To Be a Lover in early 1969. This version has since been sampled by Ludacris on his song "Growing Pains" from "Word of Mouf", by Jaheim on "Put That Woman First" from "Still Ghetto" and by Dilated Peoples on the song "Worst Comes to Worst". In 1977, the song was covered as a more uptempo reggae number by the Jamaican singer George Faith under the amended title of "To Be a Lover (Have Mercy)" for his Lee "Scratch" Perry-produced album also called "To Be a Lover". In 1986, the track was again reworked and became the second high-profile cover Billy Idol released as a
Rocky Took a Lover extensively to promote the band's third album. In early 2008, the song featured on a Dublin Bus television advertising campaign. A special website—www.rockytookalover.com—was created by the band for the release of the song, featuring blogs written by the characters of Rocky and Adrianna. The BBC described it and previous single "Flame" as "two of the finest pieces of music written on this island". The band performed the song when they appeared on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on 17 March 2008. The "Irish Independent" has said that "Rocky Took a Lover" "truly come(s) alive in concert". Rocky Took a