IF I LET YOU GO

WESTLIFE

SONGWRITERS: DAVID KREUGER; JÖRGEN ELOFSSON & PER MAGNUSSON

COUNTRY: IRELAND

ALBUM: WESTLIFE

LABEL: BMG RECORDS

GENRE: TEEN POP

YEAR: 1999

 

            Westlife are an Irish boy band, formed in 1998 in Sligo, Ireland. They disbanded in 2012 and reunited in 2018. They were originally signed by Simon Cowell in the UK, Clive Davis in the US and managed by Louis Walsh and Sonny Takhar. The group currently consists of Shane Filan, Markus Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne.

       They have a total of thirteen major album releases, twelve of which are studio albums. Five albums are as a five-piece and eight are as a four-piece. The group rose to fame with their debut international self-titled studio album, Westlife(1999). It was followed by Coast to Coast(2000), World of Our Own(2001), Unbreakable – The Greatest Hits Vol. 1(2002), and Turnaround(2003), which continued the group's success worldwide. Before the start of their Turnaround Tour in 2004, one of the original members, Brian McFadden, departed from the band. The four remaining members continued as a group to release their cover albums Allow Us to Be Frank(2004) and The Love Album(2006) and the studio albums Face to Face(2005) and Back Home(2007). After a hiatus of studio recording for almost one year in 2008, they regrouped and released the studio albums Where We Are(2009), and Gravity(2010), and the compilation album Greatest Hits(2011). After eight years, the quartet group released their eleventh studio album, Spectrum, in 2019.

         They generated singles such as "Swear It Again", "If I Let You Go", "Flying Without Wings", "I Have a Dream", "Seasons in the Sun", "Fool Again", "My Love", "What Makes a Man", "I Lay My Love On You", "Uptown Girl", "Unbreakable", "When You're Looking Like That", "Queen of My Heart", "Mandy", "Tonight", "Hey Whatever", "You Raise Me Up", "Bop Bop Baby", "The Rose", and "World of Our Own". 19 out their 29 singles as lead artist and as featured artist received UK certifications from 1999 to 2019, 17 out of 29 singles from 1999 to 2009 reached the top 2 on the UK Singles Chart. They are the top act with most Number 1 debuts on the UK Singles Chart, with all 14 of their chart-toppers landing there in their first week. They have the second most certifications for a boy band in the UK Singles Chart after Take That and the most singles certifications for a pop band on the UK number one singles artists chart since The Beatles.

      "If I Let You Go" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released in the United Kingdom on 9 August 1999, as the second single from their self-titled debut album. It became the second of the band's fourteen UK number 1 hit singles, spending eleven weeks on charts. The song has received a Gold sales certification in the UK for selling over 400,000 in combined sales of purchased and streaming-equivalent sales. It is the band's eighth most streamed song, tenth best selling single in paid-for sales category and in combined sales category in the United Kingdom as of January 2019. While it is their sixth most streamed song of all time from their home country, the Republic of Ireland as of 2 April 2019.

         It was composed in the traditional verse–chorus form in Bb major, with McFadden, Filan and Feehily's vocal ranging from the chords of D4 to A5.

Day after day

Time passed away

And I just can't get you off my mind

Nobody knows, I hide it inside

I keep on searching but I can't find

The courage to show to letting you know

I've never felt so much love before

 

And once again I'm thinking about

Taking the easy way out

 

CHORUS:

But if I let you go I will never know

What my life would be holding you close to me

Will I ever see you smiling back at me?

How will I know if I let you go?

 

Night after night I hear myself say

Why can't this feeling just fade away?

