The song would make an appearance on <a href="/wiki/The_Masked_Singer_(American_season_8)">season 8</a> of <i><a href="/wiki/The_Masked_Singer_(American_TV_series)">The Masked Singer</a></i>, where Idle sung it as his encore song after being unmasked as the Hedgehog.
</p>
<h2>Charts[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Certifications[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life&amp;action=edit&amp;section=14">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-BBC_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-BBC_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4336113.stm">"Angels 'favourite funeral song'"</a>. BBC News. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2013.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Telegraph_2-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/11243943/Baby-boomers-jazz-up-their-funerals-with-Monty-Python-and-fancy-dress.html">"Baby boomers jazz up their funerals with Monty Python and fancy dress"</a>. <i>The Daily Telegraph</i>. London. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/always+look+on+the+bright+side+of+life/">"always look on the bright side of life – full Official Chart History – Official Charts Company"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Official_Charts_Company">Official Charts</a></i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/08/201281305330562117.html">"London ends Olympics on extravagant notes – Europe"</a>. Al Jazeera. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_5-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_5-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Monty Python (15 October 2018), <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7ajn4ARXVg&amp;t=328s"><i>Eric Idle talks about the inspiration behind his hit song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</i></a>, retrieved 20 October 2018</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Michael_Palin">Palin, Michael</a> (2006). <i>Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years</i>. Weidenfeld &amp; Nicolson. p. 473.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-BB_7-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/life-of-brian-mw0000220497">"Monty Python: Life of Brian"</a>. AllMusic. Retrieved 24 February 2013.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Innes_8-0">^</a></b> <cite>Welch, Chris (30 December 2019). <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/30/neil-innes-obituary">"Neil Innes obituary"</a>. <i>The Guardian</i>. Retrieved 31 December 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110717050535/http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life">"Icons of England, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life""</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life">the original</a> on 17 July 2011.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007mp5s"><i>Sea of Fire</i></a> (TV documentary). <a href="/wiki/BBC_Two">BBC Two</a>. 1 June 2007.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30143250">"Monty Python tune tops funeral songs"</a>. BBC News. 21 November 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAPceUSVLKM">"'We Are Probably All Going to Die' w/ Eric Idle"</a> – via <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Eric_Idle">Idle, Eric</a> (2018). <i>Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – A Sortabiography</i>. Weidenfeld &amp; Nicolson. p. 147.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> <cite>"New Releases: Singles". <i><a href="/wiki/Music_Week">Music Week</a></i>. 21 September 1991. p. 21.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b> The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles, Volume 2 by Dave McAleer, Andy Gregory and Matthew White (Virgin/Random House/Ebury Publishing/Official Charts Company <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780753522455">9780753522455</a>)
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/28339/various-artists/">"VARIOUS ARTISTS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Official_Charts_Company">Official Charts</a></i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/the-coronation-st-single/">"The coronation st single | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Official_Charts_Company">Official Charts</a></i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/as-good-as-it-gets-mw0000597183">"As Good as It Gets soundtrack"</a>. AllMusic. Retrieved 14 April 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> <cite>Cyrino, Monica Silveira (2 December 2005). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=32gPTvDhLAMC&amp;pg=PA187"><i>Big Screen Rome</i></a>. Wiley-Blackwell. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781405116848"><bdi>9781405116848</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-aus_20-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/David_Kent_(historian)">Kent, David</a> (1993). <i>Australian Chart Book 1970–1992</i> (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 206. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-646-11917-6"><bdi>0-646-11917-6</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-sc_Flanders_Monty_Python_21-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-sc_Flanders_Monty_Python_21-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> "<a href="https://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Monty+Python&amp;titel=Always+Look+on+the+Bright+Side+of+Life&amp;cat=s">Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</a> (in Dutch). <a href="/wiki/Ultratop">Ultratop 50</a>. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Dutch40_Monty_Python_22-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://www.top40.nl/top40/1981/week-3">Nederlandse Top 40 – week 3, 1981</a>" (in Dutch). <a href="/wiki/Dutch_Top_40">Dutch Top 40</a>. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Dutch100_Monty_Python_23-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Monty+Python&amp;titel=Always+Look+on+the+Bright+Side+of+Life&amp;cat=s">Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</a> (in Dutch). <a href="/wiki/Dutch_Single_Top_100">Single Top 100</a>. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bubblingdownunder.com/2022/11/week-commencing-4-november-1991.html">"Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 4 November 1991"</a>. <i>Bubbling Down Under</i>. Retrieved 4 November 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Austria_Monty_Python_25-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Monty+Python&amp;titel=Always+Look+on+the+Bright+Side+of+Life&amp;cat=s">Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</a> (in German). <a href="/wiki/%C3%963_Austria_Top_40">Ö3 Austria Top 40</a>. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1991/MM-1991-10-26.pdf">"Eurochart Hot 100 Singles"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Media">Music &amp; Media</a></i>. Vol. 8, no. 43. 26 October 1991. p. 33. Retrieved 12 February 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Germany_Monty_Python_27-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://www.offiziellecharts.de/titel-details-2348">Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</a> (in German). <a href="/wiki/GfK_Entertainment_charts">GfK Entertainment charts</a>. Retrieved 10 October 2018. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-IRL-sin_28-0">^</a></b> "<a href="http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=1&amp;search_type=title&amp;placement=Always+Look+on+the+Bright+Side+of+Life">The Irish Charts – Search Results – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Irish_Singles_Chart">Irish Singles Chart</a>. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Norway_Monty_Python_29-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Monty+Python&amp;titel=Always+Look+on+the+Bright+Side+of+Life&amp;cat=s">Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</a>. <a href="/wiki/VG-lista">VG-lista</a>. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Switzerland_Monty_Python_30-0">^</a></b> "<a href="http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Monty+Python&amp;titel=Always+Look+on+the+Bright+Side+of+Life&amp;cat=s">Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Swiss_Hitparade">Swiss Singles Chart</a>. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_UK_Monty_Python_31-0">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19911019/7501/">"Official Singles Chart Top 100"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Official_Charts_Company">Official Charts Company</a>. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-aus80_32-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://imgur.com/a/kTGdGUZ">"National Top 100 Singles for 1980"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Kent_Music_Report">Kent Music Report</a>. 5 January 1981. Retrieved 17 January 2022 – via <a href="/wiki/Imgur">Imgur</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b> <cite>"1991 Top 100 Singles". <i><a href="/wiki/Music_Week">Music Week</a></i>. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 11 January 1992. p. 20.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1992">"Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1992"</a> (in German). <a href="/wiki/GfK_Entertainment">GfK Entertainment</a>. Retrieved 12 February 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-United_KingdomMonty_PythonAlways_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_LifesingleCertRef_35-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/18560-766-1">"British single certifications – Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"</a>. <a href="/wiki/British_Phonographic_Industry">British Phonographic Industry</a>. Retrieved 2 December 2022.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 History
 * 2 Alternative lyrics
 Toggle Alternative lyrics subsection
 + 2.1 We Are Most Amused version (Prince Charles's 60th birthday party, 2008)
 + 2.2 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony version
 + 2.3 Duet with James Corden
 * 3 Single
 Toggle Single subsection
 + 3.1 Track listing
 * 4 Covers
 * 5 Other appearances
 * 6 Charts
 Toggle Charts subsection
 + 6.1 Weekly charts
 + 6.2 Year-end charts
 * 7 Certifications
 * 8 References
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 Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 "Bright Side of Life" redirects here. For the album by Rebelution, see Bright Side of Life (album).

 "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" 
 1991 7" reissue artwork 
 Single by Monty Python 
 from the album Monty Python's Life of Brian soundtrack 
 A-side  "Brian" (double A-side) 
  16 November 1979 
 Released  21 November 1988 (reissue) 
  23 September 1991 (2nd reissue) 
 Recorded  1979 Chappell Studios Bond Street – Friar Park Studio, Henley-On-Thames
 Genre  Comedy music 
 Length  3 : 23  
 Label  Virgin Records 
 Songwriter(s)  Eric Idle 
 Producer(s)  Andre Jacquemin 
  Dave Howman 
 Monty Python singles chronology 
 "Python On Song" "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" / "Brian" "I Like Chinese"
 (1976) (1979) (1980) 
  
 

 "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the Python film Life of Brian and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals.[1][2]

 Written in the British music hall tradition, the song touches on stoicism and the "stiff upper lip" spirit in the face of adversity, so often associated with British people. It became immensely popular, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1991.[3] Idle performed the song live to a global audience at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony during the one-hour symphony of British Music segment.[4]

 History [ edit ]

 Whilst trying to come up with a way of ending the film Monty Python's Life of Brian, Eric Idle wrote an original version of the song on a Gibson J-50 guitar using only jazz chords he learnt from a course by Mickey Baker.[5] Originally the song was sung in a more straight fashion,[5] which the other Python members eventually agreed would be good enough for the end of the film. However, Michael Palin noted in his diary for 16 June 1978 that during a script meeting, "Eric's two songs—'Otto' and the 'Look on the Bright Side' crucifixion song—are rather coolly received before lunch."[6] Despite being initially underwhelmed, the group warmed to Idle's efforts and the song was retained. While practising during a break in filming, Idle found that it worked better if sung in a more cheeky manner by a character of his called "Mr Cheeky", which in turn was based on the film's Cockney lighting crew. This new version was used in the film and became one of Monty Python's most famous compositions.[ citation needed ]

 The song appears at the end of the film. The film's lead character Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman) has been crucified for his part in a kidnap plot. After a succession of apparent rescue opportunities all come to nothing, a character on a nearby cross (played by Eric Idle) attempts to cheer him up by singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". As the song progresses, many of the other crucifixion victims (140 in all, according to the script, though twenty-three crosses are actually seen on screen) begin to dance in a very restricted way and join in with the song's whistled hook.[7] The song continues as the scene changes to a long-shot of the crosses and the credits begin to roll. An instrumental version plays over the second half of the credits. Its appearance at the end of the film, when the central character seems certain to die, is deliberately ironic.

 "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was arranged and conducted by John Altman and recorded at Chappell's Studio[5] with a full orchestra and the Fred Tomlinson Singers.[5] The whistling was performed by Neil Innes.[8] The song appeared on the film soundtrack album, listed as "Look on the Bright Side of Life (All Things Dull and Ugly)". The subtitle does not appear in the actual song, and is only used on the soundtrack album. "All Things Dull and Ugly" was also the title of an unrelated track on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (released the following year) which is a parody of the popular hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful". The song was also released as a Double A side single with "Brian", the film's opening theme (performed by Sonia Jones).

 The song touched a chord with the British trait of stoicism and the "stiff upper lip" in the face of disaster, and became immensely popular. When the destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet cruise missile on 4 May 1982 in the Falklands War, her crew sang it while waiting to be rescued from their sinking ship,[9] as did the crew of HMS Coventry,[10] with the line from the song "Worse things happen at sea, you know" being especially ironic.

 When Chapman died on 4 October 1989, the five remaining Pythons, as well as Chapman's close friends and family, came together at his public memorial service to sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as part of Idle's eulogy. In 2005, a survey by Music Choice showed that it was the third most popular song Britons would like played at their funerals.[1] By 2014, it was the most popular.[11]

 Alternative lyrics [ edit ]

 When performing the song live in a (solo) sketch within special events, Idle re-wrote one verse of the song to fit the particular occasion, and on one occasion sung a parody of the song with entirely different lyrics. What follows are two such examples of the former, and the latter.

 We Are Most Amused version ( Prince Charles 's 60th birthday party, 2008) [ edit ]

 "If Spamalot is hot
 And you like it, or per'aps not
 A bunch of knights in search of Holy Grails;
 When you're 60 years of age
 And your mum won't leave the stage,
 It's good to know you're still the Prince of Wales!"

 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony version [ edit ]

 "When you're stuck on the world's stage
 With lots of loonies half your age,
 And everything is starting to go wrong,
 It’s too late to run away,
 You might as well just stay,
 Especially when they play your silly song!"

 Duet with James Corden [ edit ]

 In 2018, Idle made a guest appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden; he and Corden begin to perform a duet of the song to distract from the abundance of bad-natured current events, but after they are interrupted multiple times by notifications on their cell phones where they are aghast at even more upsetting news, they instead sing a parody of the song titled "We Are Probably All Going to Die".[12]

 Single [ edit ]

 "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was first issued as a single as a double A-side with "Brian" in the UK on 16 November 1979 to promote Monty Python's Life of Brian and its soundtrack album, but did not chart. Nine years later when the film was released on VHS, the song was reissued on 21 November 1988 in an edited form to remove profanity, with a full version of "Brian" on the B-side. Once again it failed to chart.

 The song became particularly popular in the early 1990s. The film had retained a cult status in the intervening years. Around 1990, BBC Radio 1 DJ Simon Mayo, whose breakfast show had a track record of reviving old novelty songs, began playing the original version on his show,[13] which led to Virgin reissuing the track as a single on 23 September 1991.[14]

 The 7-inch single was backed with two tracks from Contractual Obligation, "I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio" and "I'm So Worried", while the cassette and CD singles added a German-language version of "The Lumberjack Song" taken from the first Fliegender Zirkus episode. The single reached the top ten in October and prompted a deliberately chaotic performance by Idle on Top of the Pops. Despite some predictions, it did not manage to bring an end to Bryan Adams's unprecedented run at the top of the UK Singles Chart with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", instead peaking at number 3 and leading to a re-promotion for the 1989 compilation Monty Python Sings, which the song opens. However, the single did get to Number 1 in Ireland on 13 October 1991, despite Life of Brian having been banned in Ireland, and the soundtrack on Warners withdrawn when released after protests. Following this attention, the song became more popular than ever. Two cover versions, by Tenor Fly (incorporating the piano riff from Nina Simone's "My Baby Just Cares for Me"), and the cast of Coronation Street (with main vocals by Bill Waddington,[15] who played Percy Sugden in the show), both reached the charts in 1995, with The Coronation Street Single version reaching number 35.[16][17]

 Eric Idle recorded alternative lyrics for the radio version, with the swearing censored, and the comments about the end of the film replaced with references to the end of the record, and continued rants about old people. This version was released on CD, cassette and vinyl via the compilation album Now 20 in November 1991 and as a b-side on a reissue of "Galaxy Song" (where it is billed as "1991 version") on 2 December 1991. For this radio version, the line "Life's a piece of shit" was altered to "Life's a piece of spit". In recognition of Simon Mayo's contribution to making the record a hit, a special version was also created, in which Idle addresses him by name. Mayo still uses this version when the song is played on his show. This version is also included as the penultimate track on Now That's What I Call Music! 1991 – The Millennium Series, released in 1999.

 On 14 July 2014 another version of the song was issued, this time as a 12" single where it was promoted as "The Unofficial England Football Anthem". The track featured a new vocal from Eric Idle and some alternate lyrics about the World Cup.

 Track listing [ edit ]

 1979 7"

 1. "Brian"/"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (Double A side)

 1988 7"

 1. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (Edited Version)/"Brian"

 1991 7"

 1. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"/"I'm So Worried";"I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio"

 2014 12"

 1. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (2014 Version)/"An Apology From Bernard"

 Covers [ edit ]

 Harry Nilsson performed "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as the closing track on his 1980 album, Flash Harry. In 1997, the song was recorded by Art Garfunkel and included in the soundtrack of James L. Brooks' film As Good as It Gets.[18] In the film itself, Jack Nicholson sings the song fleetingly with the minor addition of "your" in "brighter side of [your] life".[19] Garfunkel's version replaced the risqué phrase "Life's a piece of shit" with the more family-friendly "Life's a counterfeit" ("Life is hit or miss" has also replaced the lyric as with wedding bands and live radio). The song has also been performed by Bruce Cockburn and released on his 1990 live CD.

 The Brobdingnagian Bards recorded the song for their CD A Faire to Remember. American musician Emilie Autumn performed a harpsichord cover of the song for her compilation album A Bit o' This & That. Heavens Gate recorded a metal cover of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" for the album Hell for Sale!. Green Day has used it in their rendition of "Shout" on their concert DVD Bullet in a Bible.

 German fun metal band JBO made a version of the song with changed lyrics ("Always Look on the Dark Side of Life") for their album Sex Sex Sex. German fun punk band Heiter bis Wolkig also made a version with changed lyrics called "Versuch's mal von der breiten Seite zu seh'n". The British duo Amateur Transplants made a parody version of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as well, with lyrics in which only the name and the chorus of the original song are retained.

 Green Day did a short version of the song on their Revolution Radio tour in 2017 in Brisbane, Australia. They also covered "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Hey Jude" after playing "King for a Day" and "Shout".

 Other appearances [ edit ]

 The song appears twice in the Broadway musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail – once in Act II and again during the curtain call.

 The song is used at the end of Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), the comedic oratorio written by Eric Idle and collaborator John Du Prez.

 The song would make an appearance on season 8 of The Masked Singer, where Idle sung it as his encore song after being unmasked as the Hedgehog.

 Charts [ edit ]

 Weekly charts [ edit ] Year-end charts [ edit ] 
  
 Chart (1980–1981) Peak Chart (1980) Position 
 position Australia (Kent Music Report)[32] 86 
 Australia (Kent Music Report)[20] 9 
 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[21] 30 Chart (1991) Position 
 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[22] 32 UK Singles (OCC)[33] 44 
 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[23] 34 
  Chart (1992) Position
 Chart (1991–1992) Peak Germany (Official German Charts)[34] 27 
 position 
 Australia (ARIA)[24] 119 
 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[25] 2 
 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[21] 35 
 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[26] 6 
 Germany (Official German Charts)[27] 3 
 Ireland (IRMA)[28] 1 
 Norway (VG-lista)[29] 5 
 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 3 
 UK Singles (OCC)[31] 3 
  
 

 Certifications [ edit ]

 Region Certification Certified units/sales
 United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Silver 200,000 
 Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
  
 

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ a b "Angels 'favourite funeral song'". BBC News. 10 March 2005 . Retrieved 24 February 2013 .
 2. ^ "Baby boomers jazz up their funerals with Monty Python and fancy dress". The Daily Telegraph. London. 21 November 2014 . Retrieved 25 November 2014 .
 3. ^ "always look on the bright side of life – full Official Chart History – Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
 4. ^ "London ends Olympics on extravagant notes – Europe". Al Jazeera. 12 August 2012 . Retrieved 23 August 2019 .
 5. ^ a b c d Monty Python (15 October 2018), Eric Idle talks about the inspiration behind his hit song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" , retrieved 20 October 2018
 6. ^ Palin, Michael (2006). Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 473.
 7. ^ "Monty Python: Life of Brian". AllMusic . Retrieved 24 February 2013 .
 8. ^ Welch, Chris (30 December 2019). "Neil Innes obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved 31 December 2019 .
 9. ^ "Icons of England, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
 10. ^ Sea of Fire (TV documentary). BBC Two. 1 June 2007.
 11. ^ "Monty Python tune tops funeral songs". BBC News. 21 November 2014.
 12. ^ "'We Are Probably All Going to Die' w/ Eric Idle" – via YouTube.
 13. ^ Idle, Eric (2018). Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – A Sortabiography. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 147.
 14. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 21 September 1991. p. 21.
 15. ^ The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles, Volume 2 by Dave McAleer, Andy Gregory and Matthew White (Virgin/Random House/Ebury Publishing/Official Charts Company ISBN 9780753522455 )
 16. ^ "VARIOUS ARTISTS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
 17. ^ "The coronation st single | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
 18. ^ "As Good as It Gets soundtrack". AllMusic . Retrieved 14 April 2020 .
 19. ^ Cyrino, Monica Silveira (2 December 2005). Big Screen Rome. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9781405116848.
 20. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 206. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
 21. ^ a b " Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50 . Retrieved 24 August 2014.
 22. ^ " Nederlandse Top 40 – week 3, 1981 " (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved 24 August 2014.
 23. ^ " Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in Dutch). Single Top 100 . Retrieved 24 August 2014.
 24. ^ "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 4 November 1991". Bubbling Down Under . Retrieved 4 November 2022 .
 25. ^ " Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40 . Retrieved 24 August 2014.
 26. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF) . Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 43. 26 October 1991. p. 33 . Retrieved 12 February 2021 .
 27. ^ " Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts . Retrieved 10 October 2018.
 28. ^ " The Irish Charts – Search Results – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" . Irish Singles Chart . Retrieved 12 February 2021.
 29. ^ " Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" . VG-lista . Retrieved 24 August 2014.
 30. ^ " Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" . Swiss Singles Chart . Retrieved 24 August 2014.
 31. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved 24 August 2014.
 32. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1980". Kent Music Report. 5 January 1981 . Retrieved 17 January 2022 – via Imgur.
 33. ^ "1991 Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 11 January 1992. p. 20.
 34. ^ "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1992" (in German). GfK Entertainment . Retrieved 12 February 2021 .
 35. ^ "British single certifications – Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 2 December 2022 .
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
   "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"      1991 7" reissue artwork     Single by Monty Python    from the album  Monty Python's Life of Brian soundtrack      A-side  "Brian" (double A-side)   Released 16 November 197921 November 1988 (reissue)23 September 1991 (2nd reissue)   Recorded 1979 Chappell Studios Bond Street – Friar Park Studio, Henley-On-Thames    Genre   Comedy music    Length 3:23    Label   Virgin Records     Songwriter(s)   Eric Idle     Producer(s)  Andre JacqueminDave Howman    Monty Python singles chronology   
 
"Python On Song" (1976)
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" / "Brian" (1979)
"I Like Chinese" (1980)
       
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the Python film  Life of Brian  and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals. [1]   [2] 
 Written in the British music hall tradition, the song touches on stoicism and the "stiff upper lip" spirit in the face of adversity, so often associated with British people. It became immensely popular, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1991. [3]  Idle performed the song live to a global audience at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony during the one-hour symphony of British Music segment. [4] 
History[edit]
Whilst trying to come up with a way of ending the film  Monty Python's Life of Brian , Eric Idle wrote an original version of the song on a Gibson J-50 guitar using only jazz chords he learnt from a course by Mickey Baker. [5]  Originally the song was sung in a more straight fashion, [5]  which the other Python members eventually agreed would be good enough for the end of the film. However, Michael Palin noted in his diary for 16 June 1978 that during a script meeting, "Eric's two songs—'Otto' and the 'Look on the Bright Side' crucifixion song—are rather coolly received before lunch." [6]  Despite being initially underwhelmed, the group warmed to Idle's efforts and the song was retained. While practising during a break in filming, Idle found that it worked better if sung in a more cheeky manner by a character of his called "Mr Cheeky", which in turn was based on the film's Cockney lighting crew. This new version was used in the film and became one of Monty Python's most famous compositions.[ citation needed ]
 The song appears at the end of the film. The film's lead character Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman) has been crucified for his part in a kidnap plot. After a succession of apparent rescue opportunities all come to nothing, a character on a nearby cross (played by Eric Idle) attempts to cheer him up by singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". As the song progresses, many of the other crucifixion victims (140 in all, according to the script, though twenty-three crosses are actually seen on screen) begin to dance in a very restricted way and join in with the song's whistled hook. [7]  The song continues as the scene changes to a long-shot of the crosses and the credits begin to roll. An instrumental version plays over the second half of the credits. Its appearance at the end of the film, when the central character seems certain to die, is deliberately ironic.
 "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was arranged and conducted by John Altman and recorded at Chappell's Studio [5]  with a full orchestra and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. [5]  The whistling was performed by Neil Innes. [8]  The song appeared on the film soundtrack album, listed as "Look on the Bright Side of Life (All Things Dull and Ugly)". The subtitle does not appear in the actual song, and is only used on the soundtrack album. "All Things Dull and Ugly" was also the title of an unrelated track on  Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album  (released the following year) which is a parody of the popular hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful". The song was also released as a Double A side single with "Brian", the film's opening theme (performed by Sonia Jones).
 The song touched a chord with the British trait of stoicism and the "stiff upper lip" in the face of disaster, and became immensely popular. When the destroyer HMS Sheffield  was struck by an Exocet cruise missile on 4 May 1982 in the Falklands War, her crew sang it while waiting to be rescued from their sinking ship, [9]  as did the crew of HMS Coventry , [10]  with the line from the song "Worse things happen at sea, you know" being especially ironic.
 When Chapman died on 4 October 1989, the five remaining Pythons, as well as Chapman's close friends and family, came together at his public memorial service to sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as part of Idle's eulogy. In 2005, a survey by Music Choice showed that it was the third most popular song Britons would like played at their funerals. [1]  By 2014, it was the most popular. [11] 
Alternative lyrics[edit]
When performing the song live in a (solo) sketch within special events, Idle re-wrote one verse of the song to fit the particular occasion, and on one occasion sung a parody of the song with entirely different lyrics. What follows are two such examples of the former, and the latter.
 We Are Most Amused version (Prince Charles's 60th birthday party, 2008)[edit]
"If Spamalot is hot
And you like it, or per'aps not
A bunch of knights in search of Holy Grails;
When you're 60 years of age
And your mum won't leave the stage,
It's good to know you're still the Prince of Wales!" 
 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony version[edit]
"When you're stuck on the world's stage
With lots of loonies half your age, 
And everything is starting to go wrong, 
It’s too late to run away, 
You might as well just stay, 
Especially when they play your silly song!"
Duet with James Corden[edit]
In 2018, Idle made a guest appearance on  The Late Late Show with James Corden ; he and Corden begin to perform a duet of the song to distract from the abundance of bad-natured current events, but after they are interrupted multiple times by notifications on their cell phones where they are aghast at even more upsetting news, they instead sing a parody of the song titled "We Are Probably All Going to Die". [12] 
Single[edit]
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was first issued as a single as a double A-side with "Brian" in the UK on 16 November 1979 to promote  Monty Python's Life of Brian  and its soundtrack album, but did not chart. Nine years later when the film was released on VHS, the song was reissued on 21 November 1988 in an edited form to remove profanity, with a full version of "Brian" on the B-side. Once again it failed to chart.
 The song became particularly popular in the early 1990s. The film had retained a cult status in the intervening years. Around 1990, BBC Radio 1 DJ Simon Mayo, whose breakfast show had a track record of reviving old novelty songs, began playing the original version on his show, [13]  which led to Virgin reissuing the track as a single on 23 September 1991. [14] 
 The 7-inch single was backed with two tracks from Contractual Obligation, "I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio" and "I'm So Worried", while the cassette and CD singles added a German-language version of "The Lumberjack Song" taken from the first  Fliegender Zirkus  episode. The single reached the top ten in October and prompted a deliberately chaotic performance by Idle on  Top of the Pops . Despite some predictions, it did not manage to bring an end to Bryan Adams's unprecedented run at the top of the UK Singles Chart with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", instead peaking at number 3 and leading to a re-promotion for the 1989 compilation  Monty Python Sings , which the song opens. However, the single did get to Number 1 in Ireland on 13 October 1991, despite  Life of Brian  having been banned in Ireland, and the soundtrack on Warners withdrawn when released after protests. Following this attention, the song became more popular than ever. Two cover versions, by Tenor Fly (incorporating the piano riff from Nina Simone's "My Baby Just Cares for Me"), and the cast of  Coronation Street  (with main vocals by Bill Waddington, [15]  who played Percy Sugden in the show), both reached the charts in 1995, with The Coronation Street Single version reaching number 35. [16]   [17] 
 Eric Idle recorded alternative lyrics for the radio version, with the swearing censored, and the comments about the end of the film replaced with references to the end of the record, and continued rants about old people. This version was released on CD, cassette and vinyl via the compilation album  Now 20  in November 1991 and as a b-side on a reissue of "Galaxy Song" (where it is billed as "1991 version") on 2 December 1991. For this radio version, the line "Life's a piece of shit" was altered to "Life's a piece of spit". In recognition of Simon Mayo's contribution to making the record a hit, a special version was also created, in which Idle addresses him by name. Mayo still uses this version when the song is played on his show. This version is also included as the penultimate track on Now That's What I Call Music! 1991 – The Millennium Series, released in 1999.
 On 14 July 2014 another version of the song was issued, this time as a 12" single where it was promoted as "The Unofficial England Football Anthem". The track featured a new vocal from Eric Idle and some alternate lyrics about the World Cup.
Track listing[edit]
1979 7"
 "Brian"/"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (Double A side) 
1988 7"
 "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (Edited Version)/"Brian" 
1991 7"
 "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"/"I'm So Worried";"I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio" 
2014 12"
 "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (2014 Version)/"An Apology From Bernard" 
Covers[edit]
 Harry Nilsson performed "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as the closing track on his 1980 album,  Flash Harry . In 1997, the song was recorded by Art Garfunkel and included in the soundtrack of James L. Brooks' film  As Good as It Gets . [18]  In the film itself, Jack Nicholson sings the song fleetingly with the minor addition of "your" in "brighter side of [your] life". [19]  Garfunkel's version replaced the risqué phrase "Life's a piece of shit" with the more family-friendly "Life's a counterfeit" ("Life is hit or miss" has also replaced the lyric as with wedding bands and live radio). The song has also been performed by Bruce Cockburn and released on his 1990 live CD.
 The Brobdingnagian Bards recorded the song for their CD  A Faire to Remember . American musician Emilie Autumn performed a harpsichord cover of the song for her compilation album  A Bit o' This &amp; That . Heavens Gate recorded a metal cover of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" for the album Hell for Sale!. Green Day has used it in their rendition of "Shout" on their concert DVD  Bullet in a Bible .
 German fun metal band JBO made a version of the song with changed lyrics ("Always Look on the Dark Side of Life") for their album Sex Sex Sex. German fun punk band Heiter bis Wolkig also made a version with changed lyrics called "Versuch's mal von der breiten Seite zu seh'n". The British duo Amateur Transplants made a parody version of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as well, with lyrics in which only the name and the chorus of the original song are retained.
  Green Day did a short version of the song on their  Revolution Radio  tour in 2017 in Brisbane, Australia. They also covered "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Hey Jude" after playing "King for a Day" and "Shout".
Other appearances[edit]
The song appears twice in the Broadway musical  Spamalot , based on  Monty Python and the Holy Grail  – once in Act II and again during the curtain call.
 The song is used at the end of  Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) , the comedic oratorio written by Eric Idle and collaborator John Du Prez.
 The song would make an appearance on season 8 of  The Masked Singer , where Idle sung it as his encore song after being unmasked as the Hedgehog.
Charts[edit]
Certifications[edit]
References[edit]
 
^    a       b     "Angels 'favourite funeral song'". BBC News. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  ^   "Baby boomers jazz up their funerals with Monty Python and fancy dress". The Daily Telegraph. London. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  ^   "always look on the bright side of life – full Official Chart History – Official Charts Company".  Official Charts .
  ^   "London ends Olympics on extravagant notes – Europe". Al Jazeera. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
^    a       b       c       d    Monty Python (15 October 2018),  Eric Idle talks about the inspiration behind his hit song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" , retrieved 20 October 2018
  ^   Palin, Michael (2006). Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years. Weidenfeld &amp; Nicolson. p. 473.
  ^   "Monty Python: Life of Brian". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  ^  Welch, Chris (30 December 2019). "Neil Innes obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  ^   "Icons of England, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
  ^    Sea of Fire  (TV documentary). BBC Two. 1 June 2007.
  ^   "Monty Python tune tops funeral songs". BBC News. 21 November 2014.
  ^   "'We Are Probably All Going to Die' w/ Eric Idle" – via YouTube.
  ^   Idle, Eric (2018). Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – A Sortabiography. Weidenfeld &amp; Nicolson. p. 147.
  ^  "New Releases: Singles".  Music Week . 21 September 1991. p. 21.
  ^  The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles, Volume 2 by Dave McAleer, Andy Gregory and Matthew White (Virgin/Random House/Ebury Publishing/Official Charts Company ISBN 9780753522455)
  ^   "VARIOUS ARTISTS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company".  Official Charts .
  ^   "The coronation st single | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company".  Official Charts .
  ^   "As Good as It Gets soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  ^  Cyrino, Monica Silveira (2 December 2005).  Big Screen Rome . Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN  9781405116848 .
  ^   Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 206. ISBN  0-646-11917-6 .
^    a       b    "Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  ^  "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 3, 1981" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  ^  "Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  ^   "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 4 November 1991". Bubbling Down Under. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  ^  "Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  ^   "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF).  Music &amp; Media . Vol. 8, no. 43. 26 October 1991. p. 33. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  ^  "Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 10 October 2018. 
  ^  "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  ^  "Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". VG-lista. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  ^  "Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  ^  "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  ^   "National Top 100 Singles for 1980". Kent Music Report. 5 January 1981. Retrieved 17 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  ^  "1991 Top 100 Singles".  Music Week . London, England: Spotlight Publications. 11 January 1992. p. 20.
  ^   "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1992" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  ^   "British single certifications – Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Always_Look_on_the_Bright_Side_of_Life
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Are_My_Sunshine
You Are My Sunshine - Wikipedia
2005-03-18
Authority control MusicBrainz work
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>"You Are My Sunshine"</th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Single_(music)">Single</a> by <a href="/wiki/Jimmie_Davis">Jimmie Davis</a> with Charles Mitchell's Orchestra</th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/A-side_and_B-side">B-side</a></th><td>"Old Timer"</td></tr><tr><th>Released</th><td>1940</td></tr><tr><th>Recorded</th><td>February 5, 1940<sup><a href="#cite_note-DAHR-1">[1]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Recording_studio">Studio</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Decca_Records">Decca Recording</a>, New York City</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Music_genre">Genre</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Country_music">Country</a></td></tr><tr><th>Length</th><td>2:47</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_label">Label</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Decca_Records">Decca</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Songwriter">Songwriter(s)</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Jimmie_Davis">Jimmie Davis</a>, <a href="/wiki/Charles_Mitchell_(songwriter)">Charles Mitchell</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>"<b>You Are My Sunshine</b>" is a song published by <a href="/wiki/Jimmie_Davis">Jimmie Davis</a> and <a href="/wiki/Charles_Mitchell_(songwriter)">Charles Mitchell</a> on January 30, 1940.<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> According to the <a href="/wiki/Performance_rights_organization">performance rights organization</a> <a href="/wiki/Broadcast_Music,_Inc.">BMI</a>, it has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages.<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> 
</p><p>In 1977, the <a href="/wiki/Louisiana">Louisiana</a> State Legislature decreed "You Are My Sunshine" the <a href="/wiki/State_song">state song</a> in honor of Jimmie Davis, a two-time governor of the state.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Writing and recording[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Earliest performances and recordings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h3>
<table><tbody><tr><th>"You Are My Sunshine"</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Pine_Ridge_Boys_-_You_Are_My_Sunshine_78_(Bluebird).jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Single_(music)">Single</a> by the Pine Ridge Boys</th></tr><tr><th>Released</th><td>October 6, 1939<sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th>Recorded</th><td>August, 22, 1939<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Recording_studio">Studio</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Atlanta">Atlanta</a>, Georgia</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Music_genre">Genre</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Country_music">Country music</a></td></tr><tr><th>Length</th><td>2:45</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_label">Label</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Bluebird_Records">Bluebird</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Songwriter">Songwriter(s)</a></th><td>not listed</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey) recorded the song under the title "You Are My Sunshine" on August 22, 1939, and released it on October 6, 1939 for Bluebird Records. The song was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Pine Ridge Boys were from.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> No songwriter was listed.
</p><p>The Rice Brothers' Gang recorded the song next for Decca, on September 13, 1939,<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> and released it the following month. This group was originally from Northern Georgia, but relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, where they performed on the radio station <a href="/wiki/KWKH">KWKH</a>. The songwriter was listed as "Paul Rice".
</p>
<h3>Copyright and publication[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>On January 30, 1940, "You Are My Sunshine" was copyrighted by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell and published by Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc. of New York.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Russell_liner_notes_booklet_UPC/EAN=4000127162168-9">[9]</a></sup> The pair recorded the song on February 5, 1940, at Decca Studios in New York.<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> Both received song-writing credit and when the copyright was renewed on February 2, 1967 both of their names were on it.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Peermusic">Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc.</a> is still run by the Peer Family, though BMI now lists it under American Performing Rights Society, Inc., also known by its acronym, APRS, c/o Peermusic.<sup><a href="#cite_note-BMI_{{!}}_Songview_Search-12">[12]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Claims of ownership[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>According to a November 1990 article by Theodore Pappas, in <i><a href="/wiki/Chronicles_Magazine">Chronicles Magazine</a>,</i> the true writer of the song was Oliver Hood of <a href="/wiki/LaGrange,_Georgia">LaGrange, Georgia</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup> He asserts that Davis never actually claimed authorship because he bought the song, along with all the rights, from Paul Rice before copyrighting and publishing—a practice not uncommon in the pre-<a href="/wiki/World_War_II">World War II</a> music business.<sup><a href="#cite_note-theft-15">[15]</a></sup> Though some early versions of the song credit the Rice Brothers, descendants and associates of Oliver Hood, a musician who collaborated with Rice, state that Hood wrote the song in the early 1930s and first performed it in 1933, at a <a href="/wiki/Veterans_of_Foreign_Wars">Veterans of Foreign Wars</a> convention at LaGrange.<sup><a href="#cite_note-theft-15">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p>A newspaper article in the Shreveport Times related, "on a day in 1939—no one seems to remember the exact date—Charles Mitchell and Jimmie Davis called the station KWKH to see Paul Rice (who was playing there at the time). Paul’s wife was in the hospital and he needed cash to pay her bills. He sold 'Sunshine' to Davis and Mitchell for $35. Each put in $17.50."<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup> Paul Rice said, "I wrote 'You Are my Sunshine' in 1937. Where I got the idea for it, a girl over in South Carolina wrote me this long letter—it was long about seventeen pages. And she was talking about how I was her sunshine. I got the idea for the song and put a tune to it." 
</p><p>According to Rice, "at least 20 people claimed to have written ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ I had a gal write me from California that she wrote it."<sup><a href="#cite_note-theft-15">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p>Davis lived to be 101 years old and gave a number of conflicting accounts. When interviewed by Dorothy Horstman for her 1975 book 'Sing Your Heart Out Country Boy,'<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> he didn’t claim authorship of the song, but instead related its history of popularity.
</p><p>Tony Russell states, "though Mitchell's name appears on the copyright listing, he had already sold his half share to Davis."<sup><a href="#cite_note-Russell_liner_notes_booklet_UPC/EAN=4000127162168-9">[9]</a></sup> This is not reflected in the records of the United States Copyright Archives, which give the name, date and renewal number, "Charles Mitchell (A); 2Feb67; R403742".<sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Chart performance[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h2>
<table><tbody><tr><th>"You Are My Sunshine"</th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Single_(music)">Single</a> by <a href="/wiki/Gene_Autry">Gene Autry</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/A-side_and_B-side">B-side</a></th><td>"It Makes No Difference Now"</td></tr><tr><th>Released</th><td>July 10, 1941<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th>Recorded</th><td>June 18, 1941<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Recording_studio">Studio</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/CBS_Columbia_Square">CBS Columbia Square</a>, Hollywood, California</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Music_genre">Genre</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Country_music">Hillbilly</a></td></tr><tr><th>Length</th><td>2:25</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_label">Label</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Okeh_Records">Okeh</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>"You Are My Sunshine" was one of Jimmie Davis' biggest-selling records (one source claims it was "among the top five country music recordings of that year"),<sup><a href="#cite_note-theft-15">[15]</a></sup> and it has enjoyed continual success since. In 1940, the Vocalion version by <a href="/wiki/Bob_Atcher">Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue Eyes</a>, released in February, went to number 1 on the embryonic Billboard Top Hillbilly Recordings of the Month (July 27, 1940, issue).<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup> Perhaps thanks to the popularity of the Davis and Atcher versions, the original 1939 recording by The Pine Ridge Boys peaked at number 4 on October 26, 1940.<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Wayne_King">Wayne King and his Orchestra</a> recorded the first version to hit the popular music chart on September 4, and reached number 19 on November 9, 1940.<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup>
</p><p>On March 14, 1941, the <a href="/wiki/Gene_Autry">Gene Autry</a> movie <i><a href="/wiki/Back_in_the_Saddle_(film)">Back in the Saddle</a></i> debuted with Autry singing "You Are My Sunshine" along with his signature song, "<a href="/wiki/Back_In_The_Saddle_Again">Back In The Saddle Again</a>." On June 18,<sup><a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup> he recorded "You Are My Sunshine" at <a href="/wiki/CBS_Columbia_Square">CBS Columbia Square</a> Studio, <a href="/wiki/Hollywood,_Los_Angeles">Hollywood</a>, <a href="/wiki/California">California</a>, and it was released July 10 on <a href="/wiki/Okeh_Records">Okeh Records</a>. 
</p><p>On July 8, 1941, Bing Crosby recorded his version at <a href="/wiki/Decca_Records">Decca Recording Studios</a>, <a href="/wiki/New_York_City">New York City</a>, also released in July. Both recordings made the National Best-Selling Charts,<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup> with Autry going to number 1 on the Billboard Top Hillbilly Recordings chart on September 27,<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup> where he remained for over 20 weeks, into January 1942. Autry's version remained on the chart for much of 1942,<sup><a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup> finally bowing out after 50 weeks.<sup><a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup>
In 1962, a version by <a href="/wiki/Ray_Charles">Ray Charles</a>, with <a href="/wiki/The_Raelettes">the Raelettes</a> and <a href="/wiki/Margie_Hendrix">Margie Hendrix</a>, reached number one on the <i>Billboard</i> <a href="/wiki/Hot_R%26B_Singles">Hot R&amp;B Singles</a> chart and number 7 on its <a href="/wiki/Hot_100">Hot 100</a> chart.<sup><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Appearances[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In the 1997 <i><a href="/wiki/The_Simpsons">The Simpsons</a></i> episode "<a href="/wiki/The_Secret_War_of_Lisa_Simpson">The Secret War of Lisa Simpson</a>," <a href="/wiki/Marge_Simpson">Marge Simpson</a> sends a recording of herself singing "You Are My Sunshine" to her daughter, who is <a href="/wiki/Homesickness">homesick</a> while enrolled in a <a href="/wiki/Military_school">military school</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-30">[30]</a></sup> Sam Scott of <i><a href="/wiki/ZergNet">Looper</a></i> called it "one of the most powerful moments of melancholy beauty in a series that got them down to an art form."<sup><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup>
</p><p>In March 2020, British choirmaster <a href="/wiki/Gareth_Malone">Gareth Malone</a> announced a new initiative titled the <a href="/wiki/Gareth_Malone#Television_work"><i>Great British Home Chorus</i></a>, a new <a href="/wiki/Home_choir">home choir</a> for people internationally whilst everyone was stuck at home during the <a href="/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_Kingdom">COVID-19 pandemic</a>. For the finale, Malone orchestrated a choral version of "You Are My Sunshine," with over 11,000 singers taking part, accompanied by the <a href="/wiki/London_Symphony_Orchestra">London Symphony Orchestra</a>. The song was released as a <a href="/wiki/Charity_single">charity single</a>, with all the profits being donated to <a href="/wiki/NHS_Charities_Together">NHS Charities Together</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Recognition[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>After Davis’ second term as governor, his admirers were disappointed when Gov. John J. McKeithen vetoed a bill in 1968 that would have made ‘’You Are My Sunshine’’ Louisiana’s official song. The reason was that the song said not a word about Louisiana. <a href="/wiki/Virginia_Shehee">Virginia Shehee</a>, a long-time Davis family friend and member of the <a href="/wiki/Louisiana_State_Senate">Louisiana State Senate</a> from 1976 to 1980, re-introduced legislation to make "You Are My Sunshine" the official state song.<sup><a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a></sup> In 1977, the Legislature decreed that "You Are My Sunshine" would share honors as the state song with "Give Me Louisiana" by Doralice Fontane.<sup><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup>
</p><p>As the millennium drew near, Hall of Fame organizations started drawing up lists to honor the best music of the 20th century. On September 2, 1992, <i>Country America</i> magazine designated "You Are My Sunshine" 35th on its Top 100 Country Songs of All-Time list. Next, it was among the pre-1950 records selected to join the Grammy Hall of Fame on February 24, 1999. On June 17, Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the new Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville, and the event included a guitar marching band, led by Chet Atkins, playing "Wildwood Flower" and "You Are My Sunshine."
</p><p>In 2000, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame chose Davis' version of "You Are My Sunshine" to receive its Towering Song Award.<sup><a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-36">[36]</a></sup> The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) published their list of the top 365 "Songs Of The Century" on March 7, 2001, and "You Are My Sunshine" placed #14.<sup><a href="#cite_note-37">[37]</a></sup> The Country Music Foundation published "Heartaches By The Number" celebrating country's "500 greatest singles" on March 14, 2003, with "You Are My Sunshine" by Jimmie Davis on the list. On June 8, 2003, it ranked #73 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs Of Country Music." On March 21, 2013, the <a href="/wiki/National_Recording_Registry">National Recording Registry</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Library_of_Congress">Library of Congress</a> added it for long-term preservation.<sup><a href="#cite_note-38">[38]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-DAHR_1-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000295270/67157-You_are_my_sunshine">"Decca matrix 67157. You are my sunshine / Jimmie Davis"</a>. <i>Discography of American Historical Recordings</i>. <a href="/wiki/UC_Santa_Barbara_Library">UC Santa Barbara Library</a>. Retrieved January 14, 2023.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://archive.org/details/catalogofco1967321512lib"><i>Catalog of Copyright Entries: </i>Third Series<i>, Volume 21, Part 5, Number1, Section 1 – Music January–June 1967</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/US_Copyright_Office">US Copyright Office</a>. 1967. p. 916. Retrieved January 14, 2023.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/20001106_you_are_my_sunshine_writer_jimmie_davis_dies">"'You Are My Sunshine' Writer Jimmie Davis Dies"</a>. <i>BMI.com</i>. November 5, 2000. Retrieved January 14, 2023.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141129111706/http://www.sos.la.gov/HistoricalResources/AboutLouisiana/LouisianaFacts/Pages/TheStateOfLouisiana.aspx">"State songs"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Georgia_Secretary_of_State">Georgia Secretary of State</a></i>. 2014. Archived from <a href="http://www.sos.la.gov/HistoricalResources/AboutLouisiana/LouisianaFacts/Pages/TheStateOfLouisiana.aspx">the original</a> on November 29, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2023.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/objects/detail/64362/Bluebird_B-8263">"Bluebird B-8263 (10-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings"</a>. <i>adp.library.ucsb.edu</i>. Retrieved February 5, 2023.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite>Russell, Tony (2004). <i>Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942</i>. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 85. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-513989-5"><bdi>0-19-513989-5</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 697.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 746.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Russell_liner_notes_booklet_UPC/EAN=4000127162168_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Russell_liner_notes_booklet_UPC/EAN=4000127162168_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Russell, Tony (April 29, 1998). <i>You Are My Sunshine 5CD Box Set</i>. Bear Family Records. pp. liner notes (booklet) UPC/EAN=4000127162168.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 304.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://archive.org/details/catalogofco1967321512lib">"Catalog of Copyrights 1967"</a>. <i>ia600200.us.archive.org</i>. 1967. Retrieved 2021-08-28.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-BMI_{{!}}_Songview_Search_12-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://repertoire.bmi.com/Main/Disclaimer?redirect=%252fSearch%252fSearch%253fMain_Search_Text%253dJimmie%252520Davis%2526Main_Search%253dCatalog%2526Search_Type%253dbmi%2526View_Count%253d100%2526Page_Number%253d1%2526Part_Type%253dWriterList%2526Part_Id%253dOXgCU0f3UCvQwHi7UcFCGA%2525253d%2525253d%2526Part_Id_Sub%253dAsUgggESH2zifZBvvmZPOw%2525253d%2525253d%2526Part_Cae%253dKgArW5oi1SlCtipASPVXdA%2525253d%2525253d%2526Original_Search%253dWriter%25252FComposer">"BMI | Songview Search"</a>. <i>repertoire.bmi.com</i>. Retrieved August 23, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.peermusic.com/aboutus/companyhistory">"Peermusic History"</a>. <i>www.peermusic.com</i>. Retrieved August 23, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.rosemontrecords.com/historical.html">"Rosemont Records, Inc"</a>. <i>www.rosemontrecords.com</i>. Retrieved August 20, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-theft_15-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-theft_15-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-theft_15-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-theft_15-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Pappas, Theodore (November 1990). <a href="http://www.rosemontrecords.com/historical.html">"The 'Theft' of an American Classic"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Chronicles_(magazine)">Chronicles</a></i>. The Rockford Institute.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b> <cite>Hannusch, Jeff (October 1, 2009). <a href="http://www.offbeat.com/articles/classic-songs-of-louisiana-you-are-my-sunshine/">"Classic Songs of Louisiana: 'You Are My Sunshine'"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/OffBeat_(music_magazine)">OffBeat</a></i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <cite>Horstman, Dorothy (1975). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0vgTAQAAIAAJ"><i>Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy</i></a>. Dutton. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-525-20465-7"><bdi>978-0-525-20465-7</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://archive.org/details/catalogofco1967321512lib">"Catalog of Copyrights1967"</a>. <i>ia600200.us.archive.org</i>. 1967. Retrieved 2021-08-28.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.geneautry.com/musicmovies/musiccds/essentialgeneautry2.html">"GeneAutry.com: Music, Movies &amp; More - The Essential Gene Autry, 1931-1953"</a>. <i>www.geneautry.com</i>. Retrieved 2022-02-07.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b> <cite>Russell, Tony (2004). <i>Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942</i>. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 85. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-513989-5"><bdi>0-19-513989-5</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard-Magazine.htm">"The Billboard July 27, 1940 p84"</a>. <i>worldradiohistory.com</i>. July 27, 1940. Retrieved August 23, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard-Magazine.htm">"The Billboard October 26, 1940 p84"</a>. <i>worldradiohistory.com</i>. October 26, 1940. Retrieved August 23, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> <cite>Whitburn, Joel (1986). <a href="https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/615"><i>Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954</i></a>. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/615">615</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-89820-083-0"><bdi>0-89820-083-0</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b> <cite>Russell, Tony (2004). <i>Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942</i>. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 85. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-513989-5"><bdi>0-19-513989-5</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b> <cite>Whitburn, Joel (1986). <a href="https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/615"><i>Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954</i></a>. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/615">615</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-89820-083-0"><bdi>0-89820-083-0</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard-Magazine.htm">"The Billboard September 27, 1941 p69"</a>. <i>worldradiohistory.com</i>. September 27, 1941. Retrieved August 23, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b> <cite>Inc, Nielsen Business Media (January 31, 1942). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=DgwEAAAAMBAJ&amp;q=Billboard+Jan+31%2C+1942"><i>Billboard</i></a>. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.</cite> 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard-Magazine.htm">"The Billboard August 1, 1942 p68"</a>. <i>worldradiohistory.com</i>. August 1, 1942. Retrieved August 23, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Joel_Whitburn">Whitburn, Joel</a> (1988). "Ray Charles". <i>Top R&amp;B Singles 1942–1988</i>. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: <a href="/wiki/Record_Research">Record Research</a>. p. 82. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-89820-068-7"><bdi>0-89820-068-7</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b> <cite>Groening, Matt (November 3, 1999). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-0PnJAZbT18C&amp;q=%22You+Are+My+Sunshine%22+%22marge%22+lisa"><i>The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family...Continued</i></a>. HarperCollins. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-06-098763-3"><bdi>978-0-06-098763-3</bdi></a> – via Google Books.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b> <cite>Nicholson, Mikey. <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikeynicholson/do-it-for-her">"27 Moments From "The Simpsons" That Always Make You Ugly Cry"</a>. <i>BuzzFeed</i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b> <cite>Shaw Roberts, Maddy (July 31, 2020). <a href="https://www.classicfm.com/artists/gareth-malone/you-are-my-sunshine-home-chorus/?x">"11,000 voices sing 'You Are My Sunshine' in heartwarming finale to Gareth Malone's lockdown choir"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Classic_FM_(UK)">Classic FM</a></i>. Retrieved August 7, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=virginia-ruth-kilpatrick-shehee&amp;pid=175240971&amp;fhid=10218">"Virginia Ruth Kilpatrick Shehee"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Times_(Shreveport)">The Shreveport Times</a></i>. Retrieved July 9, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.225batonrouge.com/our-city/arts-entertainment/my-only-sunshine">"The hit song "You Are My Sunshine" originated in Baton Rouge"</a>. <i>[225]</i>. 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2021-08-29.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.songhall.org/special-awards/towering_song">"Towering Song | Songwriters Hall of Fame"</a>. <i>www.songhall.org</i>. Retrieved 2021-08-29.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.songhall.org/awards/winner/You_Are_My_Sunshine">""You Are My Sunshine" | Songwriters Hall of Fame"</a>. <i>www.songhall.org</i>. Retrieved 2021-08-29.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://calendar.songfacts.com/march/7/5840">"RIAA Announce "Songs Of The Century" - March 7, 2001"</a>. <i>calendar.songfacts.com</i>. Retrieved 2021-08-29.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b> <cite>Staff 3/21/2013, CMT com. <a href="http://www.cmt.com/news/1704102/you-are-my-sunshine-added-to-national-recording-registry-of-the-library-of-congress/">""You Are My Sunshine" Added to National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress"</a>. <i>CMT News</i>. Retrieved 2021-08-29.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=You_Are_My_Sunshine&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://ladigitalmedia.org/video_v2/asset-detail/LLLGA-1990-07_Sunshine">Louisiana Legends Gala held on October 13, 1990, features former Governor Jimmie Davis singing his most famous song, "You Are My Sunshine."</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UniKDEllIU">"You Are My Sunshine" performed by Gene Autry</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFT7cnItYHQ">"You Are My Sunshine" performed by Nat King Cole</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouip-F9oL-c">"You Are My Sunshine" performed by Ray Charles</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a></li></ul>
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 * 1 Writing and recording
 Toggle Writing and recording subsection
 + 1.1 Earliest performances and recordings
 + 1.2 Copyright and publication
 + 1.3 Claims of ownership
 * 2 Chart performance
 * 3 Appearances
 * 4 Recognition
 * 5 References
 * 6 External links
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 You Are My Sunshine

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. ( August 2021 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
 
 "You Are My Sunshine" 
 Single by Jimmie Davis with Charles Mitchell's Orchestra
 B-side "Old Timer" 
 Released 1940 
 Recorded February 5, 1940[1] 
 Studio Decca Recording, New York City
 Genre Country 
 Length 2 : 47 
 Label Decca 
 Songwriter(s) Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell
 

 "You Are My Sunshine" is a song published by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell on January 30, 1940.[2] According to the performance rights organization BMI, it has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages.[3]

 In 1977, the Louisiana State Legislature decreed "You Are My Sunshine" the state song in honor of Jimmie Davis, a two-time governor of the state.[4]

 Writing and recording [ edit ]

 Earliest performances and recordings [ edit ]

 "You Are My Sunshine" 
 
 Single by the Pine Ridge Boys
 Released October 6, 1939[5] 
 Recorded August, 22, 1939[6]
 Studio Atlanta, Georgia 
 Genre Country music 
 Length 2 : 45 
 Label Bluebird 
 Songwriter(s) not listed 
 

 The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey) recorded the song under the title "You Are My Sunshine" on August 22, 1939, and released it on October 6, 1939 for Bluebird Records. The song was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Pine Ridge Boys were from.[7] No songwriter was listed.

 The Rice Brothers' Gang recorded the song next for Decca, on September 13, 1939,[8] and released it the following month. This group was originally from Northern Georgia, but relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, where they performed on the radio station KWKH. The songwriter was listed as "Paul Rice".

 Copyright and publication [ edit ]

 On January 30, 1940, "You Are My Sunshine" was copyrighted by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell and published by Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc. of New York.[9] The pair recorded the song on February 5, 1940, at Decca Studios in New York.[10] Both received song-writing credit and when the copyright was renewed on February 2, 1967 both of their names were on it.[11] Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc. is still run by the Peer Family, though BMI now lists it under American Performing Rights Society, Inc., also known by its acronym, APRS, c/o Peermusic.[12][13]

 Claims of ownership [ edit ]

 According to a November 1990 article by Theodore Pappas, in Chronicles Magazine, the true writer of the song was Oliver Hood of LaGrange, Georgia.[14] He asserts that Davis never actually claimed authorship because he bought the song, along with all the rights, from Paul Rice before copyrighting and publishing—a practice not uncommon in the pre-World War II music business.[15] Though some early versions of the song credit the Rice Brothers, descendants and associates of Oliver Hood, a musician who collaborated with Rice, state that Hood wrote the song in the early 1930s and first performed it in 1933, at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention at LaGrange.[15]

 A newspaper article in the Shreveport Times related, "on a day in 1939—no one seems to remember the exact date—Charles Mitchell and Jimmie Davis called the station KWKH to see Paul Rice (who was playing there at the time). Paul’s wife was in the hospital and he needed cash to pay her bills. He sold 'Sunshine' to Davis and Mitchell for $35. Each put in $17.50."[16] Paul Rice said, "I wrote 'You Are my Sunshine' in 1937. Where I got the idea for it, a girl over in South Carolina wrote me this long letter—it was long about seventeen pages. And she was talking about how I was her sunshine. I got the idea for the song and put a tune to it."

 According to Rice, "at least 20 people claimed to have written ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ I had a gal write me from California that she wrote it."[15]

 Davis lived to be 101 years old and gave a number of conflicting accounts. When interviewed by Dorothy Horstman for her 1975 book 'Sing Your Heart Out Country Boy,'[17] he didn’t claim authorship of the song, but instead related its history of popularity.

 Tony Russell states, "though Mitchell's name appears on the copyright listing, he had already sold his half share to Davis."[9] This is not reflected in the records of the United States Copyright Archives, which give the name, date and renewal number, "Charles Mitchell (A); 2Feb67; R403742".[18]

 Chart performance [ edit ]

 "You Are My Sunshine"
 Single by Gene Autry 
 B-side "It Makes No Difference Now" 
 Released July 10, 1941[19] 
 Recorded June 18, 1941[20] 
 Studio CBS Columbia Square, Hollywood, California
 Genre Hillbilly 
 Length 2 : 25 
 Label Okeh 
 

 "You Are My Sunshine" was one of Jimmie Davis' biggest-selling records (one source claims it was "among the top five country music recordings of that year"),[15] and it has enjoyed continual success since. In 1940, the Vocalion version by Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue Eyes, released in February, went to number 1 on the embryonic Billboard Top Hillbilly Recordings of the Month (July 27, 1940, issue).[21] Perhaps thanks to the popularity of the Davis and Atcher versions, the original 1939 recording by The Pine Ridge Boys peaked at number 4 on October 26, 1940.[22] Wayne King and his Orchestra recorded the first version to hit the popular music chart on September 4, and reached number 19 on November 9, 1940.[23]

 On March 14, 1941, the Gene Autry movie Back in the Saddle debuted with Autry singing "You Are My Sunshine" along with his signature song, "Back In The Saddle Again." On June 18,[24] he recorded "You Are My Sunshine" at CBS Columbia Square Studio, Hollywood, California, and it was released July 10 on Okeh Records.

 On July 8, 1941, Bing Crosby recorded his version at Decca Recording Studios, New York City, also released in July. Both recordings made the National Best-Selling Charts,[25] with Autry going to number 1 on the Billboard Top Hillbilly Recordings chart on September 27,[26] where he remained for over 20 weeks, into January 1942. Autry's version remained on the chart for much of 1942,[27] finally bowing out after 50 weeks.[28] In 1962, a version by Ray Charles, with the Raelettes and Margie Hendrix, reached number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and number 7 on its Hot 100 chart.[29]

 Appearances [ edit ]

 In the 1997 The Simpsons episode "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson," Marge Simpson sends a recording of herself singing "You Are My Sunshine" to her daughter, who is homesick while enrolled in a military school.[30] Sam Scott of Looper called it "one of the most powerful moments of melancholy beauty in a series that got them down to an art form."[31]

 In March 2020, British choirmaster Gareth Malone announced a new initiative titled the Great British Home Chorus, a new home choir for people internationally whilst everyone was stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the finale, Malone orchestrated a choral version of "You Are My Sunshine," with over 11,000 singers taking part, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra. The song was released as a charity single, with all the profits being donated to NHS Charities Together.[32]

 Recognition [ edit ]

 After Davis’ second term as governor, his admirers were disappointed when Gov. John J. McKeithen vetoed a bill in 1968 that would have made ‘’You Are My Sunshine’’ Louisiana’s official song. The reason was that the song said not a word about Louisiana. Virginia Shehee, a long-time Davis family friend and member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1976 to 1980, re-introduced legislation to make "You Are My Sunshine" the official state song.[33] In 1977, the Legislature decreed that "You Are My Sunshine" would share honors as the state song with "Give Me Louisiana" by Doralice Fontane.[34]

 As the millennium drew near, Hall of Fame organizations started drawing up lists to honor the best music of the 20th century. On September 2, 1992, Country America magazine designated "You Are My Sunshine" 35th on its Top 100 Country Songs of All-Time list. Next, it was among the pre-1950 records selected to join the Grammy Hall of Fame on February 24, 1999. On June 17, Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the new Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville, and the event included a guitar marching band, led by Chet Atkins, playing "Wildwood Flower" and "You Are My Sunshine."

