"Weak" is a song by American R&B vocal trio SWV from their debut studio album, '' It's About Time'' (1992). It was written and produced by Brian Alexander Morgan, who composed the lyrics based on a young person falling in love for the first time. Inspired by his crush on singer

Chanté Moore Chanté Torrane Moore (born February 17, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, television personality, and author. The first signee with record executive Louis Silas, Jr.'s Silas Records, she rose to prominence with her debu ...

, Morgan originally wrote the song for Charlie Wilson, but he later decided to give the song to SWV. Morgan later revealed that lead singer of SWV,

Coko Cheryl Elizabeth Gamble (formerly Clemons; born June 13, 1970), known professionally as Coko, is an American singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of the R&B vocal trio Sisters With Voices (SWV). Aside from her R&B career, Gamble als ...

, did not like the song and gave him attitude during the recording of the single. Coko, in turn, said that she did not like the song because she found it difficult to sing initially because the song forced her to do things she was not used to. A partially re-recorded version of "Weak" was released in April 1993 by

RCA Records 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 R ...

as the third single from the album. It topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for two weeks in July 1993, as well as the ''Cash Box'' Top 100, and sold over one million copies domestically and was awarded a

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). It also topped the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

chart for two weeks. Outside the US, the single reached number six on the New Zealand Singles Charts and number 33 on the UK Singles Chart. ''Billboard'' ranked the song at number 72 on their list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".

Composition

Sheet music for the song "Weak" shows the key of

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

with a tempo of "slow groove" at 63 beats per minute.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' described "Weak" as a "lush

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 ...

Track listings

* US 7-inch single :A. "Weak" (radio version) – 4:20 :B. " I'm So into You" (radio version) – 4:07 * US 12-inch single :A1. "Weak" (extended radio version) – 4:54 :A2. "Weak" (Down mix) – 4:30 :B1. "Weak" (Bam Jam extended Jeep mix) – 6:00 :B2. "Weak" (R-N-B extended mix) – 5:10 * US cassette single :A1. "Weak" (radio version) – 4:20 :A2. "Weak" (R-N-B radio mix) – 4:43 :B1. "Weak" (Bam Jam extended Jeep mix) – 6:00 * Australasian CD single # "Weak" (radio edit) – 4:20 # "Weak" (Bam Jam Jeep mix) – 5:00 # "Weak" (R-N-B radio mix) – 4:43 # "Weak" (Bam Jam extended Jeep mix) – 6:00 # "Weak" (Down mix) – 4:30 # "Weak" (album version) – 4:51 * UK 7-inch and cassette single # "Weak" (R-N-B mix) # "Weak" (Bam Jam Jeep mix) * UK 12-inch single :A1. "Weak" (Bam Jam extended Jeep mix) :A2. "Weak" (R-N-B mix) :B1. "SWV (In the House)" :B2. " I'm So into You" (original mix) * UK and European CD single # "Weak" (R-N-B mix) # "Weak" (Bam Jam extended Jeep mix) # "SWV (In the House)" # "I'm So into You" (original mix) * Japanese mini-CD single # "Weak" (radio edit) # "Weak" (R-N-B radio mix)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1992 songs 1993 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles RCA Records singles Songs written by Brian Alexander Morgan SWV songs