"I Swear" is a song written by Gary Baker and

Frank J. Myers Frank Joseph Myers (born July 3, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has received multiple awards including a Grammy for "Best Country Song" which he and frequent songwriting partner Gary Baker (forme ...

that became a hit for American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

John Michael Montgomery John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. Montgomery began singing with his brother Eddie, who would later become known as one half of the duo Montgomery Gentry, before beginning his major-label solo ca ...

in 1993, and for American R&B group

All-4-One All-4-One is an American male R&B and pop group best known for their hit singles "I Swear", "So Much in Love" and "I Can Love You Like That". The group is composed of Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, Alfred Nevarez, and Tony Borowiak, all from t ...

in 1994. Released in November 1993 as the lead single from his album ''

Kickin' It Up ''Kickin' It Up'' is the second studio album by American country music artist John Michael Montgomery. The album was released by Atlantic Records on January 25, 1994. On February 19 of the same year, the album reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' ...

'', and accompanied by a music video directed by Marc Ball, Montogemery's version spent four weeks at number-one on the U.S.

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, later crossing over to pop radio and reaching number 42 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March. The cover by All-4-One was subsequently released in April 1994, becoming a number-one hit in numerous countries, and later garnering a spot in ''Billboards ranking of All-Time Top 100 Songs.

Content

The song is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

in which the narrator promises his significant other that he will always love her.

Track listings

* CD maxi—United States (1993) # "I Swear" – 4:23 # "Line on Love" – 2:37 # "Dream on Texas Ladies" – 3:08 # "Friday at Five" – 2:41

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-4-One version

Following the release of Montgomery's version, American male R&B pop group

recorded a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

with record producer

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

for their eponymous 1994 debut album. The cover includes a lyric change: the original line from the second verse "And when there's silver in your hair" was replaced by "And when just the two of us are there." All-4-One's version hit number-one on numerous music charts, including the US ''

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 advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, where it remained number-one for 11 consecutive weeks. The recording later ranked number 98 on ''Billboards list of All-Time Top 100 Songs. In the United Kingdom, the All-4-One recording spent a total of 18 weeks 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 ...

, peaking at number two, where it stayed for seven consecutive weeks (held off the top spot by

Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish soft rock band formed in 1982. They scored a number of hits in the UK charts and around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. They are best known for their 1994 cover of The Troggs' 1960s hit "Love Is All Around", which w ...

's "

Love Is All Around "Love Is All Around" is a song recorded by English rock band the Troggs, featuring a string quartet and a 'tick tock' sound on percussion, in D-major. Released as a single in October 1967, it was a top-ten hit in both the UK and US. "Love I ...

", which spent 15 weeks at number one).

Background and composition

After their first album had finished going through the mastering process of recording,

Doug Morris Doug Morris (born November 23, 1938) is an American record executive. He is the current chairman of 12Tone Music Group. He previously served as chairman and CEO of the Universal Music Group from 1995 to 2011 and Sony Music Entertainment from 20 ...

, president of Atlantic Records called the group for a meeting. He showed them the original "I Swear" country record, asking All-4-One to do a cover of it promising to bring David Foster in for production. Singer Jamie Jones of the group was most hesitant about releasing the song due to the genre crossover. The group finished the recording at Foster's Malibu home studio.

Critical reception

A reviewer from ''

'' described the song as an "memorable anthem

". The magazine's

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

wrote, "Follow-up to the gold-selling '

So Much in Love "So Much in Love" is a song written by George Williams and Bill Jackson, and arranged by Roy Straigis. It was originally performed by the Tymes and was the group's first hit single, topping the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles char ...

' once again spotlights this male quartet's seamless harmonies. Producer

supplies soft and pillowy synths, a caressing sax solo, and an overall splash of drama, which complements the unabashed romance of this hit-bound ballad. As teens enter

prom A promenade dance, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held near the end of the school yea ...

season, expect this song to be the peak tune of the evening. Ahhh, young love ..." M.R. Martinez from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' complimented it as a single "complete with shimmering vocals, swooning pop arrangements, and throttled (yet soulful) vocals".

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer 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 worked on air ...

noted in his weekly UK chart commentary, "Labelled by many as this year's ' End of the Road' you can see what all the hype is about. Four American teenagers singing in barber's shop harmonies makes for a gorgeous record. Whether it emulates its American success remains to be seen but Top 10 success is almost assured." Dave Sholin from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...

'' complimented the producer that "polishes it up just right for pop audiences who, like their country counterparts, will soak in the lyrics." He added, "Those contemplating matrimony will no doubt have this played while they're walking down the aisle, and those who've already tied the knot might want to renew their vows just so they can make "I Swear" part of the ceremony." 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 ...

'' commented, "Since

Whitney Whitney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

Dolly Dolly may refer to: Tools *Dolly (tool), a portable anvil * A posser, also known as a dolly, used for laundering * A variety of wheeled tools, including: **Dolly (trailer), for towing behind a vehicle **Boat dolly or launching dolly, a device fo ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

is hip in the R&B milieu. Now the vocal harmony quartet halfway between

Shai Shai (also spelt Sai, occasionally Shay, and in Greek, Psais) was the deification of the concept of destiny, fate in Egyptian mythology. As a concept, with no particular reason for associating one gender over another, Shai was sometimes consider ...

and

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

polishes

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

number 1 hit." Head of music on German Radio Regenbogen/

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

, Martin Schwebel said, "It's a beautiful love song. The fact that it's on pole position in every American chart imaginable shows its huge potential. Here in Germany it might be a sleeper, but it will be a hit in the long run." Alan Jones 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 W ...

'' declared it as a "pretty and powerful ballad", that "should be big".

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced to promote the single. It portrays the members of All-4-One hanging out on a rooftop singing interspersed with scenes with a young woman walking on the sidewalk below. They go down to walk and talk with her as they implore her not to leave. Ultimately, she says goodbye to each member before boarding a departing bus. The video was later published on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

in January 2014. It had generated over 57 million views as of September 20, 2021.

Other All-4-One versions

All-4-One and John Michael Montgomery recorded an updated duet version of "I Swear" for the deluxe edition of All-4-One's 2015 album ''

Twenty+ ''Twenty+'' is the eighth studio album by All-4-One. It was released on July 24, 2015 through AFO LTD / Heavyweights Entertainment. It is a celebration of the group's 20th anniversary featuring new material as well as new versions of their bigges ...

''. A music video for this duet version was released on May 9, 2016. In 2021, All-4-One recorded a remix of "I Swear" for a music video promoting

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

All-Access, titled "It's All There".

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "I Swear" (radio edit) – 3:43 # "I Swear" (radio remix) – 4:19 * CD single # "I Swear" (radio edit) – 3:43 # "I Swear" (radio remix) – 4:19 * CD maxi # "I Swear" (radio edit) – 3:43 # "I Swear" (radio mix) – 4:18 # "I Swear" (radio remix) – 4:18 # "I Swear" (album version) – 4:18

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Other versions

The final eleven contestants from '' Popstars: Girls forever'', ninth season of TV talent show ''

POPSTARS ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'' in Germany, they released a cover version of the song with Gary Baker on November 19, 2010. The finalists premiered the song live on the November 18th edition of the programme; the single was available for digital download on November 16, 2010, and a physical release followed the day after the live performance of the song. The song was recorded at Noiseblock Studios in

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the st ...

. The cover reached number 69 on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

References

External links