Up Where We Belong
Encyclopedia
"Up Where We Belong" is a song from the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman
. Written by Jack Nitzsche
and Buffy Sainte-Marie
, with lyrics by Will Jennings
, it was performed by Joe Cocker
and Jennifer Warnes
.
in 1982, became a number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
on November 6, 1982 and kept the position for three weeks, also reaching number 7 in the UK Singles Chart
.
"Up Where We Belong" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
and the Academy Award for Best Original Song
in 1983. It also won the BAFTA Film Awards for Best Original Song in 1984. Cocker and Warnes also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
in 1983 for their rendition of this song.
Producer Don Simpson
unsuccessfully demanded "Up Where We Belong" be cut from An Officer and a Gentleman, saying, "The song is no good. It isn't a hit."
, and was later released as part of The Best of Joe Cocker (1993).
In 1991, it was re-released as a Jennifer Warnes CD-single alongside "First We Take Manhattan" and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life
". The song's co-composer, Buffy Sainte-Marie, did a cover of the song for her album Up Where We Belong and the TV special of the same name.
Cocker and Warnes' live performance of the song at the 1983 Grammy Awards was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume III.
advertising campaign for Rover's
200 Series range on its launch in 1989. It is also used as a football chant for Arsenal F.C.
for their defensive midfielder Alex Song, full name, Alex Dimitri Song Billong.
The song was covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks
and The Chipettes
in Alvin and the Chipmunks
Season 3 episode 31B "The Chipmunks Go to Washington".
The song was featured in The Simpsons
Season 1 episode 9 "Life on the Fast Lane
".
A cover of the song was featured at the end of Gaki no Tsukai's "No-Laughing Police Station"
The song was featured in South Park
s Season 9 episode "Erection Day
".
The song was featured in The Cleveland Show
's Season 1 episode "Buried Pleasure
".
The song was featured in Friends
s Season 2 episode, "The One with the Chicken Pox".
It was also sung by Stewie Griffin
in the Family Guy
episode "Emission Impossible".
2Pac used the sample on his song "White Man'z World".
The song was also a part of a medley in the 2001 musical Moulin Rouge!
.
The song was also performed by BeBe & CeCe Winans
in 1984 on the Jim Bakker
's show.
The song was featured in Everybody Hates Chris
Season 1 episode, "Everybody Hates Food Stamps".
An Officer and a Gentleman
A Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American drama film that tells the story of a U.S. Navy aviation officer candidate who comes into conflict with the Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant who trains him. It was written by Douglas Day Stewart and directed by Taylor Hackford...
. Written by Jack Nitzsche
Jack Nitzsche
Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche was an arranger, producer, songwriter, and film score composer. He first came to prominence in the late 1950s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, and went on to work with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and others...
and Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
, with lyrics by Will Jennings
Will Jennings
Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings is an American songwriter who is popularly known for writing the lyrics for "My Heart Will Go On", the theme for the film Titanic .-Life and education:...
, it was performed by Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
and Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...
.
Charts and awards
The single, released by Island RecordsIsland Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
in 1982, became a number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
on November 6, 1982 and kept the position for three weeks, also reaching number 7 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
"Up Where We Belong" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.-1960s:...
and the Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
in 1983. It also won the BAFTA Film Awards for Best Original Song in 1984. Cocker and Warnes also won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals was awarded between 1966 and 2011...
in 1983 for their rendition of this song.
Use in the film
Richard Gere balked at shooting the ending of the film, in which Zack arrives at Paula's factory wearing his naval dress whites and carries her off the factory floor; he thought that wouldn't work because it was too sentimental. Director Taylor Hackford agreed with Gere until, during a rehearsal, the extras playing the workers began to cheer and cry. When Gere saw the scene later, with the music added ("Up Where We Belong"), he said it gave him chills. Gere is now convinced Hackford made the right decision.Producer Don Simpson
Don Simpson
Donald Clarence "Don" Simpson was an American film producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is known for producing such hits as Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun and The Rock...
unsuccessfully demanded "Up Where We Belong" be cut from An Officer and a Gentleman, saying, "The song is no good. It isn't a hit."
