"Whole Wide World" is a song written by English rock singer-songwriter Eric Goulden, better known as Wreckless Eric. Goulden wrote the song in May 1974, and recorded it in 1977, whilst an original member of the Stiff Records label. Additional musicians on the record were Nick Lowe on guitar and bass, and Steve Goulding on drums.
The song was never a chart hit single for Goulden, though it subsequently became his most well-known recording. The only charted version of "Whole Wide World" was a cover by the Australian band Mental As Anything, who took it #53 on the Australian singles chart in 1995.
The song is a simple one for beginner guitar players to learn. Instead of the three chords of most pop songs, it contains only guitar chords E and A. The verses are in a steady 4/4 time with the only difference being a more spirited strum during the chorus and a catchy single bar of 2/4 during its last line.
1977 on the compilation album A Bunch of Stiff Records
1978 on the self-titled Wreckless Eric album, track 6
1979 on That Summer film soundtrack
1979 on the compilation album The Whole Wide World, track 1
1980 on Big Smash! album, side 3, track 1 (double LP) or CD 2, track 1 (2-CD set)
2001 on Greatest Stiffs album, track 1
2002 on the Me Without You soundtrack, track 14
2006 on Stranger than Fiction soundtrack, track 3
2006 on "Whole Wide World 4 England" single, track 1
Wreckless Eric singing "Whole Wide World" live
1977: Elvis Costello live
1978: Italian female pop singer Anna Oxa, on her album Oxanna. Italian translation, titled "Un cielo a metà"
1978: Finnish rock band Eppu Normaali had the song translated to Finnish ("Nuori Poika", meaning Young Boy) as a B-side of their single, "Jee Jee"
1978: Australian band Kevin McLaughlin and the Murrumbidgee Orchestra, B-side to the single "Thunder on the Mountains"
1987: The Monkees on their Pool It! reunion album
1988: Dogs on their A Million Ways of Killing Time album, and on their live album Fast & Tight (2001)
1991: Black, B-side to the single "Fly Up to the Moon"
1991: Die Toten Hosen on Learning English, Lesson One; vocals by Eric Goulden
1993: Paul Westerberg during a tour promoting his first solo album, 14 Songs
1995: Mental As Anything on their album Liar Liar Pants on Fire and as a single
1998: The Prissteens on their album Scandal, Controversy & Romance
1998: Jesse Hartman's Laptop on a single
2006: Will Ferrell in the movie Stranger than Fiction
2006: Gemma Hayes live at Vicar St, Dublin
2007: Amy Rigby live in UK concerts
2007: The Proclaimers on the Life with You album
2009: The Bad Shepherds on the Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Methera! album
2011: Bahamas on his album Pink Strat
2012: The Wallflowers, Japanese bonus track on their album Glad All Over.
2013: Sallie Ford on the Summer EP
2013: The Vaccines often play this in concert
2013: Mikal Cronin covers this song live
2013: The Wedding Present, B-side to the single "Two Bridges"
2014: Meursault on their album The Organ Grinder's Monkey
2015: Torres for Session Acoustique OÜI FM
Stranger than Fiction (2006)
Me Without You (2001)
Different for Girls (1996)
