"What Can I Do" is a song by Irish band

the Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Car ...

, from their second and breakthrough album, ''

Talk on Corners ''Talk on Corners'' is the second studio album by Irish pop rock band the Corrs. It was released on 17 October 1997 by 143, Lava and Atlantic Records. Preceded by lead single " Only When I Sleep", which became a top ten hit internationally, t ...

'' (1997). The song was originally released in January 1998, but its moderate charting success was limited, due to the time of the shooting of the video. The song was later re-released in August the same year in remixed form by

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 ...

, which generated more attention, reaching number three in the United Kingdom. The song received generally favorable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, though some felt it was not as strong as their previous songs. An accompanying

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 ...

was released, which was shot in New Zealand during their world tour.

Background

The original version of the song, which appeared on the original release of ''

'', is a slow

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

style song, which is much lighter. However, the

remix, which later appeared on the album's special edition release, is more

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

riffed with the addition of orchestral strings in the latter half of the song performed by the

Duke Quartet The Duke Quartet is a contemporary string quartet based in Europe. Its members are Louisa Fuller (violin), Rick Koster (violin), John Metcalfe (viola), and Sophie Harris (cello). This quartet specialises in contemporary music, and its repertoir ...

. The voice range is a chord of

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 ...

and spans from G3 to C5. The Corrs have regularly performed this song live in concert since the start of the Talk on Corners World Tour in November 1997, originally performing the album version, but later switching to the Tin Tin Out version on an on-off basis in May 1998, then permanently from September 1998 onwards.

Chart performance

Upon its release in January 1998, the original version of "What Can I Do" debuted at number 44 on the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

, later rising to number 27, its peak. The song was then re-released a few months later, remixed by Tin Tin Out. The remix was even more successful than "

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, alth ...

" and entered the top three of 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 ...

, peaking at number three. It remained on the charts for 13 weeks.

Critical reception

"What Can I Do" received generally favourable reviews from music critics, although the group did not initially favour the track. Becky Byrkit from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

praised the remix version, noting its "trademark glass voices and barely discernible acoustic musical instruments." She also highlighted the song as an album standout. Dave Karger from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' called it a "sluggishly sweet tune" and added that the guitar riff is "a bit too reminiscent" of

Edie Brickell Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...

'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 ...

" (which Tin Tin Out covered the following year) and the lyrics "shamelessly swiped" from

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 ...

's "

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the ''Blue Moves'' album. It was John's seco ...

". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' felt the remix "lacks the warmth of the original, but

Andrea Corr Andrea Jane Corr MBE (born 17 May 1974) is an Irish singer, songwriter, musician and actress. Corr debuted in 1990 as the lead singer of the Celtic folk rock and pop rock group The Corrs along with her three elder siblings Caroline, Sharon ...

's vocals shine through the rather spartan sound and the chorus's hook remains as infectious as ever." Claudia Connell from ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

'' remarked that "Corrs are one of the most played acts on Irish airwaves at the moment and this looks like being the hit single they desperately deserve. "What Can I Do" is more radio-friendly than anything else around and has to rocket the family band into the big league." Dave Fawbert from ''

ShortList A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

'' viewed it as a "absolutely brilliant song" and "really lovely slice of folky pop".

Track listings

Original release

* UK CD single # "What Can I Do" # "

Little Wing "Little Wing" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1967. It is a slower tempo, rhythm and blues-inspired ballad featuring Hendrix's vocal and guitar with recording studio effects accompanied by bass, d ...

" # "No Good for Me" (live in Copenhagen, October 1997) * UK cassette single and European CD single # "What Can I Do" – 4:18 # "No Good for Me" (live in Copenhagen, October 1997) – 3:54

Remixes

* UK CD1 # "What Can I Do" (Tin Tin Out remix) – 4:12 # "What Can I Do" (Stringappella) – 2:28 # "Paddy McCarthy" – 4:59 * UK CD2 # "What Can I Do" (live) – 4:29 # " Runaway" (live) – 4:26 # " Toss the Feathers" (live) – 3:53 * Australian CD single # "What Can I Do" (Tin Tin Out remix) – 4:12 # "What Can I Do" (LP version) – 4:12 # "

" ( Tees radio) – 3:53 * US CD, 7-inch, and cassette single # "What Can I Do" (Mangini remix) – 4:04 # "What Can I Do" (original mix) – 4:21

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:What Can I Do (The Corrs Song) 1997 songs 1998 singles The Corrs songs 143 Records singles Atlantic Records singles Lava Records singles Songs written by Andrea Corr Songs written by Caroline Corr Songs written by Jim Corr Songs written by Sharon Corr Remix singles