 In 2000, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame chose Davis' version of "You Are My Sunshine" to receive its Towering Song Award.[35][36] The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) published their list of the top 365 "Songs Of The Century" on March 7, 2001, and "You Are My Sunshine" placed #14.[37] The Country Music Foundation published "Heartaches By The Number" celebrating country's "500 greatest singles" on March 14, 2003, with "You Are My Sunshine" by Jimmie Davis on the list. On June 8, 2003, it ranked #73 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs Of Country Music." On March 21, 2013, the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress added it for long-term preservation.[38]

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ "Decca matrix 67157. You are my sunshine / Jimmie Davis". Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library . Retrieved January 14, 2023 .
 2. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series, Volume 21, Part 5, Number1, Section 1 – Music January–June 1967. US Copyright Office. 1967. p. 916 . Retrieved January 14, 2023 .
 3. ^ "'You Are My Sunshine' Writer Jimmie Davis Dies". BMI.com. November 5, 2000 . Retrieved January 14, 2023 .
 4. ^ "State songs". Georgia Secretary of State. 2014. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014 . Retrieved January 14, 2023 .
 5. ^ "Bluebird B-8263 (10-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu . Retrieved February 5, 2023 .
 6. ^ Russell, Tony (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-19-513989-5.
 7. ^ Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 697.
 8. ^ Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 746.
 9. ^ a b Russell, Tony (April 29, 1998). You Are My Sunshine 5CD Box Set. Bear Family Records. pp. liner notes (booklet) UPC/EAN=4000127162168.
 10. ^ Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 304.
 11. ^ "Catalog of Copyrights 1967". ia600200.us.archive.org. 1967 . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
 12. ^ "BMI | Songview Search". repertoire.bmi.com . Retrieved August 23, 2021 .
 13. ^ "Peermusic History". www.peermusic.com . Retrieved August 23, 2021 .
 14. ^ "Rosemont Records, Inc". www.rosemontrecords.com . Retrieved August 20, 2020 .
 15. ^ a b c d Pappas, Theodore (November 1990). "The 'Theft' of an American Classic". Chronicles. The Rockford Institute.
 16. ^ Hannusch, Jeff (October 1, 2009). "Classic Songs of Louisiana: 'You Are My Sunshine'". OffBeat.
 17. ^ Horstman, Dorothy (1975). Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy. Dutton. ISBN 978-0-525-20465-7.
 18. ^ "Catalog of Copyrights1967". ia600200.us.archive.org. 1967 . Retrieved 2021-08-28 .
 19. ^ "GeneAutry.com: Music, Movies & More - The Essential Gene Autry, 1931-1953". www.geneautry.com . Retrieved 2022-02-07 .
 20. ^ Russell, Tony (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-19-513989-5.
 21. ^ "The Billboard July 27, 1940 p84". worldradiohistory.com. July 27, 1940 . Retrieved August 23, 2021 .
 22. ^ "The Billboard October 26, 1940 p84". worldradiohistory.com. October 26, 1940 . Retrieved August 23, 2021 .
 23. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 615. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
 24. ^ Russell, Tony (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-19-513989-5.
 25. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 615. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
 26. ^ "The Billboard September 27, 1941 p69". worldradiohistory.com. September 27, 1941 . Retrieved August 23, 2021 .
 27. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (January 31, 1942). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite book}} : |last= has generic name ( help )
 28. ^ "The Billboard August 1, 1942 p68". worldradiohistory.com. August 1, 1942 . Retrieved August 23, 2021 .
 29. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1988). "Ray Charles". Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 82. ISBN 0-89820-068-7.
 30. ^ Groening, Matt (November 3, 1999). The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family...Continued. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-098763-3 – via Google Books.
 31. ^ Nicholson, Mikey. "27 Moments From "The Simpsons" That Always Make You Ugly Cry". BuzzFeed.
 32. ^ Shaw Roberts, Maddy (July 31, 2020). "11,000 voices sing 'You Are My Sunshine' in heartwarming finale to Gareth Malone's lockdown choir". Classic FM . Retrieved August 7, 2020 .
 33. ^ "Virginia Ruth Kilpatrick Shehee". The Shreveport Times . Retrieved July 9, 2015 .
 34. ^ "The hit song "You Are My Sunshine" originated in Baton Rouge". [225]. 2016-03-30 . Retrieved 2021-08-29 .
 35. ^ "Towering Song | Songwriters Hall of Fame". www.songhall.org . Retrieved 2021-08-29 .
 36. ^ ""You Are My Sunshine" | Songwriters Hall of Fame". www.songhall.org . Retrieved 2021-08-29 .
 37. ^ "RIAA Announce "Songs Of The Century" - March 7, 2001". calendar.songfacts.com . Retrieved 2021-08-29 .
 38. ^ Staff 3/21/2013, CMT com. ""You Are My Sunshine" Added to National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress". CMT News . Retrieved 2021-08-29 .

 External links [ edit ]

 * Louisiana Legends Gala held on October 13, 1990, features former Governor Jimmie Davis singing his most famous song, "You Are My Sunshine."
 * "You Are My Sunshine" performed by Gene Autry on YouTube
 * "You Are My Sunshine" performed by Nat King Cole on YouTube
 * "You Are My Sunshine" performed by Ray Charles on YouTube
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
   "You Are My Sunshine"    Single by Jimmie Davis with Charles Mitchell's Orchestra    B-side  "Old Timer"   Released 1940   Recorded February 5, 1940 [1]      Studio   Decca Recording, New York City    Genre   Country    Length 2:47    Label   Decca     Songwriter(s)   Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell    
"You Are My Sunshine" is a song published by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell on January 30, 1940. [2]  According to the performance rights organization BMI, it has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages. [3]  
 In 1977, the Louisiana State Legislature decreed "You Are My Sunshine" the state song in honor of Jimmie Davis, a two-time governor of the state. [4] 
Writing and recording[edit]
Earliest performances and recordings[edit]
   "You Are My Sunshine"          Single by the Pine Ridge Boys   Released October 6, 1939 [5]     Recorded August, 22, 1939 [6]      Studio   Atlanta, Georgia    Genre   Country music    Length 2:45    Label   Bluebird     Songwriter(s)  not listed   
The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey) recorded the song under the title "You Are My Sunshine" on August 22, 1939, and released it on October 6, 1939 for Bluebird Records. The song was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Pine Ridge Boys were from. [7]  No songwriter was listed.
 The Rice Brothers' Gang recorded the song next for Decca, on September 13, 1939, [8]  and released it the following month. This group was originally from Northern Georgia, but relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, where they performed on the radio station KWKH. The songwriter was listed as "Paul Rice".
Copyright and publication[edit]
On January 30, 1940, "You Are My Sunshine" was copyrighted by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell and published by Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc. of New York. [9]  The pair recorded the song on February 5, 1940, at Decca Studios in New York. [10]  Both received song-writing credit and when the copyright was renewed on February 2, 1967 both of their names were on it. [11]  Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc. is still run by the Peer Family, though BMI now lists it under American Performing Rights Society, Inc., also known by its acronym, APRS, c/o Peermusic. [12]   [13] 
Claims of ownership[edit]
According to a November 1990 article by Theodore Pappas, in  Chronicles Magazine, the true writer of the song was Oliver Hood of LaGrange, Georgia. [14]  He asserts that Davis never actually claimed authorship because he bought the song, along with all the rights, from Paul Rice before copyrighting and publishing—a practice not uncommon in the pre-World War II music business. [15]  Though some early versions of the song credit the Rice Brothers, descendants and associates of Oliver Hood, a musician who collaborated with Rice, state that Hood wrote the song in the early 1930s and first performed it in 1933, at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention at LaGrange. [15] 
 A newspaper article in the Shreveport Times related, "on a day in 1939—no one seems to remember the exact date—Charles Mitchell and Jimmie Davis called the station KWKH to see Paul Rice (who was playing there at the time). Paul’s wife was in the hospital and he needed cash to pay her bills. He sold 'Sunshine' to Davis and Mitchell for $35. Each put in $17.50." [16]  Paul Rice said, "I wrote 'You Are my Sunshine' in 1937. Where I got the idea for it, a girl over in South Carolina wrote me this long letter—it was long about seventeen pages. And she was talking about how I was her sunshine. I got the idea for the song and put a tune to it." 
 According to Rice, "at least 20 people claimed to have written ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ I had a gal write me from California that she wrote it." [15] 
 Davis lived to be 101 years old and gave a number of conflicting accounts. When interviewed by Dorothy Horstman for her 1975 book 'Sing Your Heart Out Country Boy,' [17]  he didn’t claim authorship of the song, but instead related its history of popularity.
 Tony Russell states, "though Mitchell's name appears on the copyright listing, he had already sold his half share to Davis." [9]  This is not reflected in the records of the United States Copyright Archives, which give the name, date and renewal number, "Charles Mitchell (A); 2Feb67; R403742". [18] 
Chart performance[edit]
   "You Are My Sunshine"    Single by Gene Autry     B-side  "It Makes No Difference Now"   Released July 10, 1941 [19]     Recorded June 18, 1941 [20]      Studio   CBS Columbia Square, Hollywood, California    Genre   Hillbilly    Length 2:25    Label   Okeh    
"You Are My Sunshine" was one of Jimmie Davis' biggest-selling records (one source claims it was "among the top five country music recordings of that year"), [15]  and it has enjoyed continual success since. In 1940, the Vocalion version by Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue Eyes, released in February, went to number 1 on the embryonic Billboard Top Hillbilly Recordings of the Month (July 27, 1940, issue). [21]  Perhaps thanks to the popularity of the Davis and Atcher versions, the original 1939 recording by The Pine Ridge Boys peaked at number 4 on October 26, 1940. [22]  Wayne King and his Orchestra recorded the first version to hit the popular music chart on September 4, and reached number 19 on November 9, 1940. [23] 
 On March 14, 1941, the Gene Autry movie  Back in the Saddle  debuted with Autry singing "You Are My Sunshine" along with his signature song, "Back In The Saddle Again." On June 18, [24]  he recorded "You Are My Sunshine" at CBS Columbia Square Studio, Hollywood, California, and it was released July 10 on Okeh Records. 
 On July 8, 1941, Bing Crosby recorded his version at Decca Recording Studios, New York City, also released in July. Both recordings made the National Best-Selling Charts, [25]  with Autry going to number 1 on the Billboard Top Hillbilly Recordings chart on September 27, [26]  where he remained for over 20 weeks, into January 1942. Autry's version remained on the chart for much of 1942, [27]  finally bowing out after 50 weeks. [28] 
In 1962, a version by Ray Charles, with the Raelettes and Margie Hendrix, reached number one on the Billboard Hot R&amp;B Singles chart and number 7 on its Hot 100 chart. [29] 
Appearances[edit]
In the 1997  The Simpsons  episode "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson," Marge Simpson sends a recording of herself singing "You Are My Sunshine" to her daughter, who is homesick while enrolled in a military school. [30]  Sam Scott of  Looper  called it "one of the most powerful moments of melancholy beauty in a series that got them down to an art form." [31] 
 In March 2020, British choirmaster Gareth Malone announced a new initiative titled the  Great British Home Chorus , a new home choir for people internationally whilst everyone was stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the finale, Malone orchestrated a choral version of "You Are My Sunshine," with over 11,000 singers taking part, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra. The song was released as a charity single, with all the profits being donated to NHS Charities Together. [32] 
Recognition[edit]
After Davis’ second term as governor, his admirers were disappointed when Gov. John J. McKeithen vetoed a bill in 1968 that would have made ‘’You Are My Sunshine’’ Louisiana’s official song. The reason was that the song said not a word about Louisiana. Virginia Shehee, a long-time Davis family friend and member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1976 to 1980, re-introduced legislation to make "You Are My Sunshine" the official state song. [33]  In 1977, the Legislature decreed that "You Are My Sunshine" would share honors as the state song with "Give Me Louisiana" by Doralice Fontane. [34] 
 As the millennium drew near, Hall of Fame organizations started drawing up lists to honor the best music of the 20th century. On September 2, 1992, Country America magazine designated "You Are My Sunshine" 35th on its Top 100 Country Songs of All-Time list. Next, it was among the pre-1950 records selected to join the Grammy Hall of Fame on February 24, 1999. On June 17, Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the new Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville, and the event included a guitar marching band, led by Chet Atkins, playing "Wildwood Flower" and "You Are My Sunshine."
 In 2000, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame chose Davis' version of "You Are My Sunshine" to receive its Towering Song Award. [35]   [36]  The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) published their list of the top 365 "Songs Of The Century" on March 7, 2001, and "You Are My Sunshine" placed #14. [37]  The Country Music Foundation published "Heartaches By The Number" celebrating country's "500 greatest singles" on March 14, 2003, with "You Are My Sunshine" by Jimmie Davis on the list. On June 8, 2003, it ranked #73 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs Of Country Music." On March 21, 2013, the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress added it for long-term preservation. [38] 
References[edit]
 
  ^   "Decca matrix 67157. You are my sunshine / Jimmie Davis". Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  ^    Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series, Volume 21, Part 5, Number1, Section 1 – Music January–June 1967 . US Copyright Office. 1967. p. 916. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  ^   "'You Are My Sunshine' Writer Jimmie Davis Dies". BMI.com. November 5, 2000. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  ^   "State songs".  Georgia Secretary of State . 2014. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  ^   "Bluebird B-8263 (10-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  ^  Russell, Tony (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN  0-19-513989-5 .
  ^  Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 697.
  ^  Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 746.
^    a       b    Russell, Tony (April 29, 1998). You Are My Sunshine 5CD Box Set. Bear Family Records. pp. liner notes (booklet) UPC/EAN=4000127162168.
  ^  Russell, Tony, and Bob Pinson. Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 304.
  ^   "Catalog of Copyrights 1967". ia600200.us.archive.org. 1967. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  ^   "BMI | Songview Search". repertoire.bmi.com. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  ^   "Peermusic History". www.peermusic.com. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  ^   "Rosemont Records, Inc". www.rosemontrecords.com. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
^    a       b       c       d    Pappas, Theodore (November 1990). "The 'Theft' of an American Classic".  Chronicles . The Rockford Institute.
  ^  Hannusch, Jeff (October 1, 2009). "Classic Songs of Louisiana: 'You Are My Sunshine'".  OffBeat .
  ^  Horstman, Dorothy (1975).  Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy . Dutton. ISBN  978-0-525-20465-7 .
  ^   "Catalog of Copyrights1967". ia600200.us.archive.org. 1967. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  ^   "GeneAutry.com: Music, Movies &amp; More - The Essential Gene Autry, 1931-1953". www.geneautry.com. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  ^  Russell, Tony (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN  0-19-513989-5 .
  ^   "The Billboard July 27, 1940 p84". worldradiohistory.com. July 27, 1940. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  ^   "The Billboard October 26, 1940 p84". worldradiohistory.com. October 26, 1940. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  ^  Whitburn, Joel (1986).  Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954 . Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 615. ISBN  0-89820-083-0 .
  ^  Russell, Tony (2004). Country Music Records: A Discography, 1921–1942. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN  0-19-513989-5 .
  ^  Whitburn, Joel (1986).  Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954 . Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 615. ISBN  0-89820-083-0 .
  ^   "The Billboard September 27, 1941 p69". worldradiohistory.com. September 27, 1941. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  ^  Inc, Nielsen Business Media (January 31, 1942).  Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 
  ^   "The Billboard August 1, 1942 p68". worldradiohistory.com. August 1, 1942. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  ^   Whitburn, Joel (1988). "Ray Charles". Top R&amp;B Singles 1942–1988. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 82. ISBN  0-89820-068-7 .
  ^  Groening, Matt (November 3, 1999).  The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family...Continued . HarperCollins. ISBN  978-0-06-098763-3  – via Google Books.
  ^  Nicholson, Mikey. "27 Moments From "The Simpsons" That Always Make You Ugly Cry". BuzzFeed.
  ^  Shaw Roberts, Maddy (July 31, 2020). "11,000 voices sing 'You Are My Sunshine' in heartwarming finale to Gareth Malone's lockdown choir".  Classic FM . Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  ^   "Virginia Ruth Kilpatrick Shehee".  The Shreveport Times . Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  ^   "The hit song "You Are My Sunshine" originated in Baton Rouge". [225]. 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  ^   "Towering Song | Songwriters Hall of Fame". www.songhall.org. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  ^   ""You Are My Sunshine" | Songwriters Hall of Fame". www.songhall.org. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  ^   "RIAA Announce "Songs Of The Century" - March 7, 2001". calendar.songfacts.com. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  ^  Staff 3/21/2013, CMT com. ""You Are My Sunshine" Added to National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress". CMT News. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
 
External links[edit]
  Louisiana Legends Gala held on October 13, 1990, features former Governor Jimmie Davis singing his most famous song, "You Are My Sunshine." 
 "You Are My Sunshine" performed by Gene Autry on YouTube 
 "You Are My Sunshine" performed by Nat King Cole on YouTube 
 "You Are My Sunshine" performed by Ray Charles on YouTube
You Are My Sunshine - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Are_My_Sunshine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven) - Wikipedia
2002-11-21
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<table><tbody><tr><th>Piano Sonata No. 14</th></tr><tr><td><i>Sonata quasi una fantasia</i></td></tr><tr><td>by <a href="/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven">Ludwig van Beethoven</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Beethoven_Piano_Sonata_14_-_title_page_1802.jpg"></a><p>Title page of the first edition of the score, published on 2 August 1802 in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi e Comp<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[a]</a></sup></p></td></tr><tr><th>Other name</th><td><i>Moonlight Sonata</i></td></tr><tr><th>Key</th><td><a href="/wiki/C-sharp_minor">C♯ minor</a>, <a href="/wiki/D-flat_major">D♭ major</a> (second movement)</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Opus_number">Opus</a></th><td>27/2</td></tr><tr><th>Style</th><td><a href="/wiki/Classical_period_(music)">Classical period</a></td></tr><tr><th>Form</th><td><a href="/wiki/Piano_sonata">Piano sonata</a></td></tr><tr><th>Composed</th><td>1801</td></tr><tr><th>Dedication</th><td>Countess <a href="/wiki/Giulietta_Guicciardi">Giulietta Guicciardi</a></td></tr><tr><th>Published</th><td>1802</td></tr><tr><th>Publisher</th><td>Giovanni Cappi</td></tr><tr><th>Movements</th><td>3</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The <b>Piano Sonata No. 14</b> in <a href="/wiki/C-sharp_minor">C-sharp minor</a>, marked <i><b>Quasi una fantasia</b></i>, <a href="/wiki/Piano_Sonatas_Nos._13_and_14_(Beethoven)">Op. 27</a>, No. 2, is a <a href="/wiki/Piano_sonata">piano sonata</a> by <a href="/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven">Ludwig van Beethoven</a>. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess <a href="/wiki/Giulietta_Guicciardi">Giulietta Guicciardi</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[b]</a></sup> The popular name <i><b>Moonlight Sonata</b></i> goes back to a critic's remark after Beethoven's death. The verbatim translation would actually be "Moonshine Sonata". 
</p><p>The piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favourite even in his own day.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Jones-3">[1]</a></sup> Beethoven wrote the <i>Moonlight Sonata</i> in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Jones-3">[1]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Names[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The first edition of the score is headed <i>Sonata quasi una fantasia</i>, the same title as that of its companion piece, <a href="/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._13_(Beethoven)">Op. 27, No. 1</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[2]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Grove_Music_Online">Grove Music Online</a> translates the Italian title as "<a href="/wiki/Sonata#The_sonata_in_the_Classical_period">sonata</a> in the manner of a <a href="/wiki/Fantasia_(music)">fantasy</a>".<sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[3]</a></sup> "The subtitle reminds listeners that the piece, although technically a sonata, is suggestive of a free-flowing, improvised <a href="/wiki/Fantasia_(music)">fantasia</a>."<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[4]</a></sup>
</p><p>The name <i>Moonlight Sonata</i> comes from remarks made by the German music critic and poet <a href="/wiki/Ludwig_Rellstab">Ludwig Rellstab</a>. In 1832, five years after Beethoven's death, Rellstab likened the effect of the first movement to that of moonlight shining upon <a href="/wiki/Lake_Lucerne">Lake Lucerne</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[5]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[6]</a></sup> Within ten years, the name "<i>Mondscheinsonate</i>" was being used in German publications<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[7]</a></sup> and "Moonlight Sonata" English<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[8]</a></sup> publications. Later in the nineteenth century, the sonata was universally known by that name.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[9]</a></sup>
</p><p>Many critics have objected to the subjective, romantic nature of the title "Moonlight", which has at times been called "a misleading approach to a movement with almost the character of a funeral march"<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[10]</a></sup> and "absurd".<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[11]</a></sup> Other critics have approved of the sobriquet, finding it evocative<sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[12]</a></sup> or in line with their own interpretation of the work.<sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[13]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Gramophone_(magazine)"><i>Gramophone</i></a> founder <a href="/wiki/Compton_Mackenzie">Compton Mackenzie</a> found the title "harmless", remarking that "it is silly for austere critics to work themselves up into a state of almost hysterical rage with poor Rellstab", and adding, "what these austere critics fail to grasp is that unless the general public had responded to the suggestion of moonlight in this music Rellstab's remark would long ago have been forgotten."<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[14]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Donald_Tovey">Donald Francis Tovey</a> thought the title of <i>Moonlight</i> was appropriate for the first movement but not for the other two.<sup><a href="#cite_note-:1-17">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Carl_Czerny">Carl Czerny</a>, Beethoven's pupil, described the first movement as "a ghost scene, where out of the far distance a plaintive ghostly voice sounds".<sup><a href="#cite_note-:0-18">[16]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Form[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>Although no direct testimony exists as to the specific reasons why Beethoven decided to title both the Op. 27 works as <i>Sonata quasi una fantasia</i>, it may be significant that the layout of the present work does not follow the traditional movement arrangement <a href="/wiki/Sonata#The_sonata_in_the_Classical_period">in the Classical period</a> of fast–slow–[fast]–fast. Instead, the sonata possesses an end-weighted trajectory, with the rapid music held off until the third movement. In his analysis, German critic <a href="/wiki/Paul_Bekker">Paul Bekker</a> states: "The opening <a href="/wiki/Sonata-allegro">sonata-allegro</a> movement gave the work a definite character from the beginning ... which succeeding movements could supplement but not change. Beethoven rebelled against this determinative quality in the first movement. He wanted a <a href="/wiki/Prelude_(music)">prelude</a>, an introduction, not a proposition".<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[17]</a></sup>
</p><p>The sonata consists of three <a href="/wiki/Movement_(music)">movements</a>:
</p>
<div><ol><li><a href="/wiki/Tempo#Basic_tempo_markings">Adagio</a> sostenuto</li><li><a href="/wiki/Allegretto">Allegretto</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Tempo#Basic_tempo_markings">Presto</a> agitato</li></ol></div>
<h3>I. Adagio sostenuto[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h3>
<dl><dd><div><p></p></div></dd></dl>
<p>The first movement,<sup><a href="#cite_note-pedal-20">[c]</a></sup> in <a href="/wiki/C-sharp_minor">C♯ minor</a> and <a href="/wiki/Alla_breve">alla breve</a>, is written in modified <a href="/wiki/Sonata-allegro_form">sonata-allegro form</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[18]</a></sup> Donald Francis Tovey warned players of this movement to avoid "taking [it] on a quaver standard like a slow <sup><b>12</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub>".<sup><a href="#cite_note-:1-17">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p>The movement opens with an <a href="/wiki/Octave">octave</a> in the left hand and a <a href="/wiki/Tuplet">triplet</a> figuration in the right. A melody that <a href="/wiki/Hector_Berlioz">Hector Berlioz</a> called a "<a href="/wiki/Lamentation">lamentation</a>",<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup> mostly by the left hand, is played against an accompanying <a href="/wiki/Ostinato">ostinato</a> triplet rhythm, simultaneously played by the right hand. 
The movement is played <i><a href="/wiki/Dynamics_(music)">pianissimo</a> (pp)</i> or "very quietly", and the loudest it gets is <i>piano (p)</i> or "quietly".
</p><p>The <i>adagio sostenuto</i> tempo has made a powerful impression on many listeners; for instance, Berlioz commented that it "is one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify".<sup><a href="#cite_note-Rosen-22">[19]</a></sup> Beethoven's student <a href="/wiki/Carl_Czerny">Carl Czerny</a> called it "a nocturnal scene, in which a mournful ghostly voice sounds from the distance".<sup><a href="#cite_note-Jones-3">[1]</a></sup> The movement was very popular in Beethoven's day, to the point of exasperating the composer himself, who remarked to Czerny, "Surely I've written better things".<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[20]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-24">[21]</a></sup>
</p><p>In his book <i>Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas</i>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[22]</a></sup> 
the renowned pianist <a href="/wiki/Edwin_Fischer">Edwin Fischer</a> suggests that this movement of this sonata is based on Mozart's "<i>Ah Soccorso! Son Tradito</i>" of his opera <a href="/wiki/Don_Giovanni">Don Giovanni</a>, which comes just after the Commendatore’s murder. He claims to have found, in the archives of the <a href="/wiki/Wiener_Musikverein">Wiener Musikverein</a>, a sketch in Beethoven's handwriting of a few lines of Mozart's music (which bears the same characteristic triplet figuration) <a href="/wiki/Transposition_(music)">transposed</a> to C♯ minor, the key of the sonata. "In any case, there is no romantic moon-light in this movement: it is rather a solemn <a href="/wiki/Dirge">dirge</a>", writes Fischer.
</p>
<h3>II. Allegretto[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<dl><dd><div><p></p></div></dd></dl>
<p>The second movement is a relatively conventional <a href="/wiki/Scherzo">scherzo</a> in <a href="/wiki/Triple_time">triple time</a>, with the first section of the scherzo not repeated. It is a seeming moment of relative calm written in <a href="/wiki/D-flat_major">D♭ major</a>, the more easily notated <a href="/wiki/Enharmonic">enharmonic</a> equivalent of <a href="/wiki/C-sharp_major">C♯ major</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Parallel_key">parallel major</a> of the first movement's key, C♯ minor. <a href="/wiki/Franz_Liszt">Franz Liszt</a> is said to have described the second movement as "a flower between two chasms".<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[23]</a></sup> The slight majority of the movement is in <i><a href="/wiki/Dynamics_(music)">piano</a> (p)</i>, but a handful of <i><a href="/wiki/Dynamics_(music)">sforzandos</a> (sfz)</i> and <a href="/wiki/Fortepiano_(musical_dynamic)"><i>fortepianos</i></a> (<i>fp)</i> helps to maintain the movement's cheerful disposition. 
This movement is described by many<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions">who?</a></i>]</sup> as the least popular movement, as most people recognize the first movement and the third movement more.
</p>
<h3>III. Presto agitato[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<dl><dd><div><p></p></div></dd></dl>
<p>The stormy final movement (C♯ minor), in sonata form and <a href="/wiki/Common_time">common time</a>, is the weightiest of the three, reflecting an experiment of Beethoven's (also carried out in the companion sonata <a href="/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._13_(Beethoven)">Opus 27, No. 1</a> and later on in <a href="/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._28_(Beethoven)">Opus 101</a>), namely, placement of the most important movement of the sonata last. The writing has many fast <a href="/wiki/Arpeggio">arpeggios</a>/broken chords, strongly accented notes, and fast <a href="/wiki/Alberti_bass">alberti bass</a> sequences that fall both into the right and left hands at various times. An effective performance of this movement demands lively and skillful playing, great stamina, and is significantly more demanding technically than the 1st and 2nd movements. 
</p><p>Of the final movement, <a href="/wiki/Charles_Rosen">Charles Rosen</a> has written "it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing".<sup><a href="#cite_note-Rosen-22">[19]</a></sup>
</p><p>Beethoven's heavy use of <i><a href="/wiki/Dynamics_(music)">sforzando</a> (sfz)</i> notes, together with just a few strategically located <i><a href="/wiki/Dynamics_(music)">fortissimo</a> (ff)</i> passages, creates the sense of a very powerful sound in spite of the predominance of <i><a href="/wiki/Dynamics_(music)">piano</a> (p)</i> markings throughout.
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Manuscript_of_the_Piano_Sonata_No._14_in_C-sharp_minor_Op.27-2_by_Beethoven_(trimmed).pdf"></a></p><div><p>Autograph score; the first page has evidently been lost</p></div></div>
<h2>Beethoven's pedal mark[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>At the opening of the first movement, Beethoven included the following direction in Italian: "Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino" ("This whole piece ought to be played with the utmost delicacy and without damper[s]"<sup><a href="#cite_note-27">[24]</a></sup>). The way this is accomplished (both on today's pianos and on those of Beethoven's day) is to depress the <a href="/wiki/Sustain_pedal">sustain pedal</a> throughout the movement – or at least to make use of the pedal throughout, but re-applying it as the harmony changes.
</p><p>The modern piano has a much longer sustain time than the <a href="/wiki/Fortepiano">instruments of Beethoven's time</a>, so that a steady application of the sustain pedal creates a dissonant sound. In contrast, performers who employ a historically based instrument (either a restored old piano or a modern instrument built on historical principles) are more able to follow Beethoven's direction literally.
</p><p>For performance on the modern piano, several options have been put forth.
</p>
<ul><li>One option is simply to change the sustain pedal periodically where necessary to avoid excessive dissonance. This is seen, for instance, in the editorially supplied pedal marks in the <a href="/wiki/Casa_Ricordi">Ricordi edition</a> of the sonata.<sup><a href="#cite_note-28">[25]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Half_pedaling">Half pedaling</a>—a technique involving a partial depression of the pedal—is also often used to simulate the shorter sustain of the early nineteenth century pedal. <a href="/wiki/Charles_Rosen">Charles Rosen</a> suggested either half-pedaling or releasing the pedal a fraction of a second late.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Rosen-22">[19]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Joseph_Banowetz">Joseph Banowetz</a> suggests using the <a href="/wiki/Sostenuto#Sostenuto_pedal">sostenuto pedal</a>: the pianist should pedal cleanly while allowing sympathetic vibration of the low bass strings to provide the desired "blur". This is accomplished by silently depressing the piano's lowest bass notes before beginning the movement, then using the sostenuto pedal to hold these dampers up for the duration of the movement.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Banowetz-29">[26]</a></sup></li></ul>
<h2>Influence[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The C♯ minor sonata, particularly the third movement, is held to have been the inspiration for <a href="/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin">Frédéric Chopin</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Fantaisie-Impromptu">Fantaisie-Impromptu</a></i>, and the <i>Fantaisie-Impromptu</i> to have been in fact a tribute to Beethoven.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEOster1983-30">[27]</a></sup> It manifests the key relationships of the sonata's three movements, chord structures, and even shares some passages. <a href="/wiki/Ernst_Oster">Ernst Oster</a> writes: "With the aid of the <i>Fantaisie-Impromptu</i> we can at least recognize what particular features of the C♯ minor Sonata struck fire in Chopin. We can actually regard Chopin as our teacher as he points to the coda and says, 'Look here, this is great. Take heed of this example!' ... The <i>Fantaisie-Impromptu</i> is perhaps the only instance where one genius discloses to us – if only by means of a composition of his own – what he actually hears in the work of another genius."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEOster1983207-31">[28]</a></sup>
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Carl_Bohm">Carl Bohm</a> composed a piece for violin and piano called "Meditation", Op. 296, in which he adds a violin melody over the unaltered first movement of Beethoven's sonata.<sup><a href="#cite_note-32">[29]</a></sup>
</p><p>Modern popular music pianists have included core motifs of the piece in their adaptations. Examples include <a href="/wiki/George_Shearing">George Shearing</a>, in his 'Moonlight Becomes You,' on his <i><a href="/wiki/White_Satin">White Satin</a></i> album and <a href="/wiki/Alicia_Keys">Alicia Keys</a>'s 'Remixed &amp; Unplugged' version of her <i><a href="/wiki/Songs_in_A_Minor">Songs in A Minor</a></i> album.
</p>
<h2>Notes and references[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<p><b>Notes</b>
</p>
<div>
<ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> The title page is in Italian, and reads <i>SONATA quasi una FANTASIA per il Clavicembalo o Piano=forte composta e dedicata alla Damigella Contessa Giulietta Guicciardi da Luigi van Beethoven Opera 27 No. 2. In Vienna presso Gio. Cappi Sulla Piazza di St. Michele No. 5.</i> (In English, "Sonata, almost a <i>fantasia</i> for harpsichord or pianoforte. Composed, and dedicated to Mademoiselle Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi, by Ludwig van Beethoven. Opus 27 No. 2. Published in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi, Michaelerplatz No. 5.") The suggestion that the work could be performed on the harpsichord reflected a common marketing practice of music publishers in the early 19th century (<a href="#CITEREFSiepmann1998">Siepmann 1998</a>, p. 60).
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> This dedication was not Beethoven's original intention, and he did not have Guicciardi in mind when writing the sonata. Thayer, in his <i>Life of Beethoven</i>, states that the work Beethoven originally intended to dedicate to Guicciardi was the <a href="/wiki/Two_rondos_for_piano_(Beethoven)">Rondo in G, Op. 51 No. 2</a>, but circumstances required that this be dedicated to Countess Lichnowsky. So he cast around at the last moment for a piece to dedicate to Guicciardi. See <cite><a href="/wiki/Alexander_Wheelock_Thayer">Thayer, Alexander Wheelock</a> (1921). <a href="/wiki/Elliot_Forbes">Elliot, Forbes</a> (ed.). <a href="https://archive.org/details/thayerslifeofbee00thay"><i>Thayer's Life of Beethoven</i></a> (revised ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press (published 1967). p. 291 and 297. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-691-02702-1"><bdi>0-691-02702-1</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-pedal_20-0">^</a></b> Note that Beethoven wrote "senza sordino"; see <a href="#Beethoven's_pedal_mark">#Beethoven's pedal mark</a> below.
</li>
</ol></div>
<p><b>References</b>
</p>
<div>
<ol>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Jones_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Jones_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Jones_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> Jones, Timothy. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FP8l1Di5F5gC&amp;pg=PA43&amp;dq=beethoven+moonlight+mournful&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=7HYDT6eGL9PtggfL5s3-AQ&amp;ved=0CDoQuwUwAA#v=onepage&amp;q=mournful&amp;f=false"><i>Beethoven, the Moonlight and other sonatas, op. 27 and op. 31</i></a>. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 19, 43 and back cover.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=&amp;template=dokseite_digitales_archiv_en&amp;_eid=&amp;_ug=&amp;_werkid=27&amp;_dokid=T00011830&amp;_opus=op.%2027&amp;_mid=&amp;suchparameter=&amp;_sucheinstieg=&amp;_seite=1">"Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonate für Klavier (cis-Moll) op. 27, 2 (Sonata quasi una fantasia), Cappi, 879"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Beethoven_House">Beethovenhaus</a>. Retrieved January 12, 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/22660">"Quasi"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Grove_Music_Online">Grove Music Online</a></i>. Retrieved January 7, 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite>Schwarm, Betsy. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moonlight-Sonata">"Moonlight Sonata"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Retrieved 21 April 2018.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite>Beethoven, Ludwig van (2004). <i>Beethoven: The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words</i>. 1st World Publishing. p. 47. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59540-149-6"><bdi>978-1-59540-149-6</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_von_Lenz">Lenz, Wilhelm von</a> (1852). <i>Beethoven et ses trois styles</i> (in French). Vol. 1. St Petersburg. p. 225.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> See. e.g., <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=dSFDAAAAcAAJ&amp;pg=PA41&amp;dq=mondscheinsonate&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=7owMT9e7EJOA2AWAq9WdBw&amp;ved=0CEYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&amp;q=mondscheinsonate&amp;f=false"><i>Allgemeiner musikalischer Anzeiger</i></a>. Vol. 9, No. 11, Tobias Haslinger, Vienna, 1837, p. 41.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> See, e.g., <a href="/wiki/Ignaz_Moscheles">Ignaz Moscheles</a>, ed. <a href="https://archive.org/details/lifeofbeethoveni02schi/page/109"><i>The Life of Beethoven</i>.</a> Henry Colburn pub., vol. II, 1841, p. 109.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XigOAAAAQAAJ&amp;pg=PA60&amp;dq=%22moonlight+sonata%22+universally&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=7JIMT42TG8zy2gXP_JyXBw&amp;ved=0CD0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=%22moonlight%20sonata%22%20universally&amp;f=false"><i>Aunt Judy's Christmas Volume</i></a>. H. K. F. Gatty, ed., George Bell &amp; Sons, London, 1879, p. 60.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Michael_Kennedy_(music_critic)">Kennedy, Michael</a>. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Dictionary-Music-Michael-Kennedy/dp/0198691629#reader_0198691629">"Moonlight Sonata"</a>, from <i>Oxford Dictionary of Music</i> 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006 rev., p. 589.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians/Moonlight_Sonata">"Moonlight Sonata"</a>, from <i>Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians</i>. J.A. Fuller Maitland, ed., Macmillan and Co., London, 1900, p. 360.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> Dubal, David. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8698CZGx1ZQC&amp;pg=PA411&amp;dq=%22moonlight+sonata%22+evocative&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=VJcMT7fvGMnE2gX7m8GCCA&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&amp;q=%22moonlight%20sonata%22%20evocative&amp;f=false"><i>The Art of the Piano</i></a>. Amadeus Press, 2004, p. 411.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b> See, e.g., Wilkinson, Charles W. <a href="https://archive.org/details/wellknownpianos00wilkgoog/page/n34"><i>Well-known Piano Solos: How to Play Them</i></a>. Theo. Presser Co., Philadelphia, 1915, p. 31.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b> Mackenzie, Compton. <a href="https://archive.today/20120801073308/http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/August%201940/1/736783/EDITORIAL%23header-logo">"The Beethoven Piano Sonatas"</a>, from <i>The Gramophone</i>, Aug. 1940, p. 5.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-:1_17-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_17-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven">Beethoven, Ludwig van</a> (1932). <a href="/wiki/Donald_Tovey">Tovey, Donald Francis</a>; <a href="/wiki/Harold_Craxton">Craxton, Harold</a> (eds.). <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53258888"><i>Complete Pianoforte Sonatas, Volume II</i></a> (Revised ed.). London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. p. 50. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-85472-054-2"><bdi>978-1-85472-054-2</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/oclc/53258888">53258888</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-:0_18-0">^</a></b> <cite>Beethoven, Ludwig van (2015). <a href="/wiki/Jonathan_Del_Mar">Del Mar, Jonathan</a>; Donat, Misha (eds.). <i>Sonata quasi una Fantasia für Pianoforte</i> (in English and German). Translated by Schütz, Gudula. Kassel: <a href="/wiki/B%C3%A4renreiter">Bärenreiter</a>. p. iii. <a href="/wiki/ISMN_(identifier)">ISMN</a> 979-0-006-55799-8.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Maynard_Solomon">Maynard Solomon</a>, <i>Beethoven</i> (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998), p. 139
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <cite>Harding, Henry Alfred (1901). <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924017163027"><i>Analysis of form in Beethoven's sonatas</i></a>. Borough Green: Novello. pp. <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924017163027/page/n63">28</a>–29.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Rosen_22-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Rosen_22-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Rosen_22-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="/wiki/Charles_Rosen">Rosen, Charles</a> (2002). <i>Beethoven's Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion</i>. Yale University Press. p. 157. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-300-09070-3"><bdi>978-0-300-09070-3</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> <i>Life of Beethoven</i>, <a href="/wiki/Alexander_Wheelock_Thayer">Alexander Wheelock Thayer</a>, ed. Elliot Forbes, Princeton 1967
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b> <cite>Fishko, Sara. <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18577817">"Why do we love the 'Moonlight' Sonata?"</a>. <i>NPR.org</i>. NPR. Retrieved 10 May 2011.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b> <cite>Fischer, Edwin (1959). <i>Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas: a guide for students &amp; amateurs</i>. Faber. p. 62.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/Alfred_Brendel">Brendel, Alfred</a> (2001). <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alfred-Brendel-Music/dp/1906217017/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1325880457&amp;sr=1-1#reader_1906217017"><i>Alfred Brendel on music</i></a>. A Capella Books. p. 71. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-55652-408-0">1-55652-408-0</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b> Translation from <a href="#CITEREFRosenblum1988">Rosenblum 1988</a>, p. 136
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b> <a href="/wiki/William_and_Gayle_Cook_Music_Library">William and Gayle Cook Music Library</a>, Indiana University School of Music <a href="http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/aek3910/index1.html">Beethoven, Sonate per pianoforte, Vol. 1 (N. 1–16), Ricordi</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Banowetz_29-0">^</a></b> Banowetz, J. (1985). <i>The Pianist’s Guide to Pedaling</i>, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p. 168.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEOster1983_30-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFOster1983">Oster 1983</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEOster1983207_31-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFOster1983">Oster 1983</a>, p. 207.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b> <a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Meditation%2C_Op.296_(Bohm%2C_Carl)">IMSLP Carl Bohm, "Meditation"</a>
</li>
</ol></div>
<p><b>Sources</b>
</p>
<ul><li><cite>Rosenblum, Sandra P. (1988). <i>Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications</i>. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Ernst_Oster">Oster, Ernst</a> (1983). "The <i>Fantaisie-Impromptu</i>: A Tribute to Beethoven". In David Beach (ed.). <i>Aspects of Schenkerian Analysis</i>. Yale University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780300028003"><bdi>9780300028003</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Jeremy_Siepmann">Siepmann, Jeremy</a> (1998). <i>The Piano: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Popular Musical Instrument</i>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><cite>Harding, Henry Alfred (1901). <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924017163027/page/n35">"Sonata No. 14"</a>. <i>Analysis of Form in Beethoven's Sonatas</i>. Borough Green Sevenoaks, Kent: Novello. pp. 28–29 – via <a href="/wiki/Internet_Archive">Internet Archive</a>.</cite></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110904000411/http://classicalmusicblog.com/2007/09/beethoven-sonata.html">Analysis and recordings review of Beethoven's <i>Moonlight Sonata</i></a>, <i>Roni's Journal</i>, September 2007, Classical Music Blog</li>
<li><a href="http://download.guardian.co.uk/sys-audio/Arts/Culture/2006/11/22/03_14CSharpMin.mp3">Lecture</a> by <a href="/wiki/Andr%C3%A1s_Schiff">András Schiff</a> on Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 27, No. 2 – via <i><a href="/wiki/The_Guardian">The Guardian</a></i></li></ul>
<h3>Scores[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No.14,_Op.27/2_(Beethoven,_Ludwig_van)">Piano Sonata No. 14</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li>
<li><a href="https://verovio.humdrum.org/?k=ey&amp;file=beethoven/sonatas/sonata14-1.krn">Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ major, Op. 27/2</a> (interactive score) on Verovio Humdrum Viewer</li>
<li><a href="http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/aek3910/index1.html">Ricordi edition</a>, The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the <a href="/wiki/Jacobs_School_of_Music">Indiana University School of Music</a></li></ul>
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 * (Top)
 * 1 Names
 * 2 Form
 + 2.1 I. Adagio sostenuto
 + 2.2 II. Allegretto
 + 2.3 III. Presto agitato
 * 3 Beethoven's pedal mark
 * 4 Influence
 * 5 Notes and references
 * 6 External links
 + 6.1 Scores
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 Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 "Moonlight Sonata" redirects here. For other uses, see Moonlight Sonata (disambiguation).
 Piano Sonata No. 14  
 Sonata quasi una fantasia  
 by Ludwig van Beethoven  
 Title page of the first edition of the score, published on 2 August 1802 in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi e Comp[a]
 Other name  Moonlight Sonata 
 Key  C ♯ minor, D ♭ major (second movement)
 Opus  27/2 
 Style  Classical period 
 Form  Piano sonata 
 Composed  1801 
 Dedication  Countess Giulietta Guicciardi 
 Published  1802 
 Publisher  Giovanni Cappi 
 Movements  3 
 

 The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi.[b] The popular name Moonlight Sonata goes back to a critic's remark after Beethoven's death. The verbatim translation would actually be "Moonshine Sonata".

 The piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favourite even in his own day.[1] Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.[1]

 Names [ edit ]

 The first edition of the score is headed Sonata quasi una fantasia, the same title as that of its companion piece, Op. 27, No. 1.[2] Grove Music Online translates the Italian title as "sonata in the manner of a fantasy".[3] "The subtitle reminds listeners that the piece, although technically a sonata, is suggestive of a free-flowing, improvised fantasia."[4]

 The name Moonlight Sonata comes from remarks made by the German music critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab. In 1832, five years after Beethoven's death, Rellstab likened the effect of the first movement to that of moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne.[5][6] Within ten years, the name "Mondscheinsonate" was being used in German publications[7] and "Moonlight Sonata" English[8] publications. Later in the nineteenth century, the sonata was universally known by that name.[9]

 Many critics have objected to the subjective, romantic nature of the title "Moonlight", which has at times been called "a misleading approach to a movement with almost the character of a funeral march"[10] and "absurd".[11] Other critics have approved of the sobriquet, finding it evocative[12] or in line with their own interpretation of the work.[13] Gramophone founder Compton Mackenzie found the title "harmless", remarking that "it is silly for austere critics to work themselves up into a state of almost hysterical rage with poor Rellstab", and adding, "what these austere critics fail to grasp is that unless the general public had responded to the suggestion of moonlight in this music Rellstab's remark would long ago have been forgotten."[14] Donald Francis Tovey thought the title of Moonlight was appropriate for the first movement but not for the other two.[15]

 Carl Czerny, Beethoven's pupil, described the first movement as "a ghost scene, where out of the far distance a plaintive ghostly voice sounds".[16]

 Form [ edit ]

 I. Adagio sostenuto
 II. Allegretto
 III. Presto agitato
 Played by Bernd Krueger on a digital piano, recorded MIDI
 Problems playing these files? See media help.

 Although no direct testimony exists as to the specific reasons why Beethoven decided to title both the Op. 27 works as Sonata quasi una fantasia, it may be significant that the layout of the present work does not follow the traditional movement arrangement in the Classical period of fast–slow–[fast]–fast. Instead, the sonata possesses an end-weighted trajectory, with the rapid music held off until the third movement. In his analysis, German critic Paul Bekker states: "The opening sonata-allegro movement gave the work a definite character from the beginning ... which succeeding movements could supplement but not change. Beethoven rebelled against this determinative quality in the first movement. He wanted a prelude, an introduction, not a proposition".[17]

 The sonata consists of three movements:

 1. Adagio sostenuto
 2. Allegretto
 3. Presto agitato

 I. Adagio sostenuto [ edit ]

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 The first movement,[c] in C ♯ minor and alla breve, is written in modified sonata-allegro form.[18] Donald Francis Tovey warned players of this movement to avoid "taking [it] on a quaver standard like a slow 12
 8".[15]

 The movement opens with an octave in the left hand and a triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a "lamentation",[ citation needed ] mostly by the left hand, is played against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm, simultaneously played by the right hand. The movement is played pianissimo (pp) or "very quietly", and the loudest it gets is piano (p) or "quietly".

 The adagio sostenuto tempo has made a powerful impression on many listeners; for instance, Berlioz commented that it "is one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify".[19] Beethoven's student Carl Czerny called it "a nocturnal scene, in which a mournful ghostly voice sounds from the distance".[1] The movement was very popular in Beethoven's day, to the point of exasperating the composer himself, who remarked to Czerny, "Surely I've written better things".[20][21]

 In his book Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas,[22] the renowned pianist Edwin Fischer suggests that this movement of this sonata is based on Mozart's "Ah Soccorso! Son Tradito" of his opera Don Giovanni, which comes just after the Commendatore’s murder. He claims to have found, in the archives of the Wiener Musikverein, a sketch in Beethoven's handwriting of a few lines of Mozart's music (which bears the same characteristic triplet figuration) transposed to C ♯ minor, the key of the sonata. "In any case, there is no romantic moon-light in this movement: it is rather a solemn dirge", writes Fischer.

 II. Allegretto [ edit ]

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 The second movement is a relatively conventional scherzo in triple time, with the first section of the scherzo not repeated. It is a seeming moment of relative calm written in D ♭ major, the more easily notated enharmonic equivalent of C ♯ major, the parallel major of the first movement's key, C ♯ minor. Franz Liszt is said to have described the second movement as "a flower between two chasms".[23] The slight majority of the movement is in piano (p), but a handful of sforzandos (sfz) and fortepianos (fp) helps to maintain the movement's cheerful disposition. This movement is described by many[ who? ] as the least popular movement, as most people recognize the first movement and the third movement more.

 III. Presto agitato [ edit ]

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 The stormy final movement (C ♯ minor), in sonata form and common time, is the weightiest of the three, reflecting an experiment of Beethoven's (also carried out in the companion sonata Opus 27, No. 1 and later on in Opus 101), namely, placement of the most important movement of the sonata last. The writing has many fast arpeggios/broken chords, strongly accented notes, and fast alberti bass sequences that fall both into the right and left hands at various times. An effective performance of this movement demands lively and skillful playing, great stamina, and is significantly more demanding technically than the 1st and 2nd movements.

 Of the final movement, Charles Rosen has written "it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing".[19]

 Beethoven's heavy use of sforzando (sfz) notes, together with just a few strategically located fortissimo (ff) passages, creates the sense of a very powerful sound in spite of the predominance of piano (p) markings throughout.

 Autograph score; the first page has evidently been lost

 Beethoven's pedal mark [ edit ]

 See also: Piano history and musical performance, Mute (music), Piano pedals § Beethoven and pedals, and Historically informed performance

 At the opening of the first movement, Beethoven included the following direction in Italian: "Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino" ("This whole piece ought to be played with the utmost delicacy and without damper[s]"[24]). The way this is accomplished (both on today's pianos and on those of Beethoven's day) is to depress the sustain pedal throughout the movement – or at least to make use of the pedal throughout, but re-applying it as the harmony changes.

 The modern piano has a much longer sustain time than the instruments of Beethoven's time, so that a steady application of the sustain pedal creates a dissonant sound. In contrast, performers who employ a historically based instrument (either a restored old piano or a modern instrument built on historical principles) are more able to follow Beethoven's direction literally.

 For performance on the modern piano, several options have been put forth.

 * One option is simply to change the sustain pedal periodically where necessary to avoid excessive dissonance. This is seen, for instance, in the editorially supplied pedal marks in the Ricordi edition of the sonata.[25]
 * Half pedaling—a technique involving a partial depression of the pedal—is also often used to simulate the shorter sustain of the early nineteenth century pedal. Charles Rosen suggested either half-pedaling or releasing the pedal a fraction of a second late.[19]
 * Joseph Banowetz suggests using the sostenuto pedal: the pianist should pedal cleanly while allowing sympathetic vibration of the low bass strings to provide the desired "blur". This is accomplished by silently depressing the piano's lowest bass notes before beginning the movement, then using the sostenuto pedal to hold these dampers up for the duration of the movement.[26]

 Influence [ edit ]

 The C ♯ minor sonata, particularly the third movement, is held to have been the inspiration for Frédéric Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu, and the Fantaisie-Impromptu to have been in fact a tribute to Beethoven.[27] It manifests the key relationships of the sonata's three movements, chord structures, and even shares some passages. Ernst Oster writes: "With the aid of the Fantaisie-Impromptu we can at least recognize what particular features of the C ♯ minor Sonata struck fire in Chopin. We can actually regard Chopin as our teacher as he points to the coda and says, 'Look here, this is great. Take heed of this example!' ... The Fantaisie-Impromptu is perhaps the only instance where one genius discloses to us – if only by means of a composition of his own – what he actually hears in the work of another genius."[28]

 Carl Bohm composed a piece for violin and piano called "Meditation", Op. 296, in which he adds a violin melody over the unaltered first movement of Beethoven's sonata.[29]

 Modern popular music pianists have included core motifs of the piece in their adaptations. Examples include George Shearing, in his 'Moonlight Becomes You,' on his White Satin album and Alicia Keys's 'Remixed & Unplugged' version of her Songs in A Minor album.

 Notes and references [ edit ]

 Notes

 1. ^ The title page is in Italian, and reads SONATA quasi una FANTASIA per il Clavicembalo o Piano=forte composta e dedicata alla Damigella Contessa Giulietta Guicciardi da Luigi van Beethoven Opera 27 No. 2. In Vienna presso Gio. Cappi Sulla Piazza di St. Michele No. 5. (In English, "Sonata, almost a fantasia for harpsichord or pianoforte. Composed, and dedicated to Mademoiselle Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi, by Ludwig van Beethoven. Opus 27 No. 2. Published in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi, Michaelerplatz No. 5.") The suggestion that the work could be performed on the harpsichord reflected a common marketing practice of music publishers in the early 19th century ( Siepmann 1998 , p. 60).
 2. ^ This dedication was not Beethoven's original intention, and he did not have Guicciardi in mind when writing the sonata. Thayer, in his Life of Beethoven , states that the work Beethoven originally intended to dedicate to Guicciardi was the Rondo in G, Op. 51 No. 2 , but circumstances required that this be dedicated to Countess Lichnowsky. So he cast around at the last moment for a piece to dedicate to Guicciardi. See Thayer, Alexander Wheelock (1921). Elliot, Forbes (ed.). Thayer's Life of Beethoven (revised ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press (published 1967). p. 291 and 297. ISBN 0-691-02702-1.
 3. ^ Note that Beethoven wrote "senza sordino"; see #Beethoven's pedal mark below.

 References

 1. ^ a b c Jones, Timothy. Beethoven, the Moonlight and other sonatas, op. 27 and op. 31 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 19, 43 and back cover.
 2. ^ "Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonate für Klavier (cis-Moll) op. 27, 2 (Sonata quasi una fantasia), Cappi, 879". Beethovenhaus . Retrieved January 12, 2012 .
 3. ^ "Quasi". Grove Music Online . Retrieved January 7, 2012 .
 4. ^ Schwarm, Betsy. "Moonlight Sonata". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 21 April 2018 .
 5. ^ Beethoven, Ludwig van (2004). Beethoven: The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words. 1st World Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-59540-149-6.
 6. ^ Lenz, Wilhelm von (1852). Beethoven et ses trois styles (in French). Vol. 1. St Petersburg. p. 225.
 7. ^ See. e.g., Allgemeiner musikalischer Anzeiger . Vol. 9, No. 11, Tobias Haslinger, Vienna, 1837, p. 41.
 8. ^ See, e.g., Ignaz Moscheles , ed. The Life of Beethoven. Henry Colburn pub., vol. II, 1841, p. 109.
 9. ^ Aunt Judy's Christmas Volume . H. K. F. Gatty, ed., George Bell & Sons, London, 1879, p. 60.
 10. ^ Kennedy, Michael . "Moonlight Sonata" , from Oxford Dictionary of Music 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006 rev., p. 589.
 11. ^ "Moonlight Sonata" , from Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians . J.A. Fuller Maitland, ed., Macmillan and Co., London, 1900, p. 360.
 12. ^ Dubal, David. The Art of the Piano . Amadeus Press, 2004, p. 411.
 13. ^ See, e.g., Wilkinson, Charles W. Well-known Piano Solos: How to Play Them . Theo. Presser Co., Philadelphia, 1915, p. 31.
 14. ^ Mackenzie, Compton. "The Beethoven Piano Sonatas" , from The Gramophone , Aug. 1940, p. 5.
 15. ^ a b Beethoven, Ludwig van (1932). Tovey, Donald Francis; Craxton, Harold (eds.). Complete Pianoforte Sonatas, Volume II (Revised ed.). London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-85472-054-2. OCLC 53258888.
 16. ^ Beethoven, Ludwig van (2015). Del Mar, Jonathan; Donat, Misha (eds.). Sonata quasi una Fantasia für Pianoforte (in English and German). Translated by Schütz, Gudula. Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. iii. ISMN 979-0-006-55799-8.
 17. ^ Maynard Solomon , Beethoven (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998), p. 139
 18. ^ Harding, Henry Alfred (1901). Analysis of form in Beethoven's sonatas. Borough Green: Novello. pp. 28–29.
 19. ^ a b c Rosen, Charles (2002). Beethoven's Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion. Yale University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-300-09070-3.
 20. ^ Life of Beethoven , Alexander Wheelock Thayer , ed. Elliot Forbes, Princeton 1967
 21. ^ Fishko, Sara. "Why do we love the 'Moonlight' Sonata?". NPR.org. NPR . Retrieved 10 May 2011 .
 22. ^ Fischer, Edwin (1959). Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas: a guide for students & amateurs. Faber. p. 62.
 23. ^ Brendel, Alfred (2001). Alfred Brendel on music . A Capella Books. p. 71. ISBN 1-55652-408-0 .
 24. ^ Translation from Rosenblum 1988 , p. 136
 25. ^ William and Gayle Cook Music Library , Indiana University School of Music Beethoven, Sonate per pianoforte, Vol. 1 (N. 1–16), Ricordi
 26. ^ Banowetz, J. (1985). The Pianist’s Guide to Pedaling , Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p. 168.
 27. ^ Oster 1983 .
 28. ^ Oster 1983 , p. 207.
 29. ^ IMSLP Carl Bohm, "Meditation"

 Sources

 * Rosenblum, Sandra P. (1988). Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
 * Oster, Ernst (1983). "The Fantaisie-Impromptu: A Tribute to Beethoven". In David Beach (ed.). Aspects of Schenkerian Analysis. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300028003.
 * Siepmann, Jeremy (1998). The Piano: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Popular Musical Instrument.

