folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
band the Waterboys from their fifth studio album, ''
Room to Roam
''Room to Roam'' is the fifth studio album by The Waterboys; it continued the folk rock sound of 1988's ''Fisherman's Blues'', but was less of a commercial success, reaching #180 on the ''Billboard'' Top 200 after its release in September 1990. C ...
'' (1990). Written by Mike Scott, it was released as the album's lead single. The song was subsequently covered by English singer
Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...
and released as the second single from her album '' Halcyon Days'' (2013). Goulding's version is included on the soundtrack to the 2013 film '' About Time'', which also features a different cover by
Jon Boden
Jon Boden (born 17 March 1977) is a singer, composer and musician, best known as lead singer and main arranger of Bellowhead. His first instrument is the fiddle and he is a proponent of "English traditional fiddle style" and also of "fiddle si ...
,
Sam Sweeney
Sam Sweeney (born 27 February 1989 in Nottingham) is a multi-instrumental English folk musician.
Career
Sweeney was introduced to folk music as a child via his parents' record collection and taught himself to play traditional pieces by ear. ...
and Ben Coleman.
Release
"How Long Will I Love You?" was given a single release in Ireland and certain European countries, but not the UK or US. A special sleeve was designed for the single's release in Ireland. The B-side, " Come Live with Me", is a cover of the
Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
Felice Bryant (born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto; August 7, 1925 – April 22, 2003) and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant (; February 13, 1920 – June 25, 1987) were an American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They were best ...
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
concert and fell in love with the song. It was recorded during the sessions for ''
Fisherman's Blues
''Fisherman's Blues'' is a 1988 album by The Waterboys. The album marked a change in the band's sound, with them abandoning their earlier grandiose rock sound for a mixture of traditional Irish music, traditional Scottish music, country music, a ...
'', but it was not released at the time. After appearing on a UK bootleg, it received its first official release on the "How Long Will I Love You?" single.
Track listings
*Ireland 12-inch single and German CD single
#"How Long Will I Love You?" – 2:49
#"When Will We Be Married?" – 2:57
#*Traditional. Arranged by Mike Scott and
Steve Wickham
Steve Wickham is an Irish musician. Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home,Composed by
Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
Felice Bryant (born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto; August 7, 1925 – April 22, 2003) and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant (; February 13, 1920 – June 25, 1987) were an American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They were best ...
. Produced by Mike Scott.
*French and German 7-inch single
#11"Come Live with Me" – 7:23
#*Composed by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. Produced by Mike Scott.
Charts
Ellie Goulding version
"How Long Will I Love You" was covered by English singer
Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...
for '' Halcyon Days'' (2013), the reissue of her second studio album, '' Halcyon'' (2012). Released on 10 November 2013 as the second single from the reissue, it also served as the official song for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
's 2013 Children in Need appeal. It is also on the soundtrack to the 2013 Richard Curtis film '' About Time'', although her version is not featured in the film itself. Goulding performed "How Long Will I Love You" live in the BBC ''Children in Need'' appeal show on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
on 15 November 2013.
"She changed a couple of the lines", Mike Scott said of Goulding's version. "I'm not sure if she did it deliberately. I don't think they're as good as the original lines, but good for her. I do the same thing myself. I've changed Dylan's words, so I can't really complain if somebody changes mine."
Commercial performance
"How Long Will I Love You" was a commercial success for Goulding and notably a bigger success than its original. It peaked at number three on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, selling 82,872 copies. It reached the top ten in a total of 7 charts, and reached the top twenty in a total of 11 charts. Since its release it has appeared on 16 different charts. The song has appeared inside the top 50 and the UK year end list in both 2013 and 2014 respectively.
In Goulding's native United Kingdom it has been Certified 2x platinum for sales of 1,200,000 Unites and sales. It has been certified Gold in 6 countries, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden and Belgium.
The music video for "How Long Will I Love You" was directed by Mike Sharpe and released on 9 September 2013. The video shows Goulding walking along a beach, intercut with footage from '' About Time''.
A second music video premiered on Goulding's official
Vevo
Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...
channel on 28 October 2013, and contains scenes from the short film ''Tom & Issy'', directed by
Roger Michell
Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as ''Notting Hill (film), Notting Hill'' and ''Venus (2006 film), Venus'', as ...
and starring Goulding and Dylan Edwards. The video was shot entirely on a
Nokia Lumia 1020
The Nokia Lumia 1020 (known as Lumia 909 during development) is a smartphone developed by Nokia, first unveiled on 11 July 2013 at a Nokia event in New York. It runs Windows Phone 8, but is also Windows Phone 8.1 ready. It contains Nokia's PureV ...
.
Track listing
*UK CD single and digital download
#"How Long Will I Love You" – 2:34
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of '' Halcyon Days''.
Recording
* Mixed at Sentinel Sound
* Mastered at Whitfield Mastering (London, England)
Personnel
*
Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...
– vocals
* John Fortis – production, bass, keyboards
*
Joe Kearns
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
– engineering
* Richard Kayvan – engineering, mixing
* Ashley Krajewski – engineering, percussion
* Nick Cornu – guitar
* Chris Ketley – piano
* Kirsty Mangan – violin, viola
* Rachael Lander – cello
* Naweed – mastering