"Lifted" is a song written by British musical duo

Lighthouse Family Lighthouse Family were a British pop soul duo that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s and initially remained active until the early 2000s. Singer Tunde Baiyewu and songwriter Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, ...

for their 1995 debut album, '' Ocean Drive''. The track was produced by

Mike Peden Michael Peden is a British record producer, remixer and composer, best known for his work with the British musical duo Lighthouse Family. With his former band the Chimes, Peden had a hit single with their version of "I Still Haven't Found What ...

and was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

on 8 May 1995, reaching the top 75 in the UK. In January 1996, "Lifted" was re-released, reaching a new peak of number four in the UK and entering the top 40 in Austria, Iceland, and Ireland, as well as on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. In the UK, it was the most-played single on radio during the first quarter of 1996.

Background and release

Songwriter Paul Tucker worked in a

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

club in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and had written a song called " Ocean Drive". After four years he decided to find a singer to sing it. A friend told him about singer

Tunde Baiyewu Emmanuel Babatunde Baiyewu (born 25 November 1968), better known as Tunde Baiyewu, is a British singer and songwriter of Nigerian descent, best known as the vocalist of Lighthouse Family. When the group went on hiatus in 2003, Baiyewu embarked ...

from London and after singing the song, Tucker felt he was the right person to sing it. Tucker contacted several record companies and sent them the song on cassettes. Several labels showed interest and the duo signed to

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

with only one song. The record company kept asking for more material. They brought in some musicians to record a few songs, but Polydor rejected the songs. "Lifted" came up in this process. The duo felt they needed some kind of spiritual lift. Tucker also remembered the tunes he had heard in the club where he worked, like "

Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...

" by

Joe Smooth Joseph Lorenzo Jr. Welbon (born May 9, 1963), known by the stage name Joe Smooth, is an American house music producer and DJ who gained international acclaim during the early 1980s. By the new millennium he held the reputation of working with a ...

. He drew inspiration from these songs and has also stated that the song was inspired by a breakup back when he was living in Newcastle in the early 1990s. The duo had a lot of worries in the writing process. They worried that the record company would drop them. These thoughts also fed into the lyrics of "Lifted". They sent a tape of the new song to Polydor and they loved it.

Critical reception

Ethan Alter from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

picked "Lifted" as one of two "best tunes" from 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-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, stating that it is "virtually guaranteed to buoy one's spirits." In ''

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 ...

'', the reviewer felt singer

's style was in some ways similar to that of

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

, calling the track a "wonderful British-soul single... With its shuffling,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

-derived beat and strumming melody."

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

for

Dotmusic ''Dotmusic'' was a music webzine that existed as a standalone website from 1 June 1995 to December 2003. Initially intended as the web complement to the UK music industry trade magazine ''Music Week'', the site was relaunched in December 1998 as a ...

called it "wonderful". 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 ...

'' said, "Pop made from an adult angle, but finely tuning into the youngster's taste too by the clever

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

-inspired rhythm track, it will open up lots of radio possibilities." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' rated it three out of five, writing, "Feelgood, radio friendly fare from the

duo which echoes the uplifting sentiments of

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...

. A grower." Ralph Tee from the magazine's ''RM'' Dance Update deemed it a "wholesome guitar-tinged funky soul tune", noting that the original radio friendly version is mixed by British record producer, remixer and composer

. Another editor,

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

described it as a "husky soulful superb

Roger Troutman Roger Lynch Troutman Jr. (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known simply as Roger, was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and infl ...

-ishly vocodered lovely languid strolling 96.8bpm song of hope".

Music video

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 ...

was produced to promote the single. It features the duo performing in

Zabriskie Point Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 mil ...

and Death Valley Junction,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The indoor scenes are filmed in Amargosa Opera House and Hotel. It was shot on

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: Film * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on ...

, and the idea was to get something that looked more cinematic than a standard pop video.

