"We Will" | ||||
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Single by Gilbert O'Sullivan | ||||
B-side | "I Didn't Know What To Do" | |||
Released | July 1971 | |||
Recorded | 1971 (Audio International Studios, London) | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3'56" | |||
Label | MAM | |||
Songwriter(s) | Gilbert O'Sullivan | |||
Producer(s) | Gordon Mills | |||
Gilbert O'Sullivan singles chronology | ||||
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"We Will" is a song by British-Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, released as a single in July 1971. The ballad was O'Sullivan's second top 20 hit, peaking at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart on 4 September 1971. [1] It was included as a bonus track on the 2011 reissue of his debut album Himself .
O'Sullivan has described it as "very much a Catholic working class family song". [2] Upon release, Peter Jones of Record Mirror considered the song "less infectious" than O'Sullivan's first hit "Nothing Rhymed", but described it as "unmistakeably Gilbert, with that mixture of naivety and power." [3] John Peel for Disc and Music Echo considered O'Sullivan's "one of the very few true originals we have" but speculated that he was "somewhat misunderstood and misinterpreted" by the label. Peel opined "this record is a case in point. It's pleasant enough but most of the distinguishing features that make the man seem to have been filtered out. It's a good song too with quaint and arresting lyrics. It could be, of course, that he's very happy with this record but l prefer to think that the rather cloying production was the idea of the producer alone. Gilbert doesn't fit into accepted channels, therein lies his charm, and attempts to squash him into those channels will only destroy him." [4]
Writing in The Guardian in 2011, Bob Stanley considered "We Will" to be "a song of resigned melancholy about how to get through a personal crisis by appreciating things such as kicking a ball, visiting distant relatives, eating corn flakes." [5] The Times writer Pavel Barter wrote in 2017 that the song "introduced a form of kitchen-sink observational drama usually lacking in pop music." [6]
O'Sullivan re-recorded "We Will" for his 1987 album Frobisher Drive. The song was covered by Rumer on her 2012 album Boys Don’t Cry . O'Sullivan has recounted in interviews being phoned up by Andy Williams in the 1970s, who was planning to cover the song and wanted permission to change the line 'I bagsy being in goal' as he did not understand the expression. [7] [8] [9]
The Velvet Underground & Nico is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico, released in March 1967 through Verve Records. It was recorded in 1966 while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable tour. The album features experimental performance sensibilities and controversial lyrical topics, including drug abuse, prostitution, sadomasochism and sexual deviancy.
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Gilbert O'Sullivan is an Irish singer-songwriter. O'Sullivan experienced success during the early 1970s with songs including "Alone Again (Naturally)", "Clair" and "Get Down". O'Sullivan's songs are often marked by his distinctive percussive piano playing style and observational lyrics using wordplay.
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Perverted by Language is the sixth studio album by English post-punk group The Fall, released in December 1983 on Rough Trade Records.
"Hong Kong Garden" is the debut single of English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released as a single on 18 August 1978 by Polydor Records, reaching number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Clair" is a song by Gilbert O'Sullivan, released in 1972 as the first single from his second album Back to Front. It was written by O'Sullivan and produced by Gordon Mills, and is one of O'Sullivan's biggest-selling singles.
"Alone Again (Naturally)" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. Recorded in 1971, it became a worldwide hit featuring on his second studio album Back to Front.
Back to Front is the second studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, released in October 1972 by MAM Records. The album follows the success of his 1971 debut album Himself and singles such as "Alone Again (Naturally)". Coinciding with the album, O'Sullivan abandoned his distinctive dress sense, which included a short cap and trousers, and instead presented himself as a more masculine, hairy-chested singer with a perm, wearing sweaters with the letter "G" emblazoned on them, which helped establish him as a sex symbol. O'Sullivan wrote the album's songs at home during night-time writing sessions, and recorded the album with his manager and producer Gordon Mills in London.
Disc was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into Record Mirror. It was also known for periods as Disc Weekly (1964–1966) and Disc and Music Echo (1966–1972).
Alone Again (Naturally) is the thirtieth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in September 1972 by Columbia Records and mainly consisting of songs originated by other artists. For its release in the UK, the album was titled The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face), and three of the songs were replaced with the 7-inch single tracks "Who Was It?" and "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" and a recording that was not released on vinyl in the U.S., "If You're Gonna Break Another Heart".
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A Stranger in My Own Back Yard is the fourth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, originally released in October 1974 by MAM Records. Peaking at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart, it was O'Sullivan's fourth and, to date, final top ten album, although it received positive reviews from critics. After the funk-inflected I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter, A Stranger in My Own Back Yard marked a return to the style of O'Sullivan's first two albums. The album's only single, "A Woman's Place", was O'Sullivan's first since his breakthrough to miss the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Union Square Music reissued the album on the Salvo label in 2012 as part of the Gilbert O'Sullivan - A Singer & His Songs collection.
"Nothing Rhymed" is a song written and recorded by the Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. It was released in 1970.
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