 External links [ edit ]

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven).
 * Harding, Henry Alfred (1901). "Sonata No. 14". Analysis of Form in Beethoven's Sonatas. Borough Green Sevenoaks, Kent: Novello. pp. 28–29 – via Internet Archive.
 * Analysis and recordings review of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Roni's Journal, September 2007, Classical Music Blog
 * Lecture by András Schiff on Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 27, No. 2 – via The Guardian

 Scores [ edit ]

 * Piano Sonata No. 14: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
 * Piano Sonata No. 14 in C ♯ major, Op. 27/2 (interactive score) on Verovio Humdrum Viewer
 * Ricordi edition, The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University School of Music
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 Piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven
 * No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2/1 
 * No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2 
 * No. 3 in C major, Op. 2/3 
 * No. 4 in E ♭ major, Op. 7 (Grand Sonata) 
 * No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10/1 
 * No. 6 in F major, Op. 10/2 
 * No. 7 in D major, Op. 10/3 
 Early sonatas * No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (Pathétique) 
 * No. 9 in E major, Op. 14/1 
 * No. 10 in G major, Op. 14/2 
 * No. 11 in B ♭ major, Op. 22 
 * No. 12 in A ♭ major, Op. 26 
 * No. 13 in E ♭ major, Op. 27/1 
 * No. 14 in C ♯ minor, Op. 27/2 (Moonlight) 
 * No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 (Pastoral) 
 * No. 19 in G minor and No. 20 in G major, Op. 49
 * No. 16 in G major, Op. 31/1 
 * No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31/2 (The Tempest) 
 * No. 18 in E ♭ major, Op. 31/3 (The Hunt) 
 * No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 (Waldstein) 
 Middle sonatas * No. 22 in F major, Op. 54 
 * No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata) 
 * No. 24 in F ♯ major, Op. 78 (À Thérèse) 
 * No. 25 in G major, Op. 79 
 * No. 26 in E ♭ major, Op. 81a (Les adieux) 
 * No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 
 * No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 
 * No. 29 in B ♭ major, Op. 106 (Hammerklavier) 
 Late sonatas * No. 30 in E major, Op. 109 
 * No. 31 in A ♭ major, Op. 110 
 * No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 
 Duo * Sonata in D major for piano four-hands, Op. 6 
 Unnumbered (WoO) * Three Piano Sonatas, WoO 47 
 * Piano Sonata in C major, WoO 51 (fragmentary) 
 Doubtful (Anh.) * Sonatina in G major, Anh. 5/1 
 * Sonatina in F major, Anh. 5/2 
 
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
   Piano Sonata No. 14    Sonata quasi una fantasia    by Ludwig van Beethoven       Title page of the first edition of the score, published on 2 August 1802 in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi e Comp [a]      Other name  Moonlight Sonata    Key  C♯ minor, D♭ major (second movement)    Opus  27/2   Style  Classical period    Form  Piano sonata    Composed 1801   Dedication Countess Giulietta Guicciardi    Published 1802   Publisher Giovanni Cappi   Movements 3   
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked  Quasi una fantasia , Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. [b]  The popular name  Moonlight Sonata  goes back to a critic's remark after Beethoven's death. The verbatim translation would actually be "Moonshine Sonata". 
 The piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favourite even in his own day. [1]  Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata. [1] 
Names[edit]
The first edition of the score is headed Sonata quasi una fantasia, the same title as that of its companion piece, Op. 27, No. 1. [2]  Grove Music Online translates the Italian title as "sonata in the manner of a fantasy". [3]  "The subtitle reminds listeners that the piece, although technically a sonata, is suggestive of a free-flowing, improvised fantasia." [4] 
 The name Moonlight Sonata comes from remarks made by the German music critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab. In 1832, five years after Beethoven's death, Rellstab likened the effect of the first movement to that of moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne. [5]   [6]  Within ten years, the name "Mondscheinsonate" was being used in German publications [7]  and "Moonlight Sonata" English [8]  publications. Later in the nineteenth century, the sonata was universally known by that name. [9] 
 Many critics have objected to the subjective, romantic nature of the title "Moonlight", which has at times been called "a misleading approach to a movement with almost the character of a funeral march" [10]  and "absurd". [11]  Other critics have approved of the sobriquet, finding it evocative [12]  or in line with their own interpretation of the work. [13]   Gramophone  founder Compton Mackenzie found the title "harmless", remarking that "it is silly for austere critics to work themselves up into a state of almost hysterical rage with poor Rellstab", and adding, "what these austere critics fail to grasp is that unless the general public had responded to the suggestion of moonlight in this music Rellstab's remark would long ago have been forgotten." [14]  Donald Francis Tovey thought the title of Moonlight was appropriate for the first movement but not for the other two. [15] 
  Carl Czerny, Beethoven's pupil, described the first movement as "a ghost scene, where out of the far distance a plaintive ghostly voice sounds". [16] 
Form[edit]
   
Although no direct testimony exists as to the specific reasons why Beethoven decided to title both the Op. 27 works as Sonata quasi una fantasia, it may be significant that the layout of the present work does not follow the traditional movement arrangement in the Classical period of fast–slow–[fast]–fast. Instead, the sonata possesses an end-weighted trajectory, with the rapid music held off until the third movement. In his analysis, German critic Paul Bekker states: "The opening sonata-allegro movement gave the work a definite character from the beginning ... which succeeding movements could supplement but not change. Beethoven rebelled against this determinative quality in the first movement. He wanted a prelude, an introduction, not a proposition". [17] 
 The sonata consists of three movements:
   Adagio sostenuto  Allegretto   Presto agitato  
I. Adagio sostenuto[edit]
       
The first movement, [c]  in C♯ minor and alla breve, is written in modified sonata-allegro form. [18]  Donald Francis Tovey warned players of this movement to avoid "taking [it] on a quaver standard like a slow  12    8 ". [15] 
 The movement opens with an octave in the left hand and a triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a "lamentation",[ citation needed ] mostly by the left hand, is played against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm, simultaneously played by the right hand. 
The movement is played  pianissimo (pp) or "very quietly", and the loudest it gets is piano (p) or "quietly".
 The adagio sostenuto tempo has made a powerful impression on many listeners; for instance, Berlioz commented that it "is one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify". [19]  Beethoven's student Carl Czerny called it "a nocturnal scene, in which a mournful ghostly voice sounds from the distance". [1]  The movement was very popular in Beethoven's day, to the point of exasperating the composer himself, who remarked to Czerny, "Surely I've written better things". [20]   [21] 
 In his book Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas, [22]  
the renowned pianist Edwin Fischer suggests that this movement of this sonata is based on Mozart's "Ah Soccorso! Son Tradito" of his opera Don Giovanni, which comes just after the Commendatore’s murder. He claims to have found, in the archives of the Wiener Musikverein, a sketch in Beethoven's handwriting of a few lines of Mozart's music (which bears the same characteristic triplet figuration) transposed to C♯ minor, the key of the sonata. "In any case, there is no romantic moon-light in this movement: it is rather a solemn dirge", writes Fischer.
II. Allegretto[edit]
       
The second movement is a relatively conventional scherzo in triple time, with the first section of the scherzo not repeated. It is a seeming moment of relative calm written in D♭ major, the more easily notated enharmonic equivalent of C♯ major, the parallel major of the first movement's key, C♯ minor. Franz Liszt is said to have described the second movement as "a flower between two chasms". [23]  The slight majority of the movement is in  piano (p), but a handful of  sforzandos (sfz) and  fortepianos  (fp) helps to maintain the movement's cheerful disposition. 
This movement is described by many[ who? ] as the least popular movement, as most people recognize the first movement and the third movement more.
III. Presto agitato[edit]
       
The stormy final movement (C♯ minor), in sonata form and common time, is the weightiest of the three, reflecting an experiment of Beethoven's (also carried out in the companion sonata Opus 27, No. 1 and later on in Opus 101), namely, placement of the most important movement of the sonata last. The writing has many fast arpeggios/broken chords, strongly accented notes, and fast alberti bass sequences that fall both into the right and left hands at various times. An effective performance of this movement demands lively and skillful playing, great stamina, and is significantly more demanding technically than the 1st and 2nd movements. 
 Of the final movement, Charles Rosen has written "it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing". [19] 
 Beethoven's heavy use of  sforzando (sfz) notes, together with just a few strategically located  fortissimo (ff) passages, creates the sense of a very powerful sound in spite of the predominance of  piano (p) markings throughout.
      Autograph score; the first page has evidently been lost  
Beethoven's pedal mark[edit]
At the opening of the first movement, Beethoven included the following direction in Italian: "Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino" ("This whole piece ought to be played with the utmost delicacy and without damper[s]" [24] ). The way this is accomplished (both on today's pianos and on those of Beethoven's day) is to depress the sustain pedal throughout the movement – or at least to make use of the pedal throughout, but re-applying it as the harmony changes.
 The modern piano has a much longer sustain time than the instruments of Beethoven's time, so that a steady application of the sustain pedal creates a dissonant sound. In contrast, performers who employ a historically based instrument (either a restored old piano or a modern instrument built on historical principles) are more able to follow Beethoven's direction literally.
 For performance on the modern piano, several options have been put forth.
 One option is simply to change the sustain pedal periodically where necessary to avoid excessive dissonance. This is seen, for instance, in the editorially supplied pedal marks in the Ricordi edition of the sonata. [25]  
 Half pedaling—a technique involving a partial depression of the pedal—is also often used to simulate the shorter sustain of the early nineteenth century pedal. Charles Rosen suggested either half-pedaling or releasing the pedal a fraction of a second late. [19]  
 Joseph Banowetz suggests using the sostenuto pedal: the pianist should pedal cleanly while allowing sympathetic vibration of the low bass strings to provide the desired "blur". This is accomplished by silently depressing the piano's lowest bass notes before beginning the movement, then using the sostenuto pedal to hold these dampers up for the duration of the movement. [26]   
Influence[edit]
The C♯ minor sonata, particularly the third movement, is held to have been the inspiration for Frédéric Chopin's  Fantaisie-Impromptu , and the Fantaisie-Impromptu to have been in fact a tribute to Beethoven. [27]  It manifests the key relationships of the sonata's three movements, chord structures, and even shares some passages. Ernst Oster writes: "With the aid of the Fantaisie-Impromptu we can at least recognize what particular features of the C♯ minor Sonata struck fire in Chopin. We can actually regard Chopin as our teacher as he points to the coda and says, 'Look here, this is great. Take heed of this example!' ... The Fantaisie-Impromptu is perhaps the only instance where one genius discloses to us – if only by means of a composition of his own – what he actually hears in the work of another genius." [28] 
  Carl Bohm composed a piece for violin and piano called "Meditation", Op. 296, in which he adds a violin melody over the unaltered first movement of Beethoven's sonata. [29] 
 Modern popular music pianists have included core motifs of the piece in their adaptations. Examples include George Shearing, in his 'Moonlight Becomes You,' on his  White Satin  album and Alicia Keys's 'Remixed &amp; Unplugged' version of her  Songs in A Minor  album.
Notes and references[edit]
 Notes
  ^  The title page is in Italian, and reads SONATA quasi una FANTASIA per il Clavicembalo o Piano=forte composta e dedicata alla Damigella Contessa Giulietta Guicciardi da Luigi van Beethoven Opera 27 No. 2. In Vienna presso Gio. Cappi Sulla Piazza di St. Michele No. 5. (In English, "Sonata, almost a fantasia for harpsichord or pianoforte. Composed, and dedicated to Mademoiselle Countess Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi, by Ludwig van Beethoven. Opus 27 No. 2. Published in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi, Michaelerplatz No. 5.") The suggestion that the work could be performed on the harpsichord reflected a common marketing practice of music publishers in the early 19th century (Siepmann 1998, p. 60).
  ^  This dedication was not Beethoven's original intention, and he did not have Guicciardi in mind when writing the sonata. Thayer, in his Life of Beethoven, states that the work Beethoven originally intended to dedicate to Guicciardi was the Rondo in G, Op. 51 No. 2, but circumstances required that this be dedicated to Countess Lichnowsky. So he cast around at the last moment for a piece to dedicate to Guicciardi. See  Thayer, Alexander Wheelock (1921). Elliot, Forbes (ed.).  Thayer's Life of Beethoven  (revised ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press (published 1967). p. 291 and 297. ISBN  0-691-02702-1 .
  ^  Note that Beethoven wrote "senza sordino"; see #Beethoven's pedal mark below.
 
 References
^    a       b       c    Jones, Timothy.  Beethoven, the Moonlight and other sonatas, op. 27 and op. 31 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 19, 43 and back cover.
  ^   "Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonate für Klavier (cis-Moll) op. 27, 2 (Sonata quasi una fantasia), Cappi, 879". Beethovenhaus. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  ^   "Quasi".  Grove Music Online . Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  ^  Schwarm, Betsy. "Moonlight Sonata".  Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  ^  Beethoven, Ludwig van (2004). Beethoven: The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words. 1st World Publishing. p. 47. ISBN  978-1-59540-149-6 .
  ^   Lenz, Wilhelm von (1852). Beethoven et ses trois styles (in French). Vol. 1. St Petersburg. p. 225.
  ^  See. e.g.,  Allgemeiner musikalischer Anzeiger . Vol. 9, No. 11, Tobias Haslinger, Vienna, 1837, p. 41.
  ^  See, e.g., Ignaz Moscheles, ed.  The Life of Beethoven. Henry Colburn pub., vol. II, 1841, p. 109.
  ^   Aunt Judy's Christmas Volume . H. K. F. Gatty, ed., George Bell &amp; Sons, London, 1879, p. 60.
  ^  Kennedy, Michael. "Moonlight Sonata", from Oxford Dictionary of Music 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006 rev., p. 589.
  ^  "Moonlight Sonata", from Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. J.A. Fuller Maitland, ed., Macmillan and Co., London, 1900, p. 360.
  ^  Dubal, David.  The Art of the Piano . Amadeus Press, 2004, p. 411.
  ^  See, e.g., Wilkinson, Charles W.  Well-known Piano Solos: How to Play Them . Theo. Presser Co., Philadelphia, 1915, p. 31.
  ^  Mackenzie, Compton. "The Beethoven Piano Sonatas", from The Gramophone, Aug. 1940, p. 5.
^    a       b     Beethoven, Ludwig van (1932). Tovey, Donald Francis; Craxton, Harold (eds.).  Complete Pianoforte Sonatas, Volume II  (Revised ed.). London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. p. 50. ISBN  978-1-85472-054-2 . OCLC 53258888.
  ^  Beethoven, Ludwig van (2015). Del Mar, Jonathan; Donat, Misha (eds.). Sonata quasi una Fantasia für Pianoforte (in English and German). Translated by Schütz, Gudula. Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. iii. ISMN 979-0-006-55799-8.
  ^  Maynard Solomon, Beethoven (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998), p. 139
  ^  Harding, Henry Alfred (1901).  Analysis of form in Beethoven's sonatas . Borough Green: Novello. pp. 28–29.
^    a       b       c     Rosen, Charles (2002). Beethoven's Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion. Yale University Press. p. 157. ISBN  978-0-300-09070-3 .
  ^  Life of Beethoven, Alexander Wheelock Thayer, ed. Elliot Forbes, Princeton 1967
  ^  Fishko, Sara. "Why do we love the 'Moonlight' Sonata?". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  ^  Fischer, Edwin (1959). Beethoven's pianoforte sonatas: a guide for students &amp; amateurs. Faber. p. 62.
  ^  Brendel, Alfred (2001).  Alfred Brendel on music . A Capella Books. p. 71. ISBN 1-55652-408-0.
  ^  Translation from Rosenblum 1988, p. 136
  ^  William and Gayle Cook Music Library, Indiana University School of Music Beethoven, Sonate per pianoforte, Vol. 1 (N. 1–16), Ricordi
  ^  Banowetz, J. (1985). The Pianist’s Guide to Pedaling, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p. 168.
  ^  Oster 1983.
  ^  Oster 1983, p. 207.
  ^  IMSLP Carl Bohm, "Meditation"
 
 Sources
  Rosenblum, Sandra P. (1988). Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music: Their Principles and Applications. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 
  Oster, Ernst (1983). "The Fantaisie-Impromptu: A Tribute to Beethoven". In David Beach (ed.). Aspects of Schenkerian Analysis. Yale University Press. ISBN  9780300028003 . 
  Siepmann, Jeremy (1998). The Piano: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the World's Most Popular Musical Instrument.  
External links[edit]
  Harding, Henry Alfred (1901). "Sonata No. 14". Analysis of Form in Beethoven's Sonatas. Borough Green Sevenoaks, Kent: Novello. pp. 28–29 – via Internet Archive. 
 Analysis and recordings review of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata , Roni's Journal, September 2007, Classical Music Blog
 Lecture by András Schiff on Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 27, No. 2 – via  The Guardian   
Scores[edit]
  Piano Sonata No. 14: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project 
 Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ major, Op. 27/2 (interactive score) on Verovio Humdrum Viewer
 Ricordi edition, The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University School of Music
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._14_(Beethoven)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_in_the_Way
Something in the Way - Wikipedia
2004-12-17
Authority control MusicBrainz work
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>"Something in the Way"</th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Song">Song</a> by <a href="/wiki/Nirvana_(band)">Nirvana</a></th></tr><tr><th>from the album <i> <a href="/wiki/Nevermind">Nevermind</a> </i></th></tr><tr><th>Recorded</th><td>May 1991</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Recording_studio">Studio</a></th><td>Sound City, <a href="/wiki/Van_Nuys">Van Nuys</a> and Devonshire, <a href="/wiki/North_Hollywood,_Los_Angeles">North Hollywood</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Music_genre">Genre</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Alternative_rock">Alternative rock</a></td></tr><tr><th>Length</th><td>3:52 (20:37 with "<a href="/wiki/Endless,_Nameless_(song)">Endless, Nameless</a>")</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_label">Label</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/DGC_Records">DGC</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Songwriter">Songwriter(s)</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Kurt_Cobain">Kurt Cobain</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_producer">Producer(s)</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Butch_Vig">Butch Vig</a></td></tr><tr><th><i><a href="/wiki/Nevermind">Nevermind</a></i> track listing</th></tr><tr><td><div><p>13 tracks</p><div>
<ol><li>"<a href="/wiki/Smells_Like_Teen_Spirit">Smells Like Teen Spirit</a>"</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/In_Bloom">In Bloom</a>"</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/Come_as_You_Are_(Nirvana_song)">Come as You Are</a>"</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/Breed_(song)">Breed</a>"</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/Lithium_(Nirvana_song)">Lithium</a>"</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/Polly_(Nirvana_song)">Polly</a>"</li>
<li>"Territorial Pissings"</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/Drain_You">Drain You</a>"</li>
<li>"Lounge Act"</li>
<li>"Stay Away"</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/On_a_Plain">On a Plain</a>"</li>
<li>"<a>Something in the Way</a>"</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/Endless,_Nameless_(song)">Endless, Nameless</a>"</li></ol></div></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>"<b>Something in the Way</b>" is a song by American <a href="/wiki/Rock_music">rock</a> band <a href="/wiki/Nirvana_(band)">Nirvana</a>, written by vocalist and guitarist <a href="/wiki/Kurt_Cobain">Kurt Cobain</a>. It is the 12th song on their second album, <i><a href="/wiki/Nevermind">Nevermind</a></i>, released in September 1991. It is the final listed song on the album, although most copies of <i>Nevermind</i> also feature the hidden track "<a href="/wiki/Endless,_Nameless_(song)">Endless, Nameless</a>", which occupies the same track as "Something in the Way" and begins after approximately 10 minutes of silence.
</p><p>Never released as a single and never a consistent part of the band's live setlist, "Something in the Way" charted for the first time in August 2020, after appearing in the first trailer for the 2022 <a href="/wiki/Superhero_film">superhero film</a>, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Batman_(film)">The Batman</a></i>. The song peaked at number two on <a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)"><i>Billboard</i>'s</a> US Rock Digital Songs Sales chart,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Zellner-1">[1]</a></sup> and number five on their US Alternative Digital Songs Sales charts.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Forbes-2">[2]</a></sup> It also reached the top 20 in both <a href="/wiki/Amazon_Music">Amazon Music</a>'s and <a href="/wiki/ITunes">iTunes</a>' digital music charts.<sup><a href="#cite_note-The_Wrap-3">[3]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-iTunes_Top_100_Songs_Chart-5">[5]</a></sup>
</p><p>On the week of March 26, 2022, the song entered the <a href="/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100"><i>Billboard</i> Hot 100</a> at number 46, becoming the band's fifth entry on the chart and first since "<a href="/wiki/You_Know_You%27re_Right">You Know You're Right</a>" in 2002.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Billboard-6">[6]</a></sup> It also made the <a href="/wiki/Top_40">Top 40</a> in Australia, Canada, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, New Zealand, Wales and on the <a href="/wiki/Billboard_Global_200"><i>Billboard</i> Global 200</a>.
</p>
<h2>Origin and recording[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Early history[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>"Something in the Way" was written by Cobain in 1990. The earliest known version is a solo electric demo that appeared in a <a href="/wiki/Medley_(music)">medley</a>, along with the abandoned compositions "You Can't Change Me" and "Burn My Britches," first released on the Cobain compilation <i><a href="/wiki/Montage_of_Heck:_The_Home_Recordings">Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings</a></i> in November 2015. American director <a href="/wiki/Brett_Morgen">Brett Morgen</a>, who compiled the album as a soundtrack to his 2015 Cobain documentary <i><a href="/wiki/Montage_of_Heck">Montage of Heck</a></i>, discussed the medley in a 2015 <i><a href="/wiki/NME">NME</a></i> interview, saying it was "almost like a <a href="/wiki/Rock_opera">rock opera</a>, and to hear 'Something in the Way' emerge from the ashes of those other tracks was quite revealing. Kurt might've done an edit on that track, but I believe it was close to a continuous take."<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup>
</p><p>The first live performance of "Something in the Way" was on November 25, 1990, at The Off Ramp Café in <a href="/wiki/Seattle">Seattle</a>.
</p>
<h3><i>Nevermind</i>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>"Something in the Way" was first recorded in the studio in May 1991 at <a href="/wiki/Sound_City_Studios">Sound City Studios</a> in <a href="/wiki/Van_Nuys">Van Nuys</a>, <a href="/wiki/California">California</a> by <a href="/wiki/Butch_Vig">Butch Vig</a>, for the band's second album, <i>Nevermind</i>. According to Vig, Cobain had originally wanted to record the song's instruments with the full band, but when initial attempts at this were unsuccessful, Cobain sat on a couch in the control room of studio A and played the song for Vig on acoustic guitar, to show him how he thought it should sound.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Crisafulli-8">[8]</a></sup> Vig was impressed with the way Cobain's solo rendition sounded, and after turning off the air-conditioning and unplugging the telephone in the control room, set up microphones and recorded the song this way instead, starting with the guitar and the vocals.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Crisafulli-8">[8]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Cross-9">[9]</a></sup>
</p><p>This became the core of the recording, with the first vocal take being used for the verses.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Cross-9">[9]</a></sup> Cobain then recorded vocal harmonies, and drummer <a href="/wiki/Dave_Grohl">Dave Grohl</a> and bassist <a href="/wiki/Krist_Novoselic">Krist Novoselic</a> added their parts,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Crisafulli-8">[8]</a></sup> though both Grohl and Novoselic had difficulty playing in time with Cobain's performance. Novoselic also had trouble tuning his bass to Cobain's guitar, a 12-string Stella acoustic with five nylon guitar strings that Cobain had never tuned, and Grohl had to play more quietly than he was used to, to match the song's gentle mood. "Kurt and I wanted the drums to be very understated," Vig recalled. "Dave was used to playing much louder; plus, it can be very difficult to go back and lay drums over an acoustic guitar track, as the meter may vary a bit".<sup><a href="#cite_note-Cross-9">[9]</a></sup> Cobain's harmonies, the bass and the drums were recorded in studio B, a smaller room down the hall from the larger one they generally worked in. On the final day of the <i>Nevermind</i> sessions, Kirk Canning, a friend of the band's they had met through <a href="/wiki/L7_(band)">L7</a>, added cello to the recording,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Crisafulli-8">[8]</a></sup> although he too had difficulties tuning to Cobain's guitar.
</p>
<h3>Post-<i>Nevermind</i>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>On November 9, 1991, a version of the song was recorded by Miti Adhikari for the <a href="/wiki/BBC">BBC</a> program <i>The Evening Session</i> at <a href="/wiki/Maida_Vale_Studios">Maida Vale Studios</a> in <a href="/wiki/London,_England">London, England</a>. This heavier electric version was more reminiscent of the way the song usually sounded when performed in concert.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Cross-9">[9]</a></sup> It was posthumously released on the 20th anniversary "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" versions of <i>Nevermind</i> in September 2011.
</p><p>"Something in the Way" was performed as part of Nirvana's <i>MTV Unplugged</i> concert on November 18, 1993, at <a href="/wiki/Sony_Music_Studios">Sony Music Studios</a> in <a href="/wiki/New_York_City">New York City</a>. This version featured <a href="/wiki/Pat_Smear">Pat Smear</a> on second guitar and <a href="/wiki/Lori_Goldston">Lori Goldston</a> on cello. It was Nirvana's final live performance of the song.
</p>
<h2>Composition[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><div><p><a href="/wiki/File:YoungStreetBridgeInAberdeen.png"></a></p></div><div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Under_the_Young_Street_Bridge.jpg"></a></p><p>Graffiti in memory of Kurt Cobain under the Young Street Bridge</p></div></div>
<h3>Music[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Describing the song as "sombre and disconsolate," American music journalist Gillian G. Garr wrote that "Something in the Way" "underscores the fact that Nirvana not only realized that emotions didn't always have to be expressed at the highest volume, they were also capable of pulling it off, with Cobain turning in one of his most expressive vocal performances."<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Lyrics[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>"Something in the Way" was originally believed to be based on a period when Cobain was homeless and slept underneath the <a href="/wiki/Young_Street_Bridge_(Aberdeen,_Washington)">Young Street Bridge</a>, close to his childhood home in his native town of <a href="/wiki/Aberdeen,_Washington">Aberdeen, Washington</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Crisafulli-8">[8]</a></sup> While Cobain did run away from home as a teenager, the belief that he slept under the bridge was refuted by both Novoselic and Kurt's sister, Kim Cobain, in the 2001 Cobain biography, <i><a href="/wiki/Heavier_Than_Heaven">Heavier Than Heaven</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Cross,_Charles_R_2001-11">[11]</a></sup> Both confirmed that Cobain "hung out" under the bridge, which was a popular recreation area favored by local teenagers, but Novoselic told author <a href="/wiki/Charles_R._Cross">Charles R. Cross</a> that the river's "tides" and "muddy banks" would have made staying there for a prolonged period of time impossible. Cross argued that the much larger Sixth Street Bridge, located about half-a-mile away, would have been more suitable to sleep under, but is unlikely to have been used by Cobain.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Cross,_Charles_R_2001-11">[11]</a></sup>
</p><p>According to Cross, the reality of Cobain's situation during his approximately four-month period of homelessness was "more poignant" than the version presented in "Something in the Way." At first, Cobain slept "curled up like a kitten" in a cardboard refrigerator box on the porch of <a href="/wiki/Dale_Crover">Dale Crover</a>, drummer of local band, <a href="/wiki/The_Melvins">the Melvins</a>. After this, he would sleep in the hallways of old apartment buildings with central heating, leaving before the residents of the building left their apartments. Occasionally, he and a friend would watch television and sleep in the waiting room of Grays Harbor Hospital, with Cobain getting food from the cafeteria by charging it to invented room numbers.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Cross,_Charles_R_2001-11">[11]</a></sup>
</p><p>Cobain himself suggested that the song was not necessarily autobiographical, telling Nirvana biographer <a href="/wiki/Michael_Azerrad">Michael Azerrad</a> that the lyrics were "like if I was living under the bridge and I was dying of <a href="/wiki/AIDS">AIDS</a>, if I was sick and I couldn't move and I was a total street person. That was kind of the fantasy of it".<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup>
</p><p>In Azzerad's 1993 biography <i><a href="/wiki/Come_as_You_Are:_The_Story_of_Nirvana">Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana</a></i>, Cobain stated that he used to fish from the <a href="/wiki/Wishkah_River">Wishkah River</a> close to this bridge, which may have inspired the lyric, 'Its okay to eat fish, cos' they don't have any feelings' in the song.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup>
</p><p>In a 2021 <i><a href="/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times">Los Angeles Times</a></i> interview, Cobain's widow, <a href="/wiki/Courtney_Love">Courtney Love</a>, called "Something in the Way" "one of the great rock songs of all time," and described it as Cobain "clawing his way out...He's telling himself anything just to get through." Love cited the line, "It's OK to eat fish cause they don't have any feelings" as the one that affected her the most deeply, saying, "He knows it's a lie — here's a guy who loved turtles — but he thinks that if someone just loves him enough, then maybe, just maybe one day he will become real." In regards to the song's fictionalized aspects, Love said that "the place [Cobain] writes from is so emotionally desperate we all understand it."<sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Release and reception[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In 2015, <i><a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone">Rolling Stone</a></i> listed the song at number five on their ranking of 102 Nirvana songs.<sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup> In 2019, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Guardian">The Guardian</a></i> placed it at number 12 in their list of <i>Nirvana's 20 greatest songs</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup>
</p><p>In 2017, to mark what would have been Cobain's 50th birthday, the <a href="/wiki/Phonographic_Performance_Limited">Phonographic Performance Limited</a> released a list of the 20 most played Nirvana songs on the TV and radio in the <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom">UK</a>, in which "Something in the Way" was ranked at number 17.<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Posthumous chart success[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>In August 2020, the song reached number two on <a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)"><i>Billboard</i>'s</a> US Rock Digital Songs Sales chart,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Zellner-1">[1]</a></sup> number five on their US Alternative Digital Songs Sales chart,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Forbes-2">[2]</a></sup> and number 45 on their all-genre Digital Song Sales chart,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Zellner-1">[1]</a></sup> as well as number 18 on Amazon Music's <i>Best Sellers in Songs</i> chart, and number 19 on iTunes' top 200 songs chart, after appearing in the first trailer for the film, <i>The Batman.</i><sup><a href="#cite_note-The_Wrap-3">[3]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-iTunes_Top_100_Songs_Chart-5">[5]</a></sup> 
</p><p>Streams of the song spiked by 1200% on Spotify shortly after the release of the film on March 4, 2022, helping it reach the top five of Spotify’s Daily USA Top 50 songs ranking on March 8.<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup> An article published by <i><a href="/wiki/Variety_(magazine)">Variety</a></i> on March 11 reported that the song was currently third on Spotify's daily list.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Variety-20">[20]</a></sup> According to a March 15 <i>Billboard</i> article, the song earned 7.9 million on-demand official U.S. streams during the March 4 to March 10 tracking period, marking a 1,508% increase, and 3,100 downloads, a gain of 1,888%.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Rutherford-21">[21]</a></sup> Interest in the song also helped boost sales of <i>Nevermind</i>, which climbed to number one on the Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Rutherford-21">[21]</a></sup>
</p><p>On the week of March 26, 2022, "Something in the Way" became the fifth Nirvana song to chart on the <i>Billboard</i> Hot 100, appearing at number 46 its one week on the chart.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Billboard-6">[6]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>MTV Unplugged in New York[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The <i>MTV Unplugged</i> version of "Something in the Way" was one of two songs not included in the original broadcast of the show. However, it appeared on the live album <i><a href="/wiki/MTV_Unplugged_in_New_York">MTV Unplugged in New York</a></i>, released in November 1994. It also appeared as the b-side to the album's only commercial single, for the song "<a href="/wiki/About_a_Girl_(Nirvana_song)">About a Girl</a>". In 2002, it was included on <a href="/wiki/Vinyl_record">vinyl</a> and <a href="/wiki/Japan">Japanese</a> CD copies of the band's best-of compilation, <i><a href="/wiki/Nirvana_(Nirvana_album)">Nirvana</a></i>.
</p><p>The full <i>MTV Unplugged</i> performance, including "Something in the Way," was released on DVD in November 2007.
</p>
<h2>In popular culture[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>A brief cover of the song, performed by <a href="/wiki/Jerry_O%27Connell">Jerry O'Connell</a> in the role of Frank "Cush" Cushman, appeared in the 1996 <a href="/wiki/Romantic_comedy">romantic comedy</a> <i><a href="/wiki/Jerry_Maguire">Jerry Maguire</a></i>, directed by <a href="/wiki/Cameron_Crowe">Cameron Crowe</a>. The intentionally poor rendition appeared during a hotel room scene in which "Cush disrupts football business talk with a nasally, out-of-tune take on Nirvana’s darkest track off <i>Nevermind</i>," according to Ashley Zlatopolsky of <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a>.</i><sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup>
</p><p>The <i>Nevermind</i> version appeared in the 2005 <a href="/wiki/War_drama">war drama</a> <i><a href="/wiki/Jarhead_(film)">Jarhead</a></i>, directed by <a href="/wiki/Sam_Mendes">Sam Mendes</a>. According to <a href="/wiki/Universal_Pictures">Universal Pictures</a> president of film music Kathy Nelson, Mendes had insisted on the song, but a then-ongoing dispute between Cobain's widow, <a href="/wiki/Courtney_Love">Courtney Love</a>, and surviving Nirvana members had made the licensing of Nirvana songs difficult at the time. However, Love allowed the song's use due to being a "huge fan" of Mendes and actor <a href="/wiki/Peter_Sarsgaard">Peter Sarsgaard</a>. “That’s why it’s probably the first Nirvana song you’ve heard in a movie,” Nelson said.<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Collider-24">[24]</a></sup>
</p><p>On April 24, 2020, American musician <a href="/wiki/Post_Malone">Post Malone</a> performed the song during his 15-song Nirvana tribute concert, which was livestreamed on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a> and raised more than $4 million for the <a href="/wiki/COVID-19_Solidarity_Response_Fund">COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3><i>The Batman</i>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>American filmmaker <a href="/wiki/Matt_Reeves">Matt Reeves</a>, writer and director of the 2022 film <i><a href="/wiki/The_Batman_(film)">The Batman</a></i>, revealed in a December 2021 interview with <i><a href="/wiki/Gizmodo">Gizmodo</a></i> that listening to the song while writing the film's first act played a key role in helping him develop the character of <a href="/wiki/Bruce_Wayne">Bruce Wayne</a>. “Rather than make Bruce the playboy version we’ve seen before," Reeves explained, "there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse. So I started making this connection to <a href="/wiki/Gus_Van_Sant">Gus Van Sant</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Last_Days_(2005_film)">Last Days</a></i>, and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.”<sup><a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Collider-24">[24]</a></sup>
</p><p>In a March 2022 <i><a href="/wiki/NME">NME</a></i> interview, American actor <a href="/wiki/Paul_Dano">Paul Dano</a> revealed that the song also influenced his portrayal of the film's villain, <a href="/wiki/The_Riddler">the Riddler</a>. "Well, in the script Matt had actually mentioned ‘Something In The Way’ by Nirvana," Dano told interviewer Olly Richards. "So that right there, that song, those words, that refrain, became hugely important to me. Nirvana became a part of that [character].”<sup><a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup>
</p><p>The version featured in the film's August 2020 trailer is a <a href="/wiki/Remix">remix</a> of the <i>Nevermind</i> version by Alloy Tracks and Cavalry Music that incorporated themes by the film's composer <a href="/wiki/Michael_Giacchino">Michael Giacchino</a> and additional orchestral elements.<sup><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-30">[30]</a></sup>
</p><p>The song itself appears twice in the film, serving as a bookend for the first and third acts.<sup><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup>
</p><p>Following the theatrical release of the film in March 2022, audio streaming service <a href="/wiki/Spotify">Spotify</a> reported a 1,200% increase in streams of the song on the platform,<sup><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup> while <i>Billboard</i> reported a 1,508% increase in official U.S. streams and 1,888% increase in downloads.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Rutherford-21">[21]</a></sup> The song once again appeared on several <i>Billboard</i> charts, reaching number two on the Rock Streaming Songs and Rock Digital Song Sales chart, number four on the Alternative Digital Song Sales and Alternative Streaming Songs chart, number 20 on the <a href="/wiki/Digital_Song_Sales">Digital Song Sales</a> chart, and number 27 on the <i>Billboard</i> <a href="/wiki/Streaming_Songs">Streaming Songs</a> chart.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Rutherford-21">[21]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-ConsequenceofSound-33">[33]</a></sup>
</p><p>American DJ <a href="/wiki/Illenium">Illenium</a> remixed the song in collaboration with DC, following the success of the film.
</p>
<h2>Covers[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>At Sea originally recorded "Something in the Way" for their 2012 album <i>A New Machine</i>. It was eventually used in the <a href="/wiki/E3_2014">E3 2014</a> trailer for the <a href="/wiki/PlayStation_4">PlayStation 4</a> remaster of <i><a href="/wiki/The_Last_of_Us">The Last of Us</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup>
</p><p>Swedish melodic death metal band <a href="/wiki/Avatar_(band)">Avatar</a> covered the song on their 2014 studio album <i><a href="/wiki/Hail_the_Apocalypse">Hail the Apocalypse</a></i>. 
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Transgender_activist">Transgender activist</a> Daniella Carter and J Patt from <a href="/wiki/The_Knocks">The Knocks</a> recorded an electronic <a href="/wiki/Cover_version">cover version</a> of the song in 2021.<sup><a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a></sup> It is the debut single from <i>Nirvana Reimagined as House and Techno</i> by <a href="/wiki/Music_producer">music producer</a> Jonathan Hay.<sup><a href="#cite_note-36">[36]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Charts[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=14">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Certifications[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=15">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Accolades[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=16">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Other releases[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=17">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li>A boombox-recorded full-band version, recorded in March 1991 at a barn in <a href="/wiki/Tacoma,_Washington">Tacoma, Washington</a> the band were using as a rehearsal space, appeared on disc two of the 20th anniversary "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" versions of <i>Nevermind</i>, released in September 2011.</li></ul>
<ul><li>An early "Devonshire mix" of the <i>Nevermind</i> version appeared on disc four of the 20th anniversary "Super Deluxe" version of <i>Nevermind</i>.</li></ul>
<ul><li>Amateur footage of live version, recorded at <a href="/w/index.php?title=Kokusai_Koryu_Center&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Kokusai Koryu Center</a> in <a href="/wiki/Osaka,_Japan">Osaka, Japan</a> on February 14, 1992, appeared on the live video <i><a href="/wiki/Live!_Tonight!_Sold_Out!!">Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!</a></i>, released in November 1994.</li></ul>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=18">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Zellner_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Zellner_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Zellner_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Zellner_1-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Zellner_1-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Zellner, Xander (March 10, 2022). <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/nirvana-something-in-the-way-batman-1235042829/">"Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' Surges in Streams After 'The Batman' Release"</a>. <i>Billboard</i>. Retrieved March 11, 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Forbes_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Forbes_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Forbes_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite>McIntyre, Hugh (July 5, 2021). <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2021/07/05/nirvanas-smells-like-teen-spirit-is-finally-getting-what-it-deserves-on-billboards-rock-charts/">"Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Is Finally Getting What It Deserves On Billboard's Rock Charts"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Forbes">Forbes</a></i>. Retrieved March 13, 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-The_Wrap_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-The_Wrap_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Gonzalez, Umberto (August 24, 2020). <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/the-batman-nirvana-song-used-in-trailer-becomes-best-seller-on-itunes-and-amazon/">"'The Batman': Nirvana Song Used in Trailer Becomes Best Seller on Itunes and Amazon"</a>. <i>The Wrap</i>. Retrieved August 25, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite>Burwick, Kevin (August 24, 2020). <a href="https://movieweb.com/the-batman-trailer-nirvana-something-in-the-way/">"Nirvana's Something in the Way Shoots Up Digital Music Charts Following The Batman Trailer Debut"</a>. <i>Movieweb</i>. Retrieved August 25, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-iTunes_Top_100_Songs_Chart_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-iTunes_Top_100_Songs_Chart_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="http://www.popvortex.com/music/charts/top-100-songs.php">"iTunes Top 100 Songs Chart"</a>. <i>PopVortex</i>. August 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Billboard_6-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Billboard_6-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Billboard_6-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/Nirvana/chart-history/HSI">"Nirvana Chart History (Hot 100)"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)"><i>Billboard</i></a>. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite>Nicolson, Barry (November 9, 2022). <a href="https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/kurt-cobains-solo-album-how-director-brett-morgen-assembled-a-nirvana-fans-ultimate-archive-release-14299">"Kurt Cobain's Solo Album – How Director Brett Morgen Assembled A Nirvana Fan's Ultimate Archive Release"</a>. <i>NME</i>. Retrieved March 15, 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Crisafulli_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Crisafulli_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Crisafulli_8-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Crisafulli_8-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Crisafulli_8-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Crisafulli, Chuck (1996). <i>Nirvana, The Stories Behind the Songs</i>. pp. 54–55. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7119-5809-2"><bdi>0-7119-5809-2</bdi></a>.</cite>
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<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Cross_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Cross_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Cross_9-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Cross_9-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="/wiki/Charles_R._Cross">Cross, Charles</a>; Berkenstadt, Jim (February 22, 2012). <i>Classic Rock Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind</i>. Schirmer Trade. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780857127686"><bdi>9780857127686</bdi></a>.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <cite><i>The Rough Guide to Nirvana</i>. Rough Guides Limited. 2009. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781405381123"><bdi>9781405381123</bdi></a>.</cite>
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<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Cross,_Charles_R_2001_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Cross,_Charles_R_2001_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Cross,_Charles_R_2001_11-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Cross, Charles R (2001). <i>Heavier Than Heaven</i>.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b> <cite>Epstein, Daniel. <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/no-apologies-all-102-nirvana-songs-ranked-20150408/something-in-the-way-20150403">"No Apologies: All 102 Nirvana Songs Ranked"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone">Rolling Stone</a></i>. Retrieved June 15, 2018.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Michael_Azerrad">Azerrad, Michael</a> (1993). <i>Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana</i>. New York: <a href="/wiki/Doubleday_(publisher)">Doubleday</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-86369-746-1"><bdi>0-86369-746-1</bdi></a>.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> <cite>Charles R., Cross (September 24, 2021). <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-09-24/courtney-love-nirvana-nevermind-30th-anniversary-kurt-cobain?_amp=true&amp;__twitter_impression=true&amp;fbclid=IwAR0YBSlPmBDlyEGCzrn9oaJSFe62bKFLQn7JXPvK8EaIV8JwvXVzYqA6c9Q">"'I never talk about "Nevermind"!': Courtney Love on the Nirvana album that changed everything"</a>. <i>Los Angeles Times</i>. Retrieved September 26, 2021.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b> <cite>Epstein, Daniel. <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/no-apologies-all-102-nirvana-songs-ranked-20150408/something-in-the-way-20150403">"No Apologies: All 102 Nirvana Songs Ranked"</a>. <i>Rolling Stone</i>. Retrieved June 9, 2018.</cite>
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<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Collider_24-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Collider_24-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Van Horn, Shawn (March 28, 2022). <a href="https://collider.com/nirvana-best-songs-movie-tv-the-batman-succession/">"From 'The Batman' to 'Succession': The Best Uses of Nirvana Songs in Movies and TV"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Collider_(website)">Collider</a></i>. Retrieved March 31, 2022.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b> <cite>Nattress, Katrina (August 23, 2020). <a href="https://www.spin.com/2020/08/nirvanas-something-in-the-way-soundtracks-dystopian-the-batman-trailer/">"Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' Soundtracks Dystopian The Batman Trailer"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Spin_(magazine)">Spin</a>. Retrieved August 24, 2020.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaOWRvmtEFQ"><i>The Last of Us Remastered E3 2014 Trailer (PS4)</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/PlayStation">PlayStation</a>. United States. June 10, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via YouTube.</cite>
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</ol></div>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Something_in_the_Way&amp;action=edit&amp;section=19">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.livenirvana.com/">LiveNirvana</a></li></ul>
<div>
<p></p>
<p>Wikiquote has quotations related to <i><b><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nevermind">Nevermind</a></b></i>.</p></div>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Origin and recording
 + 1.1 Early history
 + 1.2 Nevermind
 + 1.3 Post-Nevermind
 * 2 Composition
 + 2.1 Music
 + 2.2 Lyrics
 * 3 Release and reception
 + 3.1 Posthumous chart success
 * 4 MTV Unplugged in New York
 * 5 In popular culture
 + 5.1 The Batman
 * 6 Covers
 * 7 Charts
 * 8 Certifications
 * 9 Accolades
 * 10 Other releases
 * 11 References
 * 12 External links
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 Something in the Way

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Not to be confused with Something in the Way She Moves or Something (Beatles song).

 "Something in the Way" 
 Song by Nirvana 
 from the album Nevermind 
 Recorded May 1991 
 Studio Sound City, Van Nuys and Devonshire, North Hollywood
 Genre Alternative rock 
 Length 3 : 52 (20:37 with "Endless, Nameless") 
 Label DGC 
 Songwriter(s) Kurt Cobain 
 Producer(s) Butch Vig 
 Nevermind track listing 
 13 tracks 
 1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
 2. "In Bloom" 
 3. "Come as You Are" 
 4. "Breed" 
 5. "Lithium" 
 6. "Polly" 
 7. "Territorial Pissings" 
 8. "Drain You" 
 9. "Lounge Act" 
 10. "Stay Away" 
 11. "On a Plain" 
 12. "Something in the Way" 
 13. "Endless, Nameless" 
 

 "Something in the Way" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the 12th song on their second album, Nevermind, released in September 1991. It is the final listed song on the album, although most copies of Nevermind also feature the hidden track "Endless, Nameless", which occupies the same track as "Something in the Way" and begins after approximately 10 minutes of silence.

 Never released as a single and never a consistent part of the band's live setlist, "Something in the Way" charted for the first time in August 2020, after appearing in the first trailer for the 2022 superhero film, The Batman. The song peaked at number two on Billboard ' s US Rock Digital Songs Sales chart,[1] and number five on their US Alternative Digital Songs Sales charts.[2] It also reached the top 20 in both Amazon Music's and iTunes' digital music charts.[3][4][5]

 On the week of March 26, 2022, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 46, becoming the band's fifth entry on the chart and first since "You Know You're Right" in 2002.[6] It also made the Top 40 in Australia, Canada, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, New Zealand, Wales and on the Billboard Global 200.

 Origin and recording [ edit ]

 Early history [ edit ]

 "Something in the Way" was written by Cobain in 1990. The earliest known version is a solo electric demo that appeared in a medley, along with the abandoned compositions "You Can't Change Me" and "Burn My Britches," first released on the Cobain compilation Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings in November 2015. American director Brett Morgen, who compiled the album as a soundtrack to his 2015 Cobain documentary Montage of Heck, discussed the medley in a 2015 NME interview, saying it was "almost like a rock opera, and to hear 'Something in the Way' emerge from the ashes of those other tracks was quite revealing. Kurt might've done an edit on that track, but I believe it was close to a continuous take."[7]

 The first live performance of "Something in the Way" was on November 25, 1990, at The Off Ramp Café in Seattle.

 Nevermind [ edit ]

 "Something in the Way" was first recorded in the studio in May 1991 at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California by Butch Vig, for the band's second album, Nevermind. According to Vig, Cobain had originally wanted to record the song's instruments with the full band, but when initial attempts at this were unsuccessful, Cobain sat on a couch in the control room of studio A and played the song for Vig on acoustic guitar, to show him how he thought it should sound.[8] Vig was impressed with the way Cobain's solo rendition sounded, and after turning off the air-conditioning and unplugging the telephone in the control room, set up microphones and recorded the song this way instead, starting with the guitar and the vocals.[8][9]

 This became the core of the recording, with the first vocal take being used for the verses.[9] Cobain then recorded vocal harmonies, and drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic added their parts,[8] though both Grohl and Novoselic had difficulty playing in time with Cobain's performance. Novoselic also had trouble tuning his bass to Cobain's guitar, a 12-string Stella acoustic with five nylon guitar strings that Cobain had never tuned, and Grohl had to play more quietly than he was used to, to match the song's gentle mood. "Kurt and I wanted the drums to be very understated," Vig recalled. "Dave was used to playing much louder; plus, it can be very difficult to go back and lay drums over an acoustic guitar track, as the meter may vary a bit".[9] Cobain's harmonies, the bass and the drums were recorded in studio B, a smaller room down the hall from the larger one they generally worked in. On the final day of the Nevermind sessions, Kirk Canning, a friend of the band's they had met through L7, added cello to the recording,[8] although he too had difficulties tuning to Cobain's guitar.

 Post- Nevermind [ edit ]

 On November 9, 1991, a version of the song was recorded by Miti Adhikari for the BBC program The Evening Session at Maida Vale Studios in London, England. This heavier electric version was more reminiscent of the way the song usually sounded when performed in concert.[9] It was posthumously released on the 20th anniversary "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" versions of Nevermind in September 2011.

 "Something in the Way" was performed as part of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert on November 18, 1993, at Sony Music Studios in New York City. This version featured Pat Smear on second guitar and Lori Goldston on cello. It was Nirvana's final live performance of the song.

 Composition [ edit ]

 The Young Street Bridge, Aberdeen, Washington
 Graffiti in memory of Kurt Cobain under the Young Street Bridge

 Music [ edit ]

 Describing the song as "sombre and disconsolate," American music journalist Gillian G. Garr wrote that "Something in the Way" "underscores the fact that Nirvana not only realized that emotions didn't always have to be expressed at the highest volume, they were also capable of pulling it off, with Cobain turning in one of his most expressive vocal performances."[10]

 Lyrics [ edit ]

 "Something in the Way" was originally believed to be based on a period when Cobain was homeless and slept underneath the Young Street Bridge, close to his childhood home in his native town of Aberdeen, Washington.[8] While Cobain did run away from home as a teenager, the belief that he slept under the bridge was refuted by both Novoselic and Kurt's sister, Kim Cobain, in the 2001 Cobain biography, Heavier Than Heaven.[11] Both confirmed that Cobain "hung out" under the bridge, which was a popular recreation area favored by local teenagers, but Novoselic told author Charles R. Cross that the river's "tides" and "muddy banks" would have made staying there for a prolonged period of time impossible. Cross argued that the much larger Sixth Street Bridge, located about half-a-mile away, would have been more suitable to sleep under, but is unlikely to have been used by Cobain.[11]

 According to Cross, the reality of Cobain's situation during his approximately four-month period of homelessness was "more poignant" than the version presented in "Something in the Way." At first, Cobain slept "curled up like a kitten" in a cardboard refrigerator box on the porch of Dale Crover, drummer of local band, the Melvins. After this, he would sleep in the hallways of old apartment buildings with central heating, leaving before the residents of the building left their apartments. Occasionally, he and a friend would watch television and sleep in the waiting room of Grays Harbor Hospital, with Cobain getting food from the cafeteria by charging it to invented room numbers.[11]

 Cobain himself suggested that the song was not necessarily autobiographical, telling Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad that the lyrics were "like if I was living under the bridge and I was dying of AIDS, if I was sick and I couldn't move and I was a total street person. That was kind of the fantasy of it".[12]

 In Azzerad's 1993 biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Cobain stated that he used to fish from the Wishkah River close to this bridge, which may have inspired the lyric, 'Its okay to eat fish, cos' they don't have any feelings' in the song.[13]

 In a 2021 Los Angeles Times interview, Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, called "Something in the Way" "one of the great rock songs of all time," and described it as Cobain "clawing his way out...He's telling himself anything just to get through." Love cited the line, "It's OK to eat fish cause they don't have any feelings" as the one that affected her the most deeply, saying, "He knows it's a lie — here's a guy who loved turtles — but he thinks that if someone just loves him enough, then maybe, just maybe one day he will become real." In regards to the song's fictionalized aspects, Love said that "the place [Cobain] writes from is so emotionally desperate we all understand it."[14]

 Release and reception [ edit ]

 In 2015, Rolling Stone listed the song at number five on their ranking of 102 Nirvana songs.[15] In 2019, The Guardian placed it at number 12 in their list of Nirvana's 20 greatest songs.[16]

 In 2017, to mark what would have been Cobain's 50th birthday, the Phonographic Performance Limited released a list of the 20 most played Nirvana songs on the TV and radio in the UK, in which "Something in the Way" was ranked at number 17.[17]

 Posthumous chart success [ edit ]

 In August 2020, the song reached number two on Billboard ' s US Rock Digital Songs Sales chart,[1] number five on their US Alternative Digital Songs Sales chart,[2] and number 45 on their all-genre Digital Song Sales chart,[1] as well as number 18 on Amazon Music's Best Sellers in Songs chart, and number 19 on iTunes' top 200 songs chart, after appearing in the first trailer for the film, The Batman.[3][18][5]

 Streams of the song spiked by 1200% on Spotify shortly after the release of the film on March 4, 2022, helping it reach the top five of Spotify’s Daily USA Top 50 songs ranking on March 8.[19] An article published by Variety on March 11 reported that the song was currently third on Spotify's daily list.[20] According to a March 15 Billboard article, the song earned 7.9 million on-demand official U.S. streams during the March 4 to March 10 tracking period, marking a 1,508% increase, and 3,100 downloads, a gain of 1,888%.[21] Interest in the song also helped boost sales of Nevermind, which climbed to number one on the Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts.[21]

 On the week of March 26, 2022, "Something in the Way" became the fifth Nirvana song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, appearing at number 46 its one week on the chart.[6]

 MTV Unplugged in New York [ edit ]

 The MTV Unplugged version of "Something in the Way" was one of two songs not included in the original broadcast of the show. However, it appeared on the live album MTV Unplugged in New York, released in November 1994. It also appeared as the b-side to the album's only commercial single, for the song "About a Girl". In 2002, it was included on vinyl and Japanese CD copies of the band's best-of compilation, Nirvana.

 The full MTV Unplugged performance, including "Something in the Way," was released on DVD in November 2007.

 In popular culture [ edit ]

 A brief cover of the song, performed by Jerry O'Connell in the role of Frank "Cush" Cushman, appeared in the 1996 romantic comedy Jerry Maguire, directed by Cameron Crowe. The intentionally poor rendition appeared during a hotel room scene in which "Cush disrupts football business talk with a nasally, out-of-tune take on Nirvana’s darkest track off Nevermind," according to Ashley Zlatopolsky of Billboard.[22]

 The Nevermind version appeared in the 2005 war drama Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes. According to Universal Pictures president of film music Kathy Nelson, Mendes had insisted on the song, but a then-ongoing dispute between Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, and surviving Nirvana members had made the licensing of Nirvana songs difficult at the time. However, Love allowed the song's use due to being a "huge fan" of Mendes and actor Peter Sarsgaard. “That’s why it’s probably the first Nirvana song you’ve heard in a movie,” Nelson said.[23][24]

 On April 24, 2020, American musician Post Malone performed the song during his 15-song Nirvana tribute concert, which was livestreamed on YouTube and raised more than $4 million for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.[25][26]

 The Batman [ edit ]

 American filmmaker Matt Reeves, writer and director of the 2022 film The Batman, revealed in a December 2021 interview with Gizmodo that listening to the song while writing the film's first act played a key role in helping him develop the character of Bruce Wayne. “Rather than make Bruce the playboy version we’ve seen before," Reeves explained, "there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse. So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant's Last Days, and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.”[27][24]

 In a March 2022 NME interview, American actor Paul Dano revealed that the song also influenced his portrayal of the film's villain, the Riddler. "Well, in the script Matt had actually mentioned ‘Something In The Way’ by Nirvana," Dano told interviewer Olly Richards. "So that right there, that song, those words, that refrain, became hugely important to me. Nirvana became a part of that [character].”[28]

 The version featured in the film's August 2020 trailer is a remix of the Nevermind version by Alloy Tracks and Cavalry Music that incorporated themes by the film's composer Michael Giacchino and additional orchestral elements.[29][30]

 The song itself appears twice in the film, serving as a bookend for the first and third acts.[31]

 Following the theatrical release of the film in March 2022, audio streaming service Spotify reported a 1,200% increase in streams of the song on the platform,[32] while Billboard reported a 1,508% increase in official U.S. streams and 1,888% increase in downloads.[21] The song once again appeared on several Billboard charts, reaching number two on the Rock Streaming Songs and Rock Digital Song Sales chart, number four on the Alternative Digital Song Sales and Alternative Streaming Songs chart, number 20 on the Digital Song Sales chart, and number 27 on the Billboard Streaming Songs chart.[21][33]

 American DJ Illenium remixed the song in collaboration with DC, following the success of the film.

 Covers [ edit ]

 At Sea originally recorded "Something in the Way" for their 2012 album A New Machine. It was eventually used in the E3 2014 trailer for the PlayStation 4 remaster of The Last of Us.[34]

 Swedish melodic death metal band Avatar covered the song on their 2014 studio album Hail the Apocalypse.

 Transgender activist Daniella Carter and J Patt from The Knocks recorded an electronic cover version of the song in 2021.[35] It is the debut single from Nirvana Reimagined as House and Techno by music producer Jonathan Hay.[36]

 Charts [ edit ]

 2020 weekly chart performance for "Something in the Way"
 Chart (2020) Peak 
  position
 Scotland (OCC)[37] 42 
 UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[38] 50 
 UK Singles Sales (OCC)[39] 51 
 US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[1] 45 
 US Rock Digital Songs Sales (Billboard)[1] 2 
 US Alternative Digital Songs Sales (Billboard)[2] 5 
 US LyricFind (Billboard)[40] 1 
 Wales (OCC)[41] 39 
 
 2022 weekly chart performance for "Something in the Way"
 Chart (2022) Peak 
  position
 Australia (ARIA)[42] 22 
 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[43] 34 
 Global 200 (Billboard)[44] 23 
 Global LyricFind (Billboard)[45] 2 
 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[46] 57 
 France (SNEP)[47] 180 
 Greece (IFPI)[48] 8 
 Hungary (Single Top 40)[49] 25 
 Iceland (Plötutíðindi)[50] 15 
 Ireland (IRMA)[51] 47 
 Lithuania (AGATA)[52] 34 
 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[53] 40 
 Portugal (AFP)[54] 169 
 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[55] 48 
 Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[56] 8 
 UK Singles (OCC)[57] 76 
 US Billboard Hot 100[6] 46 
 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[58] 4 
 

 Certifications [ edit ]

 Region Certification Certified units/sales
 Australia (ARIA)[59] Gold 35,000 
 Canada (Music Canada)[60] Platinum 80,000 
 United Kingdom (BPI)[61] Silver 200,000 
 Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
  
 

 Accolades [ edit ]

 Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
 1998 Kerrang! United Kingdom 20 Great Nirvana Songs Picked by the Stars[62] 13 
 2019 The Guardian Nirvana's 20 greatest songs - ranked![63] 12 
 

 Other releases [ edit ]

 * A boombox-recorded full-band version, recorded in March 1991 at a barn in Tacoma, Washington the band were using as a rehearsal space, appeared on disc two of the 20th anniversary "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" versions of Nevermind, released in September 2011.
 * An early "Devonshire mix" of the Nevermind version appeared on disc four of the 20th anniversary "Super Deluxe" version of Nevermind.
 * Amateur footage of live version, recorded at Kokusai Koryu Center in Osaka, Japan on February 14, 1992, appeared on the live video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!, released in November 1994.

 References [ edit ]

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 23. ^ Pearson, Ryan (November 12, 2005). "'Jarhead' introduces new era of war tunes". The Spokesman . Retrieved September 27, 2018 .
 24. ^ a b Van Horn, Shawn (March 28, 2022). "From 'The Batman' to 'Succession': The Best Uses of Nirvana Songs in Movies and TV". Collider . Retrieved March 31, 2022 .
 25. ^ Paige, Gawley (April 27, 2020). "Post Malone's Nirvana Tribute Concert Raises More Than $4 Million for Coronavirus Relief". Entertainment Tonight . Retrieved May 13, 2020 .
 26. ^ "NIRVANA TRIBUTE RAISES OVER $1 MIL". TMZ. April 27, 2020 . Retrieved May 13, 2020 .
 27. ^ Carter, Justin (December 18, 2021). "Matt Reeves Credits The Batman's Nirvana Song for His Moody Dark Knight". Gizmodo . Retrieved December 19, 2021 .
 28. ^ Richards, Olly (March 3, 2022). "Paul Dano: "Nirvana became a part of my Riddler"". NME . Retrieved March 3, 2022 .
 29. ^ Adebowale, Tami (August 24, 2020). "The First Trailer for The Batman Features One of Nirvana's Greatest Deep Cuts". Men's Health . Retrieved August 25, 2020 .
 30. ^ Nattress, Katrina (August 23, 2020). "Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' Soundtracks Dystopian The Batman Trailer". Spin . Retrieved August 24, 2020 .
 31. ^ Moran, Sarah (March 4, 2022). "What Is The Nirvana Song In The Batman? Soundtrack Explained". Screen Rant . Retrieved March 5, 2022 .
 32. ^ Northrup, Ryan (March 9, 2022). "The Batman Nirvana Song Sees Massive Streaming Increase". Screen Rant . Retrieved March 10, 2022 .
 33. ^ Anderson, Carys (March 15, 2022). "Nirvana's "Something in the Way" Hits No. 6 on Rock Songs Chart Following The Batman's Release". Consequence . Retrieved March 15, 2022 .
 34. ^ The Last of Us Remastered E3 2014 Trailer (PS4). PlayStation. United States. June 10, 2014 . Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via YouTube.
 35. ^ "Activist's Nirvana Cover Jams a Middle Finger to Anti-Trans Pols". Advocate.com. April 30, 2021 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
 36. ^ Dawn Ennis. "'Come As You Are:' Nirvana Classics Reimagined With A Trans Twist". Forbes.com . Retrieved January 16, 2022 .
 37. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved August 28, 2020.
 38. ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved August 28, 2020.
 39. ^ "Official UK Singles Sales Chart Top 100 - 28 August 2020 - 3 September 2020". officialcharts.com. August 28, 2020 . Retrieved August 28, 2020 .
 40. ^ "Nirvana Chart History LyricFind U.S." Billboard . Retrieved February 4, 2023 .
 41. ^ "Official Welsh Singles Chart - September 5, 2020". UKChartsPlus. No. 993. Official Charts Company. September 5, 2020. p. 15 . Retrieved December 1, 2020 .
 42. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. March 21, 2022 . Retrieved March 18, 2022 .
 43. ^ "Nirvana Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)" . Billboard . Retrieved March 22, 2022.
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 45. ^ "Nirvana Chart History Lyric Find GLOBAL". Billboard . Retrieved February 4, 2023 .
 46. ^ " ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 202212 into search . Retrieved March 28, 2022.
 47. ^ "Top Singles (Week 11, 2022)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique . Retrieved March 22, 2022 .
 48. ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Week: 10/2022". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022 . Retrieved May 12, 2022 .
 49. ^ " Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista . Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
 50. ^ "Tónlistinn – Lög" [The Music – Songs] (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022 . Retrieved May 12, 2022 .
 51. ^ "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved March 18, 2022.
 52. ^ "2022 12-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. March 25, 2022 . Retrieved March 25, 2022 .
 53. ^ "Official Top 40 Singles". Recorded Music NZ. March 21, 2022 . Retrieved March 18, 2022 .
 54. ^ " Nirvana – Something in the Way" . AFP Top 100 Singles . Retrieved 6 April 2022.
 55. ^ "ČNS IFPI". IFPI ČR. Note: Select SK SINGLES DIGITAL TOP 100 and insert 202211 into search . Retrieved March 21, 2022 .
 56. ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 12". Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved March 26, 2022 .
 57. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved March 20, 2022.
 58. ^ "Nirvana Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)" . Billboard . Retrieved March 22, 2022.
 59. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2022 Singles" (PDF) . Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved April 4, 2022 .
 60. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Nirvana". Music Canada . Retrieved March 17, 2022 .
 61. ^ "British single certifications – Nirvana – Something In The Way". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved April 19, 2022 .
 62. ^ "The Hit List: 20 Great Nirvana Songs Picked by the Stars". Kerrang!. No. 709. July 25, 1998. p. 49 . Retrieved July 21, 2019 .
 63. ^ Petridis, Alexis (June 20, 2019). "Nirvana's 20 greatest songs - ranked!". The Guardian . Retrieved July 2, 2019 .

