"Our Lips Are Sealed" is a song co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three. It was first recorded by the Go-Go's as the opening track on their first album, Beauty and the Beat (1981), and was released as their debut single in June 1981. The single eventually reached the top three in Australia and Canada as well as the top 20 in the United States. Originally written and performed with three verses,[2] the song appears in an abbreviated version on Beauty and the Beat. Most of the song's vocals are performed by lead singer Belinda Carlisle, with co-writer Wiedlin singing the bridge.
In 1983, Fun Boy Three released their version of "Our Lips Are Sealed". Issued as a single, the track became a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom. The original version was later included in the jukebox musicalHead over Heels that debuted on Broadway in 2018. The Go-Go's also performed the song, along with "Vacation" and "We Got the Beat", during the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.[3]
Origins
The Go-Go's supported the Specials on the latter's 1980 Seaside Tour of England. According to Jane Wiedlin, she and Terry Hall had a brief affair despite him being in a relationship with another woman at the time. After Wiedlin returned to the United States, Hall mailed her some lyrics, and this led to their co-writing the song. The Go-Go's version is significantly more upbeat than Fun Boy Three's, which Wiedlin describes as "great" but also "gloomier".[4]
Critical reception
Record World described the song as being as "innocent and infectious as pop music can be", with a "steady, pulsating dance beat" and "candy-coated keyboard riffs".[5] In 2000, Rolling Stone & MTV put the Go-Go's' original version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" at No. 57 on a list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs.[6] In 2021, their version was also listed at No. 477 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[7]
Chart performance
"Our Lips Are Sealed" peaked at number 20 on the BillboardHot 100 chart and 15 on the BillboardTop Rock Tracks chart. On the BillboardDisco Top 80 chart, the song peaked at number 10.[8] A song of unusual longevity as a hit, it remained on the Billboard charts until March 1982, long after its peak, ultimately charting for 30 weeks.[9]
Music video
The official music video for the song was directed by Derek Burbidge and filmed in mid-1981 in Los Angeles shortly before the launch of MTV. It features sequences of the band members in carefree tableaux, riding around Beverly Hills in a red 1960 Buick LeSabre convertible (identified via the Internet Movie Cars Database), stopping at a lingerie shop, and splashing around in a fountain, interspersed with footage of the band playing at a club.[10][11][12] Contemporary interviews describe it as a quick, informal street shoot.[13]
Jane Wiedlin says the band was initially unenthusiastic when Miles Copeland, president of their label, I.R.S. Records, told them they would be doing the video. "We were totally bratty", she recalls. The video was financed with unused funds from the Police's video budget.[14]
Wiedlin looks back on the video experience fondly. "I have horrible '80s poodle hair in it", she recalled in a 2011 history of MTV. "But there's a simplicity and innocence to the video that appeals to me."[17]
The music video received heavy airplay on the fledgling MTV.
The following year, co-writer Terry Hall re-recorded the song with his own band, Fun Boy Three. It was included on their second album Waiting and reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart, and was the last single to chart in the UK before their split later in 1983. Backing vocals were provided by Mo-dettes drummer June Miles-Kingston, who also played drums on the single and the Waiting LP.
American singer Hilary Duff and her sister Haylie Duff covered the song for the soundtrack of the 2004 film A Cinderella Story,in which Hilary starred. Their cover,which was released on June 4,2004,was produced by Charlie Midnight and Ben Arrindell under his alias Spider. The Duff sisters said in an interview that they had wanted to record together,and Hilary chose "Our Lips Are Sealed" because the "secretive" theme of the song relates to the film A Cinderella Story.[33] The track was included on Hilary's compilation album Most Wanted (2005) and was included in the Japanese edition of Hilary's second album Hilary Duff (2004). It was included in the Japanese and Australian versions of Hilary's second compilation album Best of Hilary Duff (2008).
Critical reception
Katy Kroll of Billboard magazine wrote favorably of their cover,describing it as a "sugary remake" that features a "nostalgic mix of synthesizers and soft vocals". While Kroll noted how their version would probably not be as remembered as the original,"the sisters' snappy rendition is poised to introduce a whole new generation of listeners to a decade long gone."[32]
Commercial performance
In the United States,the song was released only to contemporary hit radio on June 4,2004,[34] and as such received little success. It failed to enter either the Billboard Hot 100 or Mainstream Top 40 charts,although it did peak at number 39 on Radio &Records' CHR/Pop Airplay chart.[35] As of July 27,2014,the song had sold 161,000 copies in the United States.[36] In Canada,"Our Lips Are Sealed" peaked at number 41 on the physical singles chart provided by Nielsen SoundScan,which were published on Jam!.[37] The cover received its biggest success in Australia,where it debuted at number 13 on the ARIA Singles Chart on September 12,2004. It peaked at number eight three weeks later,which tied the song with "So Yesterday" as Hilary's highest peaking song in the country.[38]
Music video
The single's music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and filmed in Toronto,Canada,in May 2004.[33] Similar to the video for the Go-Go's single,it depicts the Duff sisters driving around town in a car,and is interspersed with footage from A Cinderella Story. A second version of the video,with new scenes and without footage from A Cinderella Story,was included on the Dignity deluxe edition DVD. It received its world premiere on May 31,2004,via MTV's Making the Video.[34]
↑ Simpson, Mark (February 14, 2014). "1983: The Last Great Year of Pop". Out. Retrieved March 9, 2025. Other 1983 synthpop singles that got played to death either in the common room or in my bedroom included...the stolen kisses of "Our Lips Are Sealed" by Fun Boy Three...
1 2 "Music: Billboard Picks"(PDF). American Radio History. Billboard. June 5, 2004. p.32. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
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