"Secret Smile" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Semisonic Semisonic is an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1995, consisting of Dan Wilson (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), John Munson (bass, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar), and Jacob Slichter (drums, percussion, keyboards, ba ...

. The single, released to American radio on January 11, 1999, gained the band brief international popularity. A live version of the song recorded at

The Gorge Amphitheatre The Gorge Amphitheatre, originally known as Champs de Brionne Music Theatre, is an outdoor concert venue in Grant County, Washington, United States. It is situated near Columbia River in Central Washington, west of George. The venue is manage ...

, as well as a mix by

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

had previously been released as a B-side to "

Singing in My Sleep "Singing in My Sleep" is a song by American rock band Semisonic. It was released on August 18, 1998, as the second single from their second studio album, '' Feeling Strangely Fine'' (1998). It was written by Dan Wilson and produced by Nick Launay ...

". The song was featured in the film '' Simply Irresistible'' and in the TV series ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...

'' and ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

''.

Composition

Songwriter Dan Wilson has said that the melody for the song came to him in a dream, and he woke up in the middle of the night, rushed to a piano, and wrote it down. "...''Secret Smile'', the first half of it came to me in a dream. I woke up in very early morning hours with this song playing in my head. I got up, ran to a piano, and I wrote down the words that I heard in my mind and I played the chords on the piano and wrote down the names of the chords. Then I went back to sleep. And then the next day when I woke up, I remembered the song from the dream. I went to the piano and I saw my notes. I played the song and I thought, ''Well, this is great. It must be some song that I've heard before.'' Then I asked all my friends about it, and they all said, 'No, that sounds like a song of yours.'"

Music video

The music video was shot in Los Angeles in January 1999 and was directed by British music video director

Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is a British music video director who has directed more than 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's son ...

Track listings

US promo CD #"Secret Smile" (radio edit—no beat box in bridge) – 3:46 #"Secret Smile" (remix edit—beat box in bridge) – 3:46 #"Secret Smile" (album edit) – 3:45 #"Secret Smile" (remix full version) – 4:46 UK CD1 #"Secret Smile" (remix edit) – 3:45 #"Completely Pleased" – 3:17 #"

Erotic City "Erotic City ("make love not war Erotic City come alive")" is a song by the musician Prince (musician), Prince. It was released as the B-side to the 1984 single "Let's Go Crazy" and the 12" version of the 1986 single "Girls & Boys (Prince song), Gi ...

" – 3:34 UK CD2 #"Secret Smile" (album edit) – 3:45 #"

" (remix full version) – 4:28 #"Take Me with You" (live) – 4:08 #"Secret Smile" (video) UK cassette single #"Secret Smile" (album edit) – 3:45 #"Take Me with You" (live) – 4:08 European CD single #"Secret Smile" – 3:46 #"Completely Pleased" – 3:19 Australasian CD single #"Secret Smile" – 3:46 #"Completely Pleased" – 3:19 #"Erotic City" – 3:35 #"Secret Smile" (full-length remix) – 4:27

Personnel

Personnel are lifted from the US promo CD liner notes. * Dan Wilson – writing *

Nick Launay Nicolas Launay is an English record producer, composer and recording engineer. He is one of the most sought after record producers in the world due to his success with recent albums by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Anna Calvi, IDLES, Black Reb ...

– production *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very ...

– mixing (album version) *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– mixing (remix) *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering *Jennifer Munson – digital editing *Jim Grant – management

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1998 songs 1999 singles MCA Records singles Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Semisonic songs Song recordings produced by Nick Launay Songs written by Dan Wilson (musician)