 External links [ edit ]

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
   "Something in the Way"    Song by Nirvana    from the album  Nevermind     Recorded May 1991    Studio  Sound City, Van Nuys and Devonshire, North Hollywood     Genre   Alternative rock    Length 3:52 (20:37 with "Endless, Nameless")    Label   DGC     Songwriter(s)   Kurt Cobain     Producer(s)   Butch Vig      Nevermind  track listing     13 tracks 
 "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
"In Bloom"
"Come as You Are"
"Breed"
"Lithium"
"Polly"
"Territorial Pissings"
"Drain You"
"Lounge Act"
"Stay Away"
"On a Plain"
"Something in the Way"
"Endless, Nameless"   
   
"Something in the Way" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the 12th song on their second album,  Nevermind , released in September 1991. It is the final listed song on the album, although most copies of Nevermind also feature the hidden track "Endless, Nameless", which occupies the same track as "Something in the Way" and begins after approximately 10 minutes of silence.
 Never released as a single and never a consistent part of the band's live setlist, "Something in the Way" charted for the first time in August 2020, after appearing in the first trailer for the 2022 superhero film,  The Batman . The song peaked at number two on  Billboard's US Rock Digital Songs Sales chart, [1]  and number five on their US Alternative Digital Songs Sales charts. [2]  It also reached the top 20 in both Amazon Music's and iTunes' digital music charts. [3]   [4]   [5] 
 On the week of March 26, 2022, the song entered the  Billboard Hot 100 at number 46, becoming the band's fifth entry on the chart and first since "You Know You're Right" in 2002. [6]  It also made the Top 40 in Australia, Canada, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, New Zealand, Wales and on the  Billboard Global 200.
Origin and recording[edit]
Early history[edit]
"Something in the Way" was written by Cobain in 1990. The earliest known version is a solo electric demo that appeared in a medley, along with the abandoned compositions "You Can't Change Me" and "Burn My Britches," first released on the Cobain compilation  Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings  in November 2015. American director Brett Morgen, who compiled the album as a soundtrack to his 2015 Cobain documentary  Montage of Heck , discussed the medley in a 2015  NME  interview, saying it was "almost like a rock opera, and to hear 'Something in the Way' emerge from the ashes of those other tracks was quite revealing. Kurt might've done an edit on that track, but I believe it was close to a continuous take." [7] 
 The first live performance of "Something in the Way" was on November 25, 1990, at The Off Ramp Café in Seattle.
 Nevermind[edit]
"Something in the Way" was first recorded in the studio in May 1991 at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California by Butch Vig, for the band's second album, Nevermind. According to Vig, Cobain had originally wanted to record the song's instruments with the full band, but when initial attempts at this were unsuccessful, Cobain sat on a couch in the control room of studio A and played the song for Vig on acoustic guitar, to show him how he thought it should sound. [8]  Vig was impressed with the way Cobain's solo rendition sounded, and after turning off the air-conditioning and unplugging the telephone in the control room, set up microphones and recorded the song this way instead, starting with the guitar and the vocals. [8]   [9] 
 This became the core of the recording, with the first vocal take being used for the verses. [9]  Cobain then recorded vocal harmonies, and drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic added their parts, [8]  though both Grohl and Novoselic had difficulty playing in time with Cobain's performance. Novoselic also had trouble tuning his bass to Cobain's guitar, a 12-string Stella acoustic with five nylon guitar strings that Cobain had never tuned, and Grohl had to play more quietly than he was used to, to match the song's gentle mood. "Kurt and I wanted the drums to be very understated," Vig recalled. "Dave was used to playing much louder; plus, it can be very difficult to go back and lay drums over an acoustic guitar track, as the meter may vary a bit". [9]  Cobain's harmonies, the bass and the drums were recorded in studio B, a smaller room down the hall from the larger one they generally worked in. On the final day of the Nevermind sessions, Kirk Canning, a friend of the band's they had met through L7, added cello to the recording, [8]  although he too had difficulties tuning to Cobain's guitar.
Post-Nevermind[edit]
On November 9, 1991, a version of the song was recorded by Miti Adhikari for the BBC program The Evening Session at Maida Vale Studios in London, England. This heavier electric version was more reminiscent of the way the song usually sounded when performed in concert. [9]  It was posthumously released on the 20th anniversary "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" versions of Nevermind in September 2011.
 "Something in the Way" was performed as part of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged concert on November 18, 1993, at Sony Music Studios in New York City. This version featured Pat Smear on second guitar and Lori Goldston on cello. It was Nirvana's final live performance of the song.
Composition[edit]
            Graffiti in memory of Kurt Cobain under the Young Street Bridge  
Music[edit]
Describing the song as "sombre and disconsolate," American music journalist Gillian G. Garr wrote that "Something in the Way" "underscores the fact that Nirvana not only realized that emotions didn't always have to be expressed at the highest volume, they were also capable of pulling it off, with Cobain turning in one of his most expressive vocal performances." [10] 
Lyrics[edit]
"Something in the Way" was originally believed to be based on a period when Cobain was homeless and slept underneath the Young Street Bridge, close to his childhood home in his native town of Aberdeen, Washington. [8]  While Cobain did run away from home as a teenager, the belief that he slept under the bridge was refuted by both Novoselic and Kurt's sister, Kim Cobain, in the 2001 Cobain biography,  Heavier Than Heaven . [11]  Both confirmed that Cobain "hung out" under the bridge, which was a popular recreation area favored by local teenagers, but Novoselic told author Charles R. Cross that the river's "tides" and "muddy banks" would have made staying there for a prolonged period of time impossible. Cross argued that the much larger Sixth Street Bridge, located about half-a-mile away, would have been more suitable to sleep under, but is unlikely to have been used by Cobain. [11] 
 According to Cross, the reality of Cobain's situation during his approximately four-month period of homelessness was "more poignant" than the version presented in "Something in the Way." At first, Cobain slept "curled up like a kitten" in a cardboard refrigerator box on the porch of Dale Crover, drummer of local band, the Melvins. After this, he would sleep in the hallways of old apartment buildings with central heating, leaving before the residents of the building left their apartments. Occasionally, he and a friend would watch television and sleep in the waiting room of Grays Harbor Hospital, with Cobain getting food from the cafeteria by charging it to invented room numbers. [11] 
 Cobain himself suggested that the song was not necessarily autobiographical, telling Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad that the lyrics were "like if I was living under the bridge and I was dying of AIDS, if I was sick and I couldn't move and I was a total street person. That was kind of the fantasy of it". [12] 
 In Azzerad's 1993 biography  Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana , Cobain stated that he used to fish from the Wishkah River close to this bridge, which may have inspired the lyric, 'Its okay to eat fish, cos' they don't have any feelings' in the song. [13] 
 In a 2021  Los Angeles Times  interview, Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, called "Something in the Way" "one of the great rock songs of all time," and described it as Cobain "clawing his way out...He's telling himself anything just to get through." Love cited the line, "It's OK to eat fish cause they don't have any feelings" as the one that affected her the most deeply, saying, "He knows it's a lie — here's a guy who loved turtles — but he thinks that if someone just loves him enough, then maybe, just maybe one day he will become real." In regards to the song's fictionalized aspects, Love said that "the place [Cobain] writes from is so emotionally desperate we all understand it." [14] 
Release and reception[edit]
In 2015,  Rolling Stone  listed the song at number five on their ranking of 102 Nirvana songs. [15]  In 2019,  The Guardian  placed it at number 12 in their list of Nirvana's 20 greatest songs. [16] 
 In 2017, to mark what would have been Cobain's 50th birthday, the Phonographic Performance Limited released a list of the 20 most played Nirvana songs on the TV and radio in the UK, in which "Something in the Way" was ranked at number 17. [17] 
Posthumous chart success[edit]
In August 2020, the song reached number two on  Billboard's US Rock Digital Songs Sales chart, [1]  number five on their US Alternative Digital Songs Sales chart, [2]  and number 45 on their all-genre Digital Song Sales chart, [1]  as well as number 18 on Amazon Music's Best Sellers in Songs chart, and number 19 on iTunes' top 200 songs chart, after appearing in the first trailer for the film, The Batman.  [3]   [18]   [5]  
 Streams of the song spiked by 1200% on Spotify shortly after the release of the film on March 4, 2022, helping it reach the top five of Spotify’s Daily USA Top 50 songs ranking on March 8. [19]  An article published by  Variety  on March 11 reported that the song was currently third on Spotify's daily list. [20]  According to a March 15 Billboard article, the song earned 7.9 million on-demand official U.S. streams during the March 4 to March 10 tracking period, marking a 1,508% increase, and 3,100 downloads, a gain of 1,888%. [21]  Interest in the song also helped boost sales of Nevermind, which climbed to number one on the Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts. [21] 
 On the week of March 26, 2022, "Something in the Way" became the fifth Nirvana song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, appearing at number 46 its one week on the chart. [6] 
MTV Unplugged in New York[edit]
The MTV Unplugged version of "Something in the Way" was one of two songs not included in the original broadcast of the show. However, it appeared on the live album  MTV Unplugged in New York , released in November 1994. It also appeared as the b-side to the album's only commercial single, for the song "About a Girl". In 2002, it was included on vinyl and Japanese CD copies of the band's best-of compilation,  Nirvana .
 The full MTV Unplugged performance, including "Something in the Way," was released on DVD in November 2007.
In popular culture[edit]
A brief cover of the song, performed by Jerry O'Connell in the role of Frank "Cush" Cushman, appeared in the 1996 romantic comedy  Jerry Maguire , directed by Cameron Crowe. The intentionally poor rendition appeared during a hotel room scene in which "Cush disrupts football business talk with a nasally, out-of-tune take on Nirvana’s darkest track off Nevermind," according to Ashley Zlatopolsky of  Billboard.  [22] 
 The Nevermind version appeared in the 2005 war drama  Jarhead , directed by Sam Mendes. According to Universal Pictures president of film music Kathy Nelson, Mendes had insisted on the song, but a then-ongoing dispute between Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, and surviving Nirvana members had made the licensing of Nirvana songs difficult at the time. However, Love allowed the song's use due to being a "huge fan" of Mendes and actor Peter Sarsgaard. “That’s why it’s probably the first Nirvana song you’ve heard in a movie,” Nelson said. [23]   [24] 
 On April 24, 2020, American musician Post Malone performed the song during his 15-song Nirvana tribute concert, which was livestreamed on YouTube and raised more than $4 million for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. [25]   [26] 
 The Batman[edit]
American filmmaker Matt Reeves, writer and director of the 2022 film  The Batman , revealed in a December 2021 interview with  Gizmodo  that listening to the song while writing the film's first act played a key role in helping him develop the character of Bruce Wayne. “Rather than make Bruce the playboy version we’ve seen before," Reeves explained, "there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse. So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant's  Last Days , and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.” [27]   [24] 
 In a March 2022  NME  interview, American actor Paul Dano revealed that the song also influenced his portrayal of the film's villain, the Riddler. "Well, in the script Matt had actually mentioned ‘Something In The Way’ by Nirvana," Dano told interviewer Olly Richards. "So that right there, that song, those words, that refrain, became hugely important to me. Nirvana became a part of that [character].” [28] 
 The version featured in the film's August 2020 trailer is a remix of the Nevermind version by Alloy Tracks and Cavalry Music that incorporated themes by the film's composer Michael Giacchino and additional orchestral elements. [29]   [30] 
 The song itself appears twice in the film, serving as a bookend for the first and third acts. [31] 
 Following the theatrical release of the film in March 2022, audio streaming service Spotify reported a 1,200% increase in streams of the song on the platform, [32]  while Billboard reported a 1,508% increase in official U.S. streams and 1,888% increase in downloads. [21]  The song once again appeared on several Billboard charts, reaching number two on the Rock Streaming Songs and Rock Digital Song Sales chart, number four on the Alternative Digital Song Sales and Alternative Streaming Songs chart, number 20 on the Digital Song Sales chart, and number 27 on the Billboard Streaming Songs chart. [21]   [33] 
 American DJ Illenium remixed the song in collaboration with DC, following the success of the film.
Covers[edit]
At Sea originally recorded "Something in the Way" for their 2012 album A New Machine. It was eventually used in the E3 2014 trailer for the PlayStation 4 remaster of  The Last of Us . [34] 
 Swedish melodic death metal band Avatar covered the song on their 2014 studio album  Hail the Apocalypse . 
  Transgender activist Daniella Carter and J Patt from The Knocks recorded an electronic cover version of the song in 2021. [35]  It is the debut single from Nirvana Reimagined as House and Techno by music producer Jonathan Hay. [36] 
Charts[edit]
Certifications[edit]
Accolades[edit]
Other releases[edit]
 A boombox-recorded full-band version, recorded in March 1991 at a barn in Tacoma, Washington the band were using as a rehearsal space, appeared on disc two of the 20th anniversary "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" versions of Nevermind, released in September 2011. 
 An early "Devonshire mix" of the Nevermind version appeared on disc four of the 20th anniversary "Super Deluxe" version of Nevermind. 
 Amateur footage of live version, recorded at Kokusai Koryu Center in Osaka, Japan on February 14, 1992, appeared on the live video  Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! , released in November 1994. 
References[edit]
 
^    a       b       c       d       e    Zellner, Xander (March 10, 2022). "Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' Surges in Streams After 'The Batman' Release". Billboard. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
^    a       b       c    McIntyre, Hugh (July 5, 2021). "Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Is Finally Getting What It Deserves On Billboard's Rock Charts".  Forbes . Retrieved March 13, 2022.
^    a       b    Gonzalez, Umberto (August 24, 2020). "'The Batman': Nirvana Song Used in Trailer Becomes Best Seller on Itunes and Amazon". The Wrap. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  ^  Burwick, Kevin (August 24, 2020). "Nirvana's Something in the Way Shoots Up Digital Music Charts Following The Batman Trailer Debut". Movieweb. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^    a       b     "iTunes Top 100 Songs Chart". PopVortex. August 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
^    a       b       c    "Nirvana Chart History (Hot 100)".  Billboard . Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  ^  Nicolson, Barry (November 9, 2022). "Kurt Cobain's Solo Album – How Director Brett Morgen Assembled A Nirvana Fan's Ultimate Archive Release". NME. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
^    a       b       c       d       e    Crisafulli, Chuck (1996). Nirvana, The Stories Behind the Songs. pp. 54–55. ISBN  0-7119-5809-2 .
^    a       b       c       d     Cross, Charles; Berkenstadt, Jim (February 22, 2012). Classic Rock Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind. Schirmer Trade. ISBN  9780857127686 .
  ^   The Rough Guide to Nirvana. Rough Guides Limited. 2009. ISBN  9781405381123 .
^    a       b       c    Cross, Charles R (2001). Heavier Than Heaven.
  ^  Epstein, Daniel. "No Apologies: All 102 Nirvana Songs Ranked".  Rolling Stone . Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  ^   Azerrad, Michael (1993). Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. New York: Doubleday. ISBN  0-86369-746-1 .
  ^  Charles R., Cross (September 24, 2021). "'I never talk about "Nevermind"!': Courtney Love on the Nirvana album that changed everything". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  ^  Epstein, Daniel. "No Apologies: All 102 Nirvana Songs Ranked". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  ^  Petridis, Alexis (July 2, 2019). "Nirvana's 20 greatest songs - ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  ^  20 most-played Nirvana songs revealed to mark Kurt Cobain’s 50th birthday planetrock.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  ^  Burwick, Kevin (August 24, 2020). "Nirvana's Something in the Way Shoots Up Digital Music Charts Following The Batman Trailer Debut". Movieweb. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  ^  Northrup, Ryan (March 9, 2022). "The Batman Nirvana Song Sees Massive Streaming Increase". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  ^  Willman, Chris (March 11, 2022). "Nirvana Has a Streaming Hit, Thanks to 'The Batman' Adopting 'Something in the Way' as Gloomy Theme Song". Variety. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
^    a       b       c       d    Rutherford, Kevin (March 16, 2022). "Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' Debuts on Multiple Charts After 'The Batman' Synch". Billboard. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  ^  Zlatopolsky, Ashley (September 24, 2016). "Nirvana's 10 Greatest TV and Film Moments: 'SNL' Smooching, Muppets &amp; Beyond". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  ^  Pearson, Ryan (November 12, 2005). "'Jarhead' introduces new era of war tunes". The Spokesman. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
^    a       b    Van Horn, Shawn (March 28, 2022). "From 'The Batman' to 'Succession': The Best Uses of Nirvana Songs in Movies and TV".  Collider . Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  ^  Paige, Gawley (April 27, 2020). "Post Malone's Nirvana Tribute Concert Raises More Than $4 Million for Coronavirus Relief". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  ^   "NIRVANA TRIBUTE RAISES OVER $1 MIL". TMZ. April 27, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  ^  Carter, Justin (December 18, 2021). "Matt Reeves Credits The Batman's Nirvana Song for His Moody Dark Knight". Gizmodo. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  ^  Richards, Olly (March 3, 2022). "Paul Dano: "Nirvana became a part of my Riddler"". NME. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  ^  Adebowale, Tami (August 24, 2020). "The First Trailer for The Batman Features One of Nirvana's Greatest Deep Cuts". Men's Health. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  ^  Nattress, Katrina (August 23, 2020). "Nirvana's 'Something in the Way' Soundtracks Dystopian The Batman Trailer". Spin. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  ^  Moran, Sarah (March 4, 2022). "What Is The Nirvana Song In The Batman? Soundtrack Explained". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  ^  Northrup, Ryan (March 9, 2022). "The Batman Nirvana Song Sees Massive Streaming Increase". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  ^  Anderson, Carys (March 15, 2022). "Nirvana's "Something in the Way" Hits No. 6 on Rock Songs Chart Following The Batman's Release".  Consequence . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  ^    The Last of Us Remastered E3 2014 Trailer (PS4) . PlayStation. United States. June 10, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via YouTube.
  ^   "Activist's Nirvana Cover Jams a Middle Finger to Anti-Trans Pols". Advocate.com. April 30, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  ^  Dawn Ennis. "'Come As You Are:' Nirvana Classics Reimagined With A Trans Twist". Forbes.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  ^  "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  ^  "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
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  ^   "Official Welsh Singles Chart - September 5, 2020".  UKChartsPlus . No. 993. Official Charts Company. September 5, 2020. p. 15. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  ^   "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
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  ^   "Tónlistinn – Lög" [The Music – Songs] (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  ^  "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
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  ^   "Official Top 40 Singles". Recorded Music NZ. March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  ^  "Nirvana – Something in the Way". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  ^   "ČNS IFPI". IFPI ČR. Note: Select SK SINGLES DIGITAL TOP 100 and insert 202211 into search. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  ^   "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 12". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  ^  "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
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External links[edit]
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<table><tbody><tr><th>"Nothing Compares 2 U"</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Nothingcompares2u.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Single_(music)">Single</a> by <a href="/wiki/Sin%C3%A9ad_O%27Connor">Sinéad O'Connor</a></th></tr><tr><th>from the album <i> <a href="/wiki/I_Do_Not_Want_What_I_Haven%27t_Got">I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got</a> </i></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/A-side_and_B-side">B-side</a></th><td>"<a href="/wiki/Jump_in_the_River">Jump in the River</a>"</td></tr><tr><th>Released</th><td>January 8, 1990</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Recording_studio">Studio</a></th><td>S.T.S (Dublin, Ireland)</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Music_genre">Genre</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Pop_music">Pop</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th>Length</th><td>5:10</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_label">Label</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Chrysalis_Records">Chrysalis</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Songwriter">Songwriter(s)</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Prince_(musician)">Prince</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_producer">Producer(s)</a></th><td><div>
<ul><li>Sinéad O'Connor</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Nellee_Hooper">Nellee Hooper</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Sin%C3%A9ad_O%27Connor">Sinéad O'Connor</a> singles chronology</th></tr><tr><td>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<td>"<a href="/wiki/Jump_in_the_River">Jump in the River</a>" <br />(1988)
</td>
<td>"<b>Nothing Compares 2 U</b>" <br />(1990)
</td>
<td>"<a href="/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes_(song)">The Emperor's New Clothes</a>" <br />(1990)
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><th>Music video</th></tr><tr><td><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-EF60neguk">"Nothing Compares 2 U"</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>"<b>Nothing Compares 2 U</b>" is a song written and composed by <a href="/wiki/Prince_(musician)">Prince</a> for his side project, <a href="/wiki/The_Family_(band)">the Family</a>; the song featured on their 1985 debut album, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Family_(The_Family_album)">The Family</a></i>. The song features lyrics exploring feelings of longing from the point of view of an abandoned lover.
</p><p>Several years later, Irish singer-songwriter <a href="/wiki/Sin%C3%A9ad_O%27Connor">Sinéad O'Connor</a> recorded a version of the song for her second studio album, <i><a href="/wiki/I_Do_Not_Want_What_I_Haven%27t_Got">I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got</a></i> (1990). It was released as the album's second single in early 1990 and became a worldwide hit. O'Connor co-produced the record with <a href="/wiki/Nellee_Hooper">Nellee Hooper</a>, and its music video, directed by <a href="/wiki/John_Maybury">John Maybury</a>, received heavy rotation on <a href="/wiki/MTV">MTV</a>. In December 1990, <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i> named "Nothing Compares 2 U" as the "#1 World Single" of 1990 at its first <a href="/wiki/1990_Billboard_Music_Awards"><i>Billboard</i> Music Awards</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p><p>Prince released his own rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U", with <a href="/wiki/Rosie_Gaines">Rosie Gaines</a> on guest vocals in 1993. This live version of the song was included on his <a href="/wiki/Compilation_album">compilation album</a> <i><a href="/wiki/The_Hits/The_B-Sides">The Hits/The B-Sides</a></i>. His original 1984 studio recording of the song was eventually released in 2018 as a single and later on the 2019 posthumous compilation <i><a href="/wiki/Originals_(Prince_album)">Originals</a></i>.
</p>
<h2>Background[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In 1985, the <a href="/wiki/Funk">funk</a> band the Family released their only album, <i>The Family</i>. It contained songs written by <a href="/wiki/Prince_(musician)">Prince</a> including "Nothing Compares 2 U". The song was essentially filler music on the album. It was not released as a single and received little recognition. Prince had recorded the song earlier, in 1984, which was not released until April 2018 as a digitally released posthumous single.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Pitchfork-3">[3]</a></sup>
</p><p>Sinead O'Connor recorded the song for her 1990 second album <i>I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got</i> with a completely new arrangement by her and producer Nellee Hooper. O'Connor's version is composed in the <a href="/wiki/Key_(music)">key</a> of <a href="/wiki/F_major">F major</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p><p>Prince did not perform the song in concert until the years after O'Connor turned it into a hit, when he began performing the song live. He performed duets with Rosie Gaines in concert and subsequently had a live performance released on compilation albums: 1993's <i>The Hits/The B-Sides</i>, and the 2006 <i><a href="/wiki/Ultimate_Prince">Ultimate Prince</a></i>. He also recorded a solo version for his <a href="/wiki/Concert_film">concert film</a> <i><a href="/wiki/Rave_Un2_the_Year_2000">Rave Un2 the Year 2000</a></i>, as well as for his 2002 <a href="/wiki/Live_album">live album</a> <i><a href="/wiki/One_Nite_Alone..._Live!">One Nite Alone... Live!</a></i>.
</p>
<h2>Commercial performance[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>O'Connor's <a href="/wiki/Power_ballad">power ballad</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> version of the song became a worldwide hit, topping charts in O'Connor's native Ireland, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Plus top five in France and top 20 in Denmark. It was certified platinum in Austria and in the United Kingdom, and gold in Germany and in Sweden.
</p><p>In the United States it spent four weeks at the top of the <a href="/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100"><i>Billboard</i> Hot 100</a>; in addition, it was number one on the <a href="/wiki/Alternative_Songs"><i>Billboard</i> Alternative Songs</a> chart and reached number two on the <a href="/wiki/Billboard_Adult_Contemporary"><i>Billboard</i> Adult Contemporary</a> chart (held off the top position by <a href="/wiki/Rod_Stewart">Rod Stewart</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/This_Old_Heart_of_Mine_(Is_Weak_for_You)#Rod_Stewart_versions">This Old Heart of Mine</a>" for three weeks). In terms of its chart performance on the Hot 100 it ranked number three for 1990. In April 1990, it was certified <a href="/wiki/Music_recording_sales_certification">platinum</a> by the <a href="/wiki/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America">Recording Industry Association of America</a>. On the second of its four weeks at number one, the record's parent album <i>I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got</i> started a six-week run at number one on the <a href="/wiki/Billboard_200"><i>Billboard</i> 200</a>. In 2019, the single ranked 97 in a Hot 100 60th-anniversary Top 600 covering the period from 1958 to 2018.
</p><p>In <a href="/wiki/Great_Britain">Great Britain</a>, the single ranked number two for the year, behind a re-release of <a href="/wiki/The_Righteous_Brothers">the Righteous Brothers</a>' "<a href="/wiki/Unchained_Melody#The_Righteous_Brothers_versions">Unchained Melody</a>".
</p>
<h2>Critical reception[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<div>
<blockquote>
<p>"A few times each year a song comes along that deserves extra-special recognition. Here's the first such entry of 1990. Since I've been shouting the praises of Sinéad's remarkable interpretation of this <a href="/wiki/Prince_(musician)">Prince</a>-penned tune to many of you for over a month, it was safe to assume it would eventually end up on this page. Absolutely brilliant—and if you haven't caught the video, do yourself a favor and check it out NOW!"
</p>
</blockquote>
<p><cite>—Dave Sholin from the <i><a href="/wiki/Gavin_Report">Gavin Report</a></i> talking about the song.<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup></cite>
</p>
</div>
<p>The song received favorable reviews from most music critics. Jodi Cleesattle from <i>American Eagle</i> felt that "there is pain in Sinead O'Connor's voice, and there probably always will be." She remarked that "loneliness and longing" are highlighted on the song, adding that O'Connor's voice "fits the song perfectly. Her vocals soar and leap unexpectedly but gracefully, making, the <a href="/wiki/Ballad_(music)">ballad</a>, the loveliest of love songs."<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> Bill Coleman from <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i> declared it as a "brilliant interpretation of the melancholic lament."<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> Ernest Hardy from <i><a href="/wiki/Cashbox_(magazine)">Cashbox</a></i> called it a "genuine tear-jerker".<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Greg_Sandow">Greg Sandow</a> for <i><a href="/wiki/Entertainment_Weekly">Entertainment Weekly</a></i> felt that it is a song "about how to carry on after losing love".<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> Tom Moon from <i><a href="/wiki/Knight_Ridder">Knight Ridder</a></i> said she "adapts the breathy approach of a torch singer."<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> A reviewer from <i><a href="/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times">Los Angeles Times</a></i> noted that the singer "match raw emotion with spare sounds" on "the quiet, desperate, lovelorn beauty".<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> <i><a href="/wiki/Melody_Maker">Melody Maker</a></i> wrote, "It should go without saying that her voice is brilliant, but this is a pointless and embarrassing over-sentimental paw. The zillions of strings don't help, they don't add poignancy, they merely serve to drag the momentum backwards. [...] A waste of talent."<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> 
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Pan-European_identity">Pan-European</a> magazine <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Media">Music &amp; Media</a></i> stated that out of all the recent covers of Prince songs - <a href="/wiki/Chaka_Khan">Chaka Khan</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/I_Feel_for_You">I Feel for You</a>", <a href="/wiki/Tom_Jones_(singer)">Tom Jones</a>' "<a href="/wiki/Kiss_(Prince_song)#The_Art_of_Noise_featuring_Tom_Jones_version">Kiss</a>" and <a href="/wiki/Simple_Minds">Simple Minds</a>' "<a href="/wiki/Sign_o%27_the_Times_(song)">Sign o' the Times</a>" - "this is definitely the most convincing." The reviewer noted further that originally recorded by <a href="/wiki/Minneapolis">Minneapolis</a> band the Family for their 1985 debut album, "O'Connor's emotionally charged version has immediate appeal", and is "destined to be her biggest hit to date."<sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup> David Giles from <i><a href="/wiki/Music_Week">Music Week</a></i> found that the song "is not one of Prince's finest moments, and O'Connor does little to disguise this fact bar a few token vocal <a href="/wiki/Somersault">somersaults</a>. The string <a href="/wiki/Synthesizer">synths</a> also have a dirge-like effect, dragging the rest of the arrangement along with them."<sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup> <i>The Network Forty</i>'s reviewer wrote that "when Sinead sang 'Nothing Compares 2 U', seas calmed, angels wept and <a href="/wiki/Top_40">Top 40</a> radio stood still to listen to this powerful expression of unrequited love."<sup><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup> James Brown from <i><a href="/wiki/New_Musical_Express">NME</a></i> said, "Pining for a recently departed love, Sinead hits the lyrics with an immense range of vocal ability and passion. From a gossamer thin whisper to a searing plea she shows just how much catching up <a href="/wiki/Kate_Bush">Kate Bush</a> has to do."<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> Tom Doyle from <i><a href="/wiki/Smash_Hits">Smash Hits</a></i> felt that "it doesn't sound at all like any of her other stuff."<sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Retrospective response[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In 2019, Bill Lamb from <a href="/wiki/About.com">About.com</a> wrote that O'Connor's "emotional, gutsy performance made it a classic. Painful loss meets stunning vocal beauty with a perfectly understated instrumental arrangement."<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup> In their 2020 retrospective review, Matthew Hocter from <i>Albumism</i> described it as a song "deeply rooted in emotion and despair which would go on to certify O'Connor and that song as one of music history's most unforgettable moments."<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/AllMusic">AllMusic</a> editor Steve Huey called the song "stunning" and noted its "remarkable intimacy".<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup> In 2010, Tom Ewing of <i><a href="/wiki/Freaky_Trigger">Freaky Trigger</a></i> noted it as a "very moving track", and added that it "captures the stasis, anger and devastation of a bad break-up with awful accuracy." He also complimented the music "whose stately, sympathetic pulse gives O’Connor the canvas she needs to be so devastating."<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup> 
</p><p>In an 2000 review, Steven Wells from <i><a href="/wiki/NME">NME</a></i> said "it remains one of the best 'boo-hoo, my bloke's left me' pop songs ever recorded", and a "stark reminder that O'Connor is blessed with an amazing and unique voice". He concluded with that it "remains the outstanding highlight of her career to date. She's more than capable of surpassing it in the future. Less <a href="/wiki/Sade_(singer)">Sade</a> and more <a href="/wiki/Aretha_Franklin">Aretha</a>, please."<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup> In 2009, Mark Richardson from <i><a href="/wiki/Pitchfork_(website)">Pitchfork</a></i> constated that "you have to look pretty hard to find a better expression in <a href="/wiki/Pop_music">pop music</a> of the void that exists when a relationship ends."<sup><a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup> In an 2015 retrospective review, <i>Pop Rescue</i> wrote that O'Connor "makes light work" of the track, and she's "having plenty of power to belt out the lyrics at the right points." The reviewer added that it is a "fantastic exhibit of <a href="/wiki/1990s_in_music">90s music</a>".<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup> In 2004, Sal Cinquemani from <i><a href="/wiki/Slant_Magazine">Slant Magazine</a></i> felt that it perhaps is O'Connor's "greatest vocal achievement" and described it as a "classic torch song she quite simply owns."<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Music video[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:NothingCompares2U.PNG"></a></p><div><p>The lone face of O'Connor made the video one of the most recognisable of the 1990s.</p></div></div>
<h3>Concept[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Directed by John Maybury, the accompanying <a href="/wiki/Music_video">music video</a> for the song consists mostly of a closeup on Sinéad O'Connor's face as she goes through stages of sadness and anger while singing the lyrics; the rest consists of her walking through the <a href="/wiki/Parc_de_Saint-Cloud">Parc de Saint-Cloud</a> in <a href="/wiki/Paris">Paris</a>. Toward the end of the video, two tears roll down her face, one on each cheek. O'Connor has said that her tears were real. She did not intend to cry but then thought, "I should let this happen."<sup><a href="#cite_note-songfacts.com-27">[27]</a></sup> She explained that the tears were triggered by thoughts of her mother, who died in a car accident in 1985.<sup><a href="#cite_note-songfacts.com-27">[27]</a></sup> She said she learned to channel her emotions with the "<a href="/wiki/Bel_canto">bel canto</a>" singing style, which she compared to <a href="/wiki/Method_acting">extreme acting methods</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup> In the middle and at the very end of the video, there is a shot from O'Connor's photo session for the <i>I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got</i> album cover.
</p>
<h3>Reception[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The clip won three "<a href="/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Awards">Moonmen</a>" at the <a href="/wiki/1990_MTV_Video_Music_Awards">1990 MTV Video Music Awards</a>: <a href="/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Award_for_Video_of_the_Year">Video of the Year</a> (O'Connor was the first female artist to be awarded it), <a href="/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Award_for_Best_Female_Video">Best Female Video</a> and <a href="/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Award_for_Best_Post-Modern_Video">Best Post-Modern Video</a>. It was nominated for <a href="/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Award_%E2%80%93_Breakthrough_Video">Breakthrough Video</a>, <a href="/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Award_%E2%80%93_Viewer%27s_Choice">Viewer's Choice</a> and <a href="/wiki/MTV_Video_Music_Award_for_International_Viewer%27s_Choice">International Viewer's Choice</a> during the ceremony. The video was also the subject of many parodies and spoofs, such as <a href="/wiki/Gina_Riley">Gina Riley</a>'s parody "Nothing Is There" on <i><a href="/wiki/Fast_Forward_(Australian_TV_series)">Fast Forward</a>,</i> referring to the fact that O'Connor tended to shave her head bald.<sup><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Prince version[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Prince released his own rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U", with Rosie Gaines on guest vocals. This live version of the song was included on his 1993 compilation album <i>The Hits/The B-Sides</i>. This version reached number seven on the US <a href="/wiki/Bubbling_Under_Hot_100">Bubbling Under Hot 100</a> chart in 1993<sup><a href="#cite_note-Prince_Bubbling-30">[30]</a></sup> and number 66 on the US <a href="/wiki/Hot_R%26B/Hip-Hop_Songs">Hot R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Songs</a> chart in the <i>Billboard</i> issue dated 15 January 1994.<sup><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup> Following <a href="/wiki/Death_of_Prince">Prince's death</a> in 2016, the live recording with Rosie Gaines, peaked at number 43 on the US <a href="/wiki/Digital_Songs_Sales">Digital Songs Sales</a> chart<sup><a href="#cite_note-Prince_Digital-32">[32]</a></sup> and number 31 on the US <a href="/wiki/R%26B/Hip-Hop_Digital_Song_Sales">R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales</a> chart.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Prince_R&amp;B/HH_Digital-33">[33]</a></sup>
</p><p>Prince's original 1984 recording of the song was not released until 2018, when it was issued as a single by <a href="/wiki/Warner_Bros._Records">Warner Bros. Records</a> in conjunction with his estate.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Pitchfork-3">[3]</a></sup> In addition, the Prince version was given its own music video, released in conjunction with the studio recording on 19 April 2018; the video consists of edited rehearsal footage shot in the summer of 1984.<sup><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a></sup> Prince's 1984 original recording peaked at number 21 on the US <a href="/wiki/Hot_R%26B_Songs">Hot R&amp;B Songs</a> chart<sup><a href="#cite_note-Prince_R&amp;B_Digital-36">[36]</a></sup> and number 8 on the US <a href="/wiki/R%26B_Digital_Song_Sales">R&amp;B Digital Song Sales</a> chart in 2018.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Prince_R&amp;B_Songs-37">[37]</a></sup> The song was later included as the final track on Prince's 2019 posthumous compilation <i>Originals</i>, which contains a multitude of <a href="/wiki/Demo_(music)">demo</a> recordings Prince had made for other artists such as <a href="/wiki/The_Bangles">the Bangles</a> and <a href="/wiki/Kenny_Rogers">Kenny Rogers</a>.
</p>
<h2>Legacy[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li>In 2003, <a href="/wiki/Q_(magazine)"><i>Q</i> magazine</a> ranked "Nothing Compares 2 U" at number 242 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".<sup><a href="#cite_note-38">[38]</a></sup></li>
<li>It was included at number 165 by <i><a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone">Rolling Stone</a></i> in its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".<sup><a href="#cite_note-39">[39]</a></sup></li>
<li>In 2007, <a href="/wiki/VH1">VH1</a> ranked O'Connor's rendition number 10 of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".<sup><a href="#cite_note-40">[40]</a></sup></li>
<li>In September 2010, <i>Pitchfork</i> included the song at number 37 on their <i>Top 200 Tracks of the 90s</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-41">[41]</a></sup></li>
<li>The song was listed at number 77 on <i>Billboard</i>'s "Greatest Songs of All Time".<sup><a href="#cite_note-42">[42]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Time_(magazine)"><i>Time</i></a> magazine included "Nothing Compares 2 U" in its 2011 (unranked) list of "All-TIME 100 Songs".<sup><a href="#cite_note-43">[43]</a></sup></li>
<li>In 2012, <i>Porcys</i> listed the song at number 60 in their ranking of "100 Singles 1990-1999", noting that "it's probably one of the noblest, most dignified slow songs of the decade".<sup><a href="#cite_note-44">[44]</a></sup></li>
<li>In October 2014, Aretha Franklin released her thirty-eighth and final studio album <i><a href="/wiki/Aretha_Franklin_Sings_the_Great_Diva_Classics">Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics</a></i> in which she covered several songs by other female recording artists, including an upbeat, <a href="/wiki/Jazz">jazz</a> version of O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".</li>
<li>The song was simulcast on radio stations throughout the United States to commemorate Prince 15 days after his death. The simulcast was timed to reflect the song's opening lyric: "It's been 7 hours and 15 days since you took your love away."<sup><a href="#cite_note-45">[45]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Chris_Cornell">Chris Cornell</a> posted a link to his version the day after Prince's death. In an accompanying message, he wrote: "Prince's music is the soundtrack to the soulful and beautiful universe he created, and we have all been privileged to be part of that amazing world. I performed his song 'Nothing Compares 2 U' for the first time a couple months ago. It has a timeless relevance for me and practically everyone I know. Sadly, now his own lyrics in this song could not be more relevant than at this moment, and I sing them now in reverence as I pay tribute to this unequaled artist who has given all of our lives so much inspiration and made the world so much more interesting. We will miss you Prince!!!"<sup><a href="#cite_note-46">[46]</a></sup> On <a href="/wiki/Father%27s_Day">Father's Day</a> 2018, Cornell's daughter Toni released a version of the song she recorded with her dad before his death in 2017.<sup><a href="#cite_note-47">[47]</a></sup> In 2020, the song was covered on Chris Cornell's <i><a href="/wiki/No_One_Sings_Like_You_Anymore,_Vol._1">No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-48">[48]</a></sup></li>
<li>In 2019, <i>Stacker</i> placed the song at number 20 in their list of "Best 90s pop songs".<sup><a href="#cite_note-49">[49]</a></sup></li>
<li>In 2020, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Guardian">The Guardian</a></i> ranked the song at number 12 in its list of the "100 Greatest UK No 1s"<sup><a href="#cite_note-50">[50]</a></sup></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Country_music">Country</a> artist <a href="/wiki/Jon_Pardi">Jon Pardi</a> covered the song on his album <i>Rancho Fiesta Sessions</i> in 2020.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Cleveland.com">Cleveland.com</a> ranked "Nothing Compares 2 U" the best <i>Billboard</i> Hot 100 number-one song of the 1990s in 2020, calling it "one of the greatest love songs ever written".<sup><a href="#cite_note-51">[51]</a></sup></li>
<li>It was included at number 184 by <i>Rolling Stone</i> in its 2021 update list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".<sup><a href="#cite_note-52">[52]</a></sup></li></ul>
<h2>Track listings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h2>
<div>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<ul><li><b>7" single</b></li></ul>
<ol><li>"Nothing Compares 2 U" – 5:09</li>
<li>"<a href="/wiki/Jump_in_the_River">Jump in the River</a>" – 4:13</li></ol>
</td>
<td>
<ul><li><b>CD maxi</b></li></ul>
<ol><li>"Nothing Compares 2 U" – 5:09</li>
<li>"Jump in the River" – 4:13</li>
<li>"Jump in the River" (instrumental) – 4:04</li></ol>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h2>Credits and personnel[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Charts[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Ireland chart history[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=17">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>"Nothing Compares 2 U" entered the Irish singles chart on 11 January 1990, reaching number one two weeks later. After a six-week run at the top, Sinéad O'Connor was replaced by "<a href="/wiki/Love_Shack">Love Shack</a>" by <a href="/wiki/The_B-52%27s">the B-52's</a>. The song left the chart on 29 March, after twelve weeks.
</p>
<h3>UK chart history[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=18">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>In the <a href="/wiki/UK_Singles_Chart">UK Top 100</a> chart dated 20 January 1990, the single entered at number 30, then rocketed to number three, then to number one, where it stayed for four weeks, holding off a twin challenge from <a href="/wiki/Dance_music">dance</a> acts <a href="/wiki/Technotronic">Technotronic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Black_Box_(band)">Black Box</a>. The single slipped to number two in the chart dated 3 March, replaced at the top by "<a href="/wiki/Dub_Be_Good_to_Me">Dub Be Good to Me</a>" by <a href="/wiki/Beats_International">Beats International</a>. "Nothing Compares 2 U" completed its twelve-week run within the UK Top 40 in early April. "Nothing Compares 2 U" was Britain's biggest-selling new recording of 1990, ranking number two in the year-end chart behind a re-release of the Righteous Brothers' 1965 hit "Unchained Melody".
</p>
<h3>US chart history[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=19">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The single entered the Top 40 of the <i>Billboard</i> Hot 100 at number 33, in the issue dated 24 March 1990. "Nothing Compares 2 U" rose steadily over the next four weeks – no doubt bolstered by the increasing exposure of the song's video on MTV – before reaching number one in the issue dated 21 April. The single took just six weeks to reach number one – tied with <a href="/wiki/Madonna">Madonna</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/Vogue_(Madonna_song)">Vogue</a>" and <a href="/wiki/New_Kids_on_the_Block">New Kids on the Block</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/Step_by_Step_(New_Kids_on_the_Block_song)">Step by Step</a>" as the year's fastest climber to the top. It spent four weeks at number one, as it did in the UK, with <a href="/wiki/Jane_Child">Jane Child</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/Don%27t_Wanna_Fall_in_Love">Don't Wanna Fall in Love</a>" and <a href="/wiki/Calloway_(band)">Calloway</a>'s "<a href="/wiki/I_Wanna_Be_Rich">I Wanna Be Rich</a>" stuck at number two. Madonna's "Vogue" replaced it at number one. The single spent ten weeks in the Top Ten – one of only four 1990 releases to do so – and finished its 15-week run in the US Top 40 in late June.
</p>
<h2>Certifications and sales[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=20">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Release history[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=21">edit</a>]</h2>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Country
</th>
<th>Release date
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>United Kingdom
</td>
<td>January 8, 1990
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Worldwide
</td>
<td>February 4, 1990
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>United States
</td>
<td>February 11, 1990
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2>See also[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=22">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_European_number-one_airplay_songs_of_the_1990s">List of European number-one airplay songs of the 1990s</a></li></ul>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Nothing_Compares_2_U&amp;action=edit&amp;section=23">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> <cite>Gilbert, Sophie (April 21, 2015). <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/04/how-nothing-compares-2-u-endured/391122/">"How 'Nothing Compares 2 U' Endured"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Atlantic">The Atlantic</a></i>. Retrieved August 4, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.billboardmusicawards.com/winners-database/?winnerKeyword=&amp;winnerYear=&amp;winnerCategory=1-world-single">"Search Results"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Billboard_Music_Awards">Billboard Music Awards</a>. Retrieved December 6, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Pitchfork_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Pitchfork_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="https://pitchfork.com/news/listen-to-princes-original-version-of-nothing-compares-2-u">"Listen to Prince's Original Version of "Nothing Compares 2 U""</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Pitchfork_(website)">Pitchfork</a></i>. April 19, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2018.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite>Prince; Sinead, O'Connor (August 2, 2010). <a href="https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0082563">"Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <i>Musicnotes.com</i>. Retrieved April 28, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/21-best-power-ballads/nothing-compares-2-u/">"Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart and the 20 other best power ballads"</a>. <i>Telegraph.co.uk</i>. July 23, 2015. <a href="https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/21-best-power-ballads/nothing-compares-2-u/">Archived</a> from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite>Sholin, Dave (March 9, 1990). <a href="http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Gavin-Report/90/90/Gavin-1990-03-09.pdf">"Gavin Picks &gt; Singles"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Gavin_Report">Gavin Report</a></i>. No. 1797. p. 52. Retrieved April 17, 2018.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite>Cleesattle, Jodi (April 2, 1990). "Pain, power essence of O'Connor's voice". <i>American Eagle</i>. p. 15.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <cite>Coleman, Bill (March 10, 1990). <a href="https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1990/BB-1990-03-10.pdf">"Single Reviews"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i>. p. 91. Retrieved February 15, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> <cite>Hardy, Ernest (March 31, 1990). <a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/90s/1990/CB-1990-03-31.pdf">"Pop Reviews: Albums"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Cashbox_(magazine)">Cashbox</a></i>. p. 18. Retrieved October 27, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Greg_Sandow">Sandow, Greg</a> (March 16, 1990). <a href="https://ew.com/article/1990/03/16/i-do-not-want-what-i-havent-got/">"I Do not Want What I Haven't Got"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Entertainment_Weekly">Entertainment Weekly</a></i>. Retrieved February 23, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> <cite>Moon, Tom (March 23, 1990). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-4iAAAAIBAJ">"Sinead O'Connor produces a stunning second album"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Spokane_Chronicle">Spokane Chronicle</a></i>. Retrieved March 13, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-18-ca-757-story.html">"Sinead O'Connor "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got""</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times">Los Angeles Times</a></i>. March 18, 1990. Retrieved February 26, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <cite>Push (January 6, 1990). <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52014187340/">"Singles"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Melody_Maker">Melody Maker</a></i>. Retrieved February 24, 2023.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.americanradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1990/MM-1990-02-03.pdf">"Previews: Singles"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Media">Music &amp; Media</a></i>. February 3, 1990. p. 16. Retrieved February 19, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b> <cite>Giles, David (January 13, 1990). <a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1990/MW-1990-01-13.pdf">"Singles"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Music_Week">Music Week</a></i>. Retrieved October 29, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Network-40/90/Network-40-1990-12-21.pdf">"Musical Memories of 1990"</a> (PDF). <i>The Network Forty</i>. December 21, 1990. p. 6. Retrieved March 21, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <cite>Brown, James (January 20, 1990). <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/52027358238/">"Singles"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/New_Musical_Express">NME</a></i>. Retrieved February 24, 2023.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b> <cite>Doyle, Tom (March 7, 1990). <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smashhits90s/35546288695/in/album-72157682695959053/">"Review: LPs"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Smash_Hits">Smash Hits</a></i>. No. 294. p. 55. Retrieved March 8, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> <cite>Lamb, Bill (September 7, 2019). <a href="https://www.liveabout.com/top-songs-from-the-90s-3245307">"The Best 100 Songs From the 1990s"</a>. <a href="/wiki/About.com">About.com</a>. Retrieved March 21, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.albumism.com/features/sinead-oconnor-i-do-not-want-what-i-havent-got-turns-30-anniversary-retrospective">"Sinéad O'Connor's 'I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got' Turns 30: Anniversary Retrospective"</a>. Albumism. March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <cite>Huey, Steve. <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/i-do-not-want-what-i-havent-got-mw0000654778">"Sinéad O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got"</a>. <a href="/wiki/AllMusic">AllMusic</a>. Retrieved March 21, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> <cite>Ewing, Tom (October 29, 2010). <a href="http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2010/10/sinead-oconnor-nothing-compares-2-u/#more-20020">"Sinead O'Connor – "Nothing Compares 2 U""</a>. <a href="/wiki/Freaky_Trigger">Freaky Trigger</a>. Retrieved March 6, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> <cite>Wells, Steven. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20000817172905/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000788reviews.html">"Sinead O'Connor – So Far... The Best Of... Sinead O'Connor"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/NME">NME</a></i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000788reviews.html">the original</a> on August 17, 2000. Retrieved December 4, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b> <cite>Richardson, Mark (April 24, 2009). <a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12954-i-do-not-want-what-i-havent-got-limted-edition/">"Sinéad O'Connor: I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (Limited Edition)"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Pitchfork_(website)">Pitchfork</a></i>. Retrieved March 7, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://poprescue.com/2015/10/05/pop-rescue-i-do-not-want-what-i-havent-got-by-sinead-oconnor-cd-1990/">"Review: "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" by Sinead O'Connor (CD, 1990)"</a>. Pop Rescue. October 5, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b> <cite>Cinquemani, Sal. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153643/http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=347">"I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Slant_Magazine">Slant Magazine</a></i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=347">the original</a> on September 30, 2007. Retrieved February 26, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-songfacts.com_27-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-songfacts.com_27-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=642">"Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O'Connor Songfacts"</a>. <i>Songfacts.com</i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b> <cite>Laurence, Rebecca. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160422-princes-heartbreaking-song-about-loss">"Prince's heartbreaking song about loss"</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jYPrZ2PA88">"Gina Riley - Nothing is There!!! From Fast Forward"</a>. YouTube. April 21, 2009. <a href="https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/8jYPrZ2PA88">Archived</a> from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Prince_Bubbling_30-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/prince/chart-history/hbu/">"Prince Chart History | Billboard (Bubbling Under Hot 100)"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i>. Retrieved October 3, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FwgEAAAAMBAJ&amp;q=prince+Nothing+Compares+2+U+billboard&amp;pg=PA16">"Hot R&amp;B Singles"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i>. Vol. 106, no. 3. <a href="/wiki/Nielsen_Business_Media,_Inc.">Nielsen Business Media, Inc.</a> January 15, 1994. <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0006-2510">0006-2510</a>. Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via <a href="/wiki/Google_Books">Google Books</a>.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Prince_Digital_32-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/prince/chart-history/hds/">"Prince Chart History | Billboard (Digital Songs Sales)"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i>. Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via <a href="/wiki/Billboard.com">Billboard.com</a>.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Prince_R&amp;B/HH_Digital_33-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/prince/chart-history/rbt/">"Prince Chart History | Billboard (R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales)"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i>. Retrieved October 3, 2021 – via <a href="/wiki/Billboard.com">Billboard.com</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpGA0azFdCs">"Prince - Nothing Compares 2 U [OFFICIAL VIDEO]"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a></i>. April 19, 2018. <a href="https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/cpGA0azFdCs">Archived</a> from the original on November 17, 2021.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b> <cite>Miller, Matt (April 19, 2018). <a href="https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a19863265/prince-nothing-compares-2-u-original-listen">"Prince's Only Recording of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' Has Finally Been Released. It's Incredible"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Esquire_(magazine)">Esquire</a></i>. Retrieved April 26, 2018.</cite>
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</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-43">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://entertainment.time.com/2011/10/24/the-all-time-100-songs/#nothing-compares-2-u-sinead-o-connor">"'Tightrope' | 100 Greatest Popular Songs: TIME List of Best Music | TIME.com"</a>. Entertainment.time.com. October 21, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2014.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/chris-cornell-princes-music-is-the-soundtrack-to-the-soulful-and-beautiful-universe-he-created/">"CHRIS CORNELL: 'PRINCE's Music Is The Soundtrack To The Soulful And Beautiful Universe He Created'"</a>. April 22, 2016.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/06/chris-cornell-daughter-prince/">"Chris Cornell and his daughter cover Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U": Stream"</a>. June 17, 2018.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/chris-cornell-no-one-sings-like-you-anymore-review-1101439/"><i>Chris Cornell’s Historic Voice and Great Ear Take Center Stage on the Covers LP, ‘No One Sings Like You Anymore’</i></a>, rollingstone.com, December 11, 2020
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-49">^</a></b> <cite>Osborn, Jacob (April 30, 2019). <a href="https://thestacker.com/stories/2971/best-90s-pop-songs#10">"Best 90s pop songs"</a>. Stacker. Retrieved April 22, 2020.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-50">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/may/21/the-100-greatest-uk-no-1s-no-12-sinead-oconnor-nothing-compares-2-u">"The 100 greatest UK No 1s: No 12, Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Guardian">The Guardian</a></i>. May 21, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2021.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-51">^</a></b> <cite>Smith, Tony L. (October 21, 2020). <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2020/10/every-no-1-song-of-the-1990s-ranked-from-worst-to-best.html">"Every No. 1 song of the 1990s ranked from worst to best"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Cleveland.com">Cleveland.com</a></i>. Retrieved February 5, 2021.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-52">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/the-supremes-baby-love-3-1224838/">"500 Best Songs of All Time"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone">Rolling Stone</a></i>. September 15, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2022.</cite>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Australia_Sinéad_O'Connor_53-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/ARIA_Charts">ARIA Top 50 Singles</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Austria_Sinéad_O'Connor_54-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a> (in German). <a href="/wiki/%C3%963_Austria_Top_40">Ö3 Austria Top 40</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Flanders_Sinéad_O'Connor_55-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a> (in Dutch). <a href="/wiki/Ultratop">Ultratop 50</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Canadatopsingles_56-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9051&amp;URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.9051.gif&amp;Ecopy=nlc008388.9051">Top RPM Singles: Issue 9051</a>." <i><a href="/wiki/RPM_(magazine)">RPM</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Library_and_Archives_Canada">Library and Archives Canada</a>. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Canadaadultcontemporary_57-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9135&amp;URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.9135.gif&amp;Ecopy=nlc008388.9135">Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9135</a>." <i><a href="/wiki/RPM_(magazine)">RPM</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Library_and_Archives_Canada">Library and Archives Canada</a>. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-m&amp;m_58-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-m&amp;m_58-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1990/MM-1990-03-24.pdf">"Top 3 Singles in Europe"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Media">Music &amp; Media</a></i>. Vol. 7, no. 12. March 24, 1990. p. 11. Retrieved March 22, 2018.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-59">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1990/MM-1990-03-03.pdf">"Eurochart Hot 100 Singles"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Media">Music &amp; Media</a></i>. Vol. 7, no. 9. March 3, 1990. p. 13. Retrieved November 22, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-60">^</a></b> <cite>Nyman, Jake (2005). <i>Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja</i> (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/951-31-2503-3"><bdi>951-31-2503-3</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_France_Sinéad_O'Connor_61-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a> (in French). <a href="/wiki/Syndicat_National_de_l%27%C3%89dition_Phonographique">Les classement single</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-62">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210211002105/http://timarit.is/page/2568861#navpanes=1&amp;view=FitH">"Íslenski Listinn (1990)"</a> (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir. Archived from <a href="http://timarit.is/files/20094152.pdf#navpanes=1&amp;view=FitH">the original</a> (PDF) on February 11, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2018.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Ireland2_63-0">^</a></b> "<a href="http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement?page=1&amp;search_type=title&amp;placement=Nothing+Compares+2+U">The Irish Charts – Search Results – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Irish_Singles_Chart">Irish Singles Chart</a>. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Dutch40_64-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://www.top40.nl/top40/1990/week-7">Nederlandse Top 40 – week 7, 1990</a>" (in Dutch). <a href="/wiki/Dutch_Top_40">Dutch Top 40</a>. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Dutch100_Sinéad_O'Connor_65-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a> (in Dutch). <a href="/wiki/Dutch_Single_Top_100">Single Top 100</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_New_Zealand_Sinéad_O'Connor_66-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Official_New_Zealand_Music_Chart">Top 40 Singles</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Norway_Sinéad_O'Connor_67-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/VG-lista">VG-lista</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-68">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1990/MM-1990-08-11.pdf">"Top 3 Singles in Europe"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Media">Music &amp; Media</a></i>. Vol. 7, no. 32. August 11, 1990. p. 10. Retrieved November 22, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-69">^</a></b> <cite>Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). <i>Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002</i> (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/84-8048-639-2"><bdi>84-8048-639-2</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Sweden_Sinéad_O'Connor_70-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Sverigetopplistan">Singles Top 100</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Switzerland_Sinéad_O'Connor_71-0">^</a></b> "<a href="http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Swiss_Hitparade">Swiss Singles Chart</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_UK_Sinéad_O'Connor_72-0">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19900203/7501/">"Official Singles Chart Top 100"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Official_Charts_Company">Official Charts Company</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Billboardhot100_Sinéad_O'Connor_73-0">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/Sin%E9ad-O'Connor/chart-history/HSI">"Sinéad O'Connor Chart History (Hot 100)"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)"><i>Billboard</i></a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Billboardadultcontemporary_Sinéad_O'Connor_74-0">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/Sin%E9ad-O'Connor/chart-history/ASI">"Sinéad O'Connor Chart History (Adult Contemporary)"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)"><i>Billboard</i></a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Billboardalternativesongs_Sinéad_O'Connor_75-0">^</a></b> <a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/Sin%E9ad-O'Connor/chart-history/MRT">"Sinéad O'Connor Chart History (Alternative Airplay)"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)"><i>Billboard</i></a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_West_Germany_Sinéad_O'Connor_76-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://www.offiziellecharts.de/titel-details-2075">Offiziellecharts.de – Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/GfK_Entertainment_charts">GfK Entertainment charts</a>. Retrieved April 9, 2019. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Poland_77-0">^</a></b> "<a href="http://bestsellery.zpav.pl/airplays/top/archiwum.php?year=2010&amp;idlisty=35#title">Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Polish_Music_Charts">Polish Airplay Top 100</a>. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-sc_Denmark_Sinéad_O'Connor_78-0">^</a></b> "<a href="https://danishcharts.dk/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&amp;titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;cat=s">Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Hitlisten">Tracklisten</a>. 
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-ARIA_1990_79-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.aria.com.au/charts/1990/singles-chart">"ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1990"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Australian_Recording_Industry_Association">ARIA</a>. Retrieved February 10, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-80">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://austriancharts.at/year.asp?cat=s&amp;id=1990">"Jahreshitparade Singles 1990"</a> (in German). Retrieved June 29, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-81">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=1990">"Jaaroverzichten 1990"</a> (in Dutch). <a href="/wiki/Ultratop">Ultratop</a>. Retrieved June 29, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-82">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9139&amp;URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.9139.gif&amp;Ecopy=nlc008388.9139">"RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/RPM_(magazine)">RPM</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Library_and_Archives_Canada">Library and Archives Canada</a>. Retrieved June 29, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-83">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.9139&amp;URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.9139.gif&amp;Ecopy=nlc008388.9139">"RPM Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1990"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/RPM_(magazine)">RPM</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Library_and_Archives_Canada">Library and Archives Canada</a>. Retrieved June 29, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-84">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1990/MM-1990-12-22.pdf">"Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1990"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Music_%26_Media">Music &amp; Media</a></i>. Vol. 7, no. 51. December 22, 1990. p. 36. Retrieved February 10, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-85">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1990">"Top 100 Single–Jahreschart 1990"</a> (in German). <a href="/wiki/GfK_Entertainment">GfK Entertainment</a>. Retrieved June 1, 2018.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-86">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201990.pdf">"Single top 100 over 1990"</a> (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved April 12, 2010.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-87">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1990&amp;cat=s">"Jaaroverzichten – Single 1990"</a> (in Dutch). <a href="/wiki/MegaCharts">MegaCharts</a>. Retrieved June 29, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-88">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://nztop40.co.nz/chart/index_chart?chart=3879">"End of Year Charts 1990"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Recorded_Music_NZ">Recorded Music NZ</a>. Retrieved December 3, 2017.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-89">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.swisscharts.com/charts/jahreshitparade/1990">"Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1990"</a> (in German). Retrieved June 29, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-90">^</a></b> <cite>"1990 Top 100 Singles". <i><a href="/wiki/Music_Week">Music Week</a></i>. London, England: Spotlight Publications. March 2, 1991. p. 41.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-91">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://billboardtop100of.com/1990-2/">"Billboard Top 100 – 1990"</a>. <i>Billboardtop100of.com</i>. Retrieved June 29, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-92">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1990/adult-contemporary-songs">"Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 1990"</a>. <i>Billboard</i>. Retrieved March 10, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1990sbb_93-0">^</a></b> <cite>Mayfield, Geoff (December 25, 1999). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=9w0EAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=RA1-PA4">"1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s &amp; Hot 100 Singles of the '90s"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i>. Retrieved October 15, 2010.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-94">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100-60th-anniversary">"Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart"</a>. <i>Billboard</i>. Retrieved December 10, 2018.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-AustraliaSinéad_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_95-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k9o2q7p7o4awhqx/AADMNJGMy_si25BoL1PeKWT_a/1990%20Accreds.pdf">"ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Singles"</a> (PDF). <a href="/wiki/Australian_Recording_Industry_Association">Australian Recording Industry Association</a>. Retrieved July 17, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-AustriaSinead_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_96-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://ifpi.at/auszeichnungen/?fwp_per_page=100&amp;fwp_interpret=Sinead+O%27Connor&amp;fwp_titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;fwp_format=single&amp;">"Austrian single certifications – Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a> (in German). <a href="/wiki/International_Federation_of_the_Phonographic_Industry">IFPI</a> Austria. Retrieved October 10, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-DenmarkSinead_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_97-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://ifpi.dk/node/9796">"Danish single certifications – Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/IFPI_Danmark">IFPI Danmark</a>. Retrieved December 8, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-GermanySinéad_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_98-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.musikindustrie.de/wie-musik-zur-karriere-werden-kann/markt-bestseller/gold-/platin-und-diamond-auszeichnung/datenbank/?action=suche&amp;strTitel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;strInterpret=Sin%C3%A9ad+O%27Connor&amp;strTtArt=alle&amp;strAwards=checked">"Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sinéad O'Connor; 'Nothing Compares 2 U')"</a> (in German). <a href="/wiki/Bundesverband_Musikindustrie">Bundesverband Musikindustrie</a>. Retrieved October 10, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-ItalySinéad_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_99-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.fimi.it/top-of-the-music/certificazioni/certificazioni.kl#/certifications">"Italian single certifications – Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a> (in Italian). <a href="/wiki/Federazione_Industria_Musicale_Italiana">Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana</a>. Retrieved May 17, 2021.</cite> Select "2021" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Nothing Compares 2 U" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-100">^</a></b> <cite>Willemm Hoos (January 12, 1991). <a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-01-12.pdf">"Nothing Compares To Sinead, Collins On Dutch Charts In '90"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i>. p. 65. Retrieved September 9, 2021 – via World Radio History.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-New_ZealandSinead_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_101-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://nztop40.co.nz/chart/singles?chart=3401">"New Zealand single certifications – Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Recorded_Music_NZ">Recorded Music NZ</a>. Retrieved November 12, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-SwedenSinéad_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_102-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110517224028/http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/guld-platina-1987-1998.pdf">"Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998"</a> (PDF) (in Swedish). <a href="/wiki/International_Federation_of_the_Phonographic_Industry">IFPI Sweden</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/guld-platina-1987-1998.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on May 17, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-103">^</a></b> <cite>Rob Copsey (May 14, 2021). <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/official-top-40-best-selling-songs-of-1990__33128/">"Official Top 30 best-selling songs of 1990"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Official_Charts">Official Charts</a>. Retrieved January 22, 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-United_KingdomSinéad_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_104-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/4645-3468-1">"British single certifications – Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/British_Phonographic_Industry">British Phonographic Industry</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-United_StatesSinéad_O'ConnorNothing_Compares_2_UsingleCertRef_105-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&amp;ar=Sin%C3%A9ad+O%27Connor&amp;ti=Nothing+Compares+2+U&amp;format=Single&amp;type=#search_section">"American single certifications – Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America">Recording Industry Association of America</a>. Retrieved October 10, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-106">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170919211714/http://www.defjampromo.com/files/2009/10/BB-Digital-Songs-Chart-Wk.-Ending-9-14-17.pdf">"Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 09/14/2017"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Nielsen_SoundScan">Nielsen SoundScan</a></i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.defjampromo.com/files/2009/10/BB-Digital-Songs-Chart-Wk.-Ending-9-14-17.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on September 19, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-107">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Music-and-Media/90s/1990/MM-1990-09-22.pdf">"Sinead"</a> (PDF). <i>Music &amp; Media</i>. September 22, 1990. Retrieved October 10, 2019.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Background
 * 2 Commercial performance
 * 3 Critical reception
 * 4 Retrospective response
 * 5 Music video
 Toggle Music video subsection
 + 5.1 Concept
 + 5.2 Reception
 * 6 Prince version
 * 7 Legacy
 * 8 Track listings
 * 9 Credits and personnel
 * 10 Charts
 Toggle Charts subsection
 + 10.1 Weekly charts
 + 10.2 Year-end charts
 + 10.3 Decade-end charts
 + 10.4 All-time charts
 + 10.5 Ireland chart history
 + 10.6 UK chart history
 + 10.7 US chart history
 * 11 Certifications and sales
 * 12 Release history
 * 13 See also
 * 14 References
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 Toggle the table of contents

 Nothing Compares 2 U

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 "Nothing Compares 2 U" 
  
 Single by Sinéad O'Connor 
 from the album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 
 B-side  "Jump in the River" 
 Released  January 8, 1990 
 Studio  S.T.S (Dublin, Ireland)
 Genre  Pop[1] 
 Length  5 : 10 
 Label  Chrysalis 
 Songwriter(s) Prince 
 Producer(s)  * Sinéad O'Connor 
  * Nellee Hooper 
 Sinéad O'Connor singles chronology 
 "Jump in the River" "Nothing Compares 2 U" "The Emperor's New Clothes"
 (1988) (1990) (1990) 
  
  
 Music video 
 "Nothing Compares 2 U" on YouTube 
  
 
 Sample of "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 "Nothing Compares 2 U" is a song written and composed by Prince for his side project, the Family; the song featured on their 1985 debut album, The Family. The song features lyrics exploring feelings of longing from the point of view of an abandoned lover.

