Neha Patil (Editor)

I Swear

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Released
  
December 13, 1993

Recorded
  
1993

Label
  
Atlantic Nashville

Format
  
7" CD cassette

Genre
  
Country

Writer(s)
  
Gary Baker Frank J. Myers

"I Swear" is a ballad written by Gary Baker and Frank J. Myers that became a hit for two acts in 1994. Initially, it was a number-one single on the U.S. Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for American country music artist John Michael Montgomery at the beginning of the year. His version crossed over to pop radio and climbed to number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100. A few months later, American pop group All-4-One covered the song and achieved great success in many countries. In Latin America it has been translated "Juraré" performed by the Costa Rican group Centinelas Vocal Band. In 1998, the Mexican country band Caballo Dorado recorded a Spanish version called "Ya sé".

Contents

Content

The song is a ballad in which the narrator promises his significant other that he will always love her.

Music video

The music video was directed by Marc Ball and premiered in late 1993.

Track listings

CD maxi—United States (1993)
  1. "I Swear" – 4:23
  2. "Line on Love" – 2:37
  3. "Dream on Texas Ladies" – 3:08
  4. "Friday at Five" – 2:41

Charts

"I Swear" debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs for the week of December 18, 1993.

All-4-One version

Several months after John Michael Montgomery had released his original version, All-4-One recorded their own version with record producer David Foster.

All-4-One's version hit number one in numerous countries, including the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., where it remained for eleven consecutive weeks. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, where it stayed for seven consecutive weeks, being held off number one by Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around", which went on to spend 15 weeks at number one. This version spent a total of 18 weeks in the UK charts.

The All-4-One version of the song is slightly different to the original, in that the line "And when there's silver in your hair" from the second verse was replaced by "And when just the two of us are there." This version ranks number 88 on Billboard's All-Time Top 100 Songs list.

On May 9, 2016, All-4-One posted a video on YouTube recording a new version of the song with Montgomery.

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single. It portrays the members of All-4-One hanging out on a rooftop, until they spot a woman. The rest of the music video shows the band members kicking a cardboard box through a puddle and bantering with her until she drives off on a public bus.

Track listings

CD single
  1. "I Swear" (radio edit) – 3:43
  2. "I Swear" (radio remix) – 4:19
CD maxi
  1. "I Swear" (radio edit) – 3:43
  2. "I Swear" (radio mix) – 4:18
  3. "I Swear" (radio remix) – 4:18
  4. "I Swear" (album version) – 4:18
7" single
  1. "I Swear" (radio edit) – 3:43
  2. "I Swear" (radio remix) – 4:19

POPSTARS Germany 2010 finalists version

The final eleven contestants from Popstars: Girls forever, ninth season of TV talent show POPSTARS in Germany, they released a cover version of the song with Gary Baker on November 19, 2010. The finalists premiered the song live on the November 18th edition of the programme; the single was available for digital download on November 16, 2010 and a physical release followed the day after the live performance of the song. The song was recorded at Noiseblock Studios in Florence, Alabama.

Track listings

CD single
  1. "I Swear" – 04:03
  2. "Empire of Love" – 03:28
  • The song was performed by UCLA's Bruin Harmony in the 2010 film The Social Network during a Valentine's Day a cappella music review at Harvard.
  • Following the success of the All-4-One version, Filipino boy group Quamo performed the Tagalog version of this song in 1994, with lyrics almost faithful to the original.
  • The song was performed in a comedic fashion by Eric Cartman in the South Park episode "Cartman Finds Love" and a part of it with special guest Brad Paisley; the show originally aired on April 25, 2012.
  • The song was featured in the 2005 American film Just Friends.
  • The song was sung by South Korean entertainer Ji Suk-jin in 1993 for a reporter audition for SBS, the video recording of which resurfaced on the 8th episode of Running Man, to great comedic effect.
  • The song was performed by the Minions in a wedding scene between Gru (the movie's main character) and Lucy (his partner in a case investigation) in the 2013 animated film Despicable Me 2 (humorously but deliberately sung as "Underwear") and its soundtrack.
  • The song was featured in an advertisement by Sky News as part of the UK general election 2015. It consists of archive footage of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage, and Ed Miliband speaking out cleverly edited into the lyrics of the song. This advert is known as a Ballot Ballad.

    • References

    I Swear Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA