"If You Really Cared" is the third single from English singer-songwriter Gabrielle's second album, '' Gabrielle'' (1996). It was written by Gabrielle, Ben Barson of the Boilerhouse Boys, Ben Wolff and Andrew Dean. "If You Really Cared" was released in September 1996 by

Go Beat Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Symo ...

and

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

, and returned Gabrielle to the top 20 of 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 15.

Critical reception

Caitlin Moran Catherine Elizabeth Moran (; born 5 April 1975) is an English journalist, author, and broadcaster at ''The Times'', where she writes three columns a week: one for the Saturday Magazine, a TV review column, and the satirical Friday column "Celeb ...

from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' praised the song as "an inner-London C&W smooch that builds and builds into a deliciously sparse crescendo." Another ''Melody Maker'' editor, Simon Price, named it one of the Singles of the Week, writing, "'If You Really Cared' is another gorgeous period piece (shades of

Lorraine Ellison Lorraine Ellison (March 17, 1931 – January 31, 1983) was an American soul singer and songwriter known for her recording of the song " Stay with Me" (sometimes known as "Stay With Me Baby") in 1966. Life and career Born Marybelle Luraine Elli ...

's " Stay with Me" this time). I've had it on Repeat eight times in a row and I'm not bored yet. I want her to marry me." 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 W ...

'' gave it three out of five, adding, "Gabrielle shows her class with this timeless

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 ...

which captures a vintage soulful sound, but remains distinctly modern."

Track listings

Charts

References

{{authority control 1996 singles 1996 songs Gabrielle (singer) songs Songs written by Gabrielle (singer) Go! Beat singles