 Several years later, Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor recorded a version of the song for her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990). It was released as the album's second single in early 1990 and became a worldwide hit. O'Connor co-produced the record with Nellee Hooper, and its music video, directed by John Maybury, received heavy rotation on MTV. In December 1990, Billboard named "Nothing Compares 2 U" as the "#1 World Single" of 1990 at its first Billboard Music Awards.[2]

 Prince released his own rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U", with Rosie Gaines on guest vocals in 1993. This live version of the song was included on his compilation album The Hits/The B-Sides. His original 1984 studio recording of the song was eventually released in 2018 as a single and later on the 2019 posthumous compilation Originals.

 Background [ edit ]

 In 1985, the funk band the Family released their only album, The Family. It contained songs written by Prince including "Nothing Compares 2 U". The song was essentially filler music on the album. It was not released as a single and received little recognition. Prince had recorded the song earlier, in 1984, which was not released until April 2018 as a digitally released posthumous single.[3]

 Sinead O'Connor recorded the song for her 1990 second album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got with a completely new arrangement by her and producer Nellee Hooper. O'Connor's version is composed in the key of F major.[4]

 Prince did not perform the song in concert until the years after O'Connor turned it into a hit, when he began performing the song live. He performed duets with Rosie Gaines in concert and subsequently had a live performance released on compilation albums: 1993's The Hits/The B-Sides, and the 2006 Ultimate Prince. He also recorded a solo version for his concert film Rave Un2 the Year 2000, as well as for his 2002 live album One Nite Alone... Live!.

 Commercial performance [ edit ]

 O'Connor's power ballad[5] version of the song became a worldwide hit, topping charts in O'Connor's native Ireland, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Plus top five in France and top 20 in Denmark. It was certified platinum in Austria and in the United Kingdom, and gold in Germany and in Sweden.

 In the United States it spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100; in addition, it was number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and reached number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (held off the top position by Rod Stewart's "This Old Heart of Mine" for three weeks). In terms of its chart performance on the Hot 100 it ranked number three for 1990. In April 1990, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. On the second of its four weeks at number one, the record's parent album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got started a six-week run at number one on the Billboard 200. In 2019, the single ranked 97 in a Hot 100 60th-anniversary Top 600 covering the period from 1958 to 2018.

 In Great Britain, the single ranked number two for the year, behind a re-release of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody".

 Critical reception [ edit ]

 "A few times each year a song comes along that deserves extra-special recognition. Here's the first such entry of 1990. Since I've been shouting the praises of Sinéad's remarkable interpretation of this Prince-penned tune to many of you for over a month, it was safe to assume it would eventually end up on this page. Absolutely brilliant—and if you haven't caught the video, do yourself a favor and check it out NOW!"

 —Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report talking about the song.[6]

 The song received favorable reviews from most music critics. Jodi Cleesattle from American Eagle felt that "there is pain in Sinead O'Connor's voice, and there probably always will be." She remarked that "loneliness and longing" are highlighted on the song, adding that O'Connor's voice "fits the song perfectly. Her vocals soar and leap unexpectedly but gracefully, making, the ballad, the loveliest of love songs."[7] Bill Coleman from Billboard declared it as a "brilliant interpretation of the melancholic lament."[8] Ernest Hardy from Cashbox called it a "genuine tear-jerker".[9] Greg Sandow for Entertainment Weekly felt that it is a song "about how to carry on after losing love".[10] Tom Moon from Knight Ridder said she "adapts the breathy approach of a torch singer."[11] A reviewer from Los Angeles Times noted that the singer "match raw emotion with spare sounds" on "the quiet, desperate, lovelorn beauty".[12] Melody Maker wrote, "It should go without saying that her voice is brilliant, but this is a pointless and embarrassing over-sentimental paw. The zillions of strings don't help, they don't add poignancy, they merely serve to drag the momentum backwards. [...] A waste of talent."[13]

 Pan-European magazine Music & Media stated that out of all the recent covers of Prince songs - Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You", Tom Jones' "Kiss" and Simple Minds' "Sign o' the Times" - "this is definitely the most convincing." The reviewer noted further that originally recorded by Minneapolis band the Family for their 1985 debut album, "O'Connor's emotionally charged version has immediate appeal", and is "destined to be her biggest hit to date."[14] David Giles from Music Week found that the song "is not one of Prince's finest moments, and O'Connor does little to disguise this fact bar a few token vocal somersaults. The string synths also have a dirge-like effect, dragging the rest of the arrangement along with them."[15] The Network Forty ' s reviewer wrote that "when Sinead sang 'Nothing Compares 2 U', seas calmed, angels wept and Top 40 radio stood still to listen to this powerful expression of unrequited love."[16] James Brown from NME said, "Pining for a recently departed love, Sinead hits the lyrics with an immense range of vocal ability and passion. From a gossamer thin whisper to a searing plea she shows just how much catching up Kate Bush has to do."[17] Tom Doyle from Smash Hits felt that "it doesn't sound at all like any of her other stuff."[18]

 Retrospective response [ edit ]

 In 2019, Bill Lamb from About.com wrote that O'Connor's "emotional, gutsy performance made it a classic. Painful loss meets stunning vocal beauty with a perfectly understated instrumental arrangement."[19] In their 2020 retrospective review, Matthew Hocter from Albumism described it as a song "deeply rooted in emotion and despair which would go on to certify O'Connor and that song as one of music history's most unforgettable moments."[20] AllMusic editor Steve Huey called the song "stunning" and noted its "remarkable intimacy".[21] In 2010, Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger noted it as a "very moving track", and added that it "captures the stasis, anger and devastation of a bad break-up with awful accuracy." He also complimented the music "whose stately, sympathetic pulse gives O’Connor the canvas she needs to be so devastating."[22]

 In an 2000 review, Steven Wells from NME said "it remains one of the best 'boo-hoo, my bloke's left me' pop songs ever recorded", and a "stark reminder that O'Connor is blessed with an amazing and unique voice". He concluded with that it "remains the outstanding highlight of her career to date. She's more than capable of surpassing it in the future. Less Sade and more Aretha, please."[23] In 2009, Mark Richardson from Pitchfork constated that "you have to look pretty hard to find a better expression in pop music of the void that exists when a relationship ends."[24] In an 2015 retrospective review, Pop Rescue wrote that O'Connor "makes light work" of the track, and she's "having plenty of power to belt out the lyrics at the right points." The reviewer added that it is a "fantastic exhibit of 90s music".[25] In 2004, Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that it perhaps is O'Connor's "greatest vocal achievement" and described it as a "classic torch song she quite simply owns."[26]

 Music video [ edit ]

 The lone face of O'Connor made the video one of the most recognisable of the 1990s.

 Concept [ edit ]

 Directed by John Maybury, the accompanying music video for the song consists mostly of a closeup on Sinéad O'Connor's face as she goes through stages of sadness and anger while singing the lyrics; the rest consists of her walking through the Parc de Saint-Cloud in Paris. Toward the end of the video, two tears roll down her face, one on each cheek. O'Connor has said that her tears were real. She did not intend to cry but then thought, "I should let this happen."[27] She explained that the tears were triggered by thoughts of her mother, who died in a car accident in 1985.[27] She said she learned to channel her emotions with the "bel canto" singing style, which she compared to extreme acting methods.[28] In the middle and at the very end of the video, there is a shot from O'Connor's photo session for the I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got album cover.

 Reception [ edit ]

 The clip won three "Moonmen" at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards: Video of the Year (O'Connor was the first female artist to be awarded it), Best Female Video and Best Post-Modern Video. It was nominated for Breakthrough Video, Viewer's Choice and International Viewer's Choice during the ceremony. The video was also the subject of many parodies and spoofs, such as Gina Riley's parody "Nothing Is There" on Fast Forward, referring to the fact that O'Connor tended to shave her head bald.[29]

 Prince version [ edit ]

 Prince released his own rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U", with Rosie Gaines on guest vocals. This live version of the song was included on his 1993 compilation album The Hits/The B-Sides. This version reached number seven on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart in 1993[30] and number 66 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the Billboard issue dated 15 January 1994.[31] Following Prince's death in 2016, the live recording with Rosie Gaines, peaked at number 43 on the US Digital Songs Sales chart[32] and number 31 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart.[33]

 Prince's original 1984 recording of the song was not released until 2018, when it was issued as a single by Warner Bros. Records in conjunction with his estate.[3] In addition, the Prince version was given its own music video, released in conjunction with the studio recording on 19 April 2018; the video consists of edited rehearsal footage shot in the summer of 1984.[34][35] Prince's 1984 original recording peaked at number 21 on the US Hot R&B Songs chart[36] and number 8 on the US R&B Digital Song Sales chart in 2018.[37] The song was later included as the final track on Prince's 2019 posthumous compilation Originals, which contains a multitude of demo recordings Prince had made for other artists such as the Bangles and Kenny Rogers.

 Legacy [ edit ]

 * In 2003, Q magazine ranked "Nothing Compares 2 U" at number 242 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[38]
 * It was included at number 165 by Rolling Stone in its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[39]
 * In 2007, VH1 ranked O'Connor's rendition number 10 of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".[40]
 * In September 2010, Pitchfork included the song at number 37 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.[41]
 * The song was listed at number 77 on Billboard ' s "Greatest Songs of All Time".[42]
 * Time magazine included "Nothing Compares 2 U" in its 2011 (unranked) list of "All-TIME 100 Songs".[43]
 * In 2012, Porcys listed the song at number 60 in their ranking of "100 Singles 1990-1999", noting that "it's probably one of the noblest, most dignified slow songs of the decade".[44]
 * In October 2014, Aretha Franklin released her thirty-eighth and final studio album Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics in which she covered several songs by other female recording artists, including an upbeat, jazz version of O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".
 * The song was simulcast on radio stations throughout the United States to commemorate Prince 15 days after his death. The simulcast was timed to reflect the song's opening lyric: "It's been 7 hours and 15 days since you took your love away."[45]
 * Chris Cornell posted a link to his version the day after Prince's death. In an accompanying message, he wrote: "Prince's music is the soundtrack to the soulful and beautiful universe he created, and we have all been privileged to be part of that amazing world. I performed his song 'Nothing Compares 2 U' for the first time a couple months ago. It has a timeless relevance for me and practically everyone I know. Sadly, now his own lyrics in this song could not be more relevant than at this moment, and I sing them now in reverence as I pay tribute to this unequaled artist who has given all of our lives so much inspiration and made the world so much more interesting. We will miss you Prince!!!"[46] On Father's Day 2018, Cornell's daughter Toni released a version of the song she recorded with her dad before his death in 2017.[47] In 2020, the song was covered on Chris Cornell's No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1.[48]
 * In 2019, Stacker placed the song at number 20 in their list of "Best 90s pop songs".[49]
 * In 2020, The Guardian ranked the song at number 12 in its list of the "100 Greatest UK No 1s"[50]
 * Country artist Jon Pardi covered the song on his album Rancho Fiesta Sessions in 2020.
 * Cleveland.com ranked "Nothing Compares 2 U" the best Billboard Hot 100 number-one song of the 1990s in 2020, calling it "one of the greatest love songs ever written".[51]
 * It was included at number 184 by Rolling Stone in its 2021 update list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[52]

 Track listings [ edit ]

 * 7" single * CD maxi 
 1. "Nothing Compares 2 U" – 5:09 1. "Nothing Compares 2 U" – 5:09 
 2. "Jump in the River" – 4:13 2. "Jump in the River" – 4:13 
 3. "Jump in the River" (instrumental) – 4:04
  
 

 Credits and personnel [ edit ]

 Nothing Compares 2 U Jump in the River 
   
 * Sinéad O'Connor – lead vocals, background vocals, producer, mixing * Sinéad O'Connor – music and lyrics, lead vocals, producer, mixing
 * Prince – music and lyrics * Marco Pirroni – music and lyrics 
 * Nellee Hooper – producing * Chris Birkett – engineering, mixing 
 * Chris Birkett – engineering, mixing * Fachtna O' Ceallaigh – mixing 
 * Fachtna O' Ceallaigh – mixing  
 

 Charts [ edit ]

 Weekly charts [ edit ] Year-end charts [ edit ] 
  
 Chart (1990) Peak Chart (1990) Position
  position Australia (ARIA)[79] 1 
 Australia (ARIA)[53] 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[80] 2 
 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[54] 1 Belgium (Ultratop)[81] 3 
 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[55] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[82] 3 
 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[56] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[83] 1 
 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[57] 1 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[84] 1 
 Denmark (IFPI)[58] 1 Germany (Official German Charts)[85] 2 
 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[59] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[86] 1 
 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[60] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[87] 1 
 France (SNEP)[61] 5 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[88] 11 
 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn)[62] 1 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[89] 6 
 Ireland (IRMA)[63] 1 UK Singles (OCC)[90] 2 
 Italy (Musica e dischi)[58] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[91] 3 
 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[64] 1 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[92] 26 
 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[65] 1 
 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[66] 1 
 Norway (VG-lista)[67] 1 Decade-end charts [ edit ] 
 Portugal (AFP)[68] 1 
 Spain (AFYVE)[69] 4 Chart (1990–1999) Position 
 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[70] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[93] 82 
 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[71] 1 
 UK Singles (OCC)[72] 1 
 US Billboard Hot 100[73] 1 All-time charts [ edit ] 
 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[74] 2 
 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[75] 1 Chart (1958–2018) Position 
 West Germany (Official German Charts)[76] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[94] 97 
  
 Chart (2010) Peak 
 position 
 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[77] 1 
  
 Chart (2011) Peak  
 position  
 Denmark (Tracklisten)[78] 19  
  
 

 Ireland chart history [ edit ]

 "Nothing Compares 2 U" entered the Irish singles chart on 11 January 1990, reaching number one two weeks later. After a six-week run at the top, Sinéad O'Connor was replaced by "Love Shack" by the B-52's. The song left the chart on 29 March, after twelve weeks.

 UK chart history [ edit ]

 In the UK Top 100 chart dated 20 January 1990, the single entered at number 30, then rocketed to number three, then to number one, where it stayed for four weeks, holding off a twin challenge from dance acts Technotronic and Black Box. The single slipped to number two in the chart dated 3 March, replaced at the top by "Dub Be Good to Me" by Beats International. "Nothing Compares 2 U" completed its twelve-week run within the UK Top 40 in early April. "Nothing Compares 2 U" was Britain's biggest-selling new recording of 1990, ranking number two in the year-end chart behind a re-release of the Righteous Brothers' 1965 hit "Unchained Melody".

 US chart history [ edit ]

 The single entered the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 at number 33, in the issue dated 24 March 1990. "Nothing Compares 2 U" rose steadily over the next four weeks – no doubt bolstered by the increasing exposure of the song's video on MTV – before reaching number one in the issue dated 21 April. The single took just six weeks to reach number one – tied with Madonna's "Vogue" and New Kids on the Block's "Step by Step" as the year's fastest climber to the top. It spent four weeks at number one, as it did in the UK, with Jane Child's "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" and Calloway's "I Wanna Be Rich" stuck at number two. Madonna's "Vogue" replaced it at number one. The single spent ten weeks in the Top Ten – one of only four 1990 releases to do so – and finished its 15-week run in the US Top 40 in late June.

 Certifications and sales [ edit ]

 Region Certification Certified units/sales
 Australia (ARIA)[95] 2× Platinum 140,000^ 
 Austria (IFPI Austria)[96] Platinum 50,000* 
 Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[97] Gold 45,000 
 Germany (BVMI)[98] Gold 250,000^ 
 Italy (FIMI)[99] Gold 35,000 
 sales since 2009  
 Netherlands — 175,000[100] 
 New Zealand (RMNZ)[101] Gold 5,000* 
 Sweden (GLF)[102] Platinum 50,000^ 
 United Kingdom (BPI)[104] Platinum 671,000[103] 
 United States (RIAA)[105] Platinum 1,000,000^ 
 1990 sales  
 United States — 1,015,608[106] 
 digital sales  
 Summaries 
 Worldwide — 3,500,000[107] 
 1990 sales  
 * Sales figures based on certification alone. 
 ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. 
 Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
  
 

 Release history [ edit ]

 Country Release date 
 United Kingdom January 8, 1990 
 Worldwide February 4, 1990 
 United States February 11, 1990
 

 See also [ edit ]

 * List of European number-one airplay songs of the 1990s

 References [ edit ]

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 87. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1990" (in Dutch). MegaCharts . Retrieved June 29, 2019 .
 88. ^ "End of Year Charts 1990". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved December 3, 2017 .
 89. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1990" (in German) . Retrieved June 29, 2019 .
 90. ^ "1990 Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. March 2, 1991. p. 41.
 91. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1990". Billboardtop100of.com . Retrieved June 29, 2019 .
 92. ^ "Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 1990". Billboard . Retrieved March 10, 2021 .
 93. ^ Mayfield, Geoff (December 25, 1999). "1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s". Billboard . Retrieved October 15, 2010 .
 94. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard . Retrieved December 10, 2018 .
 95. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Singles" (PDF) . Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved July 17, 2021 .
 96. ^ "Austrian single certifications – Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U" (in German). IFPI Austria . Retrieved October 10, 2019 .
 97. ^ "Danish single certifications – Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U". IFPI Danmark . Retrieved December 8, 2020 .
 98. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Sinéad O'Connor; ' Nothing Compares 2 U ' )" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved October 10, 2019 .
 99. ^ "Italian single certifications – Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana . Retrieved May 17, 2021 . Select "2021" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Nothing Compares 2 U" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
 100. ^ Willemm Hoos (January 12, 1991). "Nothing Compares To Sinead, Collins On Dutch Charts In '90" (PDF) . Billboard. p. 65 . Retrieved September 9, 2021 – via World Radio History.
 101. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved November 12, 2019 .
 102. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2011 . Retrieved October 10, 2019 .
 103. ^ Rob Copsey (May 14, 2021). "Official Top 30 best-selling songs of 1990". Official Charts . Retrieved January 22, 2022 .
 104. ^ "British single certifications – Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U". British Phonographic Industry.
 105. ^ "American single certifications – Sinéad O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved October 10, 2019 .
 106. ^ "Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 09/14/2017" (PDF) . Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2017 . Retrieved June 16, 2021 .
 107. ^ "Sinead" (PDF) . Music & Media. September 22, 1990 . Retrieved October 10, 2019 .
 * v 
 * t 
 * e 
 Prince singles 
 * "Soft and Wet" 
 1970s * "Just as Long as We're Together" 
 * "I Wanna Be Your Lover" 
 * "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" 
 * "Still Waiting" 
 * "Sexy Dancer" 
 * "Uptown" 
 * "Dirty Mind" 
 * "Do It All Night" 
 * "Gotta Stop (Messin' About)" 
 * "Controversy" 
 * "Let's Work" 
 * "Do Me, Baby" 
 * "1999" 
 * "Little Red Corvette" 
 * "Delirious" 
 * "Let's Pretend We're Married" 
 * "When Doves Cry" 
 * "Let's Go Crazy" 
 * "Purple Rain" 
 * "I Would Die 4 U" 
 1980s * "Take Me with U" 
 * "Paisley Park" 
 * "Raspberry Beret" 
 * "Pop Life" 
 * "America" 
 * "Kiss" 
 * "Mountains" 
 * "Anotherloverholenyohead" 
 * "Girls & Boys" 
 * "Sign "O" the Times" 
 * "If I Was Your Girlfriend" 
 * "U Got the Look" 
 * "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" 
 * "Alphabet St." 
 * "Glam Slam" 
 * "I Wish U Heaven" 
 * "Batdance" 
 * "Partyman" 
 * "The Arms of Orion" 
 * "Scandalous!" 
 * "The Future" 
 * "Thieves in the Temple" 
 * "New Power Generation" 
 * "Gett Off" 
 * "Cream" 
 * "Diamonds and Pearls" 
 * "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" 
 * "Insatiable" 
 * "Thunder" 
 * "Sexy MF" 
 * "My Name Is Prince" 
 * "7" 
 * "Damn U" 
 * "The Morning Papers" 
 1990s * "Pink Cashmere" 
 * "Nothing Compares 2 U" 
 * "Peach" 
 * "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" 
 * "Letitgo" 
 * "Space" 
 * "Purple Medley" 
 * "I Hate U" 
 * "Gold" 
 * "Dinner with Delores" 
 * "Betcha by Golly Wow!" 
 * "The Holy River" 
 * "Somebody's Somebody" 
 * "The Truth" 
 * "Extraordinary" 
 * "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold" 
 * "U Make My Sun Shine" (with Angie Stone) 
 * "When Will We B Paid?" (with Audio Stepchild)
 * "Supercute" 
 * "The Work, pt. 1" 
 * "Days of Wild" 
 * "Musicology" 
 2000s * "Cinnamon Girl" 
 * "Controversy (Live in Hawaii)" 
 * "S.S.T." 
 * "Te Amo Corazón" 
 * "Black Sweat" 
 * "Fury" 
 * "Guitar" 
 * "F.U.N.K." 
 2010s * "Breakfast Can Wait" 
 * "When You Were Mine" 
 * "Erotic City" 
 * "Nothing Compares 2 U" 
 * "Love Sign" (with Nona Gaye) 
 Promotional * "Somebody's Somebody" 
 singles * "The Rest of My Life" 
 * "5 Women" 
 * "It's About That Walk" 
 * "Man'O'War" 
 * "Call My Name" 
 * "The Song of the Heart" 
 Airplay-only songs * "International Lover" 
 Internet downloads * "Guitar (original "demo" version)" 
 * The Beautiful Experience 
 EPs * NYC 
 * 1999: The New Master 
 * "I Feel for You" 
 * "Private Joy" 
 * "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" 
 * "The Beautiful Ones" 
 * "Computer Blue" 
 * "Darling Nikki" 
 * "Baby I'm a Star" 
 Other songs * "Sometimes It Snows in April" 
 * "Adore" 
 * "Don't Talk 2 Strangers" 
 * "I Can't Make U Love Me" 
 * "La, La, La Means I Love U" 
 * "One of Us" 
 * "Everyday Is a Winding Road" 
 * "A Case of U" 
 
 * v 
 * t 
 * e 
 Sinéad O'Connor
 Discography 
 * The Lion and the Cobra  
 * I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got  
 * Am I Not Your Girl?  
 * Universal Mother  
 Studio albums * Faith and Courage  
 * Sean-Nós Nua  
 * Throw Down Your Arms  
 * Theology  
 * How About I Be Me (and You Be You)? 
 * I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss  
 * So Far... The Best Of  
 Compilations * She Who Dwells‌ in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty
 * Collaborations  
 EPs * Gospel Oak  
 * "Troy"  
 * "Mandinka"  
 * "Jump in the River"  
 * "Nothing Compares 2 U"  
 * "The Emperor's New Clothes"  
 * "Three Babies"  
 * "I Am Stretched on Your Grave"  
 * "Silent Night"  
 * "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home" 
 * "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"  
 * "You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart" 
 * "Thank You for Hearing Me"  
 * "Fire on Babylon"  
 Singles * "Chiquitita"  
 * "No Man's Woman"  
 * "Jealous"  
 * "Troy (Remix)"  
 * "My Lagan Love"  
 * "I Don't Know How to Love Him"  
  * "Blood of Eden" 
  * "Don't Give Up" 
  * "Haunted" 
 Featuring * "Tears from the Moon" 
  * "Special Cases" 
  * "When a Child Is Born" 
  * "Do They Know It's Christmas?" 
   
 * "Some Day My Prince Will Come"  
 * "Mother"  
 * "You Do Something to Me"  
 * "Sacrifice"  
 * "My Man's Gone Now"  
 * "You Make Me Feel So Free"  
 * "S/He Moved Through the Fair"  
 * "Foggy Dew"  
 * "Ode to Billie Joe"  
 * "Mná na hÉireann"  
 * "Óró sé do bheatha abhaile"  
 * "On Raglan Road"  
 * "Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace" 
 * "The Butcher Boy"  
 Other songs * "Someone to Watch Over Me"  
 * "Skibbereen"  
 * "Danny Boy"  
 * "Factory Girl"  
 * "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" 
 * "Regina Caeli"  
 * "O come, O come, Emmanuel"  
 * "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew"  
 * "I'm Every Woman"  
 * "Song to the Siren"  
 * "When a Child Is Born"  
 * "Once in Royal David's City"  
 * "Black Is the Colour"  
 * "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?"  
 * "I Would Die 4 U"  
 * "Death of Samantha"  
 * The Value of Ignorance  
 Video albums * The Year of the Horse  
 * Goodnight, Thank You, You've Been a Lovely Audience 
 * Live at the Sugar Club  
 Books * Rememberings (2021)  
 * John Reynolds (first husband)  
 Related * Steve Cooney (third husband)  
 * Joseph O'Connor (brother)  
 
 Awards for "Nothing Compares 2 U"  
 * v  
 * t  
 * e  
 MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year  
  * "You Might Think" – The Cars (1984) 
  * "The Boys of Summer" – Don Henley (1985) 
 1980s * "Money for Nothing" – Dire Straits (1986) 
  * "Sledgehammer" – Peter Gabriel (1987) 
  * "Need You Tonight" / "Mediate" – INXS (1988) 
  * "This Note's for You" – Neil Young (1989) 
  * "Nothing Compares 2 U" – Sinéad O'Connor (1990) 
  * "Losing My Religion" – R.E.M. (1991) 
  * "Right Now" – Van Halen (1992) 
  * "Jeremy" – Pearl Jam (1993) 
 1990s * "Cryin'" – Aerosmith (1994) 
  * "Waterfalls" – TLC (1995) 
  * "Tonight, Tonight" – The Smashing Pumpkins (1996) 
  * "Virtual Insanity" – Jamiroquai (1997) 
  * "Ray of Light" – Madonna (1998) 
  * "Doo Wop (That Thing)" – Lauryn Hill (1999) 
  * "The Real Slim Shady" – Eminem (2000) 
  * "Lady Marmalade" – Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa and Pink (2001)
  * "Without Me" – Eminem (2002) 
  * "Work It" – Missy Elliott (2003) 
 2000s * "Hey Ya!" – Outkast (2004) 
  * "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" – Green Day (2005) 
  * "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" – Panic! at the Disco (2006) 
  * "Umbrella" – Rihanna featuring Jay-Z (2007) 
  * "Piece of Me" – Britney Spears (2008) 
  * "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Beyoncé (2009) 
  * "Bad Romance" – Lady Gaga (2010) 
  * "Firework" – Katy Perry (2011) 
  * "We Found Love" – Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris (2012) 
  * "Mirrors" – Justin Timberlake (2013) 
 2010s * "Wrecking Ball" – Miley Cyrus (2014) 
  * "Bad Blood" – Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar (2015) 
  * "Formation" – Beyoncé (2016) 
  * "Humble" – Kendrick Lamar (2017) 
  * "Havana" – Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug (2018) 
  * "You Need to Calm Down" – Taylor Swift (2019) 
  * "Blinding Lights" – The Weeknd (2020) 
 2020s * "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" – Lil Nas X (2021) 
  * All Too Well: The Short Film – Taylor Swift (2022) 
   
 * v  
 * t  
 * e  
 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video  
  * "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" – Cyndi Lauper (1984) 
  * "What's Love Got to Do with It" – Tina Turner (1985) 
 1980s * "How Will I Know" – Whitney Houston (1986) 
  * "Papa Don't Preach" – Madonna (1987) 
  * "Luka" – Suzanne Vega (1988) 
  * "Straight Up" – Paula Abdul (1989) 
  * "Nothing Compares 2 U" – Sinéad O'Connor (1990) 
  * "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" – Janet Jackson (1991) 
  * "Why" – Annie Lennox (1992) 
  * "Constant Craving" – k.d. lang (1993) 
 1990s * "If" – Janet Jackson (1994) 
  * "Take a Bow" – Madonna (1995) 
  * "Ironic" – Alanis Morissette (1996) 
  * "You Were Meant for Me" – Jewel (1997) 
  * "Ray of Light" – Madonna (1998) 
  * "Doo Wop (That Thing)" – Lauryn Hill (1999) 
  * "Try Again" – Aaliyah (2000) 
  * "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" – Eve featuring Gwen Stefani (2001) 
  * "Get the Party Started" – Pink (2002) 
  * "Crazy in Love" – Beyoncé (2003) 
 2000s * "Naughty Girl" – Beyoncé (2004) 
  * "Since U Been Gone" – Kelly Clarkson (2005) 
  * "Because of You" – Kelly Clarkson (2006) 
  * "Piece of Me" – Britney Spears (2008) 
  * "You Belong with Me" – Taylor Swift (2009) 
  * "Bad Romance" – Lady Gaga (2010) 
  * "Born This Way" – Lady Gaga (2011) 
  * "Starships" – Nicki Minaj (2012) 
 2010s * "I Knew You Were Trouble" – Taylor Swift (2013) 
  * "Dark Horse" – Katy Perry (2014) 
  * "Blank Space" – Taylor Swift (2015) 
  * "Hold Up" – Beyoncé (2016) 
   
 
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
   "Nothing Compares 2 U"          Single by Sinéad O'Connor    from the album  I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got      B-side  "Jump in the River"   Released January 8, 1990    Studio  S.T.S (Dublin, Ireland)    Genre   Pop  [1]     Length 5:10    Label   Chrysalis     Songwriter(s)   Prince     Producer(s)   
 Sinéad O'Connor
 Nellee Hooper  
     Sinéad O'Connor singles chronology   
 
"Jump in the River" (1988)
"Nothing Compares 2 U" (1990)
"The Emperor's New Clothes" (1990)
           Music video    "Nothing Compares 2 U" on YouTube    
   
"Nothing Compares 2 U" is a song written and composed by Prince for his side project, the Family; the song featured on their 1985 debut album,  The Family . The song features lyrics exploring feelings of longing from the point of view of an abandoned lover.
 Several years later, Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor recorded a version of the song for her second studio album,  I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got  (1990). It was released as the album's second single in early 1990 and became a worldwide hit. O'Connor co-produced the record with Nellee Hooper, and its music video, directed by John Maybury, received heavy rotation on MTV. In December 1990,  Billboard  named "Nothing Compares 2 U" as the "#1 World Single" of 1990 at its first  Billboard Music Awards. [2] 
 Prince released his own rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U", with Rosie Gaines on guest vocals in 1993. This live version of the song was included on his compilation album  The Hits/The B-Sides . His original 1984 studio recording of the song was eventually released in 2018 as a single and later on the 2019 posthumous compilation  Originals .
Background[edit]
In 1985, the funk band the Family released their only album, The Family. It contained songs written by Prince including "Nothing Compares 2 U". The song was essentially filler music on the album. It was not released as a single and received little recognition. Prince had recorded the song earlier, in 1984, which was not released until April 2018 as a digitally released posthumous single. [3] 
 Sinead O'Connor recorded the song for her 1990 second album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got with a completely new arrangement by her and producer Nellee Hooper. O'Connor's version is composed in the key of F major. [4] 
 Prince did not perform the song in concert until the years after O'Connor turned it into a hit, when he began performing the song live. He performed duets with Rosie Gaines in concert and subsequently had a live performance released on compilation albums: 1993's The Hits/The B-Sides, and the 2006  Ultimate Prince . He also recorded a solo version for his concert film  Rave Un2 the Year 2000 , as well as for his 2002 live album  One Nite Alone... Live! .
Commercial performance[edit]
O'Connor's power ballad  [5]  version of the song became a worldwide hit, topping charts in O'Connor's native Ireland, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Plus top five in France and top 20 in Denmark. It was certified platinum in Austria and in the United Kingdom, and gold in Germany and in Sweden.
 In the United States it spent four weeks at the top of the  Billboard Hot 100; in addition, it was number one on the  Billboard Alternative Songs chart and reached number two on the  Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (held off the top position by Rod Stewart's "This Old Heart of Mine" for three weeks). In terms of its chart performance on the Hot 100 it ranked number three for 1990. In April 1990, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. On the second of its four weeks at number one, the record's parent album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got started a six-week run at number one on the  Billboard 200. In 2019, the single ranked 97 in a Hot 100 60th-anniversary Top 600 covering the period from 1958 to 2018.
 In Great Britain, the single ranked number two for the year, behind a re-release of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody".
Critical reception[edit]
"A few times each year a song comes along that deserves extra-special recognition. Here's the first such entry of 1990. Since I've been shouting the praises of Sinéad's remarkable interpretation of this Prince-penned tune to many of you for over a month, it was safe to assume it would eventually end up on this page. Absolutely brilliant—and if you haven't caught the video, do yourself a favor and check it out NOW!"
 —Dave Sholin from the  Gavin Report  talking about the song. [6]  
The song received favorable reviews from most music critics. Jodi Cleesattle from American Eagle felt that "there is pain in Sinead O'Connor's voice, and there probably always will be." She remarked that "loneliness and longing" are highlighted on the song, adding that O'Connor's voice "fits the song perfectly. Her vocals soar and leap unexpectedly but gracefully, making, the ballad, the loveliest of love songs." [7]  Bill Coleman from  Billboard  declared it as a "brilliant interpretation of the melancholic lament." [8]  Ernest Hardy from  Cashbox  called it a "genuine tear-jerker". [9]  Greg Sandow for  Entertainment Weekly  felt that it is a song "about how to carry on after losing love". [10]  Tom Moon from  Knight Ridder  said she "adapts the breathy approach of a torch singer." [11]  A reviewer from  Los Angeles Times  noted that the singer "match raw emotion with spare sounds" on "the quiet, desperate, lovelorn beauty". [12]   Melody Maker  wrote, "It should go without saying that her voice is brilliant, but this is a pointless and embarrassing over-sentimental paw. The zillions of strings don't help, they don't add poignancy, they merely serve to drag the momentum backwards. [...] A waste of talent." [13]  
  Pan-European magazine  Music &amp; Media  stated that out of all the recent covers of Prince songs - Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You", Tom Jones' "Kiss" and Simple Minds' "Sign o' the Times" - "this is definitely the most convincing." The reviewer noted further that originally recorded by Minneapolis band the Family for their 1985 debut album, "O'Connor's emotionally charged version has immediate appeal", and is "destined to be her biggest hit to date." [14]  David Giles from  Music Week  found that the song "is not one of Prince's finest moments, and O'Connor does little to disguise this fact bar a few token vocal somersaults. The string synths also have a dirge-like effect, dragging the rest of the arrangement along with them." [15]  The Network Forty's reviewer wrote that "when Sinead sang 'Nothing Compares 2 U', seas calmed, angels wept and Top 40 radio stood still to listen to this powerful expression of unrequited love." [16]  James Brown from  NME  said, "Pining for a recently departed love, Sinead hits the lyrics with an immense range of vocal ability and passion. From a gossamer thin whisper to a searing plea she shows just how much catching up Kate Bush has to do." [17]  Tom Doyle from  Smash Hits  felt that "it doesn't sound at all like any of her other stuff." [18] 
Retrospective response[edit]
In 2019, Bill Lamb from About.com wrote that O'Connor's "emotional, gutsy performance made it a classic. Painful loss meets stunning vocal beauty with a perfectly understated instrumental arrangement." [19]  In their 2020 retrospective review, Matthew Hocter from Albumism described it as a song "deeply rooted in emotion and despair which would go on to certify O'Connor and that song as one of music history's most unforgettable moments." [20]  AllMusic editor Steve Huey called the song "stunning" and noted its "remarkable intimacy". [21]  In 2010, Tom Ewing of  Freaky Trigger  noted it as a "very moving track", and added that it "captures the stasis, anger and devastation of a bad break-up with awful accuracy." He also complimented the music "whose stately, sympathetic pulse gives O’Connor the canvas she needs to be so devastating." [22]  
 In an 2000 review, Steven Wells from  NME  said "it remains one of the best 'boo-hoo, my bloke's left me' pop songs ever recorded", and a "stark reminder that O'Connor is blessed with an amazing and unique voice". He concluded with that it "remains the outstanding highlight of her career to date. She's more than capable of surpassing it in the future. Less Sade and more Aretha, please." [23]  In 2009, Mark Richardson from  Pitchfork  constated that "you have to look pretty hard to find a better expression in pop music of the void that exists when a relationship ends." [24]  In an 2015 retrospective review, Pop Rescue wrote that O'Connor "makes light work" of the track, and she's "having plenty of power to belt out the lyrics at the right points." The reviewer added that it is a "fantastic exhibit of 90s music". [25]  In 2004, Sal Cinquemani from  Slant Magazine  felt that it perhaps is O'Connor's "greatest vocal achievement" and described it as a "classic torch song she quite simply owns." [26] 
Music video[edit]
      The lone face of O'Connor made the video one of the most recognisable of the 1990s.  
Concept[edit]
Directed by John Maybury, the accompanying music video for the song consists mostly of a closeup on Sinéad O'Connor's face as she goes through stages of sadness and anger while singing the lyrics; the rest consists of her walking through the Parc de Saint-Cloud in Paris. Toward the end of the video, two tears roll down her face, one on each cheek. O'Connor has said that her tears were real. She did not intend to cry but then thought, "I should let this happen." [27]  She explained that the tears were triggered by thoughts of her mother, who died in a car accident in 1985. [27]  She said she learned to channel her emotions with the "bel canto" singing style, which she compared to extreme acting methods. [28]  In the middle and at the very end of the video, there is a shot from O'Connor's photo session for the I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got album cover.
Reception[edit]
The clip won three "Moonmen" at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards: Video of the Year (O'Connor was the first female artist to be awarded it), Best Female Video and Best Post-Modern Video. It was nominated for Breakthrough Video, Viewer's Choice and International Viewer's Choice during the ceremony. The video was also the subject of many parodies and spoofs, such as Gina Riley's parody "Nothing Is There" on  Fast Forward, referring to the fact that O'Connor tended to shave her head bald. [29] 
Prince version[edit]
Prince released his own rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U", with Rosie Gaines on guest vocals. This live version of the song was included on his 1993 compilation album The Hits/The B-Sides. This version reached number seven on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart in 1993 [30]  and number 66 on the US Hot R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in the Billboard issue dated 15 January 1994. [31]  Following Prince's death in 2016, the live recording with Rosie Gaines, peaked at number 43 on the US Digital Songs Sales chart [32]  and number 31 on the US R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart. [33] 
 Prince's original 1984 recording of the song was not released until 2018, when it was issued as a single by Warner Bros. Records in conjunction with his estate. [3]  In addition, the Prince version was given its own music video, released in conjunction with the studio recording on 19 April 2018; the video consists of edited rehearsal footage shot in the summer of 1984. [34]   [35]  Prince's 1984 original recording peaked at number 21 on the US Hot R&amp;B Songs chart [36]  and number 8 on the US R&amp;B Digital Song Sales chart in 2018. [37]  The song was later included as the final track on Prince's 2019 posthumous compilation Originals, which contains a multitude of demo recordings Prince had made for other artists such as the Bangles and Kenny Rogers.
Legacy[edit]
 In 2003,  Q magazine ranked "Nothing Compares 2 U" at number 242 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". [38]  
It was included at number 165 by  Rolling Stone  in its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [39]  
In 2007, VH1 ranked O'Connor's rendition number 10 of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s". [40]  
In September 2010, Pitchfork included the song at number 37 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s. [41]  
The song was listed at number 77 on Billboard's "Greatest Songs of All Time". [42]  
  Time  magazine included "Nothing Compares 2 U" in its 2011 (unranked) list of "All-TIME 100 Songs". [43]  
In 2012, Porcys listed the song at number 60 in their ranking of "100 Singles 1990-1999", noting that "it's probably one of the noblest, most dignified slow songs of the decade". [44]  
In October 2014, Aretha Franklin released her thirty-eighth and final studio album  Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics  in which she covered several songs by other female recording artists, including an upbeat, jazz version of O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".
The song was simulcast on radio stations throughout the United States to commemorate Prince 15 days after his death. The simulcast was timed to reflect the song's opening lyric: "It's been 7 hours and 15 days since you took your love away." [45]  
 Chris Cornell posted a link to his version the day after Prince's death. In an accompanying message, he wrote: "Prince's music is the soundtrack to the soulful and beautiful universe he created, and we have all been privileged to be part of that amazing world. I performed his song 'Nothing Compares 2 U' for the first time a couple months ago. It has a timeless relevance for me and practically everyone I know. Sadly, now his own lyrics in this song could not be more relevant than at this moment, and I sing them now in reverence as I pay tribute to this unequaled artist who has given all of our lives so much inspiration and made the world so much more interesting. We will miss you Prince!!!" [46]  On Father's Day 2018, Cornell's daughter Toni released a version of the song she recorded with her dad before his death in 2017. [47]  In 2020, the song was covered on Chris Cornell's  No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1 . [48]  
In 2019, Stacker placed the song at number 20 in their list of "Best 90s pop songs". [49]  
In 2020,  The Guardian  ranked the song at number 12 in its list of the "100 Greatest UK No 1s" [50]  
 Country artist Jon Pardi covered the song on his album Rancho Fiesta Sessions in 2020.
 Cleveland.com ranked "Nothing Compares 2 U" the best Billboard Hot 100 number-one song of the 1990s in 2020, calling it "one of the greatest love songs ever written". [51]  
It was included at number 184 by Rolling Stone in its 2021 update list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [52]   
Track listings[edit]
 
  7" single  
 "Nothing Compares 2 U" – 5:09
"Jump in the River" – 4:13 
  CD maxi  
 "Nothing Compares 2 U" – 5:09
"Jump in the River" – 4:13
"Jump in the River" (instrumental) – 4:04 
    
Credits and personnel[edit]
Charts[edit]
Ireland chart history[edit]
"Nothing Compares 2 U" entered the Irish singles chart on 11 January 1990, reaching number one two weeks later. After a six-week run at the top, Sinéad O'Connor was replaced by "Love Shack" by the B-52's. The song left the chart on 29 March, after twelve weeks.
UK chart history[edit]
In the UK Top 100 chart dated 20 January 1990, the single entered at number 30, then rocketed to number three, then to number one, where it stayed for four weeks, holding off a twin challenge from dance acts Technotronic and Black Box. The single slipped to number two in the chart dated 3 March, replaced at the top by "Dub Be Good to Me" by Beats International. "Nothing Compares 2 U" completed its twelve-week run within the UK Top 40 in early April. "Nothing Compares 2 U" was Britain's biggest-selling new recording of 1990, ranking number two in the year-end chart behind a re-release of the Righteous Brothers' 1965 hit "Unchained Melody".
US chart history[edit]
The single entered the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 at number 33, in the issue dated 24 March 1990. "Nothing Compares 2 U" rose steadily over the next four weeks – no doubt bolstered by the increasing exposure of the song's video on MTV – before reaching number one in the issue dated 21 April. The single took just six weeks to reach number one – tied with Madonna's "Vogue" and New Kids on the Block's "Step by Step" as the year's fastest climber to the top. It spent four weeks at number one, as it did in the UK, with Jane Child's "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" and Calloway's "I Wanna Be Rich" stuck at number two. Madonna's "Vogue" replaced it at number one. The single spent ten weeks in the Top Ten – one of only four 1990 releases to do so – and finished its 15-week run in the US Top 40 in late June.
Certifications and sales[edit]
Release history[edit]
 
Country
Release date
 
United Kingdom
January 8, 1990
 
Worldwide
February 4, 1990
 
United States
February 11, 1990
   
See also[edit]
  List of European number-one airplay songs of the 1990s  
References[edit]
 
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  ^  [1] Archived October 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
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  ^   "CHRIS CORNELL: 'PRINCE's Music Is The Soundtrack To The Soulful And Beautiful Universe He Created'". April 22, 2016.
  ^   "Chris Cornell and his daughter cover Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U": Stream". June 17, 2018.
  ^   Chris Cornell’s Historic Voice and Great Ear Take Center Stage on the Covers LP, ‘No One Sings Like You Anymore’ , rollingstone.com, December 11, 2020
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Nothing Compares 2 U - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Compares_2_U
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Wikipedia
2006-03-13
Authority control MusicBrainz work
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div><table><tbody><tr><th>"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"</th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Single_(music)">Single</a> by <a href="/wiki/Hank_Williams">Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/A-side_and_B-side">A-side</a></th><td>"<a href="/wiki/My_Bucket%27s_Got_a_Hole_in_It">My Bucket's Got a Hole in It</a>"<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEscottMerrittMacEwen2004125-1">[1]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th>Published</th><td>October 31, 1949 <a href="/wiki/Acuff-Rose_Music">Acuff-Rose Publications</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th>Released</th><td>November 8, 1949</td></tr><tr><th>Recorded</th><td>August 30, 1949<sup><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Recording_studio">Studio</a></th><td>Herzog Studio, Cincinnati</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Music_genre">Genre</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Country_music">Hillbilly</a>, <a href="/wiki/Honky-tonk#music">Honky-tonk</a>, <a href="/wiki/Country_blues">Country blues</a></td></tr><tr><th>Length</th><td>2:48</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_label">Label</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/MGM_Records">MGM 10560</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Songwriter">Songwriter(s)</a></th><td>Hank Williams</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Hank_Williams">Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys</a> singles chronology</th></tr><tr><td>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<td>"<a href="/wiki/You%27re_Gonna_Change_(Or_I%27m_Gonna_Leave)">You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)</a>" <br />(1949)
</td>
<td>"<b>I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry</b>" <br />(1949)
</td>
<td>"<a href="/wiki/I_Just_Don%27t_Like_This_Kind_of_Living">I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living</a>" <br />(1950)
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>"<b>I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry</b>" is a song written and recorded by <a href="/wiki/Americans">American</a> <a href="/wiki/Country_music">country music</a> singer-songwriter <a href="/wiki/Hank_Williams">Hank Williams</a> in 1949. The song has been <a href="/wiki/Cover_version">covered</a> by a wide range of musicians.
</p>
<h2>[<a href="/w/index.php?title=I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Various writers quoted Williams as saying he wrote the song originally intending the words be spoken rather than sung, as he had done on several of his Luke the Drifter recordings.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEscottMerrittMacEwen2004124-4">[4]</a></sup> According to <a href="/wiki/Colin_Escott">Colin Escott</a>'s 2004 book: <i>Hank Williams: A Biography</i>, the inspiration for the song came from the title to a different song Williams spotted on a list of forthcoming <a href="/wiki/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer">MGM</a> record releases. The song was recorded on August 30, 1949, at Herzog Studio in <a href="/wiki/Cincinnati,_Ohio">Cincinnati, Ohio</a>.
</p><p>Williams was backed by members of the Pleasant Valley Boys: Zeke Turner (lead guitar), <a href="/wiki/Jerry_Byrd">Jerry Byrd</a> (steel guitar) and Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), as well as <a href="/wiki/Tommy_Jackson_(musician)">Tommy Jackson</a> (fiddle) and Ernie Newton (bass).<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEEscottMerrittMacEwen2004-5">[5]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Controversy[<a href="/w/index.php?title=I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Music journalist <a href="/wiki/Chet_Flippo">Chet Flippo</a> and Kentucky historian W. Lynn Nickell have both asserted that 21-year-old Kentuckian <a href="/wiki/Paul_Gilley">Paul Gilley</a> wrote the lyrics, then sold them to Williams along with the rights, allowing Williams to take credit for it. Gilley also supposedly wrote the lyrics to "<a href="/wiki/Cold,_Cold_Heart">Cold, Cold Heart</a>" and other hit country songs before drowning at the age of 27.<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> The claims have not been widely accepted.
</p>
<h2>Release and reception[<a href="/w/index.php?title=I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The song was released as the <a href="/wiki/B-side">B-side</a> to the blues "<a href="/wiki/My_Bucket%27s_Got_a_Hole_in_It">My Bucket's Got a Hole in It</a>", because up-tempo numbers were deemed more appropriate for the jukebox trade than melancholy ballads. The single reached number four on the country chart in 1949.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup>
</p><p>"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" has been identified with Williams's musical legacy, and has been widely praised. In the 2003 documentary <i>The Road to Nashville</i>, singer <a href="/wiki/K.d._lang">k.d. lang</a> stated: "I think 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' is one of the most classic American songs ever written, truly. Beautiful song." In his autobiography, <a href="/wiki/Bob_Dylan">Bob Dylan</a> recalled: "Even at a young age, I identified with him. I didn't have to experience anything that Hank did to know what he was singing about. I'd never heard a robin weep, but could imagine it and it made me sad."<sup><a href="#cite_note-Dylan2011-8">[8]</a></sup> In its online biography of Williams, <i><a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone">Rolling Stone</a></i> notes:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In tracks like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", Williams expressed intense, personal emotions with country's traditional plainspoken directness, a then-revolutionary approach that has come to define the genre through the works of subsequent artists from <a href="/wiki/George_Jones">George Jones</a> and <a href="/wiki/Willie_Nelson">Willie Nelson</a> to <a href="/wiki/Gram_Parsons">Gram Parsons</a> and <a href="/wiki/Dwight_Yoakam">Dwight Yoakam</a>.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p><i>Rolling Stone</i> ranked it number 111 on their list of the <a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone%27s_500_Greatest_Songs_of_All_Time">500 Greatest Songs of All Time</a>, the oldest song on the list, and number 3 on its 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.
</p>
<h2>Notable cover versions[<a href="/w/index.php?title=I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>Many musical artists have <a href="/wiki/Cover_version">covered</a> the song:
</p>
<ul><li>Among the most notable is a version by <a href="/wiki/B._J._Thomas">B. J. Thomas</a> and the Triumphs, who took the song to number 8 on the <a href="/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100"><i>Billboard</i> Hot 100</a> in 1966.</li>
<li>In 1972, <a href="/wiki/Charlie_McCoy">Charlie McCoy</a>'s version charted at number 23 on <i>Billboard</i>'s <a href="/wiki/Hot_Country_Songs">Hot Country Songs</a> chart.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Leon_Russell">Leon Russell</a> released a version in 1973, which brought him a modest hit at number 78 on the Hot 100.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Elvis_Presley">Elvis Presley</a> recorded the song in 1973 in the show <a href="/wiki/Aloha_from_Hawaii_Via_Satellite">Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite</a>.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Pittsburgh_Steelers">Pittsburgh Steelers</a> quarterback <a href="/wiki/Terry_Bradshaw">Terry Bradshaw</a> recorded the song in 1975 and released it in 1976, advancing to number 17 on the country singles chart for two weeks.<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup> It broke into the Hot 100 at number 91.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Jerry_Lee_Lewis">Jerry Lee Lewis</a> released a cover in 1982, charting at number 43 on the Hot Country Songs chart.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Amy_Lee">Amy Lee</a> covered the song in 2012 for the live tribute album <i><a href="/wiki/We_Walk_the_Line:_A_Celebration_of_the_Music_of_Johnny_Cash">We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash</a></i>.</li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Volbeat">Volbeat</a> released a cover in 2008 on their album <i><a href="/wiki/Guitar_Gangsters_%26_Cadillac_Blood">Guitar Gangsters &amp; Cadillac Blood</a></i>.</li>
<li>The song was also adapted for and featured in the science-fiction television series <a href="/wiki/The_Expanse_(TV_series)">The Expanse</a></li></ul>
<h2>Chart performance[<a href="/w/index.php?title=I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Hank Williams version[<a href="/w/index.php?title=I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h3>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Year
</th>
<th>Chart
</th>
<th>Position
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>1949
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Hot_Country_Singles_%26_Tracks">Billboard Country Singles</a>
</td>
<td>B-side of "<a href="/wiki/My_Bucket%27s_Got_a_Hole_in_It">My Bucket's Got a Hole in It</a>"
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>1966
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Hot_Country_Singles_%26_Tracks">Billboard Country Singles</a>
</td>
<td>No. 43
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Williams' version ranked No. 29 in <i><a href="/wiki/Country_Music_Television">CMT</a>'s 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music</i> in 2003.
</p>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEscottMerrittMacEwen2004125_1-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEscottMerrittMacEwen2004">Escott, Merritt &amp; MacEwen 2004</a>, p. 125.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://vcc.copyright.gov/browse">"U.S. Copyright Office Virtual Card Catalog"</a>. <i>vcc.copyright.gov</i>. Retrieved 2021-09-09.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://jazzdiscography.com/Artists/hank-williams/hank-williams-45-releases.php">"Hank Williams 45rpm Issues"</a>. <i>jazzdiscography.com</i>. Retrieved 2021-08-19.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEscottMerrittMacEwen2004124_4-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEscottMerrittMacEwen2004">Escott, Merritt &amp; MacEwen 2004</a>, p. 124.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEEscottMerrittMacEwen2004_5-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFEscottMerrittMacEwen2004">Escott, Merritt &amp; MacEwen 2004</a>.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Chet_Flippo">Chet Flippo</a> (1997). <i>Your Cheatin' Heart: A Biography of Hank Williams</i> (revised ed.). Plexo. pp. 7, 130, 150. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780859652322"><bdi>9780859652322</bdi></a>.</cite>; <cite>KET - Kentucky Educational Television (29 July 2013). <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SJJ5wykgvY">"Songwriter Paul Gilley - Kentucky Life - KET"</a>. <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a>. Retrieved 8 August 2018.</cite>; <cite><a href="https://www.wmmt.org/appalachian-attitude-audio-new-biography-on-morgan-co-songwriter-paul-gilley/">"New biography on Morgan Co. songwriter Paul Gilley"</a>. <i>Appalachian Attitude</i>. WMMT 88.7 Mountain Community Radio. July 2, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2018.</cite>; <cite>Staff (June 6, 2012). <a href="https://www.themountaineagle.com/articles/e-ky-writer-penned-two-of-hank-sr-s-biggest-hits/">"E.Ky. writer penned two of Hank Sr.'s biggest hits"</a>. <i>The Mountain Eagle</i>. <a href="/wiki/Whitesburg,_Kentucky">Whitesburg, Kentucky</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <a href="http://www.musicvf.com/song.php?title=My+Bucket%27s+Got+a+Hole+in+it+by+Hank+Williams&amp;id=99955">Hank Williams, "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" Chart Positions</a>, Musicvf.com, Retrieved March 31, 2014
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Dylan2011_8-0">^</a></b> <cite>Dylan, Bob (7 July 2011). <i>Chronicles</i>. Simon and Schuster. p. 88. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-85720-958-0"><bdi>978-0-85720-958-0</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.billboard.com/charts/country-songs/1976-03-27/">"Hot Country Songs"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)">Billboard</a></i>.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>Sources[<a href="/w/index.php?title=I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><cite><a href="/wiki/Colin_Escott">Escott, Colin</a>; Merritt, George; MacEwen, William (2004). <i>Hank Williams: The Biography</i>. New York: Little, Brown.</cite></li></ul>
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 Contents

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 * (Top)
 * 1 Authorship and production
 + 1.1 Controversy
 * 2 Release and reception
 * 3 Notable cover versions
 * 4 Chart performance
 + 4.1 Hank Williams version
 * 5 References
 * 6 Sources
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 I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"  
 Single by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys  
 A-side  "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"[1] 
 Published  October 31, 1949 Acuff-Rose Publications[2]
 Released  November 8, 1949 
 Recorded  August 30, 1949[3] 
 Studio  Herzog Studio, Cincinnati 
 Genre  Hillbilly, Honky-tonk, Country blues 
 Length  2 : 48 
 Label  MGM 10560 
 Songwriter(s)  Hank Williams 
 Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys singles chronology 
 "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)" "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living"
 (1949) (1949) (1950) 
  
 

 "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1949. The song has been covered by a wide range of musicians.

 Authorship and production [ edit ]

 Various writers quoted Williams as saying he wrote the song originally intending the words be spoken rather than sung, as he had done on several of his Luke the Drifter recordings.[4] According to Colin Escott's 2004 book: Hank Williams: A Biography, the inspiration for the song came from the title to a different song Williams spotted on a list of forthcoming MGM record releases. The song was recorded on August 30, 1949, at Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 Williams was backed by members of the Pleasant Valley Boys: Zeke Turner (lead guitar), Jerry Byrd (steel guitar) and Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), as well as Tommy Jackson (fiddle) and Ernie Newton (bass).[5]

 Controversy [ edit ]

 Music journalist Chet Flippo and Kentucky historian W. Lynn Nickell have both asserted that 21-year-old Kentuckian Paul Gilley wrote the lyrics, then sold them to Williams along with the rights, allowing Williams to take credit for it. Gilley also supposedly wrote the lyrics to "Cold, Cold Heart" and other hit country songs before drowning at the age of 27.[6] The claims have not been widely accepted.

