Why (Annie Lennox song)

Music video

The music video was directed by Sophie Muller and was filmed during the shoot for the Diva album cover. The video shows Lennox sitting in front of a vanity mirror staring and marveling at herself before slowly putting on makeup. By the middle of the video, Lennox is fully made up and in the outfit she wore on the Diva album cover. The rest of the video consists of shots of Lennox posing for the cameras along with in-between shots of her singing the song. The video won Lennox an award for Best Female Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

7" single

CD maxi

1. "Why" (Single Version) (4:53)
2. "Primitive" (4:20)
3. "Why" (instrumental) (4:54)

"Primitive" programmed by Marius de Vries

DJ Sammy version

In 2005 "Why" was covered by Spanish producer DJ Sammy with vocals by German singer Britta Medeiros. "Why" is the second single from the album The Rise. The music video features DJ Sammy in a room with a mixboard that he uses to create three holographic women that sing the song.

Formats and track listing

These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Why".

1. "Why" (Radio Edit) – 4:00
2. "Why" (Candlelight Mix) – 4:25
3. "Why" (Extended Mix) – 6:44
4. "Why" (Phunk Investigation Remix) – 5:55
5. "Why" (Breeze & Styles Remix) – 6:17
6. "Why" (DJ Sammy's Extended Mix) – 7:10
7. "Why" (Parker & Hanson Remix) – 7:58
8. "Why" (Andrew McCensit Remix) – 7:58
9. "Why" (Phunk Investigation Dub) – 9:21

1. "Why" (Radio Edit)
2. "Why" (Sammy Extended)
3. "Why" (Parker & Hanson Remix)
4. "Cheba"

1. "Why" (Radio Edit)
2. "Why" (Club Mix)
3. "Why" (Sammy's Extended Mix)
4. "Why" (Parker & Hanson Mix)

1. "Why" (Radio Edit) – 3:28
2. "Why" (Club Mix) – 6:43
3. "Why" (Breeze & Styles Remix) – 6:19
4. "Why" (Phunk Investigation Remix) – 5:55
5. "Why" (Parker & Hanson Mix) – 8:46
6. "Why" music video

Other versions

The song was interpreted by Amii Stewart and Dee Dee Bridgewater on the 1994 Italian song festival. In 2001, Neal Schon performed an instrumental version on the album Voice. The song was also covered by Kelly Clarkson, live on her 2005 Hazel Eyes Tour. This song has also been covered by Keith Caputo on Died Laughing Pure. In March 2008 the song was covered by Italian singer Silvia Aprile on X-Factor Italy stage. The studio version of Aprile's cover was later included in the Italian X-Factor compilation. In August 2009, the song was covered by David Rose. Also, the song was covered in September 2009 by European singer Lara Fabian on her new album "Every Woman In Me" and by Canadian artist Allison Crowe on her 2010 album Spiral. It was also covered live in January 2010 by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Annie Clark of St. Vincent at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. At Christmas season 2010 it was covered by Patrice Pike in a live recording Sudden Light: Christmas at the Carillon with Conspirare (Craig Hella Johnson and Company of Voices). In July 2011, the song was covered by singer/songwriter Kevin Caffrey. Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak covered the song in May 2012. The song was also covered in the Finale of The Voice and was released on iTunes in June 2013 by contestant Michelle Chamuel.