"Charade" is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

written by

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...

and

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained global fame as a member of the Bee Gees with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his own successfu ...

released in 1974 by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

. It was the third and final single released from the '' Mr. Natural'' album. Like the parent album, the single was not a hit and only managed to climb to #31 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart in late 1974. It did reach the Top 10 in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, peaking at #7.

Background

This song was recorded on 20 December 1973 in IBC Studios, London and made full use of

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

's talents as arranger, with

Phil Bodner Philip L. Bodner (June 13, 1917 – February 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist and studio musician who also played flute, oboe, saxophone, and English horn. Career A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Bodner worked as a studio musician ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

solo at the song's instrumental break. Three days later, the Bee Gees and the backing band spent some time crossfading this track into "Throw a Penny" with a quiet sound effect and "Throw a Penny" into "Down the Road" with a newly recorded link track. The singer said that they made their love in the sand at summer nights and they held their love hand in hand at the dawn and they listened to the ocean where the music is playing, the words on the music is about their two hearts were saying that only two lovers can hear. They can follow the sun until the daylight is gone they can gaze at the sky until the night is over, the light of his life as she was welcome to his charade. This track has also a gripping chorus, ethereal harmonies and deserves to be around for years to come. The song starts with a Fender Rhodes electric piano played by Geoff Westley. On 0:46, Arif Mardin's orchestra and strings arrangement was heard. At 1:16, Robin Gibb takes the lead vocal his first line on this song was ''And this feeling''. At 2:19, the instrumental break was started as Phil Bodner's clarinet was heard.

Reception

'' praised the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...

and the harmony vocals, saying that it was the Bee Gees "strongest release" in years.

Chart performance

Cover versions

Hajji Alejandro Angelito "Hajji" Toledo Alejandro (; December 26, 1954 – April 21, 2025) was a Filipino singer and actor who was a major pop star in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the first original Pilipino music (OPM) icons, Alejandro's singing career start ...

, a Filipino singer sang the melody of this song in 1976, with Tagalog lyrics by Willy Cruz as "Tag-araw... Tag-ulan" (Summer and Rain). "Tag-Araw, Tag Ulan" was later covered by Filipina singer

Joey Albert Maria Josefina Albert (born March 19, 1960) is a Filipino singer, songwriter, and lyricist. An alumna of St. Theresa's College Manila and Assumption College San Lorenzo, she began her professional singing career in 1981. In 1982, she was proclaim ...

. The melody was also used by

Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 until his death ...

Vic Vic, vic or VIC may refer to: People and fictional characters * Vic (name), a list of people, fictional characters and mascots with the given name * V.I.C. (rapper) (born 1987), stage name of an American rapper Places * Vic, Spain, a town and ...

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

as one of the parody songs in their 1977 album, called "Kajjo Department" with different lyrics. *

Samantha Sang Cheryl Lau Sang (born 5 August 1951), known professionally as Samantha Sang, is an Australian singer. She had an earlier career as a teenage singer under the stage name Cheryl Gray, before adopting the stage name she is more widely known as in ...

recorded "Charade" for her first album ''Emotion'' on which the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

written also by Barry and Robin Gibb. *Charade was recorded in Portuguese by Brazilian artist Ana Gazzola and included on her album Musicas e Palavras dos Bee Gees.

References

{{authority control 1974 singles 1974 songs Bee Gees songs Demis Roussos songs Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Robin Gibb RSO Records singles Mercury Records singles Blue-eyed soul songs 1970s ballads Pop ballads Soul ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Song recordings produced by Arif Mardin