THE AIR THAT I BREATHE

SIMPLY RED

SONGWRITER: ALBERT HAMMOND & MIKE HAZLEWOOD

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: BLUE

LABEL: EAST WEST RECORDS

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 1998

 

        Blue is the sixth studio album by British band Simply Red. It was released by East West Records on 19 May 1998 in the United Kingdom. Initially conceived as a cover album, it features production from lead singer Mick Hucknall as well as Andy Wright, Gota Yashiki, Stevie J, and Joe "Jake" Carter. Hucknall, Wright, and Yashiki are the only musicians featured in the Blue CD booklet's photography; this is a first for a Simply Red album, as all prior albums featured photos of the various band members credited.

          The album includes five cover versions: "Mellow My Mind" from the 1975 Neil Young album Tonight's the Night; two versions of the frequently covered "The Air That I Breathe", written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood; the Gregory Isaacs hit "Night Nurse"; and "Ghetto Girl" by Dennis Brown, from whom the band would cover another song in 2003. New versions of previously recorded Simply Red songs also appear here: "Come Get Me Angel" is a rewritten version of the 1996 single "Angel", and "Broken Man" was first released as a B-side in 1987. "The Air That I Breathe Reprise" samples "Jack and Diane" by John Mellencamp. "So Jungiful", found on the Japanese edition of the album, is a jungle remix of "So Beautiful" from the band's previous album, Life.

If I could make a wish I think I'd pass

Can't think of anything I need

No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound

Nothing to eat no books to read

Making love with you, has left me peaceful warm inside

What more could I ask

There's nothing left to be desired

 

Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe yes to love you

Just to have you now

All I need is the air that I breathe you're all I want

 

Peace came upon me and it breathes in me

Don't sleep silent angel don't you sleep

 

Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe and to love

You just to have you now

All I need is the air that I breathe yes to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe you're all I want

 

Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe yes to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe

 

Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe yes to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe.

DARK HORSE

KATY PERRY

SONGWRITERS: LUKASZ GOTTWALD; JORDAN HOUSTON; SARAH HUDSON; MARTIN MAX; KATY PERRY & HENRY RUSSELL WALTER

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: PRISM

LABEL: CAPITOL RECORDS

GENRE: HIP HOP

YEAR: 2013

 

          "Dark Horse" is a song by American singer Katy Perry featuring American rapper Juicy J. It was originally released on September 17, 2013, by Capitol Records as the first promotional single from Perry's fourth studio album, Prism(2013). Three months later, it was released as the third official single on December 17. Both artists co-wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin, Cirkut, and Dr. Luke, alongside Sarah Hudson. It was conceived by Perry and Hudson during a writing session in Perry's hometown of Santa Barbara, California, and Juicy J was later commissioned for a verse on the song.

          "Dark Horse" combines the genres of trap, hip hop, pop-rap and electropop, replicating what has been described as a "Southern rap-techno mashup". The track features a minimal production, with a "seductive" and "mature" tone to Perry's vocals, while Juicy J is featured on the song's intro and rapped bridge. Perry, in interviews, said she wanted the song to have a "witchy, spell-y kind of black magic-y idea", so she wrote it from the perspective of a witch warning a man not to fall in love with her because if he does, she will be his last. The song was part of a competition sponsored by Pepsi in which fans could vote via Twitter on whether they would prefer either "Dark Horse" or "Walking on Air" to be released as the first promotional single from Prism.

"Dark Horse" was a commercial success, charting at number one in Canada, the Netherlands, Poland and the United States. It also reached the top ten in almost 20 countries including New Zealand, United Kingdom, Sweden and Venezuela as well as the Digital Songs chart of Billboard magazine. Billboard credits "Dark Horse" for helping cement trap music's place on the charts. Perry first performed the song live at the 2013 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on September 20, 2013. The song's first major television performance was at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2014. "Dark Horse" was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. The song has sold 13.2 million units (combined sales and track-equivalent streams), becoming the second best-selling song worldwide for 2014. As of 2019, it is one of the best selling songs in digital history.

Oh, new

Yeah, ya'll know what it is

Katy Perry

Juicy J

Uh huh, let's rage!