Track listings

* UK CD1 (1995) # "Lifted" (extended mix) # "Beautiful Night" # "Absolutely Everything" # "Lifted" (7-inch instrumental) * UK CD2 (1995) # "Lifted" (7-inch version) # "Lifted" (Rokstone R&B mix) # "Lifted" (Rokstone instrumental) * UK cassette single (1995) # "Lifted" (7-inch version) # "Absolutely Everything" * European CD single (1995) # "Lifted" # "Beautiful Night" * UK and Australasian CD single (1996) # "Lifted" (7-inch mix) # "Lifted" (Linslee extended mix) # "Lifted" (Linslee instrumental) # "Lifted" (Nostalgia Freaks dub) * UK 12-inch single (1996) :A1. "Lifted" (Linslee extended mix) :A2. "Lifted" (Linslee instrumental) :B1. "Lifted" (Dekkard dub) :B2. "Lifted" (Nostalgia Freaks) * UK cassette single and European CD single (1996) # "Lifted" (7-inch mix) # "Lifted" (Linslee 7-inch mix)

Charts

Weekly charts

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1996) !Peak
position , - ! scope="row", Australia (

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

){{{cite web , url=https://imgur.com/a/A18ZsEe , title=Lighthouse Family ARIA peaks, received from ARIA in November 2024, publisher=ARIA, via=Imgur.com, access-date=22 November 2024 N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. , align="center", 178 , - {{single chart, Austria, 36, artist=Lighthouse Family, song=Lifted, rowheader=true , - {{single chart, Canadaadultcontemporary, 27, chartid=9888, rowheader=true, access-date=5 July 2019 , - !scope="row", Europe (

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

) , 15 , - {{single chart, Germany, 62, artist=Lighthouse Family, song=Lifted, songid=7494, rowheader=true, access-date=5 July 2019 , - !scope="row", Iceland ( Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) , 33 , - {{single chart, Ireland2, 15, song=Lifted, rowheader=true , - {{single chart, Dutch100, 85, artist=Lighthouse Family, song=Lifted, rowheader=true , - {{single chart, Scotland, 6, date=19960224, rowheader=true, access-date=5 July 2019, refname="scot1996" , - {{single chart, UK, 4, date=19960210, rowheader=true, access-date=5 July 2019, refname="uk1996" , - {{single chart, UKrandb, 2, date=19960210, rowheader=true, access-date=5 July 2019, refname="ukrb1996" , - !scope="row", US Maxi-Singles Sales (''

'') , 24 {{col-2

Year-end charts

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1996) !Position , - !scope="row", UK Singles (OCC) , 56 {{col-end

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top {{Certification Table Entry, region=United Kingdom, type=single, artist=Lighthouse Family, title=Lifted, award=Platinum, relyear=2004, certyear=2023, id=3856-905-1, access-date=4 August 2023 {{Certification Table Bottom, nosales=true, noshipments=true, streaming=true

Release history

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" !scope="col", Region !scope="col", Date !scope="col", Format(s) !scope="col", Label(s) !scope="col", {{abbr, Ref., Reference , - !scope="row", United Kingdom , 8 May 1995 , {{hlist, CD, cassette , rowspan="2", {{hlist, Wildcard,

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

, , - !scope="row", United Kingdom (rerelease) , 29 January 1996 , {{hlist, 12-inch, CD, cassette , , - !scope="row", United States , 25 June 1997 ,

Hot 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 ...

radio , A&M ,

In popular culture

The song was used as the official campaign song for the British Labour Party under

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

in their successful 2001 election campaign.{{cite web , author=, title=Labour campaign lifts off on song , date=20 April 2001 , url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/1287516.stm , website=

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, access-date=22 August 2019

References

{{Reflist {{Lighthouse Family {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Lifted (Song) 1995 songs 1995 debut singles 1996 singles A&M Records singles British soul songs Lighthouse Family songs Polydor Records singles Songs written by Martin Brammer Songs written by Paul Tucker (musician) Songs written by Tunde Baiyewu Political party songs New Labour Tony Blair 2001 United Kingdom general election