 Release and reception [ edit ]

 The song was released as the B-side to the blues "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", because up-tempo numbers were deemed more appropriate for the jukebox trade than melancholy ballads. The single reached number four on the country chart in 1949.[7]

 "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" has been identified with Williams's musical legacy, and has been widely praised. In the 2003 documentary The Road to Nashville, singer k.d. lang stated: "I think 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' is one of the most classic American songs ever written, truly. Beautiful song." In his autobiography, Bob Dylan recalled: "Even at a young age, I identified with him. I didn't have to experience anything that Hank did to know what he was singing about. I'd never heard a robin weep, but could imagine it and it made me sad."[8] In its online biography of Williams, Rolling Stone notes:

 In tracks like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", Williams expressed intense, personal emotions with country's traditional plainspoken directness, a then-revolutionary approach that has come to define the genre through the works of subsequent artists from George Jones and Willie Nelson to Gram Parsons and Dwight Yoakam.

 Rolling Stone ranked it number 111 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the oldest song on the list, and number 3 on its 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.

 Notable cover versions [ edit ]

 Many musical artists have covered the song:

 * Among the most notable is a version by B. J. Thomas and the Triumphs, who took the song to number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.
 * In 1972, Charlie McCoy's version charted at number 23 on Billboard 's Hot Country Songs chart.
 * Leon Russell released a version in 1973, which brought him a modest hit at number 78 on the Hot 100.
 * Elvis Presley recorded the song in 1973 in the show Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite.
 * Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw recorded the song in 1975 and released it in 1976, advancing to number 17 on the country singles chart for two weeks.[9] It broke into the Hot 100 at number 91.
 * Jerry Lee Lewis released a cover in 1982, charting at number 43 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
 * Amy Lee covered the song in 2012 for the live tribute album We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash.
 * Volbeat released a cover in 2008 on their album Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood.
 * The song was also adapted for and featured in the science-fiction television series The Expanse

 Chart performance [ edit ]

 Hank Williams version [ edit ]

 Year Chart Position 
 1949 Billboard Country Singles B-side of "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"
 1966 Billboard Country Singles No. 43 
 

 Williams' version ranked No. 29 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music in 2003.

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ Escott, Merritt & MacEwen 2004 , p. 125.
 2. ^ "U.S. Copyright Office Virtual Card Catalog". vcc.copyright.gov . Retrieved 2021-09-09 .
 3. ^ "Hank Williams 45rpm Issues". jazzdiscography.com . Retrieved 2021-08-19 .
 4. ^ Escott, Merritt & MacEwen 2004 , p. 124.
 5. ^ Escott, Merritt & MacEwen 2004 .
 6. ^ Chet Flippo (1997). Your Cheatin' Heart: A Biography of Hank Williams (revised ed.). Plexo. pp. 7, 130, 150. ISBN 9780859652322. ; KET - Kentucky Educational Television (29 July 2013). "Songwriter Paul Gilley - Kentucky Life - KET". YouTube . Retrieved 8 August 2018 . ; "New biography on Morgan Co. songwriter Paul Gilley". Appalachian Attitude. WMMT 88.7 Mountain Community Radio. July 2, 2012 . Retrieved October 26, 2018 . ; Staff (June 6, 2012). "E.Ky. writer penned two of Hank Sr.'s biggest hits". The Mountain Eagle. Whitesburg, Kentucky.
 7. ^ Hank Williams, "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" Chart Positions , Musicvf.com, Retrieved March 31, 2014
 8. ^ Dylan, Bob (7 July 2011). Chronicles. Simon and Schuster. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-85720-958-0.
 9. ^ "Hot Country Songs". Billboard.

 Sources [ edit ]

 * Escott, Colin; Merritt, George; MacEwen, William (2004). Hank Williams: The Biography. New York: Little, Brown.
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	     "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"    Single by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys     A-side  "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" [1]     Published October 31, 1949 Acuff-Rose Publications  [2]     Released November 8, 1949   Recorded August 30, 1949 [3]      Studio  Herzog Studio, Cincinnati    Genre   Hillbilly, Honky-tonk, Country blues    Length 2:48    Label   MGM 10560     Songwriter(s)  Hank Williams    Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys singles chronology   
 
"You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)" (1949)
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (1949)
"I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living" (1950)
       
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1949. The song has been covered by a wide range of musicians.
[edit]
Various writers quoted Williams as saying he wrote the song originally intending the words be spoken rather than sung, as he had done on several of his Luke the Drifter recordings. [4]  According to Colin Escott's 2004 book: Hank Williams: A Biography, the inspiration for the song came from the title to a different song Williams spotted on a list of forthcoming MGM record releases. The song was recorded on August 30, 1949, at Herzog Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 Williams was backed by members of the Pleasant Valley Boys: Zeke Turner (lead guitar), Jerry Byrd (steel guitar) and Louis Innis (rhythm guitar), as well as Tommy Jackson (fiddle) and Ernie Newton (bass). [5] 
Controversy[edit]
Music journalist Chet Flippo and Kentucky historian W. Lynn Nickell have both asserted that 21-year-old Kentuckian Paul Gilley wrote the lyrics, then sold them to Williams along with the rights, allowing Williams to take credit for it. Gilley also supposedly wrote the lyrics to "Cold, Cold Heart" and other hit country songs before drowning at the age of 27. [6]  The claims have not been widely accepted.
Release and reception[edit]
The song was released as the B-side to the blues "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", because up-tempo numbers were deemed more appropriate for the jukebox trade than melancholy ballads. The single reached number four on the country chart in 1949. [7] 
 "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" has been identified with Williams's musical legacy, and has been widely praised. In the 2003 documentary The Road to Nashville, singer k.d. lang stated: "I think 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' is one of the most classic American songs ever written, truly. Beautiful song." In his autobiography, Bob Dylan recalled: "Even at a young age, I identified with him. I didn't have to experience anything that Hank did to know what he was singing about. I'd never heard a robin weep, but could imagine it and it made me sad." [8]  In its online biography of Williams,  Rolling Stone  notes:
In tracks like "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", Williams expressed intense, personal emotions with country's traditional plainspoken directness, a then-revolutionary approach that has come to define the genre through the works of subsequent artists from George Jones and Willie Nelson to Gram Parsons and Dwight Yoakam.
 Rolling Stone ranked it number 111 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the oldest song on the list, and number 3 on its 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.
Notable cover versions[edit]
Many musical artists have covered the song:
 Among the most notable is a version by B. J. Thomas and the Triumphs, who took the song to number 8 on the  Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.
In 1972, Charlie McCoy's version charted at number 23 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
 Leon Russell released a version in 1973, which brought him a modest hit at number 78 on the Hot 100.
 Elvis Presley recorded the song in 1973 in the show Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite.
 Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw recorded the song in 1975 and released it in 1976, advancing to number 17 on the country singles chart for two weeks. [9]  It broke into the Hot 100 at number 91.
 Jerry Lee Lewis released a cover in 1982, charting at number 43 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
 Amy Lee covered the song in 2012 for the live tribute album  We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash .
 Volbeat released a cover in 2008 on their album  Guitar Gangsters &amp; Cadillac Blood .
The song was also adapted for and featured in the science-fiction television series The Expanse  
Chart performance[edit]
Hank Williams version[edit]
 
Year
Chart
Position
 
1949
 Billboard Country Singles
B-side of "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"
 
1966
 Billboard Country Singles
No. 43
   
Williams' version ranked No. 29 in  CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music in 2003.
References[edit]
 
  ^  Escott, Merritt &amp; MacEwen 2004, p. 125.
  ^   "U.S. Copyright Office Virtual Card Catalog". vcc.copyright.gov. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  ^   "Hank Williams 45rpm Issues". jazzdiscography.com. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  ^  Escott, Merritt &amp; MacEwen 2004, p. 124.
  ^  Escott, Merritt &amp; MacEwen 2004.
  ^   Chet Flippo (1997). Your Cheatin' Heart: A Biography of Hank Williams (revised ed.). Plexo. pp. 7, 130, 150. ISBN  9780859652322 .; KET - Kentucky Educational Television (29 July 2013). "Songwriter Paul Gilley - Kentucky Life - KET". YouTube. Retrieved 8 August 2018.;  "New biography on Morgan Co. songwriter Paul Gilley". Appalachian Attitude. WMMT 88.7 Mountain Community Radio. July 2, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2018.; Staff (June 6, 2012). "E.Ky. writer penned two of Hank Sr.'s biggest hits". The Mountain Eagle. Whitesburg, Kentucky.
  ^  Hank Williams, "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" Chart Positions, Musicvf.com, Retrieved March 31, 2014
  ^  Dylan, Bob (7 July 2011). Chronicles. Simon and Schuster. p. 88. ISBN  978-0-85720-958-0 .
  ^   "Hot Country Songs".  Billboard .
 
Sources[edit]
   Escott, Colin; Merritt, George; MacEwen, William (2004). Hank Williams: The Biography. New York: Little, Brown.
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_So_Lonesome_I_Could_Cry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends
Wake Me Up When September Ends - Wikipedia
2005-04-08
Authority control MusicBrainz release group MusicBrainz work
<div><div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>"Wake Me Up When September Ends"</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Green_Day_-_Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends_cover.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Single_(music)">Single</a> by <a href="/wiki/Green_Day">Green Day</a></th></tr><tr><th>from the album <i> <a href="/wiki/American_Idiot">American Idiot</a> </i></th></tr><tr><th>Released</th><td>June 13, 2005</td></tr><tr><th>Recorded</th><td>September 2003</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Music_genre">Genre</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Alternative_rock">Alternative rock</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></td></tr><tr><th>Length</th><td><div>
<ul><li>4:45 (album version)</li>
<li>4:19 (radio edit)</li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_label">Label</a></th><td><div>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Reprise_Records">Reprise</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Warner_Bros._Records">Warner Bros.</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Songwriter">Songwriter(s)</a></th><td><div>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Billie_Joe_Armstrong">Billie Joe Armstrong</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Mike_Dirnt">Mike Dirnt</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Tr%C3%A9_Cool">Tré Cool</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Record_producer">Producer(s)</a></th><td><a href="/wiki/Rob_Cavallo">Rob Cavallo</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/wiki/Green_Day">Green Day</a> singles chronology</th></tr><tr><td>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<td>"<a href="/wiki/Holiday_(Green_Day_song)">Holiday</a>" <br />(2005)
</td>
<td>"<b>Wake Me Up When September Ends</b>" <br />(2005)
</td>
<td>"<a href="/wiki/Jesus_of_Suburbia">Jesus of Suburbia</a>" <br />(2005)
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><th>Music videos</th></tr><tr><td><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU9JoFKlaZ0">"Wake Me Up When September Ends"</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1JXYgwwDeY">"Wake Me Up When September Ends" (short version)</a> on <a href="/wiki/YouTube">YouTube</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>"<b>Wake Me Up When September Ends</b>" is a song by American <a href="/wiki/Rock_music">rock</a> band <a href="/wiki/Green_Day">Green Day</a>, released on June 13, 2005, as the fourth single from the group's seventh studio album, <i><a href="/wiki/American_Idiot">American Idiot</a></i> (2004). The <a href="/wiki/Sentimental_ballad">acoustic ballad</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-ballad-2">[2]</a></sup> was written by frontman <a href="/wiki/Billie_Joe_Armstrong">Billie Joe Armstrong</a> about the death of his father when he was 10 years old.
</p><p>The song became a <a href="/wiki/Hit_single">hit single</a>, peaking at number six on the US <a href="/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100"><i>Billboard</i> Hot 100</a>. It was also a top-10 single in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and New Zealand and was a number-one single in the Czech Republic. In the United States, the song became symbolic after <a href="/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina">Hurricane Katrina</a>, where it was dedicated to victims of the disaster, and also regarded as a dedication to the victims of the <a href="/wiki/September_11_attacks">September 11 attacks</a> that occurred in 2001. The song was certified <a href="/wiki/RIAA_certification">platinum</a> by the <a href="/wiki/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America">Recording Industry Association of America</a>.
</p><p>The song's <a href="/wiki/Music_video">music video</a> depicts a couple broken apart by the <a href="/wiki/Iraq_War">Iraq War</a>, which was intended to convey the song's central theme of loss.
</p>
<h2>Background[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>"Wake Me Up When September Ends" was written by frontman <a href="/wiki/Billie_Joe_Armstrong">Billie Joe Armstrong</a> about his father, who died from <a href="/wiki/Esophageal_cancer">esophageal cancer</a> when Armstrong was 10 years old.<sup><a href="#cite_note-rs05.2-3">[3]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup> Armstrong at one point dubbed the song the most autobiographical he had written to that point, considering it "therapeutic" but also difficult to perform.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv-5">[5]</a></sup>
</p><p>The song is notable in that it is largely unrelated to the storyline that runs throughout the rest of the album.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv-5">[5]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Commercial performance[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The single peaked at number six in the United States, becoming Green Day's second top-10 single. It also peaked at number eight in Canada and the UK, while reaching number 13 in Australia. The song was certified Gold in the United Kingdom for sales of 400,000.<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> The song ended the streak of Green Day's three consecutive number-one hits on the <a href="/wiki/Modern_Rock_Tracks">Modern Rock Tracks</a> chart ("<a href="/wiki/American_Idiot_(song)">American Idiot</a>", "<a href="/wiki/Boulevard_of_Broken_Dreams_(Green_Day_song)">Boulevard of Broken Dreams</a>", and "<a href="/wiki/Holiday_(Green_Day_song)">Holiday</a>"), but it peaked at number two on the chart, kept from number one by <a href="/wiki/Gorillaz">Gorillaz</a>' "<a href="/wiki/Feel_Good_Inc.">Feel Good Inc.</a>" The song also made it to number two on the <a href="/wiki/Adult_Top_40">Adult Top 40</a> chart and the <a href="/wiki/Mainstream_Top_40_(Pop_Songs)">Mainstream Top 40</a> chart. This was the band's most successful song in the <a href="/wiki/Adult_contemporary">adult contemporary</a> market, hitting number three on the <a href="/wiki/Adult_Contemporary_(chart)">Adult Contemporary Chart</a> and their only song to appear on that specific chart other than "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".
</p><p>"Wake Me Up When September Ends" had sold 1,652,000 copies as of May 2010.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Reception[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<p><a href="/wiki/Rob_Sheffield">Rob Sheffield</a> of <i><a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone">Rolling Stone</a></i> deemed the song a sequel to the group's 1997 single "<a href="/wiki/Good_Riddance_(Time_of_Your_Life)">Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)</a>".<sup><a href="#cite_note-rs04.1-8">[8]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Music video[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The song's <a href="/wiki/Music_video">music video</a> was directed by <a href="/wiki/Samuel_Bayer">Samuel Bayer</a>, best known for his work with <a href="/wiki/Nirvana_(band)">Nirvana</a> and <a href="/wiki/Metallica">Metallica</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv1-9">[9]</a></sup> Bayer wrote the treatment for the video, which he envisioned as a mini-movie.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv-5">[5]</a></sup> Bayer brought the idea of an <a href="/wiki/Iraq_War">Iraq War</a>-themed video to the trio after interviewing soldiers who had signed up to fight after being persuaded by a television advertisement. The song's music video thus attempts to "turn the machine on itself" by acting as a commercial for "free thought or peace."<sup><a href="#cite_note-rs05-10">[10]</a></sup> Although it was far from the song's literal meaning, Armstrong felt it appropriate considering the song's theme of loss.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv3-11">[11]</a></sup> Bayer noted that he felt bored with predictable music videos, and wanted to produce a video that felt like a film. Consequently, he and a crew spent a month casting actors for the roles and conducted rehearsals, uncommon for music videos.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv1-9">[9]</a></sup> The clip was filmed in Los Angeles in late March 2005.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv-5">[5]</a></sup>
</p><p>The video focuses on a couple in love (played by <a href="/wiki/Jamie_Bell">Jamie Bell</a> and <a href="/wiki/Evan_Rachel_Wood">Evan Rachel Wood</a>).<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv1-9">[9]</a></sup> The boyfriend promises never to leave his girlfriend but they later argue when the boyfriend enlists in the <a href="/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps">United States Marine Corps</a>. The boyfriend interprets his actions as a way to show her that he loves her so much that he would put his life on the line to keep her safe. However, the girlfriend is heartbroken, as he broke his vow to never leave her. The video then shows the boyfriend in battle in <a href="/wiki/Iraq">Iraq</a> being ambushed by insurgents. Despite the Marines fighting back, the boyfriend watches as several of his comrades fall to the ground wounded. Their fate—and his—is left unknown. This scene is intercut with scenes of the girlfriend tearfully mourning in a quiet field. The video ends on this juxtaposition, emphasizing the pain and heartache of losing loved ones due to the war.
</p><p>The clip prompted criticism from conservative media pundits.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv4-12">[12]</a></sup> On the subject of the clip being seen as exploitive of the war for entertainment purposes, Green Day's <a href="/wiki/Mike_Dirnt">Mike Dirnt</a> rejected this notion: "Rock &amp; roll <i>should</i> be dangerous. […] It should be striking and stir questions, and I think that that video, at the end of the day, comes down to that core emotion of loss."<sup><a href="#cite_note-rs05-10">[10]</a></sup> Bayer considered it his best production to that point, remarking, "'September' is hands down the greatest thing I've ever done."<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv1-9">[9]</a></sup>
</p><p>The video reached number one on <i><a href="/wiki/Total_Request_Live">Total Request Live</a></i>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv3-11">[11]</a></sup> and came in second for best video of the year in a 2005 Reader's Poll by <i><a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone">Rolling Stone</a></i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-rs06.1-13">[13]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Legacy[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>"Wake Me Up When September Ends" became closely associated with <a href="/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina">Hurricane Katrina</a>, which struck the <a href="/wiki/Gulf_Coast">Gulf Coast</a> of the United States on August 29, 2005, three days before the start of September. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" became symbolic in the aftermath; one blogger paired the song with television coverage of the disaster, creating a viral video.<sup><a href="#cite_note-nyt05-14">[14]</a></sup> Green Day performed the song days after the disaster on <i><a href="/wiki/ReAct_Now:_Music_%26_Relief">ReAct Now: Music &amp; Relief</a></i>, a <a href="/wiki/Benefit_concert">benefit concert</a> broadcast on <a href="/wiki/MTV">MTV</a> and its associated properties.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv2-15">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p>A live version of the song, recorded on September 3, 2005, at <a href="/wiki/Gillette_Stadium">Gillette Stadium</a> in <a href="/wiki/Foxborough,_Massachusetts">Foxborough</a>, <a href="/wiki/Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a>, was released soon after and dedicated to the hurricane's victims.
</p><p>The song was performed live with <a href="/wiki/U2">U2</a> guitarist <a href="/wiki/The_Edge">The Edge</a> in the pregame show of the <a href="/wiki/Monday_Night_Football">Monday Night Football</a> game between the <a href="/wiki/New_Orleans_Saints">New Orleans Saints</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Atlanta_Falcons">Atlanta Falcons</a>; it was the first game played in the <a href="/wiki/Louisiana_Superdome">Superdome</a> in <a href="/wiki/New_Orleans">New Orleans</a> after the hurricane.<sup><a href="#cite_note-mtv5-16">[16]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Annual internet meme[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<p><a href="/wiki/Internet_meme">Internet memes</a> have circulated on social media between the dates of September 30 and October 1, featuring captions ordering Armstrong to wake up because September has ended, a literal interpretation of the song's title. Armstrong has expressed his displeasure with the memes and has joked about wanting to write a sequel song in response called "Shut the Fuck Up When October Begins".<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Track listings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><table><caption>UK CD1<sup><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup></caption><tbody><tr><th><abbr>No.</abbr></th><th>Title</th><th>Length</th></tr><tr><th>1.</th><td>"Wake Me Up When September Ends"</td><td>4:45</td></tr><tr><th>2.</th><td>"Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005)</td><td>3:38</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div><table><caption>UK CD2<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup></caption><tbody><tr><th><abbr>No.</abbr></th><th>Title</th><th>Length</th></tr><tr><th>1.</th><td>"Wake Me Up When September Ends"</td><td>4:45</td></tr><tr><th>2.</th><td>"Homecoming" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005)</td><td>9:24</td></tr><tr><th>3.</th><td>"<a href="/wiki/Hitchin%27_a_Ride_(Green_Day_song)">Hitchin' a Ride</a>"</td><td>2:52</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div><table><caption>Australian CD single<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup></caption><tbody><tr><th><abbr>No.</abbr></th><th>Title</th><th>Length</th></tr><tr><th>1.</th><td>"Wake Me Up When September Ends"</td><td>4:45</td></tr><tr><th>2.</th><td>"Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, <a href="/wiki/Culver_City,_California">Culver City, California</a> on February 15, 2005)</td><td>3:38</td></tr><tr><th>3.</th><td>"Homecoming" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005)</td><td>9:24</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div><table><caption>Live (iTunes exclusive)<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup></caption><tbody><tr><th><abbr>No.</abbr></th><th>Title</th><th>Length</th></tr><tr><th>1.</th><td>"Wake Me Up When September Ends" (live at <a href="/wiki/Foxborough,_Massachusetts">Foxboro, Massachusetts</a> on September 3, 2005)</td><td>5:40</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<p><b>UK 7-inch picture disc</b><sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup>
</p>
<div><table><caption>Side A</caption><tbody><tr><th><abbr>No.</abbr></th><th>Title</th><th>Length</th></tr><tr><th>1.</th><td>"Wake Me Up When September Ends"</td><td>4:45</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div><table><caption>Side B</caption><tbody><tr><th><abbr>No.</abbr></th><th>Title</th><th>Length</th></tr><tr><th>1.</th><td>"Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005)</td><td>3:38</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<h2>Charts[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Certifications[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Release history[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> <cite>Gallucci, Michael (April 20, 2013). <a href="https://diffuser.fm/alt-rock-videos-featuring-movie-stars/">"10 Alt-Rock Videos Featuring Movie Stars"</a>. <i>Diffuser</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190226101959/http://diffuser.fm/alt-rock-videos-featuring-movie-stars/">Archived</a> from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2022.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-ballad_2-0">^</a></b> <cite>Blum, Jordan (October 20, 2014). <a href="https://www.popmatters.com/187109-united-states-of-rage-and-love-green-day-wake-me-up-when-september-e-2495600765.html">"United States of Rage and Love: Green Day – "Wake Me Up When September Ends""</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/PopMatters">PopMatters</a></i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200809233937/https://www.popmatters.com/187109-united-states-of-rage-and-love-green-day-wake-me-up-when-september-e-2495600765.html">Archived</a> from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 21, 2020. <q>Structurally, the song is another acoustic guitar ballad at heart.</q></cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-rs05.2_3-0">^</a></b> <cite>Hendrickson, Matt (February 24, 2005). <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/green-day-and-the-palace-of-wisdom-20050224">"Green Day and the Palace of Wisdom"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Rolling_Stone_(magazine)">Rolling Stone</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/New_York_City">New York City</a> (968). <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)">ISSN</a> <a href="//www.worldcat.org/issn/0035-791X">0035-791X</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150608015044/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/green-day-and-the-palace-of-wisdom-20050224">Archived</a> from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3936">"Wake Me Up When September Ends"</a>. <i>Song Facts</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160129060815/http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3936">Archived</a> from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-mtv_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-mtv_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-mtv_5-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-mtv_5-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Montgomery, James (April 19, 2005). <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/1500393/its-a-dark-day-for-green-day-in-somber-september-video/">"It's A Dark Day For Green Day In Somber 'September' Video"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/MTV_News">MTV News</a></i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150610040741/http://www.mtv.com/news/1500393/its-a-dark-day-for-green-day-in-somber-september-video/">Archived</a> from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.</cite>
</li>
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<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-56">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://slagerlistak.hu/archivum/eves-osszesitett-listak/radios/2005">"Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2005"</a> (in Hungarian). <a href="/wiki/Mahasz">Mahasz</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200603163335/https://slagerlistak.hu/archivum/eves-osszesitett-listak/radios/2005">Archived</a> from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-57">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-singles-chart/20050110/37501/">"End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2005"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Official_Charts_Company">Official Charts Company</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150926180217/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-singles-chart/20050110/37501/">Archived</a> from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2018.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-58">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://billboardtop100of.com/2005-2/">"Billboard Top 100 – 2005"</a>. <i>Billboardtop100of.com</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210224115205/http://billboardtop100of.com/2005-2/">Archived</a> from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-59">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://tophit.ru/ru/best-music-2006">"Лучшие песни и музыка за 2006 год"</a> (in Russian). <a href="/wiki/Tophit">Tophit</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211030170453/https://tophit.ru/ru/best-music-2006">Archived</a> from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-60">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://slagerlistak.hu/archivum/eves-osszesitett-listak/radios/2006">"Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2006"</a> (in Hungarian). Mahasz. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210422120238/https://slagerlistak.hu/archivum/eves-osszesitett-listak/radios/2006">Archived</a> from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-61">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2006/adult-pop-songs">"Adult Pop Songs – Year-End 2006"</a>. <i>Billboard</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190417202539/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2006/adult-pop-songs">Archived</a> from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-CanadaGreen_DayWake_Me_Up_When_September_EndssingleCertRef_62-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://musiccanada.com/gold-platinum/?_gp_search=Wake+Me+Up+When+September+Ends%20Green+Day&amp;_gp_format=digital-download">"Canadian single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Music_Canada">Music Canada</a>. Retrieved January 10, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-63">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150130131616/http://www.ifpi.dk/?q=content%2Fguld-og-platin-novemberdecemberjanuar">"Guld og platin november/december/januar"</a> (in Danish). <a href="/wiki/IFPI_Denmark">IFPI Denmark</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.ifpi.dk/?q=content/guld-og-platin-novemberdecemberjanuar">the original</a> on January 30, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-ItalyGreen_DayWake_Me_Up_When_September_EndssingleCertRef_64-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.fimi.it/top-of-the-music/certificazioni/certificazioni.kl#/certifications">"Italian single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends"</a> (in Italian). <a href="/wiki/Federazione_Industria_Musicale_Italiana">Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana</a>. Retrieved February 19, 2018.</cite> Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Wake Me Up When September Ends" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-United_KingdomGreen_DayWake_Me_Up_When_September_EndssingleCertRef_65-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/11575-2001-1">"British single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends"</a>. <a href="/wiki/British_Phonographic_Industry">British Phonographic Industry</a>. Retrieved March 1, 2019.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-United_StatesGreen_DayWake_Me_Up_When_September_EndssingleCertRef_66-0">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&amp;ar=Green+Day&amp;ti=Wake+Me+Up+When+September+Ends&amp;format=Single&amp;type=#search_section">"American single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America">Recording Industry Association of America</a>. Retrieved January 10, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-67">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-06-10.pdf">"Going for Adds"</a> (PDF). <i>Radio &amp; Records</i>. No. 1610. June 10, 2005. p. 19. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210309131053/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-06-10.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-68">^</a></b> <cite>"New Releases: Singles". <i><a href="/wiki/Music_Week">Music Week</a></i>. June 11, 2005. p. 35.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-69">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20050719140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20050720-0000/issue802.pdf">"The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 11/07/2005"</a> (PDF). ARIA. July 11, 2005. p. 28. Archived from <a href="http://www.aria.com.au/issue802.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on July 19, 2005. Retrieved May 22, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-70">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-07-08.pdf">"Going for Adds"</a> (PDF). <i>Radio &amp; Records</i>. No. 1614. July 8, 2005. p. 20. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210309121442/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-07-08.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-71">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-08-26.pdf">"Going for Adds"</a> (PDF). <i>Radio &amp; Records</i>. No. 1621. August 26, 2005. p. 20. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210309133401/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2005/RR-2005-08-26.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
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 * 1 Background
 * 2 Commercial performance
 * 3 Reception
 * 4 Music video
 * 5 Legacy
 * 6 Annual internet meme
 * 7 Track listings
 * 8 Charts
 + 8.1 Weekly charts
 + 8.2 Year-end charts
 * 9 Certifications
 * 10 Release history
 * 11 References
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 Wake Me Up When September Ends

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 
  
 Single by Green Day 
 from the album American Idiot 
 Released June 13, 2005 
 Recorded September 2003 
 Genre Alternative rock[1] 
 Length * 4 : 45 (album version)
  * 4:19 (radio edit) 
 Label  * Reprise 
  * Warner Bros. 
  * Billie Joe Armstrong 
 Songwriter(s) * Mike Dirnt 
  * Tré Cool 
 Producer(s) Rob Cavallo 
 Green Day singles chronology 
 "Holiday" "Wake Me Up When September Ends" "Jesus of Suburbia"
 (2005) (2005) (2005) 
  
  
 Music videos 
 "Wake Me Up When September Ends" on YouTube 
 "Wake Me Up When September Ends" (short version) on YouTube 
  
 

 "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a song by American rock band Green Day, released on June 13, 2005, as the fourth single from the group's seventh studio album, American Idiot (2004). The acoustic ballad[2] was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about the death of his father when he was 10 years old.

 The song became a hit single, peaking at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was also a top-10 single in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and New Zealand and was a number-one single in the Czech Republic. In the United States, the song became symbolic after Hurricane Katrina, where it was dedicated to victims of the disaster, and also regarded as a dedication to the victims of the September 11 attacks that occurred in 2001. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

 The song's music video depicts a couple broken apart by the Iraq War, which was intended to convey the song's central theme of loss.

 Background [ edit ]

 "Wake Me Up When September Ends" was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about his father, who died from esophageal cancer when Armstrong was 10 years old.[3][4] Armstrong at one point dubbed the song the most autobiographical he had written to that point, considering it "therapeutic" but also difficult to perform.[5]

 The song is notable in that it is largely unrelated to the storyline that runs throughout the rest of the album.[5]

 Commercial performance [ edit ]

 The single peaked at number six in the United States, becoming Green Day's second top-10 single. It also peaked at number eight in Canada and the UK, while reaching number 13 in Australia. The song was certified Gold in the United Kingdom for sales of 400,000.[6] The song ended the streak of Green Day's three consecutive number-one hits on the Modern Rock Tracks chart ("American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and "Holiday"), but it peaked at number two on the chart, kept from number one by Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc." The song also made it to number two on the Adult Top 40 chart and the Mainstream Top 40 chart. This was the band's most successful song in the adult contemporary market, hitting number three on the Adult Contemporary Chart and their only song to appear on that specific chart other than "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

 "Wake Me Up When September Ends" had sold 1,652,000 copies as of May 2010.[7]

 Reception [ edit ]

 Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone deemed the song a sequel to the group's 1997 single "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)".[8]

 Music video [ edit ]

 The song's music video was directed by Samuel Bayer, best known for his work with Nirvana and Metallica.[9] Bayer wrote the treatment for the video, which he envisioned as a mini-movie.[5] Bayer brought the idea of an Iraq War-themed video to the trio after interviewing soldiers who had signed up to fight after being persuaded by a television advertisement. The song's music video thus attempts to "turn the machine on itself" by acting as a commercial for "free thought or peace."[10] Although it was far from the song's literal meaning, Armstrong felt it appropriate considering the song's theme of loss.[11] Bayer noted that he felt bored with predictable music videos, and wanted to produce a video that felt like a film. Consequently, he and a crew spent a month casting actors for the roles and conducted rehearsals, uncommon for music videos.[9] The clip was filmed in Los Angeles in late March 2005.[5]

 The video focuses on a couple in love (played by Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood).[9] The boyfriend promises never to leave his girlfriend but they later argue when the boyfriend enlists in the United States Marine Corps. The boyfriend interprets his actions as a way to show her that he loves her so much that he would put his life on the line to keep her safe. However, the girlfriend is heartbroken, as he broke his vow to never leave her. The video then shows the boyfriend in battle in Iraq being ambushed by insurgents. Despite the Marines fighting back, the boyfriend watches as several of his comrades fall to the ground wounded. Their fate—and his—is left unknown. This scene is intercut with scenes of the girlfriend tearfully mourning in a quiet field. The video ends on this juxtaposition, emphasizing the pain and heartache of losing loved ones due to the war.

 The clip prompted criticism from conservative media pundits.[12] On the subject of the clip being seen as exploitive of the war for entertainment purposes, Green Day's Mike Dirnt rejected this notion: "Rock & roll should be dangerous. […] It should be striking and stir questions, and I think that that video, at the end of the day, comes down to that core emotion of loss."[10] Bayer considered it his best production to that point, remarking, "'September' is hands down the greatest thing I've ever done."[9]

 The video reached number one on Total Request Live,[11] and came in second for best video of the year in a 2005 Reader's Poll by Rolling Stone.[13]

 Legacy [ edit ]

 "Wake Me Up When September Ends" became closely associated with Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005, three days before the start of September. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" became symbolic in the aftermath; one blogger paired the song with television coverage of the disaster, creating a viral video.[14] Green Day performed the song days after the disaster on ReAct Now: Music & Relief, a benefit concert broadcast on MTV and its associated properties.[15]

 A live version of the song, recorded on September 3, 2005, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, was released soon after and dedicated to the hurricane's victims.

 The song was performed live with U2 guitarist The Edge in the pregame show of the Monday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons; it was the first game played in the Superdome in New Orleans after the hurricane.[16]

 Annual internet meme [ edit ]

 Internet memes have circulated on social media between the dates of September 30 and October 1, featuring captions ordering Armstrong to wake up because September has ended, a literal interpretation of the song's title. Armstrong has expressed his displeasure with the memes and has joked about wanting to write a sequel song in response called "Shut the Fuck Up When October Begins".[17]

 Track listings [ edit ]

 UK CD1[18]
 No. Title  Length
 1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 4:45 
 2. "Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 3:38 
 
 UK CD2[19]
 No. Title  Length
 1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 4:45 
 2. "Homecoming" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 9:24 
 3. "Hitchin' a Ride"  2:52 
 
 Australian CD single[20]
 No. Title  Length
 1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 4:45 
 2. "Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 3:38 
 3. "Homecoming" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 9:24 
 
 Live (iTunes exclusive)[21]
 No. Title  Length
 1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" (live at Foxboro, Massachusetts on September 3, 2005) 5:40 
 

 UK 7-inch picture disc[22]

 Side A
 No. Title Length
 1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 4:45 
 
 Side B
 No. Title  Length
 1. "Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 3:38 
 

 Charts [ edit ]

 Weekly charts [ edit ] Year-end charts [ edit ] 
   
 Weekly chart performance for "Wake Me Up When September Ends" Year-end chart performance for "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
 Chart (2005–2006) Peak Chart (2005) Position 
  position Australia (ARIA)[54] 87 
 Australia (ARIA)[23] 13 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[55] 72 
 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[24] 15 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[56] 90 
 Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[25] 3 UK Singles (OCC)[57] 53 
 Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[26] 2 US Billboard Hot 100[58] 46 
 Canada CHR/Pop Top 30 (Radio & Records)[27] 4  
 Canada Rock Top 30 (Radio & Records)[28] 1 Chart (2006) Position 
 CIS (TopHit)[29] 26 CIS (Tophit)[59] 135 
 Croatia (HRT)[30] 1 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[60] 67 
 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[31] 1 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[61] 25 
 Germany (Official German Charts)[32] 22  
 Greece (IFPI)[33] 29  
 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[34] 10  
 Ireland (IRMA)[35] 13  
 Italy (FIMI)[36] 33  
 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[37] 35  
 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[38] 44  
 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[39] 10  
 Scotland (OCC)[40] 51  
 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 21  
 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 22  
 UK Singles (OCC)[43] 8  
 UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[44] 5  
 US Billboard Hot 100[45] 6  
 US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[46] 3  
 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[47] 13  
 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[48] 2  
 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[49] 2  
 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[50] 12  
 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[51] 4  
   
 Chart (2011) Peak  
 position  
 UK Rock and Metal (OCC)[52] 28  
   
 Chart (2021) Peak  
  position  
 Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard)[53] 19  
   
 

 Certifications [ edit ]

 Certifications and sales for "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
 Region Certification Certified units/sales
 Canada (Music Canada)[62] Platinum 20,000* 
 Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[63] Gold 4,000^ 
 Italy (FIMI)[64] Platinum 20,000* 
 United Kingdom (BPI)[65] Platinum 600,000 
 United States (RIAA)[66] Platinum 1,000,000* 
 * Sales figures based on certification alone. 
 ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. 
 Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
  
 

 Release history [ edit ]

 Release dates and formats for "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
 Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
 United States June 13, 2005 Alternative radio Reprise [67]
 United Kingdom CD [68] 
 Australia July 11, 2005 [69] 
 United States * Mainstream rock [70] 
 * active rock radio 
 August 29, 2005 * Triple A [71] 
 * contemporary hit radio 
 

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ Gallucci, Michael (April 20, 2013). "10 Alt-Rock Videos Featuring Movie Stars". Diffuser. Archived from the original on February 26, 2019 . Retrieved April 4, 2022 .
 2. ^ Blum, Jordan (October 20, 2014). "United States of Rage and Love: Green Day – "Wake Me Up When September Ends"". PopMatters. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020 . Retrieved August 21, 2020 . "Structurally, the song is another acoustic guitar ballad at heart."
 3. ^ Hendrickson, Matt (February 24, 2005). "Green Day and the Palace of Wisdom". Rolling Stone. New York City (968). ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on June 8, 2015 . Retrieved June 3, 2015 .
 4. ^ "Wake Me Up When September Ends". Song Facts. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016 . Retrieved January 22, 2016 .
 5. ^ a b c d Montgomery, James (April 19, 2005). "It's A Dark Day For Green Day In Somber 'September' Video". MTV News. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015 . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
 6. ^ "Certified Awards". Archived from the original on March 31, 2013 . Retrieved August 6, 2017 .
 7. ^ "Chart Watch" . Retrieved July 31, 2010 . [ dead link ]
 8. ^ Sheffield, Rob (September 30, 2004). "Green Day: American Idiot". Rolling Stone. No. 958. New York City. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015 . Retrieved June 3, 2015 .
 9. ^ a b c d James Montgomery (August 9, 2005). "'Teen Spirit' Director Calls Green Day Clip His Career Highlight". MTV News. New York City. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015 . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
 10. ^ a b Colapinto, John (November 17, 2005). "Green Day: Working Class Heroes". Rolling Stone. No. 987. New York City. pp. 50–56. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015 . Retrieved June 3, 2015 .
 11. ^ a b Moss, Corey (August 31, 2005). "Think Green Day's 'September' Clip Is Epic? Just Wait For 'Jesus Of Suburbia'". MTV News. New York City. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015 . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
 12. ^ James Montgomery (April 22, 2009). "Green Day's Greatest Video Moments". MTV News. New York City. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016 . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
 13. ^ Greene, Andy (January 11, 2006). "The 2005 Readers' Poll". Rolling Stone. New York City. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015 . Retrieved June 3, 2015 .
 14. ^ Boxer, Sarah (September 24, 2005). "Art of the Internet: A Protest Song, Reloaded". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015 . Retrieved May 31, 2015 .
 15. ^ Moss, Corey (September 10, 2005). "Reznor, Kanye, Green Day Reflect On Disaster, Inspire Relief For MTV Special". MTV News. New York City. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015 . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
 16. ^ Saiidi, Uptin (September 30, 2005). "'Wake Me Up When September Ends': 10 Fun Ways To Commemorate Green Day's Hit". MTV News. New York City. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015 . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
 17. ^ Murphy, Patricia (November 13, 2016). "'Shut the F*** Up When October Begins'- Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong on the trolls who mock his most famous song". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019 . Retrieved July 30, 2019 .
 18. ^ Wake Me Up When September Ends (UK CD1 liner notes). Green Day. Reprise Records. 2005. W674CD1, 5439 16013 2.{{cite AV media notes}} : CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link )
 19. ^ Wake Me Up When September Ends (UK CD2 liner notes). Green Day. Reprise Records. 2005. W674CD2, 9362 42810 2.{{cite AV media notes}} : CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link )
 20. ^ Wake Me Up When September Ends (Australian CD single liner notes). Green Day. Reprise Records. 2005. 9362 42816 2.{{cite AV media notes}} : CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link )
 21. ^ "Wake Me Up When September Ends (Live At Foxboro, MA 9/3/05) – Single". Apple Music. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022 . Retrieved December 5, 2020 .
 22. ^ Wake Me Up When September Ends (UK 7-inch picture disc sleeve). Green Day. Reprise Records. 2005. W 674, 5439 16013-7.{{cite AV media notes}} : CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link )
 23. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" . ARIA Top 50 Singles . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 24. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40 . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 25. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in Dutch). Ultratip . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 26. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in French). Ultratip . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 27. ^ "R&R Canada CHR/Pop Top 30" (PDF) . Radio & Records. No. 1630. October 28, 2005. p. 29. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 27, 2021 . Retrieved October 16, 2020 .
 28. ^ "R&R Canada Rock Top 30" (PDF) . Radio & Records. No. 1622. September 2, 2005. p. 54. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 18, 2020 . Retrieved October 11, 2019 .
 29. ^ Green Day — Wake Me Up When September Ends . TopHit . Retrieved October 30, 2021.
 30. ^ "Top Lista Hrvatskog Radija". Croatian Radiotelevision. Archived from the original on August 28, 2005 . Retrieved March 14, 2021 .
 31. ^ " ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200539 into search . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 32. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 33. ^ "IFPI archive". Archived from the original on December 17, 2005 . Retrieved December 17, 2005 .
 34. ^ " Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista . Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
 35. ^ " The Irish Charts – Search Results – Wake Me Up When September Ends" . Irish Singles Chart . Retrieved January 29, 2020.
 36. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" . Top Digital Download . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 37. ^ " Nederlandse Top 40 – week 34, 2005 " (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved November 19, 2018.
 38. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in Dutch). Single Top 100 . Retrieved November 19, 2018.
 39. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" . Top 40 Singles . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 40. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved November 19, 2018.
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 42. ^ " Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" . Swiss Singles Chart . Retrieved November 19, 2018.
 43. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 44. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 45. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Hot 100)" . Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 46. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)" . Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 47. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Adult Contemporary)" . Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 48. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)" . Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 49. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Alternative Airplay)" . Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 50. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Mainstream Rock)" . Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 51. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Pop Songs)" . Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
 52. ^ "2011-03-19 Top 40 Rock & Metal Singles Archive". Official Charts Company. March 19, 2011. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016 . Retrieved January 8, 2012 .
 53. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Overseas [2021/10/06 公開]". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 24, 2021 . Retrieved October 21, 2021 .
 54. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2005". ARIA. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017 . Retrieved December 5, 2020 .
 55. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 2005" (in German). Archived from the original on January 24, 2016 . Retrieved November 19, 2018 .
 56. ^ "Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2005" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020 . Retrieved April 2, 2020 .
 57. ^ "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2005". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015 . Retrieved November 19, 2018 .
 58. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 2005". Billboardtop100of.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021 . Retrieved December 5, 2020 .
 59. ^ "Лучшие песни и музыка за 2006 год" (in Russian). Tophit. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021 . Retrieved October 30, 2021 .
 60. ^ "Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2006" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021 . Retrieved June 7, 2020 .
 61. ^ "Adult Pop Songs – Year-End 2006". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019 . Retrieved September 22, 2019 .
 62. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". Music Canada . Retrieved January 10, 2015 .
 63. ^ "Guld og platin november/december/januar" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Archived from the original on January 30, 2015.
 64. ^ "Italian single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana . Retrieved February 19, 2018 . Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Wake Me Up When September Ends" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
 65. ^ "British single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved March 1, 2019 .
 66. ^ "American single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved January 10, 2015 .
 67. ^ "Going for Adds" (PDF) . Radio & Records. No. 1610. June 10, 2005. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2021 . Retrieved May 22, 2021 .
 68. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. June 11, 2005. p. 35.
 69. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 11/07/2005" (PDF) . ARIA. July 11, 2005. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 19, 2005 . Retrieved May 22, 2021 .
 70. ^ "Going for Adds" (PDF) . Radio & Records. No. 1614. July 8, 2005. p. 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2021 . Retrieved May 22, 2021 .
 71. ^ "Going for Adds" (PDF) . Radio & Records. No. 1621. August 26, 2005. p. 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2021 . Retrieved May 22, 2021 .
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
	 
   "Wake Me Up When September Ends"          Single by Green Day    from the album  American Idiot     Released June 13, 2005   Recorded September 2003    Genre   Alternative rock  [1]     Length  
 4:45 (album version)
4:19 (radio edit) 
     Label   
  Reprise 
 Warner Bros.  
     Songwriter(s)   
  Billie Joe Armstrong 
 Mike Dirnt 
 Tré Cool  
     Producer(s)   Rob Cavallo     Green Day singles chronology   
 
"Holiday" (2005)
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" (2005)
"Jesus of Suburbia" (2005)
           Music videos    "Wake Me Up When September Ends" on YouTube  "Wake Me Up When September Ends" (short version) on YouTube    
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a song by American rock band Green Day, released on June 13, 2005, as the fourth single from the group's seventh studio album,  American Idiot  (2004). The acoustic ballad  [2]  was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about the death of his father when he was 10 years old.
 The song became a hit single, peaking at number six on the US  Billboard Hot 100. It was also a top-10 single in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and New Zealand and was a number-one single in the Czech Republic. In the United States, the song became symbolic after Hurricane Katrina, where it was dedicated to victims of the disaster, and also regarded as a dedication to the victims of the September 11 attacks that occurred in 2001. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
 The song's music video depicts a couple broken apart by the Iraq War, which was intended to convey the song's central theme of loss.
Background[edit]
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about his father, who died from esophageal cancer when Armstrong was 10 years old. [3]   [4]  Armstrong at one point dubbed the song the most autobiographical he had written to that point, considering it "therapeutic" but also difficult to perform. [5] 
 The song is notable in that it is largely unrelated to the storyline that runs throughout the rest of the album. [5] 
Commercial performance[edit]
The single peaked at number six in the United States, becoming Green Day's second top-10 single. It also peaked at number eight in Canada and the UK, while reaching number 13 in Australia. The song was certified Gold in the United Kingdom for sales of 400,000. [6]  The song ended the streak of Green Day's three consecutive number-one hits on the Modern Rock Tracks chart ("American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and "Holiday"), but it peaked at number two on the chart, kept from number one by Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc." The song also made it to number two on the Adult Top 40 chart and the Mainstream Top 40 chart. This was the band's most successful song in the adult contemporary market, hitting number three on the Adult Contemporary Chart and their only song to appear on that specific chart other than "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".
 "Wake Me Up When September Ends" had sold 1,652,000 copies as of May 2010. [7] 
Reception[edit]
 Rob Sheffield of  Rolling Stone  deemed the song a sequel to the group's 1997 single "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". [8] 
Music video[edit]
The song's music video was directed by Samuel Bayer, best known for his work with Nirvana and Metallica. [9]  Bayer wrote the treatment for the video, which he envisioned as a mini-movie. [5]  Bayer brought the idea of an Iraq War-themed video to the trio after interviewing soldiers who had signed up to fight after being persuaded by a television advertisement. The song's music video thus attempts to "turn the machine on itself" by acting as a commercial for "free thought or peace." [10]  Although it was far from the song's literal meaning, Armstrong felt it appropriate considering the song's theme of loss. [11]  Bayer noted that he felt bored with predictable music videos, and wanted to produce a video that felt like a film. Consequently, he and a crew spent a month casting actors for the roles and conducted rehearsals, uncommon for music videos. [9]  The clip was filmed in Los Angeles in late March 2005. [5] 
 The video focuses on a couple in love (played by Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood). [9]  The boyfriend promises never to leave his girlfriend but they later argue when the boyfriend enlists in the United States Marine Corps. The boyfriend interprets his actions as a way to show her that he loves her so much that he would put his life on the line to keep her safe. However, the girlfriend is heartbroken, as he broke his vow to never leave her. The video then shows the boyfriend in battle in Iraq being ambushed by insurgents. Despite the Marines fighting back, the boyfriend watches as several of his comrades fall to the ground wounded. Their fate—and his—is left unknown. This scene is intercut with scenes of the girlfriend tearfully mourning in a quiet field. The video ends on this juxtaposition, emphasizing the pain and heartache of losing loved ones due to the war.
 The clip prompted criticism from conservative media pundits. [12]  On the subject of the clip being seen as exploitive of the war for entertainment purposes, Green Day's Mike Dirnt rejected this notion: "Rock &amp; roll should be dangerous. […] It should be striking and stir questions, and I think that that video, at the end of the day, comes down to that core emotion of loss." [10]  Bayer considered it his best production to that point, remarking, "'September' is hands down the greatest thing I've ever done." [9] 
 The video reached number one on  Total Request Live , [11]  and came in second for best video of the year in a 2005 Reader's Poll by  Rolling Stone . [13] 
Legacy[edit]
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" became closely associated with Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005, three days before the start of September. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" became symbolic in the aftermath; one blogger paired the song with television coverage of the disaster, creating a viral video. [14]  Green Day performed the song days after the disaster on  ReAct Now: Music &amp; Relief , a benefit concert broadcast on MTV and its associated properties. [15] 
 A live version of the song, recorded on September 3, 2005, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, was released soon after and dedicated to the hurricane's victims.
 The song was performed live with U2 guitarist The Edge in the pregame show of the Monday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons; it was the first game played in the Superdome in New Orleans after the hurricane. [16] 
Annual internet meme[edit]
 Internet memes have circulated on social media between the dates of September 30 and October 1, featuring captions ordering Armstrong to wake up because September has ended, a literal interpretation of the song's title. Armstrong has expressed his displeasure with the memes and has joked about wanting to write a sequel song in response called "Shut the Fuck Up When October Begins". [17] 
Track listings[edit]
  UK CD1 [18]      No.  Title Length   1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 4:45   2. "Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 3:38    
  UK CD2 [19]      No.  Title Length   1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 4:45   2. "Homecoming" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 9:24   3. "Hitchin' a Ride" 2:52    
  Australian CD single [20]      No.  Title Length   1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 4:45   2. "Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 3:38   3. "Homecoming" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 9:24    
  Live (iTunes exclusive) [21]      No.  Title Length   1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" (live at Foxboro, Massachusetts on September 3, 2005) 5:40    
 UK 7-inch picture disc  [22] 
  Side A    No.  Title Length   1. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" 4:45    
  Side B    No.  Title Length   1. "Give Me Novacaine" (live at VH1 Storytellers, Culver City, California on February 15, 2005) 3:38    
Charts[edit]
Certifications[edit]
Release history[edit]
References[edit]
 
