Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Something About the Way You Look Tonight

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Format
  
CD single 7" single

Genre
  
Soft rock

A-side
  
"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (single edit)

B-side
  
"You Know Why I'm in Love" "No Valentines" "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (album version)

Released
  
13 September 1997 (1997-09-13) (UK) 23 September 1997 (1997-09-23) (US)

Length
  
3:59 (single edit) 5:13 (album version)

"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" is a song by Elton John, released in 1997 as the first single from his 26th studio album The Big Picture. The song and its video were dedicated to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died that year, with proceeds from the sale of the song going towards Diana's charities.

Contents

The single was released later also as a double A-side single with "Candle in the Wind 1997". According to the Recording Industry Association of America, with certified sales, this double A-side is "the best-selling single of all time." The Guinness World Records 2009 states that the song is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies".

The video for the song featured actors and actresses from the UK television programme This Life, as well as supermodels Kate Moss and Sophie Dahl and is regarded as one of Elton John's best videos. John has publicly revealed (through his "warts and all" documentary Tantrums and Tiaras) that he finds videos "fucking loathsome" and after the album The Big Picture refrained from appearing in his own videos unless they were cameo appearances.

Sales and chart positions

In the UK alone, the double A-side single with "Candle in the Wind 1997" sold over 4,930,000 copies (8× Platinum), making the song the best-selling single ever in UK history. It remained for five weeks at the number-one position. In the US, the double A-side single spent 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The best-selling single in Billboard history and the only single ever certified Diamond in the US, the single sold over 11 million copies in the US. On the US adult contemporary chart, however, "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" and "Candle In the Wind 1997" charted separately; while the tribute to Princess Diana peaked at number 2 on this chart, "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" spent ten weeks at number 1 in late 1997 and early 1998. This double-sided single holds the record for the fewest weeks in a chart year from a year-end number-one single, with as few as eight. (In 1998, it had 34 more total weeks, however it was number 8 in the year-end list of 1998).

Personnel

  • Elton John: piano, vocals
  • Davey Johnstone: guitars
  • John Jorgenson: guitars
  • Bob Birch: bass
  • Guy Babylon: keyboards
  • Charlie Morgan: drums and percussion
  • Paul Carrack: organ
  • Carol Kenyon: backing vocals
  • Jackie Rawe: backing vocals
  • Strings arranged by Guy Babylon and Anne Dudley
  • Conducted by Anne Dudley
  • References

    Something About the Way You Look Tonight Wikipedia