"Patience" is a song written by

Henry Krieger Henry Krieger (born February 9, 1945 in New York City) is an American musical theatre composer. He most notably wrote the music for the Broadway shows ''Dreamgirls'' (1981, with lyrics and book by Tom Eyen), ''The Tap Dance Kid'' (1983), and ''Si ...

and

Willie Reale Willie Reale is an American lyricist who has received Academy Award nominations for best song category for his work as a lyricist on the movie ''Dreamgirls'' and has won 3 Emmy awards (in 2010, 2011) as one of the writer/producers for ''The Electr ...

for the 2006 film ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

''. The movie is an adaptation of the musical of the same name, which made its debut on Broadway in December 1981. The R&B track has been incorporated to more recent revivals of the stage drama, with "Patience" being one of several elements crossing from the adaptation to its parent production. Within the context of the film, the social protest song is spearheaded by star performer James "Thunder" Early (played by

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

) only for its release to get killed by the hustling

record business A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

figure Curtis Taylor, Jr. (played by

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...

Movie critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

Peter Rainer of the

Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

remarked that the emotional scene displayed "Murphy at his best." Similar praise came from David Rooney of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''. Although nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

at the

79th Academy Awards The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2006 and took place February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m ...

, "Patience" ultimately lost the Oscar to "

I Need to Wake Up "I Need to Wake Up" is a song by Melissa Etheridge, written for the 2006 documentary film, ''An Inconvenient Truth''. It is the first instance of a documentary film winning the Best Song category, beating three songs nominated from the musical fil ...

" by

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

, which the songwriter created for ''

An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own e ...

''.

Background and critical responses

"Patience" didn't exist during the creation of the original ''Dreamgirls'' musical, a stage drama which made its debut on Broadway in December 1981. Songwriters

and

devised "Patience" for the musical's 2006 movie adaptation, which also featured the title ''

''. The r&b track has been incorporated to more recent revivals of the stage drama, with "Patience" being one of several elements crossing from the adaptation to its parent production. The socially-charged lyrics and impassioned singing behind the song make it an inspirational piece of

protest music A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

meant to evoke the 70s-era musical work of artists such as

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

, and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

. "Patience" is performed both in the film and on its related soundtrack by the trio of

Anika Noni Rose Anika Noni Rose (born September 6, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for voicing Tiana, Disney's first African-American princess, as seen in ''The Princess and the Frog'' (2009). She was named a Disney Legend in 2011. S ...

, and Keith Robinson. It was Record producer by The Underdogs. In the context of the film, "Patience" is a politically-charged piece written by talented singer-songwriter C.C. White (played by Robinson) and recorded by star performer James "Thunder" Early (played by Murphy) coupled with vocalist Lorrell Robinson (played by Rose) and a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

. In a scene set in 1973, the song comes into being after Early seeks to develop his public image while being under the thumb of manipulative, shady

figure Curtis Taylor, Jr. (played by

). Much to the chagrin of his employees, Foxx's character axes the song's release. This feeds into the flashes of

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

and depression suffered by Murphy's character, which he self-medicates through illicit drug use. "Patience" was one of three ''Dreamgirls'' songs nominated for the

at the

. The others were "

Love You I Do "Love You I Do" is a song recorded by American singer and actress Jennifer Hudson for the soundtrack of the musical film '' Dreamgirls'' (2006). The music for the song was written by Henry Krieger, composer of the original Broadway play, with lyr ...

" and "

Listen Listen may refer to: * The action of listening * Auditory system#Central auditory system, Central auditory system listening is how the brain processes what you hear * Listening behaviour types in human communication Computing * LISTEN, a Transm ...

". All three ''Dreamgirls'' songs (as well as the piece "

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 thro ...

" that

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...

penned for ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

'') lost the Oscar to "

" by

, which the songwriter created for ''

''. At the 2007 Academy Awards ceremony, "Patience" was performed by Rose and Robinson along with a gospel choir and their co-stars

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

and

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

Film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

who viewed the song's creation and use in ''Dreamgirls'' as a highlight of the movie include Peter Rainer of the

and David Rooney of ''

''. Rainer commented that the emotional scene displayed "Murphy at his best."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patience (Dreamgirls Song) 2006 songs Eddie Murphy songs Protest songs Songs from Dreamgirls Songs written by Henry Krieger Songs written for films

Background and critical responses

See also

References