"Swear It Again" is a song by Irish

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporar ...

. It was released on 19 April 1999 in the United Kingdom and on 25 February 2000 in the United States as the first single from their debut album, ''

'' (1999). The song peaked at number one on 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 ...

for two weeks, giving Westlife their first of 14 UK number-one singles. "Swear It Again" is Westlife's only single to have charted in the US, peaking at number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and ranking number 75 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' Hot 100 year-end chart in 2000. The single has sold over 400,000 copies in the UK and has achieved gold status there. It is the band's fifth-best-selling single in combined sales and seventh-best-selling single in paid-for sales in the UK as of January 2019.

Background

In ''Westlife - Our Story'' the band recalled being "excited" hearing the demo of this song saying "Wow, this is a great song. It's a big chorus, great harmonies. This is exactly what we want to be recording". "Swear It Again" is notable for being, along with "

Flying Without Wings "Flying Without Wings" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife, released on 18 October 1999 as the third single from their self-titled debut studio album (1999). It is the band's fourth-best-selling single on both paid-for and combined sales in th ...

", one of the first two songs that Steve Mac wrote for both Westlife and

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

. The success of the two tracks led to Mac becoming Cowell's preferred producer and songwriter. It was revealed that Cowell let his father Eric listen to all of the songs recorded by the band for their debut album to decide what would be the album's lead single, with Eric choosing "Swear It Again". Significantly, Eric died of a heart attack during the week the single was released. The song's B-side, "

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama * ''Forever'' (1992 film), an American ...

", was a significant choice because, as originally recorded by

Damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...

, it first alerted Cowell to the talent of Steve Mac and then led to the producer working with Westlife. It was composed in the traditional

verse–chorus form Verse–chorus form is a musical form going back to the 1840s, in such songs as "Oh! Susanna", "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", and many others. It became passé in the early 1900s, with advent of the AABA (with verse) form in the Tin ...

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

, with Filan and Feehily's vocal ranging from the chords of B₃ to F₅. An exclusive live track version of the single was included in the

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

25th anniversary compilation album in 2000.

Music video

The original version of the video was not released. Simon Cowell had spent £150,000 on it, didn't like it and ordered a re-shoot. The remade British music video features the band members in a mini theatre and singing on a stage fitted with lighting panel flooring while they face a screen with black-and-white videos of their studio recording process. This version was directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born in December 2, 1958. He attended the University ...

and aired in May 1999. The video was shot at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

in March 1999. The video on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

has 71 million views as of May 2021. The American music video features the band members at a car wash and subsequently washing a white car as they're singing the song. This version was directed by

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is a British music video and film director, writer and musician from Catterick, England, now based in Los Angeles, California. He directed the Britney Spears videos " ...Baby One More Time" and " Oops!... I Did I ...

and aired in June 2000. The American version of the video has 17 million views on YouTube as of July 2022.

Honours and awards

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Swear It Again" (radio edit) – 4:04 # "Forever" – 5:05 # CD-ROM (includes filmed interview with

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...

+ video clips) UK CD2 # "Swear It Again" (radio edit) – 4:04 # "Swear It Again" (Rokstone mix) – 4:07 # "Ronan Keating Interviews Westlife" (audio) – 3:36 UK cassette single # "Swear It Again" (radio edit) – 4:04 # "Forever" – 5:05 # "Ronan Keating Interviews Westlife" (audio) – 3:36 European CD single # "Swear It Again" (radio edit) – 4:04 # "Forever" – 5:05 US CD and cassette single # "Swear It Again" – 4:06 # Snippets from ''

'' Australian CD single # "Swear It Again" (radio edit) – 4:04 # "Swear It Again" (Rokstone mix) – 4:07 # "Forever" – 5:05 # "Ronan Keating Interviews Westlife" (audio) – 3:36 # CD-ROM (includes filmed interview with Ronan Keating + video clips) Australian and Japanese CD EP # "Swear It Again" (radio edit) – 4:04 # "Until the End of Time" – 3:10 # "Forever" – 5:05 # "Everybody Knows" – 3:45 # "Let's Make Tonight Special" – 4:52 # "Don't Calm the Storm" – 3:46 # "Ronan Keating Interviews Westlife" (audio) – 3:37

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the UK CD1 and ''

'' liner notes. Studio * Engineered and programmed at Rokstone Studios (London, England) Personnel * Steve Mac – writing, all keyboards, production, mixing, vocal arrangement *

Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including "World of O ...

– writing, vocal arrangement * Paul Gendler – all guitars *

Richard Niles Richard Niles is an American composer, arranger, record producer, guitarist, broadcaster, and journalist. Biography Early years Niles was born May 28, 1951, in Hollywood. He is the son of Tony Romano, a composer, singer, and guitarist who writ ...

– string arrangement * Chris Laws – engineering, programming * Matt Howe – mix engineering * Daniel Pursey – mixing assistant

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1998 songs 1999 debut singles Arista Records singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Music videos directed by Nigel Dick Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Number-one singles in New Zealand Pop ballads RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs written by Steve Mac Songs written by Wayne Hector UK Singles Chart number-one singles Westlife songs