"I Second That Emotion" is a 1967 song written by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

and Al Cleveland. First charting as a hit for

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the mo ...

on the Tamla/

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

label in 1967, "I Second That Emotion" was later a hit single for the group duet

Diana Ross & the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

and

the Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

, also on the Motown label.

Song origin

One morning in 1967, Robinson and Cleveland were shopping at

Hudson's The J. L. Hudson Company (commonly known simply as Hudson's) was an upscale retail department store chain based in Detroit, Michigan. Hudson's flagship store, on Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit (demolished October 24, 1998), was the talles ...

, a

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

department store. Robinson found a set of

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

s for his wife, Claudette. "They're beautiful." he said to the salesperson. "I sure hope she likes them." Cleveland then added "I second that emotion." Both songwriters laughed at Cleveland's

malapropism A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An exam ...

- a pun on the phrase "I

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

that

motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...

." The two were immediately inspired to write a song using the incorrect phrase.

The Miracles' original version

The Miracles' original version of the song finds lead singer and co-writer Smokey Robinson courting a girl who, weary of the game of love, prefers to string her men along and not get romantically involved. Robinson "wants no part" in such a relationship, but promises that if the girl changes her mind, he'll be around (''"If you feel like lovin' me/if you've got the notion/I second that emotion."'') This version peaked for three weeks in the United States at No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in December 1967. It became the Miracles highest charting popular single since " Shop Around". In this song, guitarists Eddie Willis and Robert White came up with their own guitar licks and riffs for this song based on a chord chart that was given to them by Robinson (this is a classic example of the creativity

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

brought to the table during the recording sessions they participated in at the Snake Pit). Regular Miracles guitarist Marv Tarplin was also present on the song. The song also topped the ''Billboard'' Best Selling R&B Singles chart and was a million-selling hit for The Miracles, their sixth overall. The song was also a top 30 hit in the UK in 1967, reaching No. 27. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it an "electrically sparkling slow-midspeed session" with "outstanding lead and the well worked team sound."

Personnel

The Miracles * Lead vocals by

* Background vocals by

Claudette Rogers Robinson Claudette Annette Rogers Robinson ( Rogers; born June 20, 1942) is an American singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Miracles from 1957 to 1972. Her brother Emerson "Sonny" Rogers was a founding member of the group, which befo ...

, Pete Moore, Ronnie White, and

Bobby Rogers Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a founding member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Mira ...

. * Guitar by Marv Tarplin * Other instrumentation by

** Eddie Willis – guitar ** Robert White – guitar

Charts

Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations version

The song was covered and released by a group duet of Motown labelmates

and

in 1969. This version peaked at No. 18 in the UK.

Personnel

* Lead vocals by

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

and

Eddie Kendricks Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temp ...

* Background vocals by Mary Wilson,

Cindy Birdsong Cynthia Ann Birdsong (born December 15, 1939) is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Blue ...

Dennis Edwards Dennis Edwards Jr. (February 3, 1943 – February 1, 2018) was an American soul and R&B singer who was best known as the frontman in The Temptations for Motown Records. Edwards joined the Temptations in 1968, replacing David Ruffin and sang w ...

, Paul Williams,

Otis Williams Otis Williams (born Otis Miles Jr.; October 30, 1941) is an American second tenor/baritone singer.Ribowsky, Mark (2010). ''Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Endearing Soul of the Temptations''. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. ...

, and

Melvin Franklin David Melvin English (October 12, 1942 – February 23, 1995) better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin or his nickname "Blue", was an American bass singer. Franklin was best known for his role as a founding member of Motown singing g ...

* Instrumentation by

* Guitar by Marv Tarplin

Track listing

7" single (1969) (United Kingdom) #"I Second That Emotion" – 2:55 #"The Way You Do the Things You Do" – 1:39

Charts

Japan version

"I Second That Emotion" was covered by British new wave band

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, originally released as a single in 1980 without success. The single was re-released in 1982, on the back of the band's increased success in 1981, peaking at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart in July, making it their second most successful single after "

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

Releases

The song was first released in March 1980 in the UK with a fade-out version of " Quiet Life" on the B-side. In Japan, "Quiet Life" had been released as a single in 1979, so " European Son" was released as the B-side instead. In 1982, the song was remixed by

Steve Nye Steve Nye is an English music producer for several artists. Career Nye started out as a tape op at AIR Studios in London in 1971, where producer Rupert Hine discovered him. There he got into engineering (and later producing) many well-known ...

and released as a single, with the B-side "Halloween" originally released on the album '' Quiet Life''. In Australia, the single's B-side was the 1978 re-recorded version of "

Adolescent Sex ''Adolescent Sex'' is the debut album by the English band Japan, released in March 1978 by record label Hansa. To avoid controversy over the title, the album was renamed simply as ''Japan'' in some countries. Content According to AllMusic, ...

", of which the original version appears on the band's debut album of the same name.

Track listings

7": Ariola Hansa / AHA 559 (1980, UK) # "I Second That Emotion" – 3:45 # " Quiet Life" – 3:51 7": Ariola Hansa / VIPX-1501 (1980, Japan) # "I Second That Emotion" – 3:46 # " European Son" – 3:40 7": Hansa / HANSA 12 (1982, UK) # "I Second That Emotion" – 3:52 # "Halloween" – 4:23 12": Hansa / HANSA 12-12 (1982, UK) # "I Second That Emotion" (extended remix) – 5:15 # "Halloween" – 4:23 7":

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

/ 104039 (1982, Australia) # "I Second That Emotion" – 3:50 # "

" – 4:10

Personnel

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt; 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan (band), Japan. During his time in Japan, Sylvia ...

– vocals, guitar, keyboards *

Richard Barbieri Richard Barbieri (born 30 November 1957) is an English musician, composer and sound designer. Originally a member of new wave band Japan (and their brief 1989–1991 reincarnation as Rain Tree Crow), he became the keyboard player in the prog ...

– keyboards *

Rob Dean Rob Dean (born 23 April 1955) is a British musician turned professional illustrator, who rose to prominence playing lead guitar as a member of the English New wave music, new wave band Japan (band), Japan from 1975 to 1981. Biography He is fr ...

– guitar *

Mick Karn Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was a British musician who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/ new wave band Japan. His distinctive fretles ...

– fretless bass, saxophone *

Steve Jansen Steve Jansen (born Stephen Ian Batt, born 1 December 1959) is an English musician, composer and record producer. Biography Jansen was a founding member of the band Japan (band), Japan, along with his brother David Sylvian (vocals, guitars and ...

– drums * John Punter – producer * Nigel Walker – engineer *

– remixing (1982)

Charts

In popular culture

The song was often performed by the

Jerry Garcia Band The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side projects until his death in 1995. The band regularly tour ...

. Between the years 1976 to 1994, the Jerry Garcia Band performed the song 156 times, not including seven live performances by the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

. In 1983, the song appeared on '' The Big Chill'' soundtrack Disc 1, Track 8. " I Second That Emotion" is the title of a 1999 ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' episode. In the 2005 film ''

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

'', in the scene where the penguins arrive on the boat, the captain is listening to this song before one of the penguins hits him on the back of the head. On June 18, 2012, ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' named "I Second That Emotion" its "Lyric of The Week". The publication wrote: the song "marches to the beat of its own drum, thanks to three stanzas of crafty doo-wop poetry and one punny one-liner—a malapropism, if you want to get technical—that never really loses its novelty appeal".

Song origin

The Miracles' original version

Personnel

Charts

Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations version

Personnel

Track listing

Charts

Japan version

Releases

Track listings

Personnel

Charts

In popular culture

References

Further reading