 

I knew you were

You were gonna come to me

And here you are

But you better choose carefully

'Cause I, I'm capable of anything

Of anything and everything

 

Make me your Aphrodite

Make me your one and only

But don't make me your enemy

your enemy, your enemy

 

So you wanna play with magic?

Boy, you should know whatcha falling for

Baby, do you dare to do this?

'Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse (hey)

 

Are you ready for, ready for (hey)

A perfect storm, a perfect storm? (hey, hey)

'Cause once you're mine, once you're mine

(Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey)

There's no going back

 

Mark my words

This love will make you levitate

Like a bird, like a bird without a cage

But down to earth

If you choose to walk away, don't walk away

 

It's in the palm of your hand now baby

It's a yes or no, no maybe

So just be sure before you give it up to me

Up to me, give it up to me

 

So you wanna play with magic?

Boy, you should know whatcha falling for

Baby, do you dare to do this?

'Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse (hey)

 

Are you ready for, ready for (hey)

A perfect storm, a perfect storm? (hey, hey)

'Cause once you're mine, once you're mine

(Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey)

There's no going back

 

Uh, she's a beast

I call her Karma (come back)

She eats your heart out like Jeffrey Dahmer (whoa!)

Be careful

Try not to lead her on (mm)

Shawty's heart was on steroids

'Cause her love was so strong

 

You may fall in love when you meet her (meet her)

If you get the chance you better keep her (keep her)

She's sweet as pie, but if you break her heart

She'll turn cold as a freezer (freezer)

That fairy tale ending with a knight in shining armor

She can be my Sleeping Beauty

I'm gon' put her in a coma (whoa!)

 

Damn, I think I love her

Shawty so bad, I'm sprung and I don't care

She got me like a roller coaster

Turn the bedroom into a fair (a fair)

Her love is like a drug

I was tryna hit it and quit it

But lil' mama so dope

I messed around and got addicted

 

So you wanna play with magic?

Boy, you should know whatcha falling for (you should know)

Baby, do you dare to do this?

'Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse (like a dark horse)

Are you ready for, ready for (ready for)

A perfect storm, a perfect storm? (a perfect storm)

'Cause once you're mine, once you're mine (oh)

There's no going back.

BROTHERS IN ARMS

DIRE STRAITS

SONGWRITER: MARK KNOPFLER

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: BROTHER IN ARMS

LABEL: VERTIGO RECORDS

GENRE: ROCK BALLAD

YEAR: 1985

 

         Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler(rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley(bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers(drums and percussion). They were active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1991 to 1995.

           Their first single, "Sultans of Swing", from their 1978 self-titled debut album, reached the top ten in the UK and US charts. It was followed by hit singles including "Romeo and Juliet" (1981), "Private Investigations" (1982), "Twisting by the Pool" (1983), "Money for Nothing" (1985), and "Walk of Life" (1985). Their most commercially successful album, Brothers in Arms(1985), has sold more than 30 million copies; it was the first album to sell a million copies on compact disc and is the eighth-bestselling album in UK history. According to the Guinness Book of British Hit Albums, Dire Straits have spent over 1,100 weeks on the UK albums chart, the fifth most of all time.

     Dire Straits' sound draws from various influences, including country, folk, the blues rock of J. J. Cale, and jazz. Their stripped-down sound contrasted with punk rock and demonstrated a roots rock influence that emerged from pub rock. There were several changes in personnel, with Mark Knopfler and Illsley being the only members who lasted from the beginning of the band's existence to the end. After their first breakup in 1988, Knopfler told Rolling Stone: "A lot of press reports were saying we were the biggest band in the world. There's not an accent then on the music, there's an accent on popularity. I needed a rest." They disbanded for good in 1995, after which Knopfler launched a solo career full-time. He has since declined reunion offers.

         Dire Straits were called "the biggest British rock band of the 80s" by Classic Rock magazine; their 1985–1986 world tour, which included a performance at Live Aid in July 1985, set a record in Australasia. Their final world tour from 1991 to 1992 sold 7.1 million tickets. Dire Straits won four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards(Best British Group twice), two MTV Video Music Awards, and various other awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. Dire Straits have sold an estimated 100 million units worldwide, including 51.4 million certified units, making them one of the best-selling music artists.

