"If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" is a song by English singer

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

. It was released as the lead single from his fourth studio album, ''

Ten Summoner's Tales ''Ten Summoner's Tales'' is the fourth solo studio album by English rock musician Sting. The title is a combined pun of his family name, Sumner, and a character in Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales'', the summoner. Released in 1993, ...

'' (1993), on 1 February 1993. The song reached number 17 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top 40 in several European countries. In Canada, the song reached number one, spending three weeks atop the '' RPM'' Top Singles chart and finishing 1993 as Canada's fourth-most-successful single. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, the song won Sting a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

, while it was also nominated for both

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and for Song of the Year. It has been included on all of Sting's compilation albums since its release, namely '' Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994'' and ''

The Very Best of Sting & The Police ''The Very Best of... Sting & The Police'' is a compilation album issued by A&M Records on 17 November 1997, containing a mix of Police songs and Sting's solo works. It originally featured one new track, a remix of the 1978 song " Roxanne" by r ...

''.

Composition

The song, in the key of A major, is played in swing time. According to Sting, the song was written on the piano, and contains a flattened fifth in the song's intro, which he says was banned in the churches due to its dissonant sound: The "You" in the song's title is not identified by Sting, as he explained he felt it was important not to point out what it is specifically so that the listeners could connect more with the song:

Track listings

CD maxi # If I Ever Lose My Faith in You — 4:29 # Message in a Bottle nplugged— 5:20 # Tea in the Sahara nplugged— 4:25 # Walking on the Moon nplugged— 5:06 CD single 1 # If I Ever Lose My Faith in You — 4:29 # All This Time nplugged— 5:20 # Mad About You nplugged— 4:24 # Every Breath You Take nplugged— 5:06 CD single 2 # If I Ever Lose My Faith in You — 4:33 # Message in a Bottle nplugged— 5:47 # Tea in the Sahara nplugged— 4:43 # Walking on the Moon nplugged— 2:56 CD maxi – picture disc US # If I Ever Lose My Faith in You — 4:29 # Everybody Laughed But You — 3:51 # January Stars — 3:50 # We Work The Black Seam lternate Version— 6:08

Credits

– bass, vocals, guitar, harmonica; producer on track 1 *

Dominic Miller Dominic James Miller (born 21 March 1960) is an Argentine-born guitarist. With much of his career as a sideman and guitarist for singer Sting, he has also released several solo albums. Career Miller was born in Hurlingham, Argentina to an Iris ...

– guitars *

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on ''Human Touch'' (1992), '' Trac ...

– keyboards; piano on tracks 2-4 *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

– drums *

Vinx Vinx De'Jon Parrette (born 15 December 1957), known professionally as Vinx, is a percussionist, singer, songwriter, and former athlete. Biography Early life and career Vinx attended Kansas State University on a track scholarship. In 1977, he was ...

– percussion and backing vocals on tracks 2-4 * Hugh Padgham – producer on track 1 * Joel Gallen – executive producer on tracks 2-4 * Alex Coletti – producer on tracks 2-4

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

In 2009, trumpeter

Chris Botti Christopher Stephen Botti ( ; born October 12, 1962) is an award-winning American trumpeter and composer. In 2013, Botti won the Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category, for the album ''Impressions''. He was also nominated in ...

covered the song featuring Sting on vocals. The song was released from the album ''

Chris Botti in Boston ''Chris Botti in Boston'' is a live album by American jazz trumpeter Chris Botti. It was released on CD and DVD on March 31, 2009 through Decca Records. The album was certified platinum in the US and diamond in Poland. It was nominated at the ...

''. American singer

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

also performed the song at the 2014

Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a gala celebrating five hono ...

, where Sting was an honouree. American rock band Disturbed released a cover in 2020.

Notes

References

{{Authority control 1992 songs 1993 singles A&M Records singles Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham Songs written by Sting (musician) Sting (musician) songs