There's no one like you

You speak to my heart

It's such a shame we're worlds apart

 

I'm too shy to ask, I'm too proud to lose

But sooner or later I gotta choose

 

And once again I'm thinking about

Taking the easy way out

 

CHORUS:

And once again I'm thinking about

Taking the easy way out

 

CHORUS:

MAGIC

ONE DIRECTION

SONGWRITERS: CARL FALK; RAMI YACOUB & SAVAN KOTECHA

COUNTRY: IRELAND

ALBUM: TAKE ME HOME

LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 2012

 

      One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London, England in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson; former member Zayn Malik departed from the group in March 2015. The group signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records after forming and finishing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor in 2010.

         Propelled to global success by social media, One Direction's five albums, Up All Night(2011), Take Me Home(2012), Midnight Memories(2013), Four(2014), and Made in the A.M.(2015), topped charts in most major markets, and generated hit singles including "What Makes You Beautiful" (their first number one on the UK Singles Chart, and the highest debut for a British act on the US Billboard Hot 100 since 1998), "Live While We're Young", "Best Song Ever", "Story of My Life" and "Drag Me Down". After the release of Four, One Direction became the first band in the US Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one. Their third album, Midnight Memories, was the best-selling album worldwide of 2013.

           Considered teen idols, One Direction were often subject to fan hysteria. They embarked on four world tours, two of which were all-stadium. The band's Where We Are Tour, in support of Midnight Memories, was the highest-grossing concert tour in 2014, the highest-grossing tour by a vocal group in history, and the 15^th highest-grossing concert tour of all time, grossing $290.2 million (unadjusted for inflation). The band went on hiatus in January 2016, allowing all members to pursue other projects.

        As of 2020, the band have sold a total of 70 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. The band have won nearly 200 awards, including seven Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards (including Artist of the Year in 2014 and 2015), and 28 Teen Choice Awards. In 2013, they earned an estimated $75 million, becoming the second highest earning celebrity under 30 according to Forbes. As the world's best-selling artist of 2013, the group was named the Global Recording Artist of the Year by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. In 2014, Billboard named the band "Artist of the Year". Forbes ranked them as the fourth highest-earning celebrities in the world in 2015, and second in 2016.

      Take Me Home is the second studio album by British-Irish boy band One Direction, released on 9 November 2012 by Syco Music and Columbia Records. As a follow-up to One Direction's internationally successful debut álbum Up All Night(2011), Take Me Home was written in groups and has an average of just under five songwriters per track. Largely recorded and composed in Sweden during 2012, Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, who composed One Direction's hits, "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing", spent six months in Stockholm developing songs for the album, and were able to shape melodies around the members' tones.

   The album's songs are characterised by metronomic pop, vocal harmonies, hand claps, prominent electric guitar riffs, bright synthesisers, a homogeneous sound and message, and rotations of lead vocals. The members' voices are presented individually on the record, and its lyricism speaks of falling in love, unrequited love, commitment, jealousy and self-empowerment. Take Me Home garnered mostly positive reviews from music critics. There was praise for its quality of production, while criticism hinged on its generic, rushed nature.

       Globally, the album topped the charts in more than 35 countries. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry(IFPI), Take Me Home was the fourth-global-best-selling album of 2012, selling 4.4 million units. The album's number-one debut on the US Billboard 200 chart made One Direction the first group to bow atop the Billboard 200 with their first two albums since American girl group Danity Kane entered with Welcome to the Dollhouse in 2008 and their self-titled debut in 2006. One Direction also became the second act in 2012 to achieve two number-one albums within a 12-month period, and the first boy band in US chart history to land two number-one albums in a calendar year. Their debut album and Take Me Home were the third and fifth-best-selling albums of 2012 in the United States, respectively, making the band the first act to place two albums in the year-end top five in the Nielsen SoundScan era.