Charts
| Chart (1982/83) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 2 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 2 |
| South African Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 3 |
| Australian Kent Music Report | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 7 |
| U.K. Singles Chart | 7 |
| Austrian Top 40 | 14 |
Availability
The song was part of the An Officer and a Gentleman original soundtrackSoundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, and was later released as part of The Best of Joe Cocker (1993).
In 1991, it was re-released as a Jennifer Warnes CD-single alongside "First We Take Manhattan" and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life
(I've Had) The Time of My Life
" The Time of My Life" is a song composed by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz. It was recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, after having been selected to be the finale song for the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, by choreographer Kenny Ortega and his assistant Miranda Garrison...
". The song's co-composer, Buffy Sainte-Marie, did a cover of the song for her album Up Where We Belong and the TV special of the same name.
Cocker and Warnes' live performance of the song at the 1983 Grammy Awards was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume III.
In popular culture
The song also featured in the TVTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
advertising campaign for Rover's
Rover Group
The Rover Group plc was the name given in 1986 to the British state-owned vehicle manufacturer previously known as British Leyland or BL. Owned by British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, when it was sold to BMW, the Group was broken up in 2000 with the Rover and MG marques being acquired by the MG...
200 Series range on its launch in 1989. It is also used as a football chant for Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
for their defensive midfielder Alex Song, full name, Alex Dimitri Song Billong.
The song was covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
and The Chipettes
The Chipettes
The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...
in Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983–87, and DIC Entertainment from 1988-90....
Season 3 episode 31B "The Chipmunks Go to Washington".
The song was featured in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
Season 1 episode 9 "Life on the Fast Lane
Life on the Fast Lane
"Life on the Fast Lane", also known as "Jacques To Be Wild", is the ninth episode of The Simpsons first season, which originally aired on March 18, 1990. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by David Silverman. Albert Brooks guest starred as Jacques, a French bowling instructor, with...
".
A cover of the song was featured at the end of Gaki no Tsukai's "No-Laughing Police Station"
The song was featured in South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
s Season 9 episode "Erection Day
Erection Day
"Erection Day" is the seventh episode and mid-season finale of the ninth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 132nd episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 20, 2005. In the episode, South Park Elementary's talent show is coming up and...
".
The song was featured in The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States...
's Season 1 episode "Buried Pleasure
Buried Pleasure
"Buried Pleasure" is the thirteenth episode of the first season of The Cleveland Show it aired on February 14, 2010. It was the last episode to feature Nia Long as Roberta.In this episode, Cleveland sets Holt up on a date.-Plot:...
".
The song was featured in Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
s Season 2 episode, "The One with the Chicken Pox".
It was also sung by Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Once obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, and the brother of Chris and Meg....
in the Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode "Emission Impossible".
2Pac used the sample on his song "White Man'z World".
The song was also a part of a medley in the 2001 musical Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 romantic jukebox musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Following the Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orphean myth, La Traviata, and La Bohème...
.
The song was also performed by BeBe & CeCe Winans
BeBe & CeCe Winans
BeBe & CeCe Winans are an American Gospel music brother and sister duo. BeBe and CeCe Winans are the seventh and eighth of "Mom" and "Pop" Winans' ten children, most of whom have had successful Gospel music careers.-Musical career:...
in 1984 on the Jim Bakker
Jim Bakker
James Orsen "Jim" Bakker is an American televangelist, a former Assemblies of God minister, and a former host of The PTL Club, a popular evangelical Christian television program.A sex scandal led to his resignation from the ministry...
's show.
The song was featured in Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
Season 1 episode, "Everybody Hates Food Stamps".
See also
- List of RPM number-one singles of 1982
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1982 (U.S.)
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s