"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and songwriter

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the ''

Blue Moves ''Blue Moves'' is the eleventh studio album by English musician Elton John. It was released in October 1976. It was John's second double album (after ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'') and the first to be released by his own label, Rocket Records ...

'' album. It was John's second single released by

The Rocket Record Company The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973. The company was named after the hit song " Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the ...

. The song is a mournful ballad about a romantic relationship which is falling apart. The song also appeared the following year on '' Greatest Hits Volume II'', though for copyright reasons it no longer appears on the current version of that album. It now appears on '' Greatest Hits 1976–1986'', ''

The Very Best of Elton John ''The Very Best of Elton John'' is a greatest hits compilation album by English musician Elton John, released in October 1990. His first career-retrospective compilation album, and fourth official greatest-hits album overall, it was released i ...

'' and in ''

Greatest Hits 1970–2002 ''Greatest Hits 1970–2002'' is a career-spanning compilation album of popular songs by English musician Elton John, released on UTV Records in 2002. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart at number 12 on 30 November 2002, for a total ...

'', as well as a number of other compilations.

Background and composition

"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a mournful ballad about a romantic relationship that is falling apart.

said: "It's a pretty simple idea, but one that I think everyone can relate to at one point or another in their life. That whole idealistic feeling people get when they want to save something from dying when they basically know deep down inside that it's already dead. It's that heartbreaking, sickening part of love that you wouldn't wish on anyone if you didn't know that it's inevitable that they're going to experience it one day."

began writing the song in 1975 in Los Angeles. Whilst many of his songs involved Taupin writing lyrics first, then John writing the music later, John wrote the melody and most of the lyrics for "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", and Taupin completed it afterwards. John explained: "I was sitting there and out it came, 'What have I got to do to make you love me.'" Taupin later said: "I don't think he was intending on writing a song, but we were sitting around an apartment in Los Angeles, and he was playing around on the piano and he came up with this melody line, and I said, 'Hey, that's really nice.' For some reason this lyrical line, 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word' ran through my head, and it fit perfectly with what he was playing. So I said, 'Don't do anything more to that, let me go write something,' so I wrote it out in a few minutes and we had the song." Taupin added: " he iteresting thing about 'Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word' is that it's one of the rare occasions when Elton played me a melody line that inspired a lyric, as opposed to our routine of the lyrics always coming first. He was messing around on the piano one day and was playing something and asked me what did I think. It was actually pretty immediate, the title and the first couple of lines came into my head in a way that I guess I felt they were already there and just needed a little prompting."

Reception

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'' praised John's vocal performance, calling it "almost painfully sincere and believable" and also commented on the complexity of the backing vocals. ''

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 ...

'' called it "a tender love song about breaking up."

Personnel

– piano, vocals *

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

–

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

* Carl Fortina – accordion *

James Newton Howard James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...

– electric piano, strings arrangement *

Kenny Passarelli Kenny Passarelli (born October 28, 1949 in Denver, Colorado) is an American bass guitarist. Passarelli was a founding member of the Joe Walsh-led band Barnstorm, co-writing the hit "Rocky Mountain Way". He later served as a contract player for ...

– bass

Commercial performance and certifications

The song was a Top 20 hit, reaching No. 11 in the United Kingdom, No. 6 in the United States and No. 3 in Canada. In addition, the song went to No. 1 on the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. In the US, it was certified Gold on 25 January 1977 by the RIAA.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Blue version

"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

in 2002 by English boy band

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

for their second studio album, ''

One Love One Love may refer to: Music * One Love (record producer), Timothy Sommers, American record producer, half of the duo Kinetics & One Love * ''One Love: The Bob Marley Musical'', a 2015 stage musical Albums * One Love (Blue album), ''One Love'' (B ...

'' (2002). The song was recorded as a collaboration with Elton John and was the second single from the album. It 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 ...

on 15 December 2002, giving Blue their second number-one single and John his fifth. It also reached number one in Hungary and the Netherlands, and peaked within the top 10 in an additional 16 countries.

Background

When Blue's second studio album, ''One Love'', was being put together, executive producer

Hugh Goldsmith Hugh Goldsmith is a music industry executive from London, England. After leaving his role as managing director of RCA Records in the UK, he founded Innocent Records. Career Prior to joining RCA Records as marketing director in 1992, Goldsmith h ...

said that a cover version should be included on the final tracklist. Band member

Lee Ryan Lee Ryan (born 17 June 1983) is an English singer, songwriter and actor, best known as a member of the boy band Blue. Ryan took part in the BBC series '' Strictly Come Dancing''. He was partnered with professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova and was ...

suggested "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" as it was his favourite song of all time. Despite reservations from the rest of the group, who were sceptical that Elton John would allow them to record the track, John's management gave permission. John accompanied the band in the recording studio and was originally only going to play the piano, but he later said he was willing sing as well, and the song became a duet.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (radio edit) – 3:31 # "Lonely This Christmas" – 2:08 # "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Ruffin Ready Soul Mix) – 3:51 # Video interactive element – 3:30 UK CD2 # "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (radio edit) – 3:31 # "Album Medley" – 5:44 # "Sweet Thing" – 3:38 # Video interactive element – 3:30 UK cassette single # "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (radio edit) – 3:31 # "Album Medley" – 5:44 # "Sweet Thing" – 3:38

Personnel

Personnel are taken from the UK CD1 liner notes. *

– music, featured vocals *

– lyrics *

– vocals *

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– production * Max Dodson – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Other versions

The song was covered by

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

in 1991 for the '' Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin'' tribute album. Cocker is quoted in the album liner notes: In 1993, Argentinian singer

Pedro Aznar Pedro Aznar (born 23 July 1959) is an Argentine musician and singer-songwriter. He has a musical experience in jazz, Argentine folk and rock music and has a successful career as a solo artist. He is well known for giving rock songs a jazz-orient ...

covered and translated the lyrics in Spanish called "Ya no hay forma de pedir perdón", which made the single popular and a favourite among Argentinians. Mary J. Blige also covered this song. In 2004, Elton John and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

performed the song on Charles' duet album, ''

Genius Loves Company ''Genius Loves Company'' is the final studio album by rhythm and blues and soul musician Ray Charles, posthumously released August 31, 2004, on Concord Records. Billboard.com: Discography - Ray Charles - Genius Loves Company Nielsen Business Medi ...

''. It would turn out to be the last recording Charles ever did before his death that June. The duet was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop songs on which singers ...

. It was also performed by smooth jazz saxophonist

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artis ...

on the soprano saxophone featuring

Richard Marx Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American adult contemporary music, adult contemporary and pop rock singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Marx's Richard Marx (album), self-titled debut album went tri ...

on his 2004 album '' At Last...The Duets Album'' later that year. The single was the lead single for the eight-track remix compilation ''

Good Morning to the Night ''Good Morning to the Night'' is the first remix album by Elton John and Pnau, released in July 2012. The album's tracks are created from samples of various early John songs mixed together to form completely new songs. The album debuted at No. ...

'' in collaboration with Australian remixer

Pnau Pnau ( ) is an Australian dance music trio originating from Sydney. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, production) and Sam Littlemore (production), with the latter jo ...

, which came out on 16 July 2012. In 2015, the song was covered by

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, '' Billboard'' maga ...

. This version was included on her ''

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'' album.

References

{{Authority control 1976 singles 1976 songs 2002 singles 1970s ballads Blue (English band) songs Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Elton John songs Innocent Records singles MCA Records singles Number-one singles in Scotland Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon Song recordings produced by Stargate (record producers) Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin Songs with music by Elton John The Rocket Record Company singles Torch songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Virgin Records singles