         The album's lead single, "Live While We're Young", released on 28 September 2012, peaked inside the top ten in almost every country it charted in and recorded the highest one-week opening sales figure for a song by a non-U.S. artist. The subsequent singles, "Little Things" and "Kiss You", were less successful, although the former topped the UK Singles Chart. To promote the album, One Direction performed the album's songs on several televised programmes and a headlining sold-out concert at the Madison Square Garden. Furthermore, One Direction embarked on their second worldwide concert tour entitled the Take Me Home Tour in 2013

Baby c'mon over

I don't care if people find out

They say that we're no good together

And this never gonna work out

 

But baby you got me moving too fast

Cause I know you wanna be back

And girl when you're lookin' like that

I can't hold back

 

Cause you, you've got this spell on me

I don't know what to believe

Kiss you once, now I can't leave

Cause everything you do is magic

But everything you do is magic

 

So l-l-let them take pictures

Spread it all around the world now

I wanna put it on my record

I want everyone to know now

 

But baby you got me moving too fast

Cause I know you wanna be back

And girl when you're lookin' like that

I can't hold back

 

Cause you, you've got this spell on me

I don't know what to believe

Kiss you once, now I can't leave

Cause everything you do is magic

But everything you do is magic

Everything you do is magic

 

They say that we're no good together

And this never gonna work out

I wanna put it on my record

I want everyone to know now

 

Everything you do is magic

Everything you do is magic

Everything you do is magic

Everything you do is magic

 

Cause you, you've got this spell on me

I don't know what to believe

Kiss you once, now I can't leave

Cause everything you do is magic

But everything you do is magic

 

C'mon

Kiss you once, now I can't leave

Cause everything you do is magic

But everything you do is magic.

I WANT IT THAT WAY

BACKSTREET BOYS

SONGWRITERS: ANDREAS CARLSSON & MAX MARTIN

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: MILLENNIUM

LABEL: JIVE RECORDS

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 1999

 

            Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) is an American vocal group formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The group consists of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson.

     The group rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys (1996). In the following year, they released their second international álbum Backstreet's Back(1997) along with their self-titled U.S. debut album, Backstreet Boys(1997), which continued the group's success worldwide. They rose to superstardom with their third studio álbum Millennium(1999) and its follow-up album, Black & Blue(2000). They also released a greatest hits album, The Hits - Chapter One (2001), with their only single, "Drowning". After a two-year hiatus, they regrouped and released a comeback álbum Never Gone(2005). After the conclusion of the Never Gone Tour in 2006, Richardson left the group to pursue other interests. The group then released two albums as a quartet: Unbreakable(2007) and This Is Us(2009).

        In 2012, the group announced that Richardson had rejoined them permanently. In the following year, 2013, they celebrated their 20th anniversary and released their first independent album, In a World Like This(2013). Their álbum DNA(2019) debuted at number one, more than two decades after the group formed, and 19 years after they last topped in 2000. They also became the first boy band to top the U.S. album charts in three decades.

          The Backstreet Boys have sold over 100 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band of all time, and one of the world's best-selling music artists. They are the first group since Led Zeppelin to have their first ten albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, and the only boy band to do so. The albums Backstreet Boys and Millennium were both certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA), making them one of the few bands to have multiple diamond albums. The group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 22, 2013. The group also announced their residency show, Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life in Las Vegas from March 2017 to April 2019. The group also released their first documentary movie, titled Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of in January 2015.

          "I Want It That Way" is a song by American boy band the Backstreet Boys. It was released on April 12, 1999, as the lead single from their third studio album, Millennium. It was written by Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, while Martin and Kristian Lundin produced it. The pop ballad talks about a relationship strained by matters of emotional or physical distance.

     Critically, the song was met with positive reception, with many critics commending its catchiness, also calling it the pop ballad of the year. The song was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Song and Record of the Year, and has been included in lists by Blender, MTV, Rolling Stone and VH1.

      "I Want It That Way" is the Backstreet Boys’ signature song, and commercially it reached the number-one spot in more than 25 countries, including Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight non-consecutive weeks, while it topped the Adult and Top 40 Mainstream charts.

