"Julia" is a song performed by British

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duo

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

. Written by group members

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

and David A. Stewart and produced by Stewart, the song was the second and final single released from their album ''

1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) ''1984 (For the Love of Big Brother)'' is a soundtrack album by the British pop duo Eurythmics. Released on 12 November 1984 by Virgin Records, it was the duo's fourth album overall and contains music recorded by Eurythmics for the film '' Nine ...

'', which served as the soundtrack to the film '' Nineteen Eighty-Four'', an adaptation of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's political novel of the same name, and plays during the film's ending credits. The band were controversially chosen alongside the Dominic Muldowney orchestral composition.

Song information

Musical concept

The song is a ballad with very sparse electronic instrumentation and an almost

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

performance by Lennox. Her vocals are accentuated by vocoder effects in the background. The title and lyrics of the song are based upon the novel's heroine and love interest, Julia. The cover artwork for the single is a still image from the film, featuring English actress

Suzanna Hamilton Suzanna Hamilton (born 8 February 1960) is an English actress. She played the role of Julia (1984), Julia in the Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 film), 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel, ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. Her other film ...

as Julia. Midway through the song, an instrumental line based on J. S. Bach's "Fugue #2 in C Minor" from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1, can be heard.

Reception

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 ...

'' said that the song is "a dreamy and ethereal piece which is almost exclusively Lennox’ airy vocals and David Stewart’s synthesizer meanderings." Breaking a string of six consecutive Top 10 hits, "Julia" peaked at number 44 on the UK singles chart.

Other versions

The version of "Julia" found on the soundtrack differs from the one being played during the end-credits of the film - which is more string based with less synthetic arrangements. This is also the case for many of the other songs on the soundtrack versus their version used in the film.

Music Video

The music video for Julia was directed by Chris Ashbrook (who had directed the previous promo for Sexcrime) and was filmed towards the end of 1984. The video consists simply of a closeup of Lennox's face whilst she sings and was later included on the VHS/DVD Eurythmics Greatest Hits, even though the song itself wasn't included on the compilation album of the same name.

Track listings

7" *A: "Julia" dited*B: "Ministry of Love" 12" *A: "Julia" (extended mix) * *B: "Ministry of Love" (extended) * this version although labelled as "extended" is the same as the one found on the album ''

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julia (Eurythmics Song) 1985 songs 1985 singles Eurythmics songs Songs about fictional female characters Music based on Nineteen Eighty-Four Songs written for films Songs written by David A. Stewart Songs written by Annie Lennox Song recordings produced by Dave Stewart (musician and producer) 1980s ballads Synth-pop ballads RCA Records singles Virgin Records singles