          "Brothers in Arms" is a ballad by British rock band Dire Straits, the closing track on their fifth studio album of the same name, released on 14 October 1985. It was written in 1982, the year of Britain's involvement in the Falklands War. In 2007, the 25th anniversary of the war, Knopfler recorded a new version of the song at Abbey Road Studios to raise funds for British veterans who he said "are still suffering from the effects of that conflict." "Brothers in Arms" has become a favorite at military funerals.

These mist covered mountains

Are a home now for me

But my home is the lowlands

And always will be

Someday you'll return to

Your valleys and your farms

And you'll no longer burn to be

Brothers in arms

 

Through these fields of destruction

Baptisms of fire

I've witnessed your suffering

As the battle raged high

And though they did hurt me so bad

In the fear and alarm

You did not desert me

My brothers in arms

 

There's so many different worlds

So many different suns

And we have just one world

But we live in different ones

 

Now the sun's gone to hell and

The moon's riding high

Let me bid you farewell

Every man has to die

But it's written in the starlight

And every line in your palm

We're fools to make war

On our brothers in arms.

FLY AWAY

TONES AND I

SONGWRITER: TONI WATSON

COUNTRY: AUSTRALIA

ALBUM: WELCOME TO THE MADHOUSE

LABEL: ELEKTRA RECORDS

GENRE: POP MUSIC

YEAR: 2021

 

         Toni Watson, known professionally as Tones and I, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her breakout single, "Dance Monkey", was released in May 2019 and reached number one in over 30 countries.

          In 2019, she broke the Australian record for the most weeks at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart by any artist with 16 weeks. By mid-January 2020, "Dance Monkey" had spent its 24th and final week at number one, beating Bing Crosby's all-time Australian record for his version of "White Christmas", which spent 22 weeks at the top in 1943.

      "Dance Monkey" was accredited 16× platinum by ARIA for shipments of over 1,120,000 units, by mid-2021. Tones was the most awarded artist at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, winning four of eight nominations. Tones and I released her debut extended play, The Kids Are Coming, on 30 August 2019, which peaked at number three in Australia, and top 10 in several countries. Her debut album, Welcome to the Madhouse, was released via Bad Batch on 16 July 2021. It debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album's lead single "Fly Away" peaked at number four in Australia and number 11 in the UK.

     Welcome to the Madhouse is the debut studio album by Australian singer and songwriter Tones and I, released on 16 July 2021 through Bad Batch Records. The album debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Charts.

     At the 2021 ARIA Music Awards, the album was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Artist, while Giulia Giannini McGauran & Mitchell Eaton were nominated for Best Cover Art for their work on this album.

        At the J Awards of 2021, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.

I had a dream that someday

I would just fly, fly away

And I always knew I couldn't stay

So I had a dream that I'd just fly away

 

I've been on my own for a minute

Is it only me out here

Searching for the place to begin it

Is it me? Is it you? Is it fear?

Standing on the line I was given

People stare and ask me why I'm here

No one seems to think that I fit in

But I don't wanna be like them

 

No, 'cause I don't wanna be like them

'Cause I know that I, know that I

 

I had a dream that someday

I would just fly, fly away

And I always knew I couldn't stay

So I had a dream that I'd just fly away, away, oh

Oh-oh, woah, oh, I'd fly away

 

No one knew how low I was feeling

I was scared to reach it all

Knowing I was here for a reason

But I was scared that if I tried, I'd fall

So where do I go now I'm in it?

I never thought it'd be like this

Dreaming all my life and I did it

Thought the grass was greener than then it is

 

'Cause I had a dream that someday

I would just fly, fly away

And I always knew I couldn't stay

So I had a dream that I'd just fly away, away, oh

Oh-oh, woah, oh, I'd fly away

Oh, woah, woah, oh I'd fly away

 

'Cause I had a dream that someday

I would just fly, fly away

And I always knew I couldn't stay

So I had a dream that I'd just fly away, away, oh

 

Oh-oh, woah (fly away, fly away, fly away, fly away)

Woah, woah, woah (fy away, fly away, fly away)

I'd fly away.