          The song has been widely covered and parodied by a range of artists, including other boy bands such as JLS and One Direction, while its music video, directed by Wayne Isham, received famous parodies, including Blink 182 on their music video for "All the Small Things", Big Time Rush on their music video for "Like Nobody's Around", their music video for 'Worldwide', and the Wanted on their video for "Walks Like Rihanna". The original music video received four VMA nominations, winning Viewer's Choice.

Yeah

You are my fire

The one desire

Believe when I say

I want it that way

 

But we are two worlds apart

Can't reach to your heart

When you say

That I want it that way

 

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a heartache

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a mistake

Tell me why

I never wanna hear you say

I want it that way

 

Am I your fire?

Your one desire?

Yes, I know, yeah, it's too late

But I want it that way

 

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a heartache

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a mistake

Tell me why

I never wanna hear you say

I want it that way

 

Now, I can see that we've fallen apart

From the way that it used to be, yeah

No matter the distance

I want you to know

That deep down inside of me

 

You are my fire

The one desire

You are, you are, you are, you are

 

Don't wanna hear you say, yeah

Ain't nothin' but a heartache

Ain't nothin' but a mistake

(Don't wanna hear you say)

I never wanna hear you say

I want it that way

 

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a heartache

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a mistake

Tell me why

I never wanna hear you say

(Don't wanna hear you say)

I want it that way

 

Tell me why

Ain't nothin' but a heartache

Ain't nothin' but a mistake

Tell me why

I never wanna hear you say

(Don't wanna hear you say it)

I want it that way

'Cause I want it that way.

THE SOUND OF MY TEARS

DEBORAH COX

SONGWRITERS: Keith Crouch & Kipper Jones

COUNTRY: CANADA

ALBUM: DEBORAH COX

LABEL: ARISTA RECORDS

GENRE: SOUL

YEAR: 1995

 

         Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before becoming a professional backing vocalist for Celine Dion. In 1994, Cox relocated to the United States and was signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis, releasing her self-titled debut album the following year. Her second studio album, One Wish(1998), was certified platinum in the United States. It was marked by the commercial success of the pop crossover single "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", which would become her most successful entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number two and remaining there for eight consecutive weeks. Cox signed with J Records for her third studio album The Morning After (2002), which saw moderate commercial success.

          Cox ventured into acting in the 2000s, making her film debut in the Canadian drama film Love Come Down (2000) and her stage debut in 2004, in the title role in the Broadway musical Aida. She has since appeared in smaller films and several musical productions, including the horror-drama Jekyll & Hyde, the biographical musical Josephine and the musical adaptation of The Bodyguard. Cox's most recent studio albums, Destination Moon(2007) and The Promise (2008), have been released through her own independent record label, Deco Recording Group. In 2017, her single "Let the World Be Ours Tonight" became her 13th number-one hit on Billboard's Dance Club Songs over the span of three consecutive decades. In 2016, Billboard listed Cox at 23rd on its list of the Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists. An eight-time Juno Award nominee, she has won four awards and is often cited as Canada's top R&B artist.

         "The Sound of My Tears" is a song by Canadian singer Deborah Cox. It was written by Keith Crouch and Kipper Jones for her self-titled debut studio album(1995), while production was helmed by Crouch. The song was released as the album's fourth single along with "It Could've Been You".

Always the life of the party

Always the clown of the class

All of my friends see me happy baby

But happy is only a mask

 

Nobody knows when I'm alone inside my room

I sing another tune

 

[Chorus:]

I'm goin' down

When I hear the sound

The sound of my tears

When you're not around

It's all I can do

When I listen to

The sound of my tears baby when I'm missing you

 

Don't mind the sounds of the city baby

Don't mind the noise of the crowd

Just when I'm lonely with my thoughts of you

The silence is always too loud

 

Pay it no mind

You know the truth behind the smile

It's only just a lie

 

[Chorus x 2]

Pay it no mind

You know the truth behind the smile

It's only just a lie

 

[Repeat chorus to fade]