"Whole Wide World" is a song written by English rock singer-songwriter Wreckless Eric, who wrote the song in May 1974, and recorded it in 1977, whilst an original member of the

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff ...

label. Additional musicians on the record were Nick Lowe on guitar and bass, and Steve Goulding on drums. The song was never a

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

for Eric, though it subsequently became his best-known recording. The only charted versions of "Whole Wide World" are a

cover 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 ...

by the Australian band Mental As Anything, who took it to No. 53 on the

Australian singles chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

in 1995, and another by American alternative rock band Cage the Elephant, who took it to No. 11 on the ''Billboard''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart in 2017.

Sung by Wreckless Eric

*1977 on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

A Bunch of Stiff Records ''A Bunch of Stiff Records'', also known as ''A Bunch of Stiffs'', is a various artists album to promote some of the first acts to be signed by Stiff Records. It is subtitled ''Undertakers to the Industry – If They're Dead - We'll Sign 'Em''. ...

'' *1978 on the self-titled '' Wreckless Eric'' album, track 6 *1979 on '' That Summer'' film soundtrack *1979 on the compilation album ''

The Whole Wide World ''The Whole Wide World'' is a 1996 American independent biographical film produced and directed by Dan Ireland in his directorial debut. It depicts the relationship between pulp fiction writer Robert E. Howard (Vincent D'Onofrio) and schoolteach ...

'', track 1 *1980 on ''

Big Smash! ''Big Smash!'' was British musician Wreckless Eric's third studio album. It was released as a double LP (SEEZ 21) and as a cassette (ZSEES 21) on 29 February 1980. While the first LP comprised new material, the extra LP was the U.S.-only comp ...

'' album, side 3, track 1 (double LP) or CD 2, track 1 (2-CD set) *2001 on ''Greatest Stiffs'' album, track 1 *2002 on the '' Me Without You'' soundtrack, track 14 Whole Wide World – Wreckless Eric'' AllMusic'', accessed 13 August 2008 *2006 on '' Stranger than Fiction'' soundtrack, track 3 *2006 on "Whole Wide World 4 England" single, track 1

Covers by other artists

*1977:

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

and the Attractions on the Stiffs Live Tour. Wreckless Eric later said, "I wasn't a fan of Elvis Costello, particularly." *1978: Italian female pop singer

Anna Oxa Anna Hoxha (; born 28 April 1961), known professionally as Anna Oxa (), is an Italian singer, actress, and television presenter. Oxa has received mainstream popularity and recognition within Italy due to her numerous participations in the Sanremo ...

, on her album ''Oxanna''. Italian translation, titled "Un cielo a metà" *1978: Finnish rock band

Eppu Normaali Eppu Normaali is one of the most popular rock bands in Finland. The band formed in 1976 in Ylöjärvi, a small town near Tampere. The band is the best-selling music artist in Finland, with certified sales of nearly two million records, and it h ...

had the song translated to Finnish ("Nuori Poika", meaning Young Boy) as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of their single "Jee Jee" *1987: The Monkees on their '' Pool It!'' reunion album *1988:

Dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

on their ''A Million Ways of Killing Time'' album, and on their live album ''Fast & Tight'' (2001) *1991:

Die Toten Hosen Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. History The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephe ...

on ''

Learning English, Lesson One ''Learning English, Lesson One'' or ''Learning English, Lesson 1'' (other punctuation variations possible) is a cover album by the German punk band Die Toten Hosen. The album includes covers of mostly British bands, which were big influences on ...

''; vocals by Eric Goulden *1995: Mental As Anything on their album ''Liar Liar Pants on Fire'' and as a single *1996: The Lightning Seeds as the b-side of their single "Ready or Not". *1998:

Laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

on a single *2007: The Proclaimers on the ''

Life with You ''Life with You'', released in 2007, is the seventh studio album by the Proclaimers. It appeared on W14, a joint venture label between Universal Records and John Williams, the man who gave the Proclaimers their first recording contract on Chrys ...

'' album *2009: Bahamas on his album ''

Pink Strat ''Pink Strat'' is the debut album from Canadian musician Bahamas (musician), Bahamas. It was nominated for both a Juno Award, Juno and a Polaris Music Prize in 2010. Track listing References

{{Authority control 2009 debut albums Bahamas ...

'' *2012: The Crookes covered the song as a b side on their single "Maybe in the Dark" *2014: Meursault on their album ''The Organ Grinder's Monkey'' *2015: Pangs on debut single b/w "Already Dead" *2015: Torres for ''Session Acoustique OÜI FM'' *2017: Cage the Elephant covered the song for their album '' Unpeeled'' *2018:

Berhana Amain Berhane better known as Berhana is an American singer-songwriter. History Amain Berhane was born near Atlanta, Georgia in an Ethiopian family. Growing up, he wrote songs and sang in church. He studied screenwriting at The New School in N ...

as a single. *2020:

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...

frontman Billie Joe Armstrong covered the song for Amazon Music's Amazon Original series, then later re-posted the cover to Green Day's YouTube channel as part of his "No Fun Mondays" cover series. Wreckless Eric himself gave his approval of the cover in a statement, referring to Armstrong's rendition as "the most punk rock version ever."

References

Specific references: General references: *

External links

Whole Wide World
YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Whole Wide World 1977 debut singles 1974 songs 1970s ballads Song recordings produced by Glyn Johns Rock ballads British punk rock songs Die Toten Hosen songs Elvis Costello songs The Monkees songs The Proclaimers songs Wreckless Eric songs Mental As Anything songs Stiff Records singles