  ^  Gallucci, Michael (April 20, 2013). "10 Alt-Rock Videos Featuring Movie Stars". Diffuser. Archived from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  ^  Blum, Jordan (October 20, 2014). "United States of Rage and Love: Green Day – "Wake Me Up When September Ends"".  PopMatters . Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 21, 2020. Structurally, the song is another acoustic guitar ballad at heart. 
  ^  Hendrickson, Matt (February 24, 2005). "Green Day and the Palace of Wisdom".  Rolling Stone . New York City (968). ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  ^   "Wake Me Up When September Ends". Song Facts. Archived from the original on January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
^    a       b       c       d    Montgomery, James (April 19, 2005). "It's A Dark Day For Green Day In Somber 'September' Video".  MTV News . Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^   "Certified Awards". Archived from the original on March 31, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  ^   "Chart Watch". Retrieved July 31, 2010. [ dead link ]
  ^   Sheffield, Rob (September 30, 2004). "Green Day: American Idiot".  Rolling Stone . No. 958. New York City. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
^    a       b       c       d    James Montgomery (August 9, 2005). "'Teen Spirit' Director Calls Green Day Clip His Career Highlight".  MTV News . New York City. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
^    a       b     Colapinto, John (November 17, 2005). "Green Day: Working Class Heroes".  Rolling Stone . No. 987. New York City. pp. 50–56. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
^    a       b    Moss, Corey (August 31, 2005). "Think Green Day's 'September' Clip Is Epic? Just Wait For 'Jesus Of Suburbia'".  MTV News . New York City. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  James Montgomery (April 22, 2009). "Green Day's Greatest Video Moments".  MTV News . New York City. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  Greene, Andy (January 11, 2006). "The 2005 Readers' Poll".  Rolling Stone . New York City. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  ^  Boxer, Sarah (September 24, 2005). "Art of the Internet: A Protest Song, Reloaded".  The New York Times . New York City. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  ^  Moss, Corey (September 10, 2005). "Reznor, Kanye, Green Day Reflect On Disaster, Inspire Relief For MTV Special".  MTV News . New York City. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  Saiidi, Uptin (September 30, 2005). "'Wake Me Up When September Ends': 10 Fun Ways To Commemorate Green Day's Hit".  MTV News . New York City. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  Murphy, Patricia (November 13, 2016). "'Shut the F*** Up When October Begins'- Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong on the trolls who mock his most famous song".  Irish Independent . Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  ^   Wake Me Up When September Ends (UK CD1 liner notes). Green Day. Reprise Records. 2005. W674CD1, 5439 16013 2. {{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  ^   Wake Me Up When September Ends (UK CD2 liner notes). Green Day. Reprise Records. 2005. W674CD2, 9362 42810 2. {{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  ^   Wake Me Up When September Ends (Australian CD single liner notes). Green Day. Reprise Records. 2005. 9362 42816 2. {{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  ^   "Wake Me Up When September Ends (Live At Foxboro, MA 9/3/05) – Single". Apple Music. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  ^   Wake Me Up When September Ends (UK 7-inch picture disc sleeve). Green Day. Reprise Records. 2005. W 674, 5439 16013-7. {{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^   "R&amp;R Canada CHR/Pop Top 30" (PDF).  Radio &amp; Records . No. 1630. October 28, 2005. p. 29. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  ^   "R&amp;R Canada Rock Top 30" (PDF).  Radio &amp; Records . No. 1622. September 2, 2005. p. 54. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  ^  Green Day — Wake Me Up When September Ends. TopHit. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  ^   "Top Lista Hrvatskog Radija". Croatian Radiotelevision. Archived from the original on August 28, 2005. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  ^  "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200539 into search. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved June 9, 2015. 
  ^   "IFPI archive". Archived from the original on December 17, 2005. Retrieved December 17, 2005.
  ^  "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. 
  ^  "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Wake Me Up When September Ends". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". Top Digital Download. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 34, 2005" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". Singles Top 100. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  ^  "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Official Rock &amp; Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day Chart History (Hot 100)".  Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)".  Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day Chart History (Adult Contemporary)".  Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)".  Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day Chart History (Alternative Airplay)".  Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day Chart History (Mainstream Rock)".  Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^  "Green Day Chart History (Pop Songs)".  Billboard . Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  ^   "2011-03-19 Top 40 Rock &amp; Metal Singles Archive". Official Charts Company. March 19, 2011. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  ^   "Billboard Japan Hot Overseas [2021/10/06 公開]".  Billboard Japan  (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  ^   "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2005". ARIA. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  ^   "Jahreshitparade Singles 2005" (in German). Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  ^   "Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2005" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  ^   "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2005". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  ^   "Billboard Top 100 – 2005". Billboardtop100of.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  ^   "Лучшие песни и музыка за 2006 год" (in Russian). Tophit. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  ^   "Rádiós Top 100 – hallgatottsági adatok alapján – 2006" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  ^   "Adult Pop Songs – Year-End 2006". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  ^   "Canadian single certifications – Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends". Music Canada. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
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Wake Me Up When September Ends - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_Me_Up_When_September_Ends
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Mozart)
Requiem (Mozart) - Wikipedia
2004-04-28
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<div><div>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Requiem</th></tr><tr><td>by <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a><br />completed by <a href="/wiki/Franz_Xaver_S%C3%BCssmayr">Franz Xaver Süssmayr</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/wiki/File:Croce-Mozart-Detail.jpg"></a><p>Mozart in 1781</p></td></tr><tr><th>Key</th><td><a href="/wiki/D_minor">D minor</a></td></tr><tr><th>Catalogue</th><td><a href="/wiki/K%C3%B6chel_catalogue">K.</a> 626</td></tr><tr><th>Text</th><td><a href="/wiki/Music_for_the_Requiem_Mass">Requiem</a></td></tr><tr><th>Language</th><td>Latin</td></tr><tr><th>Composed</th><td>1791<br />(Süssmayr completion finished 1792)</td></tr><tr><th>Scoring</th><td><div><ul><li>four soloists</li><li>chorus</li><li>orchestra</li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>The <b>Requiem</b> in <a href="/wiki/D_minor">D minor</a>, <a href="/wiki/K%C3%B6chel_catalogue">K.</a> 626, is a <a href="/wiki/Music_for_the_Requiem_Mass">requiem mass</a> by <a href="/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a> (1756–1791). Mozart composed part of the Requiem in Vienna in late 1791, but it was unfinished at <a href="/wiki/Death_of_Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">his death</a> on 5 December the same year. A completed version dated 1792 by <a href="/wiki/Franz_Xaver_S%C3%BCssmayr">Franz Xaver Süssmayr</a> was delivered to Count <a href="/wiki/Franz_von_Walsegg">Franz von Walsegg</a>, who commissioned the piece for a requiem service on 14 February 1792 to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of his wife Anna at the age of 20 on 14 February 1791.
</p><p>The autograph manuscript shows the finished and <a href="/wiki/Orchestration">orchestrated</a> <a href="/wiki/Introit">Introit</a> in Mozart's hand, and detailed drafts of the <a href="/wiki/Kyrie">Kyrie</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Sequence_(musical_form)">sequence</a> <a href="/wiki/Dies_irae">Dies irae</a> as far as the first eight bars of the <a href="/wiki/Lacrimosa">Lacrymosa</a> <a href="/wiki/Movement_(music)">movement</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Offertory">Offertory</a>. It cannot be shown to what extent Süssmayr may have depended on now lost "scraps of paper" for the remainder; he later claimed the <a href="/wiki/Sanctus">Sanctus and Benedictus</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Agnus_Dei_(music)">Agnus Dei</a> as his own.
</p><p>Walsegg probably intended to pass the Requiem off as his own composition, as he is known to have done with other works. This plan was frustrated by a public benefit performance for Mozart's widow <a href="/wiki/Constanze_Mozart">Constanze</a>. She was responsible for a number of stories surrounding the composition of the work, including the claims that Mozart received the commission from a mysterious messenger who did not reveal the commissioner's identity, and that Mozart came to believe that he was writing the requiem for his own funeral.
</p><p>In addition to the Süssmayr version, <a href="/wiki/Modern_completions_of_Mozart%27s_Requiem">a number of alternative completions</a> have been developed by composers and musicologists in the 20th and 21st centuries.
</p>
<h2>Instrumentation[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The Requiem is scored for 2 <a href="/wiki/Basset_horn">basset horns</a> in F, 2 <a href="/wiki/Bassoon">bassoons</a>, 2 <a href="/wiki/Trumpet">trumpets</a> in D, 3 <a href="/wiki/Trombone">trombones</a> (<a href="/wiki/Alto_trombone">alto</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tenor_trombone">tenor</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Bass_Trombone">bass</a>), <a href="/wiki/Timpani">timpani</a> (2 drums), <a href="/wiki/Violin">violins</a>, <a href="/wiki/Viola">viola</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Basso_continuo">basso continuo</a> (<a href="/wiki/Cello">cello</a>, <a href="/wiki/Double_bass">double bass</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Pipe_organ">organ</a>). The basset horn parts are sometimes played on conventional <a href="/wiki/Clarinet">clarinets</a>, even though this changes the <a href="/wiki/Sonority_(music)">sonority</a>.
</p><p>The vocal forces consist of <a href="/wiki/Soprano">soprano</a>, <a href="/wiki/Contralto">contralto</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tenor">tenor</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Bass_(voice_type)">bass</a> soloists and an <a href="/wiki/SATB">SATB</a> mixed <a href="/wiki/Choir">choir</a>.
</p>
<h2>Structure[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:K626_Requiem_Mozart.jpg"></a></p><div><p>The first page of Mozart's autograph score</p></div></div>
<p>Süssmayr's completion divides the <a href="/wiki/Requiem">Requiem</a> into eight sections:
</p>
<div><ol><li><b><a href="/wiki/Introit">Introitus</a></b></li></ol></div>
<dl><dd><div><ol><li>Requiem aeternam</li></ol></div></dd></dl>
<div><ol><li><b><a href="/wiki/Kyrie">Kyrie</a></b></li><li><b><a href="/wiki/Sequence_(musical_form)">Sequentia</a></b></li></ol></div>
<dl><dd><div><ol><li><a href="/wiki/Dies_irae">Dies irae</a></li><li>Tuba mirum</li><li>Rex tremendae</li><li>Recordare</li><li>Confutatis</li><li><a href="/wiki/Lacrimosa">Lacrymosa</a></li></ol></div></dd></dl>
<div><ol><li><b><a href="/wiki/Offertory">Offertorium</a></b></li></ol></div>
<dl><dd><div><ol><li>Domine Jesu</li><li>Hostias</li></ol></div></dd></dl>
<div><ol><li><b><a href="/wiki/Sanctus">Sanctus</a></b></li><li><b><a href="/wiki/Sanctus">Benedictus</a></b></li><li><b><a href="/wiki/Agnus_Dei_(music)">Agnus Dei</a></b></li><li><b><a href="/wiki/Communion_(chant)">Communio</a></b></li></ol></div>
<dl><dd><div><ol><li>Lux aeterna</li><li>Cum sanctis tuis</li></ol></div></dd></dl>
<p>All sections from the Sanctus onwards are not present in Mozart's manuscript fragment. Mozart may have intended to include the <i>Amen</i> fugue at the end of the Sequentia, but Süssmayr did not do so in his completion.
</p><p>The following table shows for the eight sections in Süssmayr's completion with their subdivisions: the title, vocal parts (solo <a href="/wiki/Soprano">soprano</a> (<b>S</b>), <a href="/wiki/Alto">alto</a> (<b>A</b>), <a href="/wiki/Tenor">tenor</a> (<b>T</b>) and <a href="/wiki/Bass_(voice_type)">bass</a> (<b>B</b>) [in <b>bold</b>] and four-part choir <a href="/wiki/SATB">SATB</a>), <a href="/wiki/Tempo">tempo</a>, <a href="/wiki/Key_(music)">key</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Metre_(music)">meter</a>.
</p>
<dl><dd><table>
<caption>
</caption>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Section
</th>
<th>Title
</th>
<th>Vocal
</th>
<th>Tempo
</th>
<th>Key
</th>
<th>Meter
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>I. Introitus
</td>
<td>Requiem aeternam
</td>
<td><b>S</b>SATB
</td>
<td>Adagio
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/D_minor">D minor</a>
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>II. Kyrie
</td>
<td>Kyrie eleison
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>Allegro
</td>
<td>D minor
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>III. Sequentia
</td>
<td>Dies irae
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>Allegro assai
</td>
<td>D minor
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Tuba mirum
</td>
<td><b>SATB</b>
</td>
<td>Andante
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/B-flat_major">B♭ major</a>
</td>
<td><sup><b>2</b></sup><br /><sub><b>2</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Rex tremendae
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>–
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/G_minor">G minor</a> – D minor
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Recordare
</td>
<td><b>SATB</b>
</td>
<td>–
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/F_major">F major</a>
</td>
<td><sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Confutatis
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>Andante
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/A_minor">A minor</a> – F major
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Lacrymosa
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>Larghetto
</td>
<td>D minor
</td>
<td><sup><b>12</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>IV. Offertorium
</td>
<td>Domine Jesu
</td>
<td><b>SATB</b>SATB
</td>
<td>Andante con moto
</td>
<td>G minor
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Hostias
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>Andante – Andante con moto
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/E-flat_major">E♭ major</a> – G minor
</td>
<td><sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> – <sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>V. Sanctus
</td>
<td>Sanctus
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>Adagio
</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/D_major">D major</a>
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Hosanna
</td>
<td>Allegro
</td>
<td><sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>VI. Benedictus
</td>
<td>Benedictus
</td>
<td><b>SATB</b>
</td>
<td>Andante
</td>
<td>B♭ major
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Hosanna
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>Allegro
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>VII. Agnus Dei
</td>
<td>Agnus Dei
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>
</td>
<td>D minor – B♭ major
</td>
<td><sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>VIII. Communio
</td>
<td>Lux aeterna
</td>
<td><b>S</b>SATB
</td>
<td>–
</td>
<td>B♭ major – D minor
</td>
<td><sup><b>4</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Cum sanctis tuis
</td>
<td>SATB
</td>
<td>Allegro
</td></tr></tbody></table></dd></dl>
<h2>Music[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>I. Introitus[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>The Requiem begins with a seven-measure instrumental <a href="/wiki/Introduction_(music)">introduction</a>, in which the woodwinds (first bassoons, then basset horns) present the principal <a href="/wiki/Theme_(music)">theme</a> of the work in <a href="/wiki/Imitative_counterpoint">imitative counterpoint</a>. The first five measures of this passage (without the accompaniment) are shown below.
</p>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>This theme is modeled after <a href="/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel">Handel</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Ways_of_Zion_Do_Mourn_/_Funeral_Anthem_for_Queen_Caroline">The ways of Zion do mourn</a></i>, HWV 264. Many parts of the work make reference to this passage, notably in the <a href="/wiki/Coloratura">coloratura</a> in the Kyrie <a href="/wiki/Fugue">fugue</a> and in the conclusion of the Lacrymosa.
</p><p>The trombones then announce the entry of the choir, which breaks into the theme, with the basses alone for the first measure, followed by imitation by the other parts. The chords play off <a href="/wiki/Syncopation">syncopated</a> and staggered structures in the accompaniment, thus underlining the solemn and steady nature of the music. A soprano solo is sung to the <i>Te decet hymnus</i> text in the <i><a href="/wiki/Tonus_peregrinus">tonus peregrinus</a></i>. The choir continues, repeating the psalmtone while singing the <i>Exaudi orationem meam</i> section.<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> Then, the principal theme is treated by the choir and the orchestra in downward-gliding sixteenth-notes. The courses of the melodies, whether held up or moving down, change and interlace amongst themselves, while passages in <a href="/wiki/Counterpoint">counterpoint</a> and in unison (e.g., <i>Et lux perpetua</i>) alternate; all this creates the charm of this movement, which finishes with a <a href="/wiki/Cadence#Half_cadence">half cadence</a> on the <a href="/wiki/Dominant_(music)">dominant</a>.
</p>
<h3>II. Kyrie[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h3>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>The Kyrie follows without pause (<i>attacca</i>). It is a <a href="/wiki/Double_fugue">double fugue</a> also on a Handelian theme: the <a href="/wiki/Subject_(music)">subject</a> is based on "<a href="/wiki/Messiah_Part_II#25">And with his stripes we are healed</a>" from <a href="/wiki/Messiah_(Handel)"><i>Messiah</i></a>, HWV 56 (with which Mozart was familiar given his work on <a href="/wiki/Der_Messias">a German-language version</a>) and the <a href="/wiki/Counter-subject">counter-subject</a> comes from the final chorus of the Dettingen Anthem, HWV 265. The first three measures of the <a href="/wiki/Alto">altos</a> and <a href="/wiki/Bass_(voice_type)">basses</a> are shown below.
</p>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>The contrapuntal motifs of the theme of this fugue include variations on the two themes of the Introit. At first, upward <a href="/wiki/Diatonic_and_chromatic">diatonic</a> series of sixteenth-notes are replaced by <a href="/wiki/Diatonic_and_chromatic">chromatic</a> series, which has the effect of augmenting the intensity. This passage shows itself to be a bit demanding in the upper voices, particularly for the soprano voice. A final portion in a slower (Adagio) tempo ends on an "empty" fifth, a construction which had during the classical period become archaic, lending the piece an ancient air.
</p>
<h3>III. Sequentia[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h3>
<h4>a. Dies irae[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>The Dies irae ("Day of Wrath") opens with a show of orchestral and choral might with <a href="/wiki/Tremolo">tremolo</a> strings, syncopated figures and repeated chords in the brass. A rising chromatic scurry of sixteenth-notes leads into a chromatically rising harmonic progression with the chorus singing "<i>Quantus tremor est futurus</i>" ("what trembling there will be" in reference to the <a href="/wiki/Last_Judgment">Last Judgment</a>). This material is repeated with harmonic development before the texture suddenly drops to a trembling unison figure with more tremolo strings evocatively painting the "<i>Quantus tremor</i>" text.
</p>
<h4>b. Tuba mirum[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>Mozart's textual inspiration is again apparent in the Tuba mirum ("Hark, the trumpet") movement, which is introduced with a sequence of three notes in <a href="/wiki/Arpeggio">arpeggio</a>, played in B♭ major by a solo tenor trombone, unaccompanied, in accordance with the usual German translation of the Latin <i>tuba</i>, <i>Posaune</i> (trombone). Two measures later, the bass soloist enters, imitating the same theme. At <abbr>m.</abbr> 7, there is a <a href="/wiki/Fermata">fermata</a>, the only point in all the work at which a solo <a href="/wiki/Cadenza">cadenza</a> occurs. The final quarter notes of the bass soloist herald the arrival of the tenor, followed by the alto and soprano in dramatic fashion.
</p><p>On the text <i>Cum vix justus sit securus</i> ("When only barely may the just one be secure"), there is a switch to a <a href="/wiki/Homophony">homophonic</a> segment sung by the quartet at the same time, articulating, without accompaniment, the <i>cum</i> and <i>vix</i> on the "strong" (1st and 3rd), then on the "weak" (2nd and 4th) beats, with the violins and continuo responding each time; this "interruption" (which one may interpret as the interruption preceding the Last Judgment) is heard <i><a href="/wiki/Sotto_voce_(music)">sotto voce</a></i>, <i>forte</i> and then <i>piano</i> to bring the movement finally into a crescendo into a <a href="/wiki/Cadence#Authentic_cadence">perfect cadence</a>.
</p>
<h4>c. Rex tremendae[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=9">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>A descending melody composed of <a href="/wiki/Dotted_note">dotted notes</a> is played by the orchestra to announce the <i>Rex tremendae majestatis</i> ("King of tremendous majesty", i.e., <a href="/wiki/God">God</a>), who is called by powerful cries from the choir on the syllable <i>Rex</i> during the orchestra's pauses. For a surprising effect, the <i>Rex</i> syllables of the choir fall on the second beats of the measures, even though this is the "weak" beat. The choir then adopts the dotted rhythm of the orchestra, forming what <a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff</a> calls <a href="/wiki/Baroque_music">baroque music</a>'s form of "<a href="/wiki/Literary_topos">topos</a> of the homage to the sovereign",<sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> or, more simply put, that this musical style is a standard form of salute to royalty, or, in this case, divinity. This movement consists of only 22 measures, but this short stretch is rich in variation: homophonic writing and contrapuntal choral passages alternate many times and finish on a quasi-unaccompanied choral cadence, landing on an open D chord (as seen previously in the Kyrie).
</p>
<h4>d. Recordare[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=10">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>At 130 measures, the Recordare ("Remember") is the work's longest movement, as well as the first in <a href="/wiki/Triple_metre">triple meter</a> (<sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>); the movement is a setting of no fewer than seven stanzas of the <i><a href="/wiki/Dies_irae">Dies irae</a></i>. The form of this piece is somewhat similar to <a href="/wiki/Sonata_form">sonata form</a>, with an <a href="/wiki/Exposition_(music)">exposition</a> around two themes (<abbr>mm.</abbr> 1–37), a <a href="/wiki/Development_section">development</a> of two themes (mm. 38–92) and a <a href="/wiki/Recapitulation_(music)">recapitulation</a> (mm. 93–98).
</p><p>In the first 13 measures, the basset horns are the first the present the first theme, clearly inspired by <a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Friedemann_Bach">Wilhelm Friedemann Bach</a>'s Sinfonia in D Minor,<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff199880–82-3">[3]</a></sup> the theme is enriched by a magnificent counterpoint by cellos in descending scales that are reprised throughout the movement. This counterpoint of the first theme prolongs the orchestral introduction with chords, recalling the beginning of the work and its rhythmic and melodic shiftings (the first basset horn begins a measure after the second but a tone higher, the first violins are likewise in sync with the second violins but a quarter note shifted, etc.). The introduction is followed by the vocal soloists; their first theme is sung by the alto and bass (from <abbr>m.</abbr> 14), followed by the soprano and tenor (from m. 20). Each time, the theme concludes with a <a href="/wiki/Hemiola">hemiola</a> (mm. 18–19 and 24–25). The second theme arrives on <i>Ne me perdas</i>, in which the accompaniment contrasts with that of the first theme. Instead of descending scales, the accompaniment is limited to repeated chords. This exposition concludes with four orchestral measures based on the <a href="/wiki/Counter-melody">counter-melody</a> of the first theme (mm. 34–37).
</p><p>The development of these two themes begins in <abbr>m.</abbr> 38 on <i>Quaerens me</i>; the second theme is not recognizable except by the structure of its accompaniment. At m. 46, it is the first theme that is developed beginning from <i>Tantus labor</i> and concludes with two measures of hemiola at mm. 50–51. After two orchestral bars (mm. 52–53), the first theme is heard again on the text <i>Juste Judex</i> and ends on a hemiola in mm. 66–67. Then, the second theme is reused on <i>ante diem rationis</i>; after the four measures of orchestra from 68 to 71, the first theme is developed alone.
</p><p>The recapitulation intervenes in <abbr>m.</abbr> 93. The initial structure reproduces itself with the first theme on the text <i>Preces meae</i> and then in m. 99 on <i>Sed tu bonus</i>. The second theme reappears one final time on m. 106 on <i>Sed tu bonus</i> and concludes with three hemiolas. The final measures of the movement recede to simple orchestral descending contrapuntal scales.
</p>
<h4>e. Confutatis[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=11">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>The Confutatis ("From the accursed") begins with a rhythmic and dynamic sequence of strong contrasts and surprising harmonic turns. Accompanied by the <a href="/wiki/Basso_Continuo">basso continuo</a>, the tenors and basses burst into a <i>forte</i> vision of the infernal, on a dotted rhythm. The accompaniment then ceases alongside the tenors and basses, and the sopranos and altos enter softly and <i><a href="/wiki/Sotto_voce_(music)">sotto voce</a></i>, singing <i>Voca me cum benedictis</i> ("Call upon me with the blessed") with an <a href="/wiki/Arpeggio">arpeggiated</a> accompaniment in strings.
</p><p>Finally, in the following stanza (<i>Oro supplex et acclinis</i>), there is a striking <a href="/wiki/Modulation_(music)">modulation</a> from A minor to A♭ minor.
</p>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>This spectacular descent from the opening key is repeated, now modulating to the key of F major. A final dominant seventh chord leads to the Lacrymosa.
</p>
<h4>f. Lacrymosa[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=12">edit</a>]</h4>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Amen_fugue_fragment_from_Mozart%27s_Requiem_(text_as_path).svg"></a></p></div>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>The chords begin <i>piano</i> on a rocking rhythm in <sup><b>12</b></sup><br /><sub><b>8</b></sub>, intercut with quarter rests, which will be reprised by the choir after two measures, on <i>Lacrimosa dies illa</i> ("This tearful day"). Then, after two measures, the sopranos begin a <a href="/wiki/Diatonic_and_chromatic">diatonic</a> progression, in disjointed eighth-notes on the text <i>resurget</i> ("will be reborn"), then <i><a href="/wiki/Legato">legato</a></i> and <a href="/wiki/Diatonic_and_chromatic">chromatic</a> on a powerful <a href="/wiki/Crescendo">crescendo</a>. The choir is <i>forte</i> by <abbr>m.</abbr> 8, at which point Mozart's contribution to the movement is interrupted by his death.
</p><p>Süssmayr brings the choir to a reference of the Introit and ends on an <a href="/wiki/Amen_cadence"><i>Amen</i> cadence</a>. Discovery of a fragmentary <i>Amen</i> fugue in Mozart's hand has led to speculation that it may have been intended for the Requiem. Indeed, many <a href="/wiki/Modern_completions_of_Mozart%27s_Requiem">modern completions</a> (such as <a href="/wiki/Robert_D._Levin">Levin's</a>) complete Mozart's fragment. Some sections of this movement are quoted in the Requiem mass of <a href="/wiki/Franz_von_Supp%C3%A9">Franz von Suppé</a>, who was a great admirer of Mozart. Ray Robinson, the music scholar and president (from 1969 to 1987) of the <a href="/wiki/Westminster_Choir_College">Westminster Choir College</a>, suggests that Süssmayr used materials from Credo of one of Mozart's earlier masses, <a href="/wiki/Mass_in_C_major,_K._220_%22Sparrow%22">Mass in C major, K. 220 "Sparrow"</a> in completing this movement.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>IV. Offertorium[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=13">edit</a>]</h3>
<h4>a. Domine Jesu[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=14">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>The first movement of the Offertorium, the Domine Jesu, begins on a <i>piano</i> theme consisting of an ascending progression on a G minor <a href="/wiki/Triad_(music)">triad</a>. This theme will later be varied in various keys, before returning to G minor when the four soloists enter a <a href="/wiki/Canon_(music)">canon</a> on <i>Sed signifer <a href="/wiki/Michael_(archangel)">sanctus Michael</a></i>, switching between minor (in ascent) and major (in descent). Between these thematic passages are <i>forte</i> phrases where the choir enters, often in unison and dotted rhythm, such as on <i>Rex gloriae</i> ("King of glory") or <i>de ore leonis</i> ("[Deliver them] from the mouth of the lion"). Two choral fugues follow, on <i>ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum</i> ("may <a href="/wiki/Tartarus">Tartarus</a> not absorb them, nor may they fall into darkness") and <i>Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius</i> ("What once to Abraham you promised and to his seed"). The movement concludes <a href="/wiki/Homophony">homophonically</a> in G major.
</p>
<h4>b. Hostias[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=15">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>The Hostias opens in E♭ major in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub>, with fluid vocals. After 20 measures, the movement switches to an alternation of <i>forte</i> and <i>piano</i> exclamations of the choir, while progressing from B♭ major towards B♭ minor, then F major, D♭ major, A♭ major, F minor, C minor and E♭ major. An overtaking chromatic melody on <i>Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam</i> ("Make them, O Lord, cross over from death to life") finally carries the movement into the dominant of G minor, followed by a reprise of the <i>Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius</i> fugue.
</p>
<div><p></p></div>
<p>The words "Quam olim da capo" are likely to have been the last Mozart wrote; this portion of the manuscript has been missing since <a href="#Autograph_at_the_1958_World's_Fair">it was stolen at 1958 World's Fair</a> in <a href="/wiki/Brussels">Brussels</a> by a person whose identity remains unknown.
</p>
<h3>Süssmayr's additions[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=16">edit</a>]</h3>
<h4>V. Sanctus[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=17">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>The Sanctus is the first movement written entirely by Süssmayr, and the only movement of the Requiem to have a key signature with sharps: D major, generally used for the entry of trumpets in the Baroque era. After a succinct glorification of the Lord follows a short <a href="/wiki/Fugue">fugue</a> in <sup><b>3</b></sup><br /><sub><b>4</b></sub> on <i><a href="/wiki/Hosanna">Hosanna</a> in excelsis</i> ("Glory [to God] in the highest"), noted for its <a href="/wiki/Syncopation">syncopated</a> rhythm, and for its motivic similarity to the <i>Quam olim Abrahae</i> fugue.
</p>
<h4>VI. Benedictus[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=18">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div>
<p>The Benedictus, a quartet, adopts the key of the <a href="/wiki/Submediant">submediant</a>, B♭ major (which can also be considered the <a href="/wiki/Relative_key">relative</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Subdominant">subdominant</a> of the key of D minor). The Sanctus's ending on a D major <a href="/wiki/Cadence">cadence</a> necessitates a mediant jump to this new key.
</p><p>The Benedictus is constructed on three types of <a href="/wiki/Phrase_(music_theory)">phrases</a>: the (A) theme, which is first presented by the orchestra and reprised from <abbr>m.</abbr> 4 by the alto and from m. 6 by the soprano. The word <i>benedictus</i> is held, which stands in opposition with the (B) phrase, which is first seen at m. 10, also on the word <i>benedictus</i> but with a quick and chopped-up rhythm. The phrase develops and rebounds at m. 15 with a <a href="/wiki/Broken_cadence">broken cadence</a>. The third phrase, (C), is a solemn ringing where the winds respond to the chords with a staggering harmony, as shown in a Mozartian cadence at mm. 21 and 22, where the <a href="/wiki/Counterpoint">counterpoint</a> of the basset horns mixes with the line of the cello. The rest of the movement consists of variations on this writing. At m. 23, phrase (A) is reprised on a F <a href="/wiki/Pedal_point">pedal</a> and introduces a recapitulation of the primary theme from the bass and tenor from mm. 28 and 30, respectively. Phrase (B) follows at m. 33, although without the broken cadence, then repeats at m. 38 with the broken cadence once more. This carries the movement to a new Mozartian cadence in mm. 47 to 49 and concludes on phrase (C), which reintroduces the <i>Hosanna</i> fugue from the Sanctus movement, in the new key of the Benedictus.
</p>
<h4>VII. Agnus Dei[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=19">edit</a>]</h4>
<div>
<div><p></p></div>
<div><hr /><div>
<p>1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)</p></div></div></div>
<p><a href="/wiki/Homophony">Homophony</a> dominates the Agnus Dei. The text is repeated three times, always with <a href="/wiki/Diatonic_and_chromatic">chromatic</a> melodies and harmonic reversals, going from D minor to F major, C major, and finally B♭ major. According to the <a href="/wiki/Musicologist">musicologist</a> <a href="/wiki/Simon_P._Keefe">Simon P. Keefe</a>, Süssmayr likely referenced one of Mozart's earlier masses, <a href="/wiki/Mass_in_C_major,_K._220_%22Sparrow%22">Mass in C major, K. 220 "Sparrow"</a> in completing this movement.<sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup>
</p>
<h4>VIII. Communio[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=20">edit</a>]</h4>
<p>Süssmayr here reuses Mozart's first two movements, almost exactly note for note, with wording corresponding to this part of the liturgy.
</p>
<h2>History[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=21">edit</a>]</h2>
<h3>Composition[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=22">edit</a>]</h3>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:K626_Requiem_Dies_Irae.jpg"></a></p><div><p>The beginning of the Dies irae in the autograph manuscript, with <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Leopold_Eybler">Eybler</a>'s orchestration. In the upper right, <a href="/wiki/Georg_Nikolaus_von_Nissen">Nissen</a> has left a note: "All which is not enclosed by the quill is of Mozart's hand up to page 32." The first violin, choir and <a href="/wiki/Figured_bass">figured bass</a> are entirely Mozart's.</p></div></div>
<p>At the time of Mozart's death on 5 December 1791, only the first movement, Introitus (Requiem aeternam) was completed in all of the orchestral and vocal parts. The Kyrie, Sequence and Offertorium were completed in skeleton, with the exception of the Lacrymosa, which breaks off after the first eight bars. The vocal parts and <a href="/wiki/Basso_Continuo">continuo</a> were fully notated. Occasionally, some of the prominent orchestral parts were briefly indicated, such as the first violin part of the Rex tremendae and Confutatis, the musical bridges in the Recordare, and the trombone solos of the Tuba Mirum.
</p><p>What remained to be completed for these sections were mostly accompanimental figures, inner harmonies, and orchestral doublings to the vocal parts.
</p>
<h3>Completion by Mozart's contemporaries[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=23">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The eccentric count <a href="/wiki/Franz_von_Walsegg">Franz von Walsegg</a> commissioned the Requiem from Mozart anonymously through intermediaries. The count, an amateur chamber musician who routinely commissioned works by composers and passed them off as his own,<sup><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> wanted a Requiem Mass he could claim he composed to memorialize the recent passing of his wife. Mozart received only half of the payment in advance, so upon his death his widow <a href="/wiki/Constanze_Mozart">Constanze</a> was keen to have the work completed secretly by someone else, submit it to the count as having been completed by Mozart and collect the final payment.<sup><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Leopold_Eybler">Joseph von Eybler</a> was one of the first composers to be asked to complete the score, and had worked on the movements from the Dies irae up until the Lacrymosa. In addition, a striking similarity between the openings of the Domine Jesu Christe movements in the requiems of the two composers suggests that Eybler at least looked at later sections.<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify">further explanation needed</a></i>]</sup> After this work, he felt unable to complete the remainder and gave the manuscript back to Constanze Mozart.
</p><p>The task was then given to another composer, <a href="/wiki/Franz_Xaver_S%C3%BCssmayr">Franz Xaver Süssmayr</a>. Süssmayr borrowed some of Eybler's work in making his completion, and added his own orchestration to the movements from the Kyrie onward, completed the Lacrymosa, and added several new movements which a Requiem would normally comprise: Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. He then added a final section, Lux aeterna by adapting the opening two movements which Mozart had written to the different words which finish the Requiem mass, which according to both Süssmayr and Mozart's wife was done according to Mozart's directions. Some people<sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions">who?</a></i>]</sup> consider it unlikely, however, that Mozart would have repeated the opening two sections if he had survived to finish the work.
</p><p>Other composers may have helped Süssmayr. The Agnus Dei is suspected by some scholars<sup><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup> to have been based on instruction or sketches from Mozart because of its similarity to a section from the Gloria of a previous mass (<i><a href="/wiki/Sparrow_Mass">Sparrow Mass</a></i>, K. 220) by Mozart,<sup><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> as was first pointed out by <a href="/wiki/Richard_Maunder">Richard Maunder</a>. Others have pointed out that at the beginning of the Agnus Dei, the choral bass quotes the main theme from the Introitus.<sup><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> Many of the arguments dealing with this matter, though, center on the perception that if part of the work is of high quality, it must have been written by Mozart (or from sketches), and if part of the work contains errors and faults, it must have been all Süssmayr's doing.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff199810–11-12">[12]</a></sup>
</p><p>Another controversy is the suggestion (originating from a letter written by Constanze) that Mozart left explicit instructions for the completion of the Requiem on "a few scraps of paper with music on them... found on Mozart's desk after his death."<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKeefe201274-13">[13]</a></sup> The extent to which Süssmayr's work may have been influenced by these "scraps", if they existed at all, remains a subject of speculation amongst musicologists to this day.
</p><p>The completed score, started by Mozart but largely finished by Süssmayr, was then dispatched to Count Walsegg complete with a counterfeited signature of Mozart and dated 1792. The various complete and incomplete manuscripts eventually turned up in the 19th century, but many of the figures involved left ambiguous statements on record as to how they were involved in the affair. Despite the controversy over how much of the music is actually Mozart's, the commonly performed Süssmayr version has become widely accepted by the public. This acceptance is quite strong, even when alternative completions provide logical and compelling solutions for the work.
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Constanze_Mozart_by_Hanson_1802.jpg"></a></p></div>
<h3>Promotion by Constanze Mozart[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=24">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>The confusion surrounding the circumstances of the Requiem's composition was created in a large part by Mozart's wife, Constanze. Constanze had a difficult task in front of her: she had to keep secret the fact that the Requiem was unfinished at Mozart's death, so she could collect the final payment from the commission. For a period of time, she also needed to keep secret the fact that Süssmayr had anything to do with the composition of the Requiem at all, in order to allow Count Walsegg the impression that Mozart wrote the work entirely himself. Once she received the commission, she needed to carefully promote the work as Mozart's so that she could continue to receive revenue from the work's publication and performance. During this phase of the Requiem's history, it was still important that the public accept that Mozart wrote the whole piece, as it would fetch larger sums from publishers and the public if it were completely by Mozart.<sup><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup>
</p><p>It is Constanze's efforts that created the flurry of half-truths and myths almost instantly after Mozart's death. According to Constanze, Mozart declared that he was composing the Requiem for himself and that he had been poisoned. His symptoms worsened, and he began to complain about the painful swelling of his body and high fever. Nevertheless, Mozart continued his work on the Requiem, and even on the last day of his life, he was explaining to his assistant how he intended to finish the Requiem.
</p><p>With multiple levels of deception surrounding the Requiem's completion, a natural outcome is the mythologizing which subsequently occurred. One series of myths surrounding the Requiem involves the role <a href="/wiki/Antonio_Salieri">Antonio Salieri</a> played in the commissioning and completion of the Requiem (and in Mozart's death generally). While the most recent retelling of this myth is <a href="/wiki/Peter_Shaffer">Peter Shaffer</a>'s play <i><a href="/wiki/Amadeus_(play)">Amadeus</a></i> and the <a href="/wiki/Amadeus_(film)">movie</a> made from it, it is important to note that the source of misinformation was actually a 19th-century play by <a href="/wiki/Alexander_Pushkin">Alexander Pushkin</a>, <i><a href="/wiki/Mozart_and_Salieri_(play)">Mozart and Salieri</a></i>, which was turned into an opera by <a href="/wiki/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov">Rimsky-Korsakov</a> and subsequently used as the framework for the play <i>Amadeus</i>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Conflicting accounts[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=25">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Source materials written soon after Mozart's death contain serious discrepancies, which leave a level of subjectivity when assembling the "facts" about Mozart's composition of the Requiem. For example, at least three of the conflicting sources, all dated within two decades following Mozart's death, cite Constanze as their primary source of interview information.
</p>
<h4>Friedrich Rochlitz[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=26">edit</a>]</h4>
<p>In 1798, <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Rochlitz">Friedrich Rochlitz</a>, a German biographical author and amateur composer, published a set of Mozart anecdotes that he claimed to have collected during his meeting with Constanze in 1796.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Landon-16">[16]</a></sup> The Rochlitz publication makes the following statements:
</p>
<ul><li>Mozart was unaware of his commissioner's identity at the time he accepted the project.</li>
<li>He was not bound to any date of completion of the work.</li>
<li>He stated that it would take him around four weeks to complete.</li>
<li>He requested, and received, 100 ducats at the time of the first commissioning message.</li>
<li>He began the project immediately after receiving the commission.</li>
<li>His health was poor from the outset; he fainted multiple times while working.</li>
<li>He took a break from writing the work to visit the <a href="/wiki/Prater">Prater</a> with his wife.</li>
<li>He shared the thought with his wife that he was writing this piece for his own funeral.</li>
<li>He spoke of "very strange thoughts" regarding the unpredicted appearance and commission of this unknown man.</li>
<li>He noted that the departure of <a href="/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor">Leopold II</a> to Prague for the coronation was approaching.</li></ul>
<p>The most highly disputed of these claims is the last one, the chronology of this setting. According to Rochlitz, the messenger arrives quite some time before the departure of Leopold for the coronation, yet there is a record of his departure occurring in mid-July 1791. However, as Constanze was in <a href="/wiki/Baden_bei_Wien">Baden</a> during all of June to mid-July, she would not have been present for the commission or the drive they were said to have taken together.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Landon-16">[16]</a></sup> Furthermore, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Magic_Flute">The Magic Flute</a></i> (except for the Overture and March of the Priests) was completed by mid-July. <i><a href="/wiki/La_clemenza_di_Tito">La clemenza di Tito</a></i> was commissioned by mid-July.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Landon-16">[16]</a></sup> There was no time for Mozart to work on the Requiem on the large scale indicated by the Rochlitz publication in the time frame provided.
</p>
<h4>Franz Xaver Niemetschek[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=27">edit</a>]</h4>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Requiem6.png"></a></p><div><p>1857 <a href="/wiki/Lithography">lithograph</a> by Franz Schramm, titled <i>Ein Moment aus den letzten Tagen Mozarts</i> ("Moment from the Last Days of Mozart"). Mozart, with the score of the Requiem on his lap, gives <a href="/wiki/Franz_Xaver_S%C3%BCssmayr">Süssmayr</a> last-minute instructions. Constanze is to the side and the messenger is leaving through the main door.<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup></p></div></div>
<p>Also in 1798, Constanze is noted to have given another interview to <a href="/wiki/Franz_Xaver_Niemetschek">Franz Xaver Niemetschek</a>,<sup><a href="#cite_note-Boerner-18">[18]</a></sup> another biographer looking to publish a <a href="/wiki/Compendium">compendium</a> of Mozart's life. He published his biography in 1808, containing a number of claims about Mozart's receipt of the Requiem commission:
</p>
<ul><li>Mozart received the commission very shortly before the Coronation of Emperor Leopold II and before he received the commission to go to Prague.</li>
<li>He did not accept the messenger's request immediately; he wrote the commissioner and agreed to the project stating his fee but urging that he could not predict the time required to complete the work.</li>
<li>The same messenger appeared later, paying Mozart the sum requested plus a note promising a bonus at the work's completion.</li>
<li>He started composing the work upon his return from Prague.</li>
<li>He fell ill while writing the work</li>
<li>He told Constanze "I am only too conscious... my end will not be long in coming: for sure, someone has poisoned me! I cannot rid my mind of this thought."</li>
<li>Constanze thought that the Requiem was overstraining him; she called the doctor and took away the score.</li>
<li>On the day of his death, he had the score brought to his bed.</li>
<li>The messenger took the unfinished Requiem soon after Mozart's death.</li>
<li>Constanze never learned the commissioner's name.</li></ul>
<p>This account, too, has fallen under scrutiny and criticism of its accuracy. According to letters, Constanze most certainly knew the name of the commissioner by the time this interview was released in 1800.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Boerner-18">[18]</a></sup> Additionally, the Requiem was not given to the messenger until some time after Mozart's death.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Landon-16">[16]</a></sup> This interview contains the only account from Constanze herself of the claim that she took the Requiem away from Wolfgang for a significant duration during his composition of it.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Landon-16">[16]</a></sup> Otherwise, the timeline provided in this account is historically probable.
</p>
<h4>Georg Nikolaus von Nissen[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=28">edit</a>]</h4>
<p>However, the most highly accepted text attributed to Constanze is the interview to her second husband, <a href="/wiki/Georg_Nikolaus_von_Nissen">Georg Nikolaus von Nissen</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Landon-16">[16]</a></sup> After Nissen's death in 1826, Constanze released the biography of Wolfgang (1828) that Nissen had compiled, which included this interview. Nissen states:
</p>
<ul><li>Mozart received the commission shortly before the coronation of Emperor Leopold and before he received the commission to go to Prague.</li>
<li>He did not accept the messenger's request immediately; he wrote the commissioner and agreed to the project stating his fee but urging that he could not predict the time required to complete the work.</li>
<li>The same messenger appeared later, paying Mozart the sum requested plus a note promising a bonus at the work's completion.</li>
<li>He started composing the work upon his return from Prague.</li></ul>
<p>The Nissen publication lacks information following Mozart's return from Prague.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Landon-16">[16]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Influences[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=29">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Michaelhaydn1.jpg"></a></p></div>
<p>Mozart esteemed <a href="/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel">Handel</a> and in 1789 he was commissioned by Baron <a href="/wiki/Gottfried_van_Swieten">Gottfried van Swieten</a> to rearrange <i><a href="/wiki/Messiah_(Handel)">Messiah</a></i> (<a href="/wiki/H%C3%A4ndel-Werke-Verzeichnis">HWV</a> 56). This work likely influenced the composition of Mozart's Requiem; the Kyrie is based on the "<a href="/wiki/Messiah_Part_II#25">And with His stripes we are healed</a>" chorus from Handel's <i>Messiah</i>, since the <a href="/wiki/Subject_(music)">subject</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Fugue">fugato</a> is the same with only slight variations by adding <a href="/wiki/Ornament_(music)">ornaments</a> on <a href="/wiki/Melisma">melismata</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup> However, the same four-note <a href="/wiki/Theme_(music)">theme</a> is also found in the finale of <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Haydn">Joseph Haydn</a>'s <a href="/wiki/String_Quartets,_Op._20_(Haydn)#No._5_in_F_minor">String Quartet in F minor</a> (Op. 20 No. 5) and in the first measure of the A minor fugue from Bach's <i><a href="/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier">Well-Tempered Clavier</a></i> Book 2 (BWV 889b) as part of the subject of Bach's fugue,<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup> and it is thought that Mozart transcribed some of the fugues of the <i>Well-Tempered Clavier</i> for string ensemble (K. 404a Nos. 1–3 and K. 405 Nos. 1–5),<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup> but the attribution of these transcriptions to Mozart is not certain.
</p><p>Some musicologists believe that the Introitus was inspired by Handel's <i><a href="/wiki/Funeral_Anthem_for_Queen_Caroline">Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline</a></i>, HWV 264. Another influence was <a href="/wiki/Michael_Haydn">Michael Haydn</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Requiem_(Michael_Haydn)">Requiem in C minor</a>; Mozart and his father were viola and violin players respectively at its first three performances in January 1772. Some have noted that Michael Haydn's Introitus sounds rather similar to Mozart's, and the theme for Mozart's "Quam olim Abrahae" fugue is a direct quote of the fugue theme from Haydn's Offertorium and Versus from his aforementioned requiem. In Introitus m. 21, the soprano sings "Te decet hymnus Deus in Zion". It is quoting the Lutheran hymn "<a href="/wiki/Meine_Seele_erhebt_den_Herren">Meine Seele erhebt den Herren</a>". The melody is used by many composers e.g. in Bach's cantata <a href="/wiki/Meine_Seel_erhebt_den_Herren,_BWV_10"><i>Meine Seel erhebt den Herren</i>, BWV 10</a> but also in Michael Haydn's Requiem.<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup>
</p><p><a href="/wiki/Felicia_Hemans">Felicia Hemans</a>' poem "Mozart's Requiem" was first published in <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Monthly_Magazine">The New Monthly Magazine</a></i> in 1828.<sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Timeline[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=30">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Modern completions[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=31">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>In the 1960s, a sketch for an Amen <a href="/wiki/Fugue">Fugue</a> was discovered, which some musicologists (<a href="/wiki/Robert_Levin_(musicologist)">Levin</a>, Maunder) believe belongs to the Requiem at the conclusion of the <a href="/wiki/Sequence_(musical_form)">sequence</a> after the Lacrymosa. <a href="/wiki/H._C._Robbins_Landon">H. C. Robbins Landon</a> argues that this Amen Fugue was not intended for the Requiem, rather that it "may have been for a separate unfinished mass in D minor" to which the <a href="/wiki/Kyrie_in_D_minor,_K._341">Kyrie K. 341</a> also belonged.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWolff199830-24">[24]</a></sup>
</p><p>There is, however, compelling evidence placing the Amen Fugue in the Requiem<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup> based on current Mozart scholarship. First, the principal <a href="/wiki/Subject_(music)">subject</a> is the main theme of the Requiem (stated at the beginning, and throughout the work) in strict <a href="/wiki/Inversion_(music)">inversion</a>. Second, it is found on the same page as a sketch for the Rex tremendae (together with a sketch for the overture of his last opera <i><a href="/wiki/The_Magic_Flute">The Magic Flute</a></i>), and thus surely dates from late 1791. The only place where the word 'Amen' occurs in anything that Mozart wrote in late 1791 is in the sequence of the Requiem. Third, as Levin points out in the foreword to his completion of the Requiem, the addition of the Amen Fugue at the end of the sequence results in an overall design that ends each large section with a fugue.
</p><p>Since the 1970s several composers and musicologists, dissatisfied with the traditional "Süssmayr" completion, have attempted alternative completions of the Requiem.
</p>
<h2>Autograph at the 1958 World's Fair[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=32">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Mozart_K626_Arbeitspartitur_last_page.jpg"></a></p><p>Mozart's manuscript with missing corner</p></div><div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Quam_olim_dc_in_Mozart%27s_hand.png"></a></p><p>"quam olim d: c" in Mozart's hand</p></div></div>
<p>The autograph of the Requiem was placed on display at the <a href="/wiki/Expo_58">World's Fair in 1958</a> in Brussels. At some point during the fair, someone was able to gain access to the manuscript, tearing off the bottom right-hand corner of the second to last page (folio 99r/45r), containing the words "Quam olim d: C:" (an instruction that the "Quam olim" fugue of the <i>Domine Jesu</i> was to be repeated <a href="/wiki/Da_capo">da capo</a>, at the end of the Hostias). The perpetrator has not been identified and the fragment has not been recovered.<sup><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup>
</p><p>If the most common authorship theory is true, then "Quam olim d: C:" were the last words Mozart wrote before he died.
</p>
<h2>Recordings[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=33">edit</a>]</h2>
<h2>Arrangements[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=34">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The Requiem and its individual movements have been repeatedly arranged for various instruments. The keyboard arrangements notably demonstrate the variety of approaches taken to translating the Requiem, particularly the Confutatis and Lacrymosa movements, in order to balance preserving the Requiem's character while also being physically playable. <a href="/wiki/Karl_Klindworth">Karl Klindworth</a>'s piano solo (c.1900), <a href="/wiki/Muzio_Clementi">Muzio Clementi</a>'s organ solo, and <a href="/wiki/Renaud_de_Vilbac">Renaud de Vilbac</a>'s harmonium solo (c.1875) are liberal in their approach to achieve this. In contrast, <a href="/wiki/Carl_Czerny">Carl Czerny</a> wrote his piano transcription for two players, enabling him to retain the extent of the score, if sacrificing timbral character. <a href="/wiki/Franz_Liszt">Franz Liszt</a>'s piano solo (c.1865) departs the most in terms of fidelity and character of the Requiem, through its inclusion of composition devices used to showcase pianistic technique.<sup><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKeefe201285-27">[27]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=35">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (1994). <i>Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score</i>. Translated by Mary Whittal. Berkeley: <a href="/wiki/University_of_California_Press">University of California Press</a>. p. 105. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-520-07709-1"><bdi>0-520-07709-1</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (2003) [1991]. <i>Mozarts Requiem. Geschichte, Musik, Dokumente. Mit Studienpartitur</i> (in German) (4th ed.). Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. <sup>[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources">page needed</a></i>]</sup>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-7618-1242-6"><bdi>3-7618-1242-6</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff199880–82_3-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff1998">Wolff 1998</a>, pp. 80–82.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite>Robinson, Ray (1 August 1985). "A New Mozart 'Requiem'". <i>Choral Journal</i>. <b>26</b> (1): 5–6. <a href="/wiki/ProQuest_(identifier)">ProQuest</a> <a href="https://search.proquest.com/docview/1306216012">1306216012</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Simon_P._Keefe">Keefe, Simon P.</a> (2008). ""Die Ochsen am Berge": Franx Xaver Süssmayr and the Orchestration of Mozart's Requiem, K. 626". <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_the_American_Musicological_Society">Journal of the American Musicological Society</a></i>. <b>61</b>: 17. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1525%2Fjams.2008.61.1.1">10.1525/jams.2008.61.1.1</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b> <cite>Blom, Jan Dirk (2009). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KJtQptBcZloC&amp;q=Franz+von+Walsegg"><i>A Dictionary of Hallucinations</i></a>. Springer. p. 342. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781441912237"><bdi>9781441912237</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite>Gehring, Franz Eduard (1883). <a href="https://archive.org/details/mozart00unkngoog"><i>Mozart (The Great Musicians)</i></a>. University of Michigan: S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/mozart00unkngoog/page/n138">124</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (1994). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjFqJy1bE-sC&amp;pg=PP10"><i>Mozart's Requiem</i></a>. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 3. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780520077096"><bdi>9780520077096</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b> <cite>Leeson, Daniel N. (2004). <i>Opus Ultimum: The Story of the Mozart Requiem</i>. New York: Algora. p. 79. <q>Mozart might have described specific instrumentation for the drafted sections, or the addition of a <i>Sanctus</i>, a <i>Benedictus</i>, and an <i>Agnus Dei</i>, telling Süssmayr he would be obliged to compose those sections himself.</q></cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b> <cite>Summer, R. J. (2007). <i>Choral Masterworks from Bach to Britten: Reflections of a Conductor</i>. Scarecrow Press. p. 28. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8108-5903-6"><bdi>978-0-8108-5903-6</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b> Mentioned in the CD booklet of the Requiem recording by <a href="/wiki/Nikolaus_Harnoncourt">Nikolaus Harnoncourt</a> (2004).
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff199810–11_12-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff1998">Wolff 1998</a>, pp. 10–11.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKeefe201274_13-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFKeefe2012">Keefe 2012</a>, p. 74.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b> <cite>Moseley, Paul (1989). "Mozart's Requiem; A Revaluation of the Evidence". <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_the_Royal_Musical_Association">Journal of the Royal Musical Association</a></i>. <b>114</b> (2): 211. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fjrma%2F114.2.203">10.1093/jrma/114.2.203</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/766531">766531</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b> Gregory Allen Robbins. <a href="http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/robbins.htm">"Mozart &amp; Salieri, Cain &amp; Abel: A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4."</a>, <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_Religion_and_Film">Journal of Religion and Film</a></i>: vol. 1, no. 1, April 1997
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Landon_16-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Landon_16-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Landon_16-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Landon_16-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Landon_16-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Landon_16-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Landon_16-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="/wiki/H._C._Robbins_Landon">Landon, H. C. Robbins</a> (1988). <i>1791: Mozart's Last Year</i>. New York: <a href="/wiki/G._Schirmer">Schirmer Books</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Simon_P._Keefe">Keefe, Simon P.</a>, ed. (2006). <i>Mozart studies</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 3–4. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0521851025"><bdi>0521851025</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/76850387">76850387</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-Boerner_18-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Boerner_18-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Steve Boerner (December 16, 2000). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070608074342/http://www.mozartproject.org/compositions/k_626__.html">"K. 626: Requiem in D Minor"</a>. The Mozart Project. Archived from <a href="http://www.mozartproject.org/compositions/k_626__.html">the original</a> on June 8, 2007.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.whosampled.com/sample/95073/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart-Kyrie-Eleison,-K.-626-Georg-Friedrich-H%C3%A4ndel-And-With-His-Stripes-We-Are-Healed/">"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'Kyrie Eleison, K. 626'"</a>. <i>WhoSampled.com</i>. Discover the Sample Source. Retrieved 2017-06-17.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b> <cite>Dirst, Charles Matthew (2012). <i>Engaging Bach: The Keyboard Legacy from Marpurg to Mendelssohn</i>. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1107376281"><bdi>978-1107376281</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Ludwig_Ritter_von_K%C3%B6chel">Köchel, Ludwig Ritter von</a> (1862). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kV4VAAAAYAAJ"><i>Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sämmtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amade Mozart's</i></a> (in German). Leipzig: <a href="/wiki/Breitkopf_%26_H%C3%A4rtel">Breitkopf &amp; Härtel</a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3309798">3309798</a>.</cite> <a href="https://archive.org/details/chronologischth01kcgoog">Alt URL</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/chronologischth01kcgoog#page/n355/mode/2up">No. 405, pp. 328–329</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> <cite><a href="http://www.whosampled.com/sample/507126/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart-Requiem-in-D-Minor-Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Meine-Seel-Erhebt-Den-Herren/">"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'Requiem in D Minor'"</a>. <i>WhoSampled.com</i>. Discover the Sample Source. Retrieved 2017-06-23.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Felicia_Hemans">Hemans, Felicia</a> (1828). <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Felicia_Hemans_in_The_New_Monthly_Magazine_Volume_22_1828/Mozart%27s_Requiem">"Mozart's Requiem" </a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Monthly_Magazine">The New Monthly Magazine</a></i>. <b>22</b>: 325–326 – via <a href="/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWolff199830_24-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFWolff1998">Wolff 1998</a>, p. 30.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b> <cite>Moseley, Paul (1989). "Mozart's Requiem: A Revaluation of the Evidence". <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_the_Royal_Musical_Association">Journal of the Royal Musical Association</a></i>. <b>114</b> (2): 203–237. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fjrma%2F114.2.203">10.1093/jrma/114.2.203</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/766531">766531</a>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b> <a href="http://www2.onb.ac.at/siteseeing/requiem/galerie3.htm">Facsimile of the manuscript's last page, showing the missing corner</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120113030907/http://www2.onb.ac.at/siteseeing/requiem/galerie3.htm">Archived</a> 2012-01-13 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine">Wayback Machine</a>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEKeefe201285_27-0">^</a></b> <a href="#CITEREFKeefe2012">Keefe 2012</a>, p. 85.
</li>
</ol></div>
<h3>Sources[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=36">edit</a>]</h3>
<ul><li><cite><a href="/wiki/Simon_P._Keefe">Keefe, Simon P.</a> (2012). <i>Mozart's Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion</i>. Cambridge University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-19837-0"><bdi>978-0-521-19837-0</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)">OCLC</a> <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/804845569">804845569</a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Wolff, Christoph</a> (1998). <i>Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score</i>. Translated by Mary Whittall (revised, annotated ed.). University of California Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0520213890"><bdi>978-0520213890</bdi></a>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>Further reading[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=37">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><cite>Brendan Cormican (1991). <i>Mozart's death – Mozart's requiem: an investigation</i>. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Amadeus Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9510357-0-3"><bdi>0-9510357-0-3</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>Heinz Gärtner (1991). <i>Constanze Mozart: after the Requiem</i>. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-931340-39-X"><bdi>0-931340-39-X</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite>C. R. F. Maunder (1988). <i>Mozart's Requiem: On Preparing a New Edition</i>. Oxford: Clarendon Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-316413-2"><bdi>0-19-316413-2</bdi></a>.</cite></li>
<li><cite><a href="/wiki/Christoph_Wolff">Christoph Wolff</a> (1994). <i>Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score</i>. Translated by Mary Whittal. Berkeley: <a href="/wiki/University_of_California_Press">University of California Press</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-520-07709-1"><bdi>0-520-07709-1</bdi></a>.</cite></li></ul>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Requiem_(Mozart)&amp;action=edit&amp;section=38">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1119430">Article on the Requiem</a> at <a href="/wiki/H2g2">h2g2</a></li>
<li><a href="/wiki/Michael_Lorenz_(musicologist)">Michael Lorenz</a>: <a href="http://michaelorenz.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/freystadtlers-supposed-copying-in.html">"Freystädtler's Supposed Copying in the Autograph of K. 626: A Case of Mistaken Identity", Vienna 2013</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/los-conciertos-de-la-2/conciertos-2-concierto-rtve-16/2519309/">Mozart's Requiem</a>, new completion of the score by musicologist <a href="/wiki/Robert_D._Levin">Robert D. Levin</a>, live concert</li>
<li></li>
<li><i>Requiem</i>: <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=13&amp;gen=edition&amp;l=1&amp;p1=-99">Score</a> and <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=15&amp;l=1&amp;p1=-99">critical report</a> (in German) in the <i><a href="/wiki/Neue_Mozart-Ausgabe">Neue Mozart-Ausgabe</a></i></li>
<li></li>
<li><i>Eybler's and Süssmayr's amendments</i>: <a href="https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=14&amp;gen=edition&amp;l=1&amp;p1=-99">Score</a> in the <i><a href="/wiki/Neue_Mozart-Ausgabe">Neue Mozart-Ausgabe</a></i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Requiem,_KV_626_(Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart)">Free scores of Requiem, K. 626</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Choral_Public_Domain_Library">Choral Public Domain Library</a> (ChoralWiki)</li>
<li><a href="https://imslp.org/wiki/Requiem_in_D_minor,_K.626_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)">Requiem in D minor, K. 626</a>: Scores at the <a href="/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Project">International Music Score Library Project</a></li></ul>
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 Contents

 move to sidebar hide
 * (Top)
 * 1 Instrumentation
 * 2 Structure
 * 3 Music
 Toggle Music subsection
 + 3.1 I. Introitus
 + 3.2 II. Kyrie
 + 3.3 III. Sequentia
 o 3.3.1 a. Dies irae
 o 3.3.2 b. Tuba mirum
 o 3.3.3 c. Rex tremendae
 o 3.3.4 d. Recordare
 o 3.3.5 e. Confutatis
 o 3.3.6 f. Lacrymosa
 + 3.4 IV. Offertorium
 o 3.4.1 a. Domine Jesu
 o 3.4.2 b. Hostias
 + 3.5 Süssmayr's additions
 o 3.5.1 V. Sanctus
 o 3.5.2 VI. Benedictus
 o 3.5.3 VII. Agnus Dei
 o 3.5.4 VIII. Communio
 * 4 History
 Toggle History subsection
 + 4.1 Composition
 + 4.2 Completion by Mozart's contemporaries
 + 4.3 Promotion by Constanze Mozart
 + 4.4 Conflicting accounts
 o 4.4.1 Friedrich Rochlitz
 o 4.4.2 Franz Xaver Niemetschek
 o 4.4.3 Georg Nikolaus von Nissen
 * 5 Influences
 * 6 Timeline
 * 7 Modern completions
 * 8 Autograph at the 1958 World's Fair
 * 9 Recordings
 * 10 Arrangements
 * 11 References
 Toggle References subsection
 + 11.1 Sources
 * 12 Further reading
 * 13 External links
 Toggle the table of contents
 Toggle the table of contents

 Requiem (Mozart)

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 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Requiem 
 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
 completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr
 Mozart in 1781 
 Key D minor 
 Catalogue K. 626 
 Text Requiem 
 Language Latin 
 Composed 1791 
 (Süssmayr completion finished 1792)
 * four soloists 
 Scoring * chorus 
 * orchestra 
 

 The Requiem in D minor, K. 626, is a requiem mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Mozart composed part of the Requiem in Vienna in late 1791, but it was unfinished at his death on 5 December the same year. A completed version dated 1792 by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who commissioned the piece for a requiem service on 14 February 1792 to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of his wife Anna at the age of 20 on 14 February 1791.

 The autograph manuscript shows the finished and orchestrated Introit in Mozart's hand, and detailed drafts of the Kyrie and the sequence Dies irae as far as the first eight bars of the Lacrymosa movement, and the Offertory. It cannot be shown to what extent Süssmayr may have depended on now lost "scraps of paper" for the remainder; he later claimed the Sanctus and Benedictus and the Agnus Dei as his own.

 Walsegg probably intended to pass the Requiem off as his own composition, as he is known to have done with other works. This plan was frustrated by a public benefit performance for Mozart's widow Constanze. She was responsible for a number of stories surrounding the composition of the work, including the claims that Mozart received the commission from a mysterious messenger who did not reveal the commissioner's identity, and that Mozart came to believe that he was writing the requiem for his own funeral.

 In addition to the Süssmayr version, a number of alternative completions have been developed by composers and musicologists in the 20th and 21st centuries.

 Instrumentation [ edit ]

 The Requiem is scored for 2 basset horns in F, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets in D, 3 trombones (alto, tenor, and bass), timpani (2 drums), violins, viola, and basso continuo (cello, double bass, and organ). The basset horn parts are sometimes played on conventional clarinets, even though this changes the sonority.

 The vocal forces consist of soprano, contralto, tenor, and bass soloists and an SATB mixed choir.

 Structure [ edit ]

 The first page of Mozart's autograph score

 Süssmayr's completion divides the Requiem into eight sections:

 1. Introitus
 1. Requiem aeternam
 1. Kyrie
 2. Sequentia
 1. Dies irae
 2. Tuba mirum
 3. Rex tremendae
 4. Recordare
 5. Confutatis
 6. Lacrymosa
 1. Offertorium
 1. Domine Jesu
 2. Hostias
 1. Sanctus
 2. Benedictus
 3. Agnus Dei
 4. Communio
 1. Lux aeterna
 2. Cum sanctis tuis

 All sections from the Sanctus onwards are not present in Mozart's manuscript fragment. Mozart may have intended to include the Amen fugue at the end of the Sequentia, but Süssmayr did not do so in his completion.

 The following table shows for the eight sections in Süssmayr's completion with their subdivisions: the title, vocal parts (solo soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B) [in bold] and four-part choir SATB), tempo, key, and meter.

 Section Title Vocal Tempo Key Meter
 I. Introitus Requiem aeternam SSATB Adagio D minor 4 
  4 
 II. Kyrie Kyrie eleison SATB Allegro D minor 4 
  4 
 III. Sequentia Dies irae SATB Allegro assai D minor 4 
  4 
 Tuba mirum SATB Andante B ♭ major 2 
  2 
 Rex tremendae SATB – G minor – D minor 4 
  4 
 Recordare SATB – F major 3 
  4 
 Confutatis SATB Andante A minor – F major 4 
  4 
 Lacrymosa SATB Larghetto D minor 12 
  8 
 IV. Offertorium Domine Jesu SATBSATB Andante con moto G minor 4 
  4 
  3 
 Hostias SATB Andante – Andante con moto E ♭ major – G minor 4 – 4 
  4 
 V. Sanctus Sanctus SATB Adagio D major 4 
  4 
 Hosanna Allegro 3 
 4 
 VI. Benedictus Benedictus SATB Andante B ♭ major 4 
  4 
 Hosanna SATB Allegro 
 VII. Agnus Dei Agnus Dei SATB D minor – B ♭ major 3 
  4 
 VIII. Communio Lux aeterna SSATB – B ♭ major – D minor 4 
  4 
 Cum sanctis tuis SATB Allegro 
 

 Music [ edit ]

 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( May 2018 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
 

 I. Introitus [ edit ]

 Introitus
 Salzburg Festival performance, July 26, 1956. Bruno Walter; Wiener Philharmoniker; Wiener Staatsopernchor; Lisa Della Casa, soprano; Ira Malaniuk, alto; Anton Dermota, tenor; Cesare Siepi, bass.
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 The Requiem begins with a seven-measure instrumental introduction, in which the woodwinds (first bassoons, then basset horns) present the principal theme of the work in imitative counterpoint. The first five measures of this passage (without the accompaniment) are shown below.

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 This theme is modeled after Handel's The ways of Zion do mourn, HWV 264. Many parts of the work make reference to this passage, notably in the coloratura in the Kyrie fugue and in the conclusion of the Lacrymosa.

 The trombones then announce the entry of the choir, which breaks into the theme, with the basses alone for the first measure, followed by imitation by the other parts. The chords play off syncopated and staggered structures in the accompaniment, thus underlining the solemn and steady nature of the music. A soprano solo is sung to the Te decet hymnus text in the tonus peregrinus. The choir continues, repeating the psalmtone while singing the Exaudi orationem meam section.[1] Then, the principal theme is treated by the choir and the orchestra in downward-gliding sixteenth-notes. The courses of the melodies, whether held up or moving down, change and interlace amongst themselves, while passages in counterpoint and in unison (e.g., Et lux perpetua) alternate; all this creates the charm of this movement, which finishes with a half cadence on the dominant.

 II. Kyrie [ edit ]

 Kyrie
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 The Kyrie follows without pause (attacca). It is a double fugue also on a Handelian theme: the subject is based on "And with his stripes we are healed" from Messiah, HWV 56 (with which Mozart was familiar given his work on a German-language version) and the counter-subject comes from the final chorus of the Dettingen Anthem, HWV 265. The first three measures of the altos and basses are shown below.

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 The contrapuntal motifs of the theme of this fugue include variations on the two themes of the Introit. At first, upward diatonic series of sixteenth-notes are replaced by chromatic series, which has the effect of augmenting the intensity. This passage shows itself to be a bit demanding in the upper voices, particularly for the soprano voice. A final portion in a slower (Adagio) tempo ends on an "empty" fifth, a construction which had during the classical period become archaic, lending the piece an ancient air.

 III. Sequentia [ edit ]

 a. Dies irae [ edit ]

 Dies irae
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 The Dies irae ("Day of Wrath") opens with a show of orchestral and choral might with tremolo strings, syncopated figures and repeated chords in the brass. A rising chromatic scurry of sixteenth-notes leads into a chromatically rising harmonic progression with the chorus singing "Quantus tremor est futurus" ("what trembling there will be" in reference to the Last Judgment). This material is repeated with harmonic development before the texture suddenly drops to a trembling unison figure with more tremolo strings evocatively painting the "Quantus tremor" text.

 b. Tuba mirum [ edit ]

 Tuba mirum
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 Mozart's textual inspiration is again apparent in the Tuba mirum ("Hark, the trumpet") movement, which is introduced with a sequence of three notes in arpeggio, played in B ♭ major by a solo tenor trombone, unaccompanied, in accordance with the usual German translation of the Latin tuba, Posaune (trombone). Two measures later, the bass soloist enters, imitating the same theme. At m. 7, there is a fermata, the only point in all the work at which a solo cadenza occurs. The final quarter notes of the bass soloist herald the arrival of the tenor, followed by the alto and soprano in dramatic fashion.

 On the text Cum vix justus sit securus ("When only barely may the just one be secure"), there is a switch to a homophonic segment sung by the quartet at the same time, articulating, without accompaniment, the cum and vix on the "strong" (1st and 3rd), then on the "weak" (2nd and 4th) beats, with the violins and continuo responding each time; this "interruption" (which one may interpret as the interruption preceding the Last Judgment) is heard sotto voce, forte and then piano to bring the movement finally into a crescendo into a perfect cadence.

 c. Rex tremendae [ edit ]

 Rex tremendae
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 A descending melody composed of dotted notes is played by the orchestra to announce the Rex tremendae majestatis ("King of tremendous majesty", i.e., God), who is called by powerful cries from the choir on the syllable Rex during the orchestra's pauses. For a surprising effect, the Rex syllables of the choir fall on the second beats of the measures, even though this is the "weak" beat. The choir then adopts the dotted rhythm of the orchestra, forming what Wolff calls baroque music's form of "topos of the homage to the sovereign",[2] or, more simply put, that this musical style is a standard form of salute to royalty, or, in this case, divinity. This movement consists of only 22 measures, but this short stretch is rich in variation: homophonic writing and contrapuntal choral passages alternate many times and finish on a quasi-unaccompanied choral cadence, landing on an open D chord (as seen previously in the Kyrie).

 d. Recordare [ edit ]

 Recordare
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 At 130 measures, the Recordare ("Remember") is the work's longest movement, as well as the first in triple meter (3
 4); the movement is a setting of no fewer than seven stanzas of the Dies irae. The form of this piece is somewhat similar to sonata form, with an exposition around two themes (mm. 1–37), a development of two themes (mm. 38–92) and a recapitulation (mm. 93–98).

