"It Doesn't Have to Be" is a song by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

duo

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...

, released on 16 February 1987. It was issued as a single six weeks before the release of the duo's second studio album, '' The Circus'' (1987). Following the number-two UK placing of previous single " Sometimes", it became Erasure's second Top 20 hit in the UK (peaking at number twelve) and their third

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Top 20 hit (number sixteen). The lyric of the song deplores a lack of necessity for strife and may be understood to refer to

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in South Africa, but there is no particular reference. The middle eight is in Swahili, an eastern, not southern African language: ''Lala pamoja na mimi / Nyumbani yako, nyumbani yako / Sababu wewe hapana kaa na mimi / Nyumbani yako, nyumbani yako'', 'Sleep (together) with me / At your place

ouse Ouse may refer to: Places Rivers in England * River Ouse, Yorkshire * River Ouse, Sussex * River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia ** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse Other places * Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Au ...

at your place / Why don't you stay with me / At your place, at your place.' So they deplore a lack of necessity for strife not only between two peoples, but also between two people. The single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

is a rendition of "

In the Hall of the Mountain King "In the Hall of the Mountain King" ( no, I Dovregubbens hall, , In the Dovre man's hall, link=no, italic=no) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 ...

", a piece taken from Norwegian composer and pianist Grieg's ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...

'' suite.

Track listings

* 7" single (MUTE56) # "It Doesn't Have to Be" # "In the Hall of the Mountain King" * 12" single (12MUTE56) # "It Doesn't Have to Be" (Boop Oopa Doo Mix) # "

Who Needs Love Like That "Who Needs Love Like That" is the debut single of British synthpop duo Erasure. The song was released in the UK on Mute Records in 1985 as a prelude to their debut album, '' Wonderland'' (1986). The accompanying music video was directed by John ...

" (Betty Boop Mix) # "In the Hall of the Mountain King" * Limited 12" single (L12MUTE56) # "It Doesn't Have to Be" (Cement Mix) # "Heavenly Action" (

Holger Hiller Holger Hiller (born 26 December 1956) is a German musician. Hiller studied art at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, where he met Walter Thielsch and Thomas Fehlmann and recorded first works with them. With Fehlmann he later fou ...

Mix) # "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (New Version) * CD single (CDMUTE56) # "It Doesn't Have to Be" # "In the Hall of the Mountain King" # "It Doesn't Have to Be" (Boop Oopa Doo Mix) # "Who Needs Love Like That" * CD single (Special Edition CDMUTE56) # "It Doesn't Have to Be" # " Sometimes" # "

Oh L'amour "Oh L'amour" is a song by English synthpop duo Erasure, released in April 1986 as their third single. Written by Erasure members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, it is a lament from someone experiencing unrequited love ''("broke my heart / now I'm ...

" # "Heavenly Action" # "Who Needs Love Like That" # "

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" is a song by Swedish band ABBA. It was recorded in August 1979 in order to help promote their North American and European tour of that year, and was released on ABBA's '' Greatest Hits Vol. 2'' album ...

" (Remix) # "In the Hall of the Mountain King"

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:It Doesn't Have To Be 1987 singles Erasure songs Songs written by Vince Clarke Songs written by Andy Bell (singer) Song recordings produced by Flood (producer) Mute Records singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles