Faith (George Michael Song)
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"Faith" is a song by English singer and songwriter
George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
. Written and produced by Michael, it was released via
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as the second single from his 1987 debut solo album of the same name. It held the number-one position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for four weeks and, according to ''
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 ...
'' magazine, was the number-one single of the year in the United States in 1988. The song also reached number one in Australia and Canada and number two on the UK Singles Chart. In 2001, it placed at number 322 on the Songs of the Century list.


Writing and recording

As with the rest of the album, the track was written, arranged, and produced by Michael. It is claimed that the idea came from publisher Dick Leahy's suggestion that Michael write a rock and roll pastiche. The song began life in May 1987 at Puk Studios in Gjerlev, Denmark, with Michael doing a 2-bar LinnDrum loop and Hugh Burns playing the
Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...
-style acoustic rhythm guitar part on a nameless metal-bodied acoustic. Long-time bassist Deon Estus laid down a bass part, while the cathedral organ part was recorded with a
Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, th ...
(although some sources state it is from a Roland D-50). While recording the vocals on the ''Faith'' album and other subsequent solo albums, Michael would usually write lyrics in front of the mic, and build the lead vocal by singing a line, each time he had Chris Porter rewind the tape so he could drop in at certain points to create the right emotional effect with his voice. For this song, George wanted the vocals to be "dry and in-your-face", like on
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
's songs at the time, which Porter noted "had a very tight delay on the vocals, making him sound very growly but dry and aggressive"—it was that kind of effect they managed to recreate with an AMS digital delay. Work on the song later resumed on 1 September 1987, when a new bridge added and a 1950s-inspired guitar solo by Burns—played on a Giffin custom Stratocaster—were added at Sarm West Studio 2 in London. According to Porter, the solo was constructed bar-by-bar over a period of 4 hours in a similar fashion to recording George's vocals. Michael never thought of releasing "Faith" as a single in the beginning but once he decided it was going to be released he extended the song length to add the guitar solo, as explained in an interview with ''Countdown'' in 1988:


History

The song incorporates the famed Bo Diddley beat, a classic rock and roll rhythm. It begins with organ played by Chris Cameron, referencing
Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...
's song "
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", followed by guitar strumming, finger clicking, hand-claps, tambourine and hi-hat. The song was featured in the film '' Bitter Moon'', directed by
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. More recently, it featured in
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's '' Ready Player One'' and plays during the wedding scene in
Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...
's '' House of Gucci''. It also featured in TV show ''
Eli Stone ''Eli Stone'' is an American Legal drama, legal Musical film, musical comedy drama television series that was created by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, who also served as executive producers alongside Ken Olin who directed the pilot, with M ...
'' with a cameo from George Michael.


Music video

The official
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for the song was directed by Andy Morahan. It features Michael, with noticeable stubble on his face, wearing a black leather jacket with 'Rockers Revenge' and BSA logo, Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses and a pair of Levi's blue jeans with
cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
boots, playing a guitar near a classic-design
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, and a woman's bare legs. Writers Bob Batchelor and Scott Stoddart say the music video positions him as a "masculine sex object", breaking him up into individual body parts such as "stubbled" 'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''chin and butt. The music video also features part of another song by Michael. The video starts by playing "I Want Your Sex", and then is interrupted by the jukebox starting into "Faith".


Chart performance

The song reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number two on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in late October and early November 1987. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, "Faith" went from number 54 to number 37, the week of 31 October 1987. It reached number one on 12 December 1987 and remained there for four consecutive weeks. Altogether, "Faith" stayed in the top 10 for nine weeks, the top 20 for 11 weeks and the top 40 for 15 weeks.


Track listing

* 7": UK / Epic EMU 2 # "Faith" – 3:16 # "Hand to Mouth" – 4:36 * 12": UK / Epic EMU T2 # "Faith" – 3:16 # "Faith" (instrumental) – 3:07 # "Hand to Mouth" – 4:36


Personnel

Credits sourced from ''
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''. *
George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
– lead and harmony vocals, LinnDrum programming, handclaps, fingersnaps * Deon Estus – bass guitar * Hugh Burns – electric and acoustic guitars * Chris Cameron –
Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, th ...
(cathedral organ sound)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


All-time charts


Certifications


Limp Bizkit version

American rap rock band
Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...
covered the song "Faith" in their live performances, using the cover to attract attention to the band. Word of mouth attendance and energetic live performances in which guitarist Wes Borland appeared in bizarre costumes increased the band's
cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
. Audiences, in particular, were attracted to Borland's guitar playing and appearance. Despite the success of the song in Limp Bizkit's live performances, producer Ross Robinson was opposed to recording the cover for their debut album, '' Three Dollar Bill, Y'all'', and tried to persuade the band not to play it on the album. However, the final recording, which incorporated heavier guitar playing and drumming, as well as DJ scratching, impressed Robinson. "I love George Michael and decided to cover 'Faith' for fun. We like to do really aggressive versions of cheesy pop hits," lead singer Fred Durst told ''
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 ...
''. "I didn't expect him to get busted in that bathroom but his misfortune actually helped us. We couldn't ask for more of a buzz."
Peter Berg Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy '' Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy '' The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night ...
directed a music video featuring a bizarre wedding monologue for the song in promotion for its appearance in his film '' Very Bad Things'', but Durst was unsatisfied with it and directed a second video which paid tribute to tourmates such as Primus,
Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...
and
Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...
, who appeared in the video. Borland stated in an interview that George Michael, the writer of the song, hated the cover and "hates us for doing it". In the 2024 film ''Y2K'', Durst (playing himself) sings a newly-recorded acoustic version of the song.


References

{{authority control 1987 songs 1987 singles 1998 singles George Michael songs Limp Bizkit songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Columbia Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Flip Records (1994) singles Interscope Records singles MCA Records singles Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Music videos directed by Fred Durst Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by George Michael Songs written by George Michael