 In the first 13 measures, the basset horns are the first the present the first theme, clearly inspired by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Sinfonia in D Minor,[3] the theme is enriched by a magnificent counterpoint by cellos in descending scales that are reprised throughout the movement. This counterpoint of the first theme prolongs the orchestral introduction with chords, recalling the beginning of the work and its rhythmic and melodic shiftings (the first basset horn begins a measure after the second but a tone higher, the first violins are likewise in sync with the second violins but a quarter note shifted, etc.). The introduction is followed by the vocal soloists; their first theme is sung by the alto and bass (from m. 14), followed by the soprano and tenor (from m. 20). Each time, the theme concludes with a hemiola (mm. 18–19 and 24–25). The second theme arrives on Ne me perdas, in which the accompaniment contrasts with that of the first theme. Instead of descending scales, the accompaniment is limited to repeated chords. This exposition concludes with four orchestral measures based on the counter-melody of the first theme (mm. 34–37).

 The development of these two themes begins in m. 38 on Quaerens me; the second theme is not recognizable except by the structure of its accompaniment. At m. 46, it is the first theme that is developed beginning from Tantus labor and concludes with two measures of hemiola at mm. 50–51. After two orchestral bars (mm. 52–53), the first theme is heard again on the text Juste Judex and ends on a hemiola in mm. 66–67. Then, the second theme is reused on ante diem rationis; after the four measures of orchestra from 68 to 71, the first theme is developed alone.

 The recapitulation intervenes in m. 93. The initial structure reproduces itself with the first theme on the text Preces meae and then in m. 99 on Sed tu bonus. The second theme reappears one final time on m. 106 on Sed tu bonus and concludes with three hemiolas. The final measures of the movement recede to simple orchestral descending contrapuntal scales.

 e. Confutatis [ edit ]

 Confutatis
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)
 Problems playing this file? See media help.

 The Confutatis ("From the accursed") begins with a rhythmic and dynamic sequence of strong contrasts and surprising harmonic turns. Accompanied by the basso continuo, the tenors and basses burst into a forte vision of the infernal, on a dotted rhythm. The accompaniment then ceases alongside the tenors and basses, and the sopranos and altos enter softly and sotto voce, singing Voca me cum benedictis ("Call upon me with the blessed") with an arpeggiated accompaniment in strings.

 Finally, in the following stanza (Oro supplex et acclinis), there is a striking modulation from A minor to A ♭ minor.

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 This spectacular descent from the opening key is repeated, now modulating to the key of F major. A final dominant seventh chord leads to the Lacrymosa.

 f. Lacrymosa [ edit ]

 Mozart's Amen fragment
 Lacrymosa
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)

 The chords begin piano on a rocking rhythm in 12
 8, intercut with quarter rests, which will be reprised by the choir after two measures, on Lacrimosa dies illa ("This tearful day"). Then, after two measures, the sopranos begin a diatonic progression, in disjointed eighth-notes on the text resurget ("will be reborn"), then legato and chromatic on a powerful crescendo. The choir is forte by m. 8, at which point Mozart's contribution to the movement is interrupted by his death.

 Süssmayr brings the choir to a reference of the Introit and ends on an Amen cadence. Discovery of a fragmentary Amen fugue in Mozart's hand has led to speculation that it may have been intended for the Requiem. Indeed, many modern completions (such as Levin's) complete Mozart's fragment. Some sections of this movement are quoted in the Requiem mass of Franz von Suppé, who was a great admirer of Mozart. Ray Robinson, the music scholar and president (from 1969 to 1987) of the Westminster Choir College, suggests that Süssmayr used materials from Credo of one of Mozart's earlier masses, Mass in C major, K. 220 "Sparrow" in completing this movement.[4]

 IV. Offertorium [ edit ]

 a. Domine Jesu [ edit ]

 Domine Jesu
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)

 The first movement of the Offertorium, the Domine Jesu, begins on a piano theme consisting of an ascending progression on a G minor triad. This theme will later be varied in various keys, before returning to G minor when the four soloists enter a canon on Sed signifer sanctus Michael, switching between minor (in ascent) and major (in descent). Between these thematic passages are forte phrases where the choir enters, often in unison and dotted rhythm, such as on Rex gloriae ("King of glory") or de ore leonis ("[Deliver them] from the mouth of the lion"). Two choral fugues follow, on ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum ("may Tartarus not absorb them, nor may they fall into darkness") and Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius ("What once to Abraham you promised and to his seed"). The movement concludes homophonically in G major.

 b. Hostias [ edit ]

 Hostias
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)

 The Hostias opens in E ♭ major in 3
 4, with fluid vocals. After 20 measures, the movement switches to an alternation of forte and piano exclamations of the choir, while progressing from B ♭ major towards B ♭ minor, then F major, D ♭ major, A ♭ major, F minor, C minor and E ♭ major. An overtaking chromatic melody on Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam ("Make them, O Lord, cross over from death to life") finally carries the movement into the dominant of G minor, followed by a reprise of the Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius fugue.

 Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.

 The words "Quam olim da capo" are likely to have been the last Mozart wrote; this portion of the manuscript has been missing since it was stolen at 1958 World's Fair in Brussels by a person whose identity remains unknown.

 Süssmayr's additions [ edit ]

 V. Sanctus [ edit ]

 Sanctus
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)

 The Sanctus is the first movement written entirely by Süssmayr, and the only movement of the Requiem to have a key signature with sharps: D major, generally used for the entry of trumpets in the Baroque era. After a succinct glorification of the Lord follows a short fugue in 3
 4 on Hosanna in excelsis ("Glory [to God] in the highest"), noted for its syncopated rhythm, and for its motivic similarity to the Quam olim Abrahae fugue.

 VI. Benedictus [ edit ]

 Benedictus
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)

 The Benedictus, a quartet, adopts the key of the submediant, B ♭ major (which can also be considered the relative of the subdominant of the key of D minor). The Sanctus's ending on a D major cadence necessitates a mediant jump to this new key.

 The Benedictus is constructed on three types of phrases: the (A) theme, which is first presented by the orchestra and reprised from m. 4 by the alto and from m. 6 by the soprano. The word benedictus is held, which stands in opposition with the (B) phrase, which is first seen at m. 10, also on the word benedictus but with a quick and chopped-up rhythm. The phrase develops and rebounds at m. 15 with a broken cadence. The third phrase, (C), is a solemn ringing where the winds respond to the chords with a staggering harmony, as shown in a Mozartian cadence at mm. 21 and 22, where the counterpoint of the basset horns mixes with the line of the cello. The rest of the movement consists of variations on this writing. At m. 23, phrase (A) is reprised on a F pedal and introduces a recapitulation of the primary theme from the bass and tenor from mm. 28 and 30, respectively. Phrase (B) follows at m. 33, although without the broken cadence, then repeats at m. 38 with the broken cadence once more. This carries the movement to a new Mozartian cadence in mm. 47 to 49 and concludes on phrase (C), which reintroduces the Hosanna fugue from the Sanctus movement, in the new key of the Benedictus.

 VII. Agnus Dei [ edit ]

 Agnus Dei
 Communio
 1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)

 Homophony dominates the Agnus Dei. The text is repeated three times, always with chromatic melodies and harmonic reversals, going from D minor to F major, C major, and finally B ♭ major. According to the musicologist Simon P. Keefe, Süssmayr likely referenced one of Mozart's earlier masses, Mass in C major, K. 220 "Sparrow" in completing this movement.[5]

 VIII. Communio [ edit ]

 Süssmayr here reuses Mozart's first two movements, almost exactly note for note, with wording corresponding to this part of the liturgy.

 History [ edit ]

 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2018 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
 

 Composition [ edit ]

 The beginning of the Dies irae in the autograph manuscript, with Eybler's orchestration. In the upper right, Nissen has left a note: "All which is not enclosed by the quill is of Mozart's hand up to page 32." The first violin, choir and figured bass are entirely Mozart's.

 At the time of Mozart's death on 5 December 1791, only the first movement, Introitus (Requiem aeternam) was completed in all of the orchestral and vocal parts. The Kyrie, Sequence and Offertorium were completed in skeleton, with the exception of the Lacrymosa, which breaks off after the first eight bars. The vocal parts and continuo were fully notated. Occasionally, some of the prominent orchestral parts were briefly indicated, such as the first violin part of the Rex tremendae and Confutatis, the musical bridges in the Recordare, and the trombone solos of the Tuba Mirum.

 What remained to be completed for these sections were mostly accompanimental figures, inner harmonies, and orchestral doublings to the vocal parts.

 Completion by Mozart's contemporaries [ edit ]

 The eccentric count Franz von Walsegg commissioned the Requiem from Mozart anonymously through intermediaries. The count, an amateur chamber musician who routinely commissioned works by composers and passed them off as his own,[6][7] wanted a Requiem Mass he could claim he composed to memorialize the recent passing of his wife. Mozart received only half of the payment in advance, so upon his death his widow Constanze was keen to have the work completed secretly by someone else, submit it to the count as having been completed by Mozart and collect the final payment.[8] Joseph von Eybler was one of the first composers to be asked to complete the score, and had worked on the movements from the Dies irae up until the Lacrymosa. In addition, a striking similarity between the openings of the Domine Jesu Christe movements in the requiems of the two composers suggests that Eybler at least looked at later sections.[ further explanation needed ] After this work, he felt unable to complete the remainder and gave the manuscript back to Constanze Mozart.

 The task was then given to another composer, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Süssmayr borrowed some of Eybler's work in making his completion, and added his own orchestration to the movements from the Kyrie onward, completed the Lacrymosa, and added several new movements which a Requiem would normally comprise: Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. He then added a final section, Lux aeterna by adapting the opening two movements which Mozart had written to the different words which finish the Requiem mass, which according to both Süssmayr and Mozart's wife was done according to Mozart's directions. Some people[ who? ] consider it unlikely, however, that Mozart would have repeated the opening two sections if he had survived to finish the work.

 Other composers may have helped Süssmayr. The Agnus Dei is suspected by some scholars[9] to have been based on instruction or sketches from Mozart because of its similarity to a section from the Gloria of a previous mass (Sparrow Mass, K. 220) by Mozart,[10] as was first pointed out by Richard Maunder. Others have pointed out that at the beginning of the Agnus Dei, the choral bass quotes the main theme from the Introitus.[11] Many of the arguments dealing with this matter, though, center on the perception that if part of the work is of high quality, it must have been written by Mozart (or from sketches), and if part of the work contains errors and faults, it must have been all Süssmayr's doing.[12]

 Another controversy is the suggestion (originating from a letter written by Constanze) that Mozart left explicit instructions for the completion of the Requiem on "a few scraps of paper with music on them... found on Mozart's desk after his death."[13] The extent to which Süssmayr's work may have been influenced by these "scraps", if they existed at all, remains a subject of speculation amongst musicologists to this day.

 The completed score, started by Mozart but largely finished by Süssmayr, was then dispatched to Count Walsegg complete with a counterfeited signature of Mozart and dated 1792. The various complete and incomplete manuscripts eventually turned up in the 19th century, but many of the figures involved left ambiguous statements on record as to how they were involved in the affair. Despite the controversy over how much of the music is actually Mozart's, the commonly performed Süssmayr version has become widely accepted by the public. This acceptance is quite strong, even when alternative completions provide logical and compelling solutions for the work.

 Constanze in 1802, portrait by Hans Hansen

 Promotion by Constanze Mozart [ edit ]

 The confusion surrounding the circumstances of the Requiem's composition was created in a large part by Mozart's wife, Constanze. Constanze had a difficult task in front of her: she had to keep secret the fact that the Requiem was unfinished at Mozart's death, so she could collect the final payment from the commission. For a period of time, she also needed to keep secret the fact that Süssmayr had anything to do with the composition of the Requiem at all, in order to allow Count Walsegg the impression that Mozart wrote the work entirely himself. Once she received the commission, she needed to carefully promote the work as Mozart's so that she could continue to receive revenue from the work's publication and performance. During this phase of the Requiem's history, it was still important that the public accept that Mozart wrote the whole piece, as it would fetch larger sums from publishers and the public if it were completely by Mozart.[14]

 It is Constanze's efforts that created the flurry of half-truths and myths almost instantly after Mozart's death. According to Constanze, Mozart declared that he was composing the Requiem for himself and that he had been poisoned. His symptoms worsened, and he began to complain about the painful swelling of his body and high fever. Nevertheless, Mozart continued his work on the Requiem, and even on the last day of his life, he was explaining to his assistant how he intended to finish the Requiem.

 With multiple levels of deception surrounding the Requiem's completion, a natural outcome is the mythologizing which subsequently occurred. One series of myths surrounding the Requiem involves the role Antonio Salieri played in the commissioning and completion of the Requiem (and in Mozart's death generally). While the most recent retelling of this myth is Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus and the movie made from it, it is important to note that the source of misinformation was actually a 19th-century play by Alexander Pushkin, Mozart and Salieri, which was turned into an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov and subsequently used as the framework for the play Amadeus.[15]

 Conflicting accounts [ edit ]

 Source materials written soon after Mozart's death contain serious discrepancies, which leave a level of subjectivity when assembling the "facts" about Mozart's composition of the Requiem. For example, at least three of the conflicting sources, all dated within two decades following Mozart's death, cite Constanze as their primary source of interview information.

 Friedrich Rochlitz [ edit ]

 In 1798, Friedrich Rochlitz, a German biographical author and amateur composer, published a set of Mozart anecdotes that he claimed to have collected during his meeting with Constanze in 1796.[16] The Rochlitz publication makes the following statements:

 * Mozart was unaware of his commissioner's identity at the time he accepted the project.
 * He was not bound to any date of completion of the work.
 * He stated that it would take him around four weeks to complete.
 * He requested, and received, 100 ducats at the time of the first commissioning message.
 * He began the project immediately after receiving the commission.
 * His health was poor from the outset; he fainted multiple times while working.
 * He took a break from writing the work to visit the Prater with his wife.
 * He shared the thought with his wife that he was writing this piece for his own funeral.
 * He spoke of "very strange thoughts" regarding the unpredicted appearance and commission of this unknown man.
 * He noted that the departure of Leopold II to Prague for the coronation was approaching.

 The most highly disputed of these claims is the last one, the chronology of this setting. According to Rochlitz, the messenger arrives quite some time before the departure of Leopold for the coronation, yet there is a record of his departure occurring in mid-July 1791. However, as Constanze was in Baden during all of June to mid-July, she would not have been present for the commission or the drive they were said to have taken together.[16] Furthermore, The Magic Flute (except for the Overture and March of the Priests) was completed by mid-July. La clemenza di Tito was commissioned by mid-July.[16] There was no time for Mozart to work on the Requiem on the large scale indicated by the Rochlitz publication in the time frame provided.

 Franz Xaver Niemetschek [ edit ]

 1857 lithograph by Franz Schramm, titled Ein Moment aus den letzten Tagen Mozarts ("Moment from the Last Days of Mozart"). Mozart, with the score of the Requiem on his lap, gives Süssmayr last-minute instructions. Constanze is to the side and the messenger is leaving through the main door.[17]

 Also in 1798, Constanze is noted to have given another interview to Franz Xaver Niemetschek,[18] another biographer looking to publish a compendium of Mozart's life. He published his biography in 1808, containing a number of claims about Mozart's receipt of the Requiem commission:

 * Mozart received the commission very shortly before the Coronation of Emperor Leopold II and before he received the commission to go to Prague.
 * He did not accept the messenger's request immediately; he wrote the commissioner and agreed to the project stating his fee but urging that he could not predict the time required to complete the work.
 * The same messenger appeared later, paying Mozart the sum requested plus a note promising a bonus at the work's completion.
 * He started composing the work upon his return from Prague.
 * He fell ill while writing the work
 * He told Constanze "I am only too conscious... my end will not be long in coming: for sure, someone has poisoned me! I cannot rid my mind of this thought."
 * Constanze thought that the Requiem was overstraining him; she called the doctor and took away the score.
 * On the day of his death, he had the score brought to his bed.
 * The messenger took the unfinished Requiem soon after Mozart's death.
 * Constanze never learned the commissioner's name.

 This account, too, has fallen under scrutiny and criticism of its accuracy. According to letters, Constanze most certainly knew the name of the commissioner by the time this interview was released in 1800.[18] Additionally, the Requiem was not given to the messenger until some time after Mozart's death.[16] This interview contains the only account from Constanze herself of the claim that she took the Requiem away from Wolfgang for a significant duration during his composition of it.[16] Otherwise, the timeline provided in this account is historically probable.

 Georg Nikolaus von Nissen [ edit ]

 However, the most highly accepted text attributed to Constanze is the interview to her second husband, Georg Nikolaus von Nissen.[16] After Nissen's death in 1826, Constanze released the biography of Wolfgang (1828) that Nissen had compiled, which included this interview. Nissen states:

 * Mozart received the commission shortly before the coronation of Emperor Leopold and before he received the commission to go to Prague.
 * He did not accept the messenger's request immediately; he wrote the commissioner and agreed to the project stating his fee but urging that he could not predict the time required to complete the work.
 * The same messenger appeared later, paying Mozart the sum requested plus a note promising a bonus at the work's completion.
 * He started composing the work upon his return from Prague.

 The Nissen publication lacks information following Mozart's return from Prague.[16]

 Influences [ edit ]

 Michael Haydn (younger brother of Joseph Haydn), whose own Requiem influenced Mozart

 Mozart esteemed Handel and in 1789 he was commissioned by Baron Gottfried van Swieten to rearrange Messiah (HWV 56). This work likely influenced the composition of Mozart's Requiem; the Kyrie is based on the "And with His stripes we are healed" chorus from Handel's Messiah, since the subject of the fugato is the same with only slight variations by adding ornaments on melismata.[19] However, the same four-note theme is also found in the finale of Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in F minor (Op. 20 No. 5) and in the first measure of the A minor fugue from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2 (BWV 889b) as part of the subject of Bach's fugue,[20] and it is thought that Mozart transcribed some of the fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier for string ensemble (K. 404a Nos. 1–3 and K. 405 Nos. 1–5),[21] but the attribution of these transcriptions to Mozart is not certain.

 Some musicologists believe that the Introitus was inspired by Handel's Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline, HWV 264. Another influence was Michael Haydn's Requiem in C minor; Mozart and his father were viola and violin players respectively at its first three performances in January 1772. Some have noted that Michael Haydn's Introitus sounds rather similar to Mozart's, and the theme for Mozart's "Quam olim Abrahae" fugue is a direct quote of the fugue theme from Haydn's Offertorium and Versus from his aforementioned requiem. In Introitus m. 21, the soprano sings "Te decet hymnus Deus in Zion". It is quoting the Lutheran hymn "Meine Seele erhebt den Herren". The melody is used by many composers e.g. in Bach's cantata Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10 but also in Michael Haydn's Requiem.[22]

 Felicia Hemans' poem "Mozart's Requiem" was first published in The New Monthly Magazine in 1828.[23]

 Timeline [ edit ]

 For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Mozart's Requiem.

 Modern completions [ edit ]

 Main article: Modern completions of Mozart's Requiem

 In the 1960s, a sketch for an Amen Fugue was discovered, which some musicologists (Levin, Maunder) believe belongs to the Requiem at the conclusion of the sequence after the Lacrymosa. H. C. Robbins Landon argues that this Amen Fugue was not intended for the Requiem, rather that it "may have been for a separate unfinished mass in D minor" to which the Kyrie K. 341 also belonged.[24]

 There is, however, compelling evidence placing the Amen Fugue in the Requiem[25] based on current Mozart scholarship. First, the principal subject is the main theme of the Requiem (stated at the beginning, and throughout the work) in strict inversion. Second, it is found on the same page as a sketch for the Rex tremendae (together with a sketch for the overture of his last opera The Magic Flute), and thus surely dates from late 1791. The only place where the word 'Amen' occurs in anything that Mozart wrote in late 1791 is in the sequence of the Requiem. Third, as Levin points out in the foreword to his completion of the Requiem, the addition of the Amen Fugue at the end of the sequence results in an overall design that ends each large section with a fugue.

 Since the 1970s several composers and musicologists, dissatisfied with the traditional "Süssmayr" completion, have attempted alternative completions of the Requiem.

 Autograph at the 1958 World's Fair [ edit ]

 Mozart's manuscript with missing corner
 "quam olim d: c" in Mozart's hand

 The autograph of the Requiem was placed on display at the World's Fair in 1958 in Brussels. At some point during the fair, someone was able to gain access to the manuscript, tearing off the bottom right-hand corner of the second to last page (folio 99r/45r), containing the words "Quam olim d: C:" (an instruction that the "Quam olim" fugue of the Domine Jesu was to be repeated da capo, at the end of the Hostias). The perpetrator has not been identified and the fragment has not been recovered.[26]

 If the most common authorship theory is true, then "Quam olim d: C:" were the last words Mozart wrote before he died.

 Recordings [ edit ]

 Main article: Mozart Requiem discography

 Arrangements [ edit ]

 The Requiem and its individual movements have been repeatedly arranged for various instruments. The keyboard arrangements notably demonstrate the variety of approaches taken to translating the Requiem, particularly the Confutatis and Lacrymosa movements, in order to balance preserving the Requiem's character while also being physically playable. Karl Klindworth's piano solo (c.1900), Muzio Clementi's organ solo, and Renaud de Vilbac's harmonium solo (c.1875) are liberal in their approach to achieve this. In contrast, Carl Czerny wrote his piano transcription for two players, enabling him to retain the extent of the score, if sacrificing timbral character. Franz Liszt's piano solo (c.1865) departs the most in terms of fidelity and character of the Requiem, through its inclusion of composition devices used to showcase pianistic technique.[27]

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ Wolff, Christoph (1994). Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score. Translated by Mary Whittal. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 105. ISBN 0-520-07709-1.
 2. ^ Wolff, Christoph (2003) [1991]. Mozarts Requiem. Geschichte, Musik, Dokumente. Mit Studienpartitur (in German) (4th ed.). Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. [ page needed ]. ISBN 3-7618-1242-6.
 3. ^ Wolff 1998 , pp. 80–82.
 4. ^ Robinson, Ray (1 August 1985). "A New Mozart 'Requiem'". Choral Journal. 26 (1): 5–6. ProQuest 1306216012.
 5. ^ Keefe, Simon P. (2008). ""Die Ochsen am Berge": Franx Xaver Süssmayr and the Orchestration of Mozart's Requiem, K. 626". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 61: 17. doi:10.1525/jams.2008.61.1.1.
 6. ^ Blom, Jan Dirk (2009). A Dictionary of Hallucinations. Springer. p. 342. ISBN 9781441912237.
 7. ^ Gehring, Franz Eduard (1883). Mozart (The Great Musicians). University of Michigan: S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington. p. 124.
 8. ^ Wolff, Christoph (1994). Mozart's Requiem. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780520077096.
 9. ^ Leeson, Daniel N. (2004). Opus Ultimum: The Story of the Mozart Requiem. New York: Algora. p. 79. "Mozart might have described specific instrumentation for the drafted sections, or the addition of a "Sanctus", a "Benedictus", and an "Agnus Dei", telling Süssmayr he would be obliged to compose those sections himself."
 10. ^ Summer, R. J. (2007). Choral Masterworks from Bach to Britten: Reflections of a Conductor. Scarecrow Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-8108-5903-6.
 11. ^ Mentioned in the CD booklet of the Requiem recording by Nikolaus Harnoncourt (2004).
 12. ^ Wolff 1998 , pp. 10–11.
 13. ^ Keefe 2012 , p. 74.
 14. ^ Moseley, Paul (1989). "Mozart's Requiem; A Revaluation of the Evidence". Journal of the Royal Musical Association. 114 (2): 211. doi:10.1093/jrma/114.2.203. JSTOR 766531.
 15. ^ Gregory Allen Robbins. "Mozart & Salieri, Cain & Abel: A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4." , Journal of Religion and Film : vol. 1, no. 1, April 1997
 16. ^ a b c d e f g Landon, H. C. Robbins (1988). 1791: Mozart's Last Year. New York: Schirmer Books.
 17. ^ Keefe, Simon P., ed. (2006). Mozart studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 0521851025. OCLC 76850387.
 18. ^ a b Steve Boerner (December 16, 2000). "K. 626: Requiem in D Minor". The Mozart Project. Archived from the original on June 8, 2007.
 19. ^ "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'Kyrie Eleison, K. 626'". WhoSampled.com. Discover the Sample Source . Retrieved 2017-06-17 .
 20. ^ Dirst, Charles Matthew (2012). Engaging Bach: The Keyboard Legacy from Marpurg to Mendelssohn. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-1107376281.
 21. ^ Köchel, Ludwig Ritter von (1862). Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sämmtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amade Mozart's (in German). Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel. OCLC 3309798. Alt URL , No. 405, pp. 328–329
 22. ^ "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'Requiem in D Minor'". WhoSampled.com. Discover the Sample Source . Retrieved 2017-06-23 .
 23. ^ Hemans, Felicia (1828). "Mozart's Requiem" . The New Monthly Magazine. 22: 325–326 – via Wikisource.
 24. ^ Wolff 1998 , p. 30.
 25. ^ Moseley, Paul (1989). "Mozart's Requiem: A Revaluation of the Evidence". Journal of the Royal Musical Association. 114 (2): 203–237. doi:10.1093/jrma/114.2.203. JSTOR 766531.
 26. ^ Facsimile of the manuscript's last page, showing the missing corner Archived 2012-01-13 at the Wayback Machine
 27. ^ Keefe 2012 , p. 85.

 Sources [ edit ]

 * Keefe, Simon P. (2012). Mozart's Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-19837-0. OCLC 804845569.
 * Wolff, Christoph (1998). Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score. Translated by Mary Whittall (revised, annotated ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520213890.

 Further reading [ edit ]

 * Brendan Cormican (1991). Mozart's death – Mozart's requiem: an investigation. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-9510357-0-3.
 * Heinz Gärtner (1991). Constanze Mozart: after the Requiem. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-39-X.
 * C. R. F. Maunder (1988). Mozart's Requiem: On Preparing a New Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-316413-2.
 * Christoph Wolff (1994). Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score. Translated by Mary Whittal. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07709-1.

 External links [ edit ]

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Requiem (Mozart).
 * Article on the Requiem at h2g2
 * Michael Lorenz: "Freystädtler's Supposed Copying in the Autograph of K. 626: A Case of Mistaken Identity", Vienna 2013
 * Mozart's Requiem, new completion of the score by musicologist Robert D. Levin, live concert
 * 
 * Requiem: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
 * 
 * Eybler's and Süssmayr's amendments: Score in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
 * Free scores of Requiem, K. 626 in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
 * Requiem in D minor, K. 626: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
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Requiem   by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr       Mozart in 1781    Key  D minor    Catalogue  K. 626   Text  Requiem    Language Latin   Composed 1791(Süssmayr completion finished 1792)   Scoring    four soloists chorus orchestra      
The Requiem in D minor, K. 626, is a requiem mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Mozart composed part of the Requiem in Vienna in late 1791, but it was unfinished at his death on 5 December the same year. A completed version dated 1792 by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who commissioned the piece for a requiem service on 14 February 1792 to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of his wife Anna at the age of 20 on 14 February 1791.
 The autograph manuscript shows the finished and orchestrated Introit in Mozart's hand, and detailed drafts of the Kyrie and the sequence Dies irae as far as the first eight bars of the Lacrymosa movement, and the Offertory. It cannot be shown to what extent Süssmayr may have depended on now lost "scraps of paper" for the remainder; he later claimed the Sanctus and Benedictus and the Agnus Dei as his own.
 Walsegg probably intended to pass the Requiem off as his own composition, as he is known to have done with other works. This plan was frustrated by a public benefit performance for Mozart's widow Constanze. She was responsible for a number of stories surrounding the composition of the work, including the claims that Mozart received the commission from a mysterious messenger who did not reveal the commissioner's identity, and that Mozart came to believe that he was writing the requiem for his own funeral.
 In addition to the Süssmayr version, a number of alternative completions have been developed by composers and musicologists in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Instrumentation[edit]
The Requiem is scored for 2 basset horns in F, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets in D, 3 trombones (alto, tenor, and bass), timpani (2 drums), violins, viola, and basso continuo (cello, double bass, and organ). The basset horn parts are sometimes played on conventional clarinets, even though this changes the sonority.
 The vocal forces consist of soprano, contralto, tenor, and bass soloists and an SATB mixed choir.
Structure[edit]
      The first page of Mozart's autograph score  
Süssmayr's completion divides the Requiem into eight sections:
    Introitus    
    Requiem aeternam    
    Kyrie     Sequentia    
     Dies irae  Tuba mirum Rex tremendae Recordare Confutatis  Lacrymosa     
    Offertorium    
    Domine Jesu Hostias    
    Sanctus     Benedictus     Agnus Dei     Communio    
    Lux aeterna Cum sanctis tuis    
All sections from the Sanctus onwards are not present in Mozart's manuscript fragment. Mozart may have intended to include the Amen fugue at the end of the Sequentia, but Süssmayr did not do so in his completion.
 The following table shows for the eight sections in Süssmayr's completion with their subdivisions: the title, vocal parts (solo soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B) [in bold] and four-part choir SATB), tempo, key, and meter.
  
 
Section
Title
Vocal
Tempo
Key
Meter
 
I. Introitus
Requiem aeternam
 SSATB
Adagio
 D minor
  4    4 
 
II. Kyrie
Kyrie eleison
SATB
Allegro
D minor
  4    4 
 
III. Sequentia
Dies irae
SATB
Allegro assai
D minor
  4    4 
 
Tuba mirum
 SATB
Andante
 B♭ major
  2    2 
 
Rex tremendae
SATB
–
 G minor – D minor
  4    4 
 
Recordare
 SATB
–
 F major
  3    4 
 
Confutatis
SATB
Andante
 A minor – F major
  4    4 
 
Lacrymosa
SATB
Larghetto
D minor
  12    8 
 
IV. Offertorium
Domine Jesu
 SATBSATB
Andante con moto
G minor
  4    4 
 
Hostias
SATB
Andante – Andante con moto
 E♭ major – G minor
  3    4  –  4    4 
 
V. Sanctus
Sanctus
SATB
Adagio
 D major
  4    4 
 
Hosanna
Allegro
  3    4 
 
VI. Benedictus
Benedictus
 SATB
Andante
B♭ major
  4    4 
 
Hosanna
SATB
Allegro
 
VII. Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei
SATB
D minor – B♭ major
  3    4 
 
VIII. Communio
Lux aeterna
 SSATB
–
B♭ major – D minor
  4    4 
 
Cum sanctis tuis
SATB
Allegro
     
Music[edit]
I. Introitus[edit]
   
The Requiem begins with a seven-measure instrumental introduction, in which the woodwinds (first bassoons, then basset horns) present the principal theme of the work in imitative counterpoint. The first five measures of this passage (without the accompaniment) are shown below.
   
This theme is modeled after Handel's  The ways of Zion do mourn , HWV 264. Many parts of the work make reference to this passage, notably in the coloratura in the Kyrie fugue and in the conclusion of the Lacrymosa.
 The trombones then announce the entry of the choir, which breaks into the theme, with the basses alone for the first measure, followed by imitation by the other parts. The chords play off syncopated and staggered structures in the accompaniment, thus underlining the solemn and steady nature of the music. A soprano solo is sung to the Te decet hymnus text in the  tonus peregrinus . The choir continues, repeating the psalmtone while singing the Exaudi orationem meam section. [1]  Then, the principal theme is treated by the choir and the orchestra in downward-gliding sixteenth-notes. The courses of the melodies, whether held up or moving down, change and interlace amongst themselves, while passages in counterpoint and in unison (e.g., Et lux perpetua) alternate; all this creates the charm of this movement, which finishes with a half cadence on the dominant.
II. Kyrie[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
The Kyrie follows without pause (attacca). It is a double fugue also on a Handelian theme: the subject is based on "And with his stripes we are healed" from  Messiah , HWV 56 (with which Mozart was familiar given his work on a German-language version) and the counter-subject comes from the final chorus of the Dettingen Anthem, HWV 265. The first three measures of the altos and basses are shown below.
   
The contrapuntal motifs of the theme of this fugue include variations on the two themes of the Introit. At first, upward diatonic series of sixteenth-notes are replaced by chromatic series, which has the effect of augmenting the intensity. This passage shows itself to be a bit demanding in the upper voices, particularly for the soprano voice. A final portion in a slower (Adagio) tempo ends on an "empty" fifth, a construction which had during the classical period become archaic, lending the piece an ancient air.
III. Sequentia[edit]
a. Dies irae[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
The Dies irae ("Day of Wrath") opens with a show of orchestral and choral might with tremolo strings, syncopated figures and repeated chords in the brass. A rising chromatic scurry of sixteenth-notes leads into a chromatically rising harmonic progression with the chorus singing "Quantus tremor est futurus" ("what trembling there will be" in reference to the Last Judgment). This material is repeated with harmonic development before the texture suddenly drops to a trembling unison figure with more tremolo strings evocatively painting the "Quantus tremor" text.
b. Tuba mirum[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
Mozart's textual inspiration is again apparent in the Tuba mirum ("Hark, the trumpet") movement, which is introduced with a sequence of three notes in arpeggio, played in B♭ major by a solo tenor trombone, unaccompanied, in accordance with the usual German translation of the Latin tuba, Posaune (trombone). Two measures later, the bass soloist enters, imitating the same theme. At m. 7, there is a fermata, the only point in all the work at which a solo cadenza occurs. The final quarter notes of the bass soloist herald the arrival of the tenor, followed by the alto and soprano in dramatic fashion.
 On the text Cum vix justus sit securus ("When only barely may the just one be secure"), there is a switch to a homophonic segment sung by the quartet at the same time, articulating, without accompaniment, the cum and vix on the "strong" (1st and 3rd), then on the "weak" (2nd and 4th) beats, with the violins and continuo responding each time; this "interruption" (which one may interpret as the interruption preceding the Last Judgment) is heard  sotto voce , forte and then piano to bring the movement finally into a crescendo into a perfect cadence.
c. Rex tremendae[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
A descending melody composed of dotted notes is played by the orchestra to announce the Rex tremendae majestatis ("King of tremendous majesty", i.e., God), who is called by powerful cries from the choir on the syllable Rex during the orchestra's pauses. For a surprising effect, the Rex syllables of the choir fall on the second beats of the measures, even though this is the "weak" beat. The choir then adopts the dotted rhythm of the orchestra, forming what Wolff calls baroque music's form of "topos of the homage to the sovereign", [2]  or, more simply put, that this musical style is a standard form of salute to royalty, or, in this case, divinity. This movement consists of only 22 measures, but this short stretch is rich in variation: homophonic writing and contrapuntal choral passages alternate many times and finish on a quasi-unaccompanied choral cadence, landing on an open D chord (as seen previously in the Kyrie).
d. Recordare[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
At 130 measures, the Recordare ("Remember") is the work's longest movement, as well as the first in triple meter ( 3    4 ); the movement is a setting of no fewer than seven stanzas of the  Dies irae . The form of this piece is somewhat similar to sonata form, with an exposition around two themes (mm. 1–37), a development of two themes (mm. 38–92) and a recapitulation (mm. 93–98).
 In the first 13 measures, the basset horns are the first the present the first theme, clearly inspired by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Sinfonia in D Minor, [3]  the theme is enriched by a magnificent counterpoint by cellos in descending scales that are reprised throughout the movement. This counterpoint of the first theme prolongs the orchestral introduction with chords, recalling the beginning of the work and its rhythmic and melodic shiftings (the first basset horn begins a measure after the second but a tone higher, the first violins are likewise in sync with the second violins but a quarter note shifted, etc.). The introduction is followed by the vocal soloists; their first theme is sung by the alto and bass (from m. 14), followed by the soprano and tenor (from m. 20). Each time, the theme concludes with a hemiola (mm. 18–19 and 24–25). The second theme arrives on Ne me perdas, in which the accompaniment contrasts with that of the first theme. Instead of descending scales, the accompaniment is limited to repeated chords. This exposition concludes with four orchestral measures based on the counter-melody of the first theme (mm. 34–37).
 The development of these two themes begins in m. 38 on Quaerens me; the second theme is not recognizable except by the structure of its accompaniment. At m. 46, it is the first theme that is developed beginning from Tantus labor and concludes with two measures of hemiola at mm. 50–51. After two orchestral bars (mm. 52–53), the first theme is heard again on the text Juste Judex and ends on a hemiola in mm. 66–67. Then, the second theme is reused on ante diem rationis; after the four measures of orchestra from 68 to 71, the first theme is developed alone.
 The recapitulation intervenes in m. 93. The initial structure reproduces itself with the first theme on the text Preces meae and then in m. 99 on Sed tu bonus. The second theme reappears one final time on m. 106 on Sed tu bonus and concludes with three hemiolas. The final measures of the movement recede to simple orchestral descending contrapuntal scales.
e. Confutatis[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
The Confutatis ("From the accursed") begins with a rhythmic and dynamic sequence of strong contrasts and surprising harmonic turns. Accompanied by the basso continuo, the tenors and basses burst into a forte vision of the infernal, on a dotted rhythm. The accompaniment then ceases alongside the tenors and basses, and the sopranos and altos enter softly and  sotto voce , singing Voca me cum benedictis ("Call upon me with the blessed") with an arpeggiated accompaniment in strings.
 Finally, in the following stanza (Oro supplex et acclinis), there is a striking modulation from A minor to A♭ minor.
   
This spectacular descent from the opening key is repeated, now modulating to the key of F major. A final dominant seventh chord leads to the Lacrymosa.
f. Lacrymosa[edit]
     
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
The chords begin piano on a rocking rhythm in  12    8 , intercut with quarter rests, which will be reprised by the choir after two measures, on Lacrimosa dies illa ("This tearful day"). Then, after two measures, the sopranos begin a diatonic progression, in disjointed eighth-notes on the text resurget ("will be reborn"), then  legato  and chromatic on a powerful crescendo. The choir is forte by m. 8, at which point Mozart's contribution to the movement is interrupted by his death.
 Süssmayr brings the choir to a reference of the Introit and ends on an  Amen cadence. Discovery of a fragmentary Amen fugue in Mozart's hand has led to speculation that it may have been intended for the Requiem. Indeed, many modern completions (such as Levin's) complete Mozart's fragment. Some sections of this movement are quoted in the Requiem mass of Franz von Suppé, who was a great admirer of Mozart. Ray Robinson, the music scholar and president (from 1969 to 1987) of the Westminster Choir College, suggests that Süssmayr used materials from Credo of one of Mozart's earlier masses, Mass in C major, K. 220 "Sparrow" in completing this movement. [4] 
IV. Offertorium[edit]
a. Domine Jesu[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
The first movement of the Offertorium, the Domine Jesu, begins on a piano theme consisting of an ascending progression on a G minor triad. This theme will later be varied in various keys, before returning to G minor when the four soloists enter a canon on Sed signifer sanctus Michael , switching between minor (in ascent) and major (in descent). Between these thematic passages are forte phrases where the choir enters, often in unison and dotted rhythm, such as on Rex gloriae ("King of glory") or de ore leonis ("[Deliver them] from the mouth of the lion"). Two choral fugues follow, on ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum ("may Tartarus not absorb them, nor may they fall into darkness") and Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius ("What once to Abraham you promised and to his seed"). The movement concludes homophonically in G major.
b. Hostias[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
The Hostias opens in E♭ major in  3    4 , with fluid vocals. After 20 measures, the movement switches to an alternation of forte and piano exclamations of the choir, while progressing from B♭ major towards B♭ minor, then F major, D♭ major, A♭ major, F minor, C minor and E♭ major. An overtaking chromatic melody on Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam ("Make them, O Lord, cross over from death to life") finally carries the movement into the dominant of G minor, followed by a reprise of the Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius fugue.
   
The words "Quam olim da capo" are likely to have been the last Mozart wrote; this portion of the manuscript has been missing since it was stolen at 1958 World's Fair in Brussels by a person whose identity remains unknown.
Süssmayr's additions[edit]
V. Sanctus[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
The Sanctus is the first movement written entirely by Süssmayr, and the only movement of the Requiem to have a key signature with sharps: D major, generally used for the entry of trumpets in the Baroque era. After a succinct glorification of the Lord follows a short fugue in  3    4  on  Hosanna in excelsis ("Glory [to God] in the highest"), noted for its syncopated rhythm, and for its motivic similarity to the Quam olim Abrahae fugue.
VI. Benedictus[edit]
   
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)  
The Benedictus, a quartet, adopts the key of the submediant, B♭ major (which can also be considered the relative of the subdominant of the key of D minor). The Sanctus's ending on a D major cadence necessitates a mediant jump to this new key.
 The Benedictus is constructed on three types of phrases: the (A) theme, which is first presented by the orchestra and reprised from m. 4 by the alto and from m. 6 by the soprano. The word benedictus is held, which stands in opposition with the (B) phrase, which is first seen at m. 10, also on the word benedictus but with a quick and chopped-up rhythm. The phrase develops and rebounds at m. 15 with a broken cadence. The third phrase, (C), is a solemn ringing where the winds respond to the chords with a staggering harmony, as shown in a Mozartian cadence at mm. 21 and 22, where the counterpoint of the basset horns mixes with the line of the cello. The rest of the movement consists of variations on this writing. At m. 23, phrase (A) is reprised on a F pedal and introduces a recapitulation of the primary theme from the bass and tenor from mm. 28 and 30, respectively. Phrase (B) follows at m. 33, although without the broken cadence, then repeats at m. 38 with the broken cadence once more. This carries the movement to a new Mozartian cadence in mm. 47 to 49 and concludes on phrase (C), which reintroduces the Hosanna fugue from the Sanctus movement, in the new key of the Benedictus.
VII. Agnus Dei[edit]
   
  
1956 Salzburg Festival performance (see above)   
 Homophony dominates the Agnus Dei. The text is repeated three times, always with chromatic melodies and harmonic reversals, going from D minor to F major, C major, and finally B♭ major. According to the musicologist Simon P. Keefe, Süssmayr likely referenced one of Mozart's earlier masses, Mass in C major, K. 220 "Sparrow" in completing this movement. [5] 
VIII. Communio[edit]
Süssmayr here reuses Mozart's first two movements, almost exactly note for note, with wording corresponding to this part of the liturgy.
History[edit]
Composition[edit]
      The beginning of the Dies irae in the autograph manuscript, with Eybler's orchestration. In the upper right, Nissen has left a note: "All which is not enclosed by the quill is of Mozart's hand up to page 32." The first violin, choir and figured bass are entirely Mozart's.  
At the time of Mozart's death on 5 December 1791, only the first movement, Introitus (Requiem aeternam) was completed in all of the orchestral and vocal parts. The Kyrie, Sequence and Offertorium were completed in skeleton, with the exception of the Lacrymosa, which breaks off after the first eight bars. The vocal parts and continuo were fully notated. Occasionally, some of the prominent orchestral parts were briefly indicated, such as the first violin part of the Rex tremendae and Confutatis, the musical bridges in the Recordare, and the trombone solos of the Tuba Mirum.
 What remained to be completed for these sections were mostly accompanimental figures, inner harmonies, and orchestral doublings to the vocal parts.
Completion by Mozart's contemporaries[edit]
The eccentric count Franz von Walsegg commissioned the Requiem from Mozart anonymously through intermediaries. The count, an amateur chamber musician who routinely commissioned works by composers and passed them off as his own, [6]   [7]  wanted a Requiem Mass he could claim he composed to memorialize the recent passing of his wife. Mozart received only half of the payment in advance, so upon his death his widow Constanze was keen to have the work completed secretly by someone else, submit it to the count as having been completed by Mozart and collect the final payment. [8]  Joseph von Eybler was one of the first composers to be asked to complete the score, and had worked on the movements from the Dies irae up until the Lacrymosa. In addition, a striking similarity between the openings of the Domine Jesu Christe movements in the requiems of the two composers suggests that Eybler at least looked at later sections.[ further explanation needed ] After this work, he felt unable to complete the remainder and gave the manuscript back to Constanze Mozart.
 The task was then given to another composer, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Süssmayr borrowed some of Eybler's work in making his completion, and added his own orchestration to the movements from the Kyrie onward, completed the Lacrymosa, and added several new movements which a Requiem would normally comprise: Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. He then added a final section, Lux aeterna by adapting the opening two movements which Mozart had written to the different words which finish the Requiem mass, which according to both Süssmayr and Mozart's wife was done according to Mozart's directions. Some people[ who? ] consider it unlikely, however, that Mozart would have repeated the opening two sections if he had survived to finish the work.
 Other composers may have helped Süssmayr. The Agnus Dei is suspected by some scholars [9]  to have been based on instruction or sketches from Mozart because of its similarity to a section from the Gloria of a previous mass ( Sparrow Mass , K. 220) by Mozart, [10]  as was first pointed out by Richard Maunder. Others have pointed out that at the beginning of the Agnus Dei, the choral bass quotes the main theme from the Introitus. [11]  Many of the arguments dealing with this matter, though, center on the perception that if part of the work is of high quality, it must have been written by Mozart (or from sketches), and if part of the work contains errors and faults, it must have been all Süssmayr's doing. [12] 
 Another controversy is the suggestion (originating from a letter written by Constanze) that Mozart left explicit instructions for the completion of the Requiem on "a few scraps of paper with music on them... found on Mozart's desk after his death." [13]  The extent to which Süssmayr's work may have been influenced by these "scraps", if they existed at all, remains a subject of speculation amongst musicologists to this day.
 The completed score, started by Mozart but largely finished by Süssmayr, was then dispatched to Count Walsegg complete with a counterfeited signature of Mozart and dated 1792. The various complete and incomplete manuscripts eventually turned up in the 19th century, but many of the figures involved left ambiguous statements on record as to how they were involved in the affair. Despite the controversy over how much of the music is actually Mozart's, the commonly performed Süssmayr version has become widely accepted by the public. This acceptance is quite strong, even when alternative completions provide logical and compelling solutions for the work.
     
Promotion by Constanze Mozart[edit]
The confusion surrounding the circumstances of the Requiem's composition was created in a large part by Mozart's wife, Constanze. Constanze had a difficult task in front of her: she had to keep secret the fact that the Requiem was unfinished at Mozart's death, so she could collect the final payment from the commission. For a period of time, she also needed to keep secret the fact that Süssmayr had anything to do with the composition of the Requiem at all, in order to allow Count Walsegg the impression that Mozart wrote the work entirely himself. Once she received the commission, she needed to carefully promote the work as Mozart's so that she could continue to receive revenue from the work's publication and performance. During this phase of the Requiem's history, it was still important that the public accept that Mozart wrote the whole piece, as it would fetch larger sums from publishers and the public if it were completely by Mozart. [14] 
 It is Constanze's efforts that created the flurry of half-truths and myths almost instantly after Mozart's death. According to Constanze, Mozart declared that he was composing the Requiem for himself and that he had been poisoned. His symptoms worsened, and he began to complain about the painful swelling of his body and high fever. Nevertheless, Mozart continued his work on the Requiem, and even on the last day of his life, he was explaining to his assistant how he intended to finish the Requiem.
 With multiple levels of deception surrounding the Requiem's completion, a natural outcome is the mythologizing which subsequently occurred. One series of myths surrounding the Requiem involves the role Antonio Salieri played in the commissioning and completion of the Requiem (and in Mozart's death generally). While the most recent retelling of this myth is Peter Shaffer's play  Amadeus  and the movie made from it, it is important to note that the source of misinformation was actually a 19th-century play by Alexander Pushkin,  Mozart and Salieri , which was turned into an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov and subsequently used as the framework for the play Amadeus. [15] 
Conflicting accounts[edit]
Source materials written soon after Mozart's death contain serious discrepancies, which leave a level of subjectivity when assembling the "facts" about Mozart's composition of the Requiem. For example, at least three of the conflicting sources, all dated within two decades following Mozart's death, cite Constanze as their primary source of interview information.
Friedrich Rochlitz[edit]
In 1798, Friedrich Rochlitz, a German biographical author and amateur composer, published a set of Mozart anecdotes that he claimed to have collected during his meeting with Constanze in 1796. [16]  The Rochlitz publication makes the following statements:
 Mozart was unaware of his commissioner's identity at the time he accepted the project.
He was not bound to any date of completion of the work.
He stated that it would take him around four weeks to complete.
He requested, and received, 100 ducats at the time of the first commissioning message.
He began the project immediately after receiving the commission.
His health was poor from the outset; he fainted multiple times while working.
He took a break from writing the work to visit the Prater with his wife.
He shared the thought with his wife that he was writing this piece for his own funeral.
He spoke of "very strange thoughts" regarding the unpredicted appearance and commission of this unknown man.
He noted that the departure of Leopold II to Prague for the coronation was approaching. 
The most highly disputed of these claims is the last one, the chronology of this setting. According to Rochlitz, the messenger arrives quite some time before the departure of Leopold for the coronation, yet there is a record of his departure occurring in mid-July 1791. However, as Constanze was in Baden during all of June to mid-July, she would not have been present for the commission or the drive they were said to have taken together. [16]  Furthermore,  The Magic Flute  (except for the Overture and March of the Priests) was completed by mid-July.  La clemenza di Tito  was commissioned by mid-July. [16]  There was no time for Mozart to work on the Requiem on the large scale indicated by the Rochlitz publication in the time frame provided.
Franz Xaver Niemetschek[edit]
      1857 lithograph by Franz Schramm, titled Ein Moment aus den letzten Tagen Mozarts ("Moment from the Last Days of Mozart"). Mozart, with the score of the Requiem on his lap, gives Süssmayr last-minute instructions. Constanze is to the side and the messenger is leaving through the main door. [17]    
Also in 1798, Constanze is noted to have given another interview to Franz Xaver Niemetschek, [18]  another biographer looking to publish a compendium of Mozart's life. He published his biography in 1808, containing a number of claims about Mozart's receipt of the Requiem commission:
 Mozart received the commission very shortly before the Coronation of Emperor Leopold II and before he received the commission to go to Prague.
He did not accept the messenger's request immediately; he wrote the commissioner and agreed to the project stating his fee but urging that he could not predict the time required to complete the work.
The same messenger appeared later, paying Mozart the sum requested plus a note promising a bonus at the work's completion.
He started composing the work upon his return from Prague.
He fell ill while writing the work
He told Constanze "I am only too conscious... my end will not be long in coming: for sure, someone has poisoned me! I cannot rid my mind of this thought."
Constanze thought that the Requiem was overstraining him; she called the doctor and took away the score.
On the day of his death, he had the score brought to his bed.
The messenger took the unfinished Requiem soon after Mozart's death.
Constanze never learned the commissioner's name. 
This account, too, has fallen under scrutiny and criticism of its accuracy. According to letters, Constanze most certainly knew the name of the commissioner by the time this interview was released in 1800. [18]  Additionally, the Requiem was not given to the messenger until some time after Mozart's death. [16]  This interview contains the only account from Constanze herself of the claim that she took the Requiem away from Wolfgang for a significant duration during his composition of it. [16]  Otherwise, the timeline provided in this account is historically probable.
Georg Nikolaus von Nissen[edit]
However, the most highly accepted text attributed to Constanze is the interview to her second husband, Georg Nikolaus von Nissen. [16]  After Nissen's death in 1826, Constanze released the biography of Wolfgang (1828) that Nissen had compiled, which included this interview. Nissen states:
 Mozart received the commission shortly before the coronation of Emperor Leopold and before he received the commission to go to Prague.
He did not accept the messenger's request immediately; he wrote the commissioner and agreed to the project stating his fee but urging that he could not predict the time required to complete the work.
The same messenger appeared later, paying Mozart the sum requested plus a note promising a bonus at the work's completion.
He started composing the work upon his return from Prague. 
The Nissen publication lacks information following Mozart's return from Prague. [16] 
Influences[edit]
     
Mozart esteemed Handel and in 1789 he was commissioned by Baron Gottfried van Swieten to rearrange  Messiah  (HWV 56). This work likely influenced the composition of Mozart's Requiem; the Kyrie is based on the "And with His stripes we are healed" chorus from Handel's Messiah, since the subject of the fugato is the same with only slight variations by adding ornaments on melismata. [19]  However, the same four-note theme is also found in the finale of Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in F minor (Op. 20 No. 5) and in the first measure of the A minor fugue from Bach's  Well-Tempered Clavier  Book 2 (BWV 889b) as part of the subject of Bach's fugue, [20]  and it is thought that Mozart transcribed some of the fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier for string ensemble (K. 404a Nos. 1–3 and K. 405 Nos. 1–5), [21]  but the attribution of these transcriptions to Mozart is not certain.
 Some musicologists believe that the Introitus was inspired by Handel's  Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline , HWV 264. Another influence was Michael Haydn's Requiem in C minor; Mozart and his father were viola and violin players respectively at its first three performances in January 1772. Some have noted that Michael Haydn's Introitus sounds rather similar to Mozart's, and the theme for Mozart's "Quam olim Abrahae" fugue is a direct quote of the fugue theme from Haydn's Offertorium and Versus from his aforementioned requiem. In Introitus m. 21, the soprano sings "Te decet hymnus Deus in Zion". It is quoting the Lutheran hymn "Meine Seele erhebt den Herren". The melody is used by many composers e.g. in Bach's cantata  Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10 but also in Michael Haydn's Requiem. [22] 
  Felicia Hemans' poem "Mozart's Requiem" was first published in  The New Monthly Magazine  in 1828. [23] 
Timeline[edit]
Modern completions[edit]
In the 1960s, a sketch for an Amen Fugue was discovered, which some musicologists (Levin, Maunder) believe belongs to the Requiem at the conclusion of the sequence after the Lacrymosa. H. C. Robbins Landon argues that this Amen Fugue was not intended for the Requiem, rather that it "may have been for a separate unfinished mass in D minor" to which the Kyrie K. 341 also belonged. [24] 
 There is, however, compelling evidence placing the Amen Fugue in the Requiem [25]  based on current Mozart scholarship. First, the principal subject is the main theme of the Requiem (stated at the beginning, and throughout the work) in strict inversion. Second, it is found on the same page as a sketch for the Rex tremendae (together with a sketch for the overture of his last opera  The Magic Flute ), and thus surely dates from late 1791. The only place where the word 'Amen' occurs in anything that Mozart wrote in late 1791 is in the sequence of the Requiem. Third, as Levin points out in the foreword to his completion of the Requiem, the addition of the Amen Fugue at the end of the sequence results in an overall design that ends each large section with a fugue.
 Since the 1970s several composers and musicologists, dissatisfied with the traditional "Süssmayr" completion, have attempted alternative completions of the Requiem.
Autograph at the 1958 World's Fair[edit]
      Mozart's manuscript with missing corner       "quam olim d: c" in Mozart's hand  
The autograph of the Requiem was placed on display at the World's Fair in 1958 in Brussels. At some point during the fair, someone was able to gain access to the manuscript, tearing off the bottom right-hand corner of the second to last page (folio 99r/45r), containing the words "Quam olim d: C:" (an instruction that the "Quam olim" fugue of the Domine Jesu was to be repeated da capo, at the end of the Hostias). The perpetrator has not been identified and the fragment has not been recovered. [26] 
 If the most common authorship theory is true, then "Quam olim d: C:" were the last words Mozart wrote before he died.
Recordings[edit]
Arrangements[edit]
The Requiem and its individual movements have been repeatedly arranged for various instruments. The keyboard arrangements notably demonstrate the variety of approaches taken to translating the Requiem, particularly the Confutatis and Lacrymosa movements, in order to balance preserving the Requiem's character while also being physically playable. Karl Klindworth's piano solo (c.1900), Muzio Clementi's organ solo, and Renaud de Vilbac's harmonium solo (c.1875) are liberal in their approach to achieve this. In contrast, Carl Czerny wrote his piano transcription for two players, enabling him to retain the extent of the score, if sacrificing timbral character. Franz Liszt's piano solo (c.1865) departs the most in terms of fidelity and character of the Requiem, through its inclusion of composition devices used to showcase pianistic technique. [27] 
References[edit]
 
  ^   Wolff, Christoph (1994). Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score. Translated by Mary Whittal. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 105. ISBN  0-520-07709-1 .
  ^   Wolff, Christoph (2003) [1991]. Mozarts Requiem. Geschichte, Musik, Dokumente. Mit Studienpartitur (in German) (4th ed.). Kassel: Bärenreiter. p. [ page needed ]. ISBN  3-7618-1242-6 .
  ^  Wolff 1998, pp. 80–82.
  ^  Robinson, Ray (1 August 1985). "A New Mozart 'Requiem'". Choral Journal. 26 (1): 5–6. ProQuest 1306216012.
  ^   Keefe, Simon P. (2008). ""Die Ochsen am Berge": Franx Xaver Süssmayr and the Orchestration of Mozart's Requiem, K. 626".  Journal of the American Musicological Society . 61: 17. doi:10.1525/jams.2008.61.1.1.
  ^  Blom, Jan Dirk (2009).  A Dictionary of Hallucinations . Springer. p. 342. ISBN  9781441912237 .
  ^  Gehring, Franz Eduard (1883).  Mozart (The Great Musicians) . University of Michigan: S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington. p. 124.
  ^   Wolff, Christoph (1994).  Mozart's Requiem . Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 3. ISBN  9780520077096 .
  ^  Leeson, Daniel N. (2004). Opus Ultimum: The Story of the Mozart Requiem. New York: Algora. p. 79. Mozart might have described specific instrumentation for the drafted sections, or the addition of a Sanctus, a Benedictus, and an Agnus Dei, telling Süssmayr he would be obliged to compose those sections himself. 
  ^  Summer, R. J. (2007). Choral Masterworks from Bach to Britten: Reflections of a Conductor. Scarecrow Press. p. 28. ISBN  978-0-8108-5903-6 .
  ^  Mentioned in the CD booklet of the Requiem recording by Nikolaus Harnoncourt (2004).
  ^  Wolff 1998, pp. 10–11.
  ^  Keefe 2012, p. 74.
  ^  Moseley, Paul (1989). "Mozart's Requiem; A Revaluation of the Evidence".  Journal of the Royal Musical Association . 114 (2): 211. doi:10.1093/jrma/114.2.203. JSTOR 766531.
  ^  Gregory Allen Robbins. "Mozart &amp; Salieri, Cain &amp; Abel: A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4.",  Journal of Religion and Film : vol. 1, no. 1, April 1997
^    a       b       c       d       e       f       g     Landon, H. C. Robbins (1988). 1791: Mozart's Last Year. New York: Schirmer Books.
  ^   Keefe, Simon P., ed. (2006). Mozart studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN  0521851025 . OCLC 76850387.
^    a       b    Steve Boerner (December 16, 2000). "K. 626: Requiem in D Minor". The Mozart Project. Archived from the original on June 8, 2007.
  ^   "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'Kyrie Eleison, K. 626'". WhoSampled.com. Discover the Sample Source. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
  ^  Dirst, Charles Matthew (2012). Engaging Bach: The Keyboard Legacy from Marpurg to Mendelssohn. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN  978-1107376281 .
  ^   Köchel, Ludwig Ritter von (1862).  Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sämmtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amade Mozart's  (in German). Leipzig: Breitkopf &amp; Härtel. OCLC 3309798. Alt URL, No. 405, pp. 328–329
  ^   "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'Requiem in D Minor'". WhoSampled.com. Discover the Sample Source. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  ^   Hemans, Felicia (1828). "Mozart's Requiem" .  The New Monthly Magazine . 22: 325–326 – via Wikisource.
  ^  Wolff 1998, p. 30.
  ^  Moseley, Paul (1989). "Mozart's Requiem: A Revaluation of the Evidence".  Journal of the Royal Musical Association . 114 (2): 203–237. doi:10.1093/jrma/114.2.203. JSTOR 766531.
  ^  Facsimile of the manuscript's last page, showing the missing corner Archived 2012-01-13 at the Wayback Machine
  ^  Keefe 2012, p. 85.
 
Sources[edit]
   Keefe, Simon P. (2012). Mozart's Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion. Cambridge University Press. ISBN  978-0-521-19837-0 . OCLC 804845569. 
  Wolff, Christoph (1998). Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score. Translated by Mary Whittall (revised, annotated ed.). University of California Press. ISBN  978-0520213890 .  
Further reading[edit]
  Brendan Cormican (1991). Mozart's death – Mozart's requiem: an investigation. Belfast, Northern Ireland: Amadeus Press. ISBN  0-9510357-0-3 . 
 Heinz Gärtner (1991). Constanze Mozart: after the Requiem. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN  0-931340-39-X . 
 C. R. F. Maunder (1988). Mozart's Requiem: On Preparing a New Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN  0-19-316413-2 . 
  Christoph Wolff (1994). Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score. Translated by Mary Whittal. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN  0-520-07709-1 .  
External links[edit]
  Article on the Requiem at h2g2 
 Michael Lorenz: "Freystädtler's Supposed Copying in the Autograph of K. 626: A Case of Mistaken Identity", Vienna 2013 
 Mozart's Requiem, new completion of the score by musicologist Robert D. Levin, live concert
 
 Requiem: Score and critical report (in German) in the  Neue Mozart-Ausgabe  
 
 Eybler's and Süssmayr's amendments: Score in the  Neue Mozart-Ausgabe  
 Free scores of Requiem, K. 626 in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
 Requiem in D minor, K. 626: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Requiem (Mozart) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Mozart)