"Lift Me Up" is a song recorded by English singer

Geri Halliwell Geraldine Estelle Horner (née Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, author, and actress. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls. With over 100 million records ...

for her debut solo album, '' Schizophonic'' (1999). It was written by Halliwell, Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson, whilst produced by the latter two, who are known collectively as

Absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manage ...

. "Lift Me Up" was released as the album's third single on 1 November 1999, by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

. It debuted at number one in 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 ...

, winning the chart battle against fellow

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

member

Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, and media personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice. With over 100 million recor ...

's "

What I Am "What I Am" is a song written by Edie Brickell and Kenny Withrow and recorded by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians for their debut album, ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'' (1988). The song is highlighted by a guitar solo that notably features an ...

" by 33,000 copies. To promote the single, Halliwell performed the song on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', ''

Pepsi Chart The Pepsi Chart (previously known as "The Pepsi Network Chart Show") was a networked Sunday afternoon Top 40 countdown on UK radio that started life on 1 August 1993 with Neil 'Doctor' Fox hosting the show live from the Capital Radio studios ...

'', ''Musica Si'' and ''National Lottery''.

Critical reception

The Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen stated that tracks like "Lift Me Up" "make it clearly known to the listener that Halliwell is serious about this career move, and that she has the talent and the pipes to deliver the goods."

Dotmusic ''Dotmusic'' was a music webzine that existed as a standalone website from 1 June 1995 to December 2003. Initially intended as the web complement to the UK music industry trade magazine ''Music Week'', the site was relaunched in December 1998 as a ...

's Andy Strickland said, "Geri takes a deep breath and delivers a smokers' octave, husky drawl that is pleasant, nice, lovely - all those words they hate you using in English lessons at school". David Stubbs from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' described it as an "astoundingly nondescript pop song".

Chart performance

During the song's release week, it faced strong competition with

Tin Tin Out Tin Tin Out were an English electronic dance music duo, comprising Darren Stokes and Lindsay Edwards. They remixed songs for a variety of artists such as Duran Duran, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, The Corrs and Des'ree, as well as collaborating with ...

's collaboration with previous

group mate

's debut, "

". Halliwell criticised record company executives for allegedly exploiting fans by encouraging the head-to-head race. "Lift Me Up" ultimately reached number one in the

on 13 November 1999, selling 140,000 copies in its first week, 30,000 more copies than "What I Am". Its total sales are 346,000 copies in the United Kingdom, and the single enjoyed a fifteen-week run in the UK chart.

Music video

The

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 ...

for "Lift Me Up" was directed by

Howard Greenhalgh Howard Douglas Greenhalgh (born 19 February 1963) is a British director of music videos and advertising. Biography Greenhalgh was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and studied at the Royal College of Art, setting up the firm Why No ...

and filmed in October 1999 in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

. The beautiful twilight shots of Geri driving through the sprawling Malaga countryside create a mood that perfectly complements the whimsical string-synth melody snaking through the song. The plot involves Geri happening across a posse of aliens who are trying to repair their ship by befriending. Before helping them on their way, she takes them to the car wash for a water fight and back to a motel room to show them the latest music videos from herself (including "

Mi Chico Latino "Mi Chico Latino" (English: "My Latin Boy"), is a song recorded by English singer Geri Halliwell for her debut solo album '' Schizophonic'' (1999). It was written by Halliwell, Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson, whilst produced by the latter two, wh ...

"). Geri drives to the store then the aliens steal cash from the cash register and they went out, a police car with a police officer was seen chasing after them but they disappear. At night, Geri bade farewell to the aliens before returning to their home in outer space. Up in the sky, the spaceship is gone leaving her name's signature at the bottom end as their remembrance.

Track listings

* UK CD1, European and Australian CD single # "Lift Me Up" – 3:50 # "Lift Me Up" (Metro edit) – 3:57 # "Lift Me Up" (Almighty edit) – 3:24 # "Lift Me Up" (

K-Klass K-Klass are a British electronic music musical ensemble, group from Wrexham, Wales and Chester, England, who are based in Manchester, England. Its original members were Andy Williams, Carl Thomas, Russ Morgan and Paul Roberts. In 1991, K-Klass ...

Phazerphunk Mix) – 8:02 * UK CD2 # "Lift Me Up" – 3:50 # " Live and Let Die" – 3:10 # "Very Slowly" – 3:59 # "Lift Me Up" (video) * UK cassette single # "Lift Me Up" – 3:50 # "Live and Let Die" – 3:10 # "Very Slowly" – 3:59 * Italian 12-inch single # "Lift Me Up" (K-Klass Phazerphunk Mix) – 8:17 # "Lift Me Up" (Sharp Deadly Dub) – 6:58 # "Lift Me Up" (Sharp Sonik Vocal Mix) – 7:43 # "Lift Me Up" (album version) – 3:50

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lift Me Up (Geri Halliwell Song) 1999 singles 1999 songs EMI Records singles Geri Halliwell songs Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh Song recordings produced by Absolute (production team) Songs written by Andy Watkins Songs written by Geri Halliwell Songs written by Paul Wilson (songwriter) Songs written by Tracy Ackerman UK Singles Chart number-one singles