"We All Stand Together" (sometimes referred to as the Frog Song or the Frog Chorus) is a song by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and the Frog Chorus.

History

"We All Stand Together" is from the

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

Rupert and the Frog Song ''Rupert and the Frog Song'' is a 1984 animated short film based on the comic strip character Rupert Bear, written and produced by Paul McCartney and directed by Geoff Dunbar. The making of ''Rupert and the Frog Song'' began in 1981 and ended in ...

'' and reached number three in 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 ...

in 1984. The "Frog Chorus" backing on the song was provided by

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

and the choir of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

. The B-side of the single contains a "

Humming A hum is a sound made by producing a wordless tone with the mouth closed, forcing the sound to emerge from the nose. To hum is to produce such a sound, often with a melody. It is also associated with thoughtful absorption, 'hmm'. A hum has a ...

Version" of the song performed by the Finchley Frogettes. The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 1985, one of three hits to do so that had originally charted in December 1984. ("

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

" by Band Aid and "

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK. Described as a "high watermark of mid-80s Br ...

" by

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

were the other two.) Although intended purely as a children's song in the mould of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " Yellow Submarine", "We All Stand Together" is sometimes derided as an example of McCartney's inconsequential songwriting by his critics. In a satirical cartoon by Stephen Collins of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2012, McCartney is shown recalling his creative partnership with

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

in the 1960s, before concluding: "It was a great time, y'know ... And then I went on to do The Frog Song." '' Far Out'' hold an opposing view: "This was a composer of great invention, attack and certainty, and ‘We All Stand Together’ is as important an addition to the canon as anything he wrote in The Beatles or Wings."

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals * Nigel Perrin - vocals * Alastair Hume - vocals * Anthony Holt - vocals * Simon Carrington - vocals * Brian Kay - vocals * The London Community Gospel Choir - vocals *

– backing vocals *

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of 10 ...

- backing vocals * Pete Swinfield – flute * John Barclay - trumpet * Pete Beachill - euphonium * Robin Williams - violin * Gary Kettel - timpani

Release

Two shaped

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

s were issued on the 12 November 1984 and 1985, the only difference being a plain clear sleeve on the later version. In 1987, the song was included on the UK/Canada version of McCartney's compilation album ''

All the Best! ''All the Best!'' is the second official compilation album of Paul McCartney's music, after 1978's ''Wings Greatest''. It was released in 1987 on Capitol Records and Parlophone Records. Background The album contains tracks from the beginnin ...

'' It also appears on the deluxe edition of his 2016 compilation album '' Pure McCartney''. In October 2020, for the 100th anniversary of the Rupert character, the single was remastered for streaming and a vinyl re-release of the picture disc, alongside a 4K restoration of the accompanying short.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Choirs with Purpose version

In 2017, Choirs with Purpose, a collection of a dozen charity choirs, assembled for a remake of "We All Stand Together". Their recording features Scottish singer

Michelle McManus Michelle McManus (born 8 May 1980) is a Scottish singer, columnist, and television presenter who won the second and final series of the UK talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2003. McManus's debut single, " All This Time", entered the UK Singles Cha ...

in a bid to top the

Christmas chart and win the coveted British

Christmas number one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

for 2017; it failed to make the top 100. Profits from the single were split equally between the participating choirs in aid of their own charity work. The choirs that took part in the recording with McManus include: *Anstee Bridge Choir *Cystic Fibrosis Virtual Choir *Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation Choir *Games Maker Choir *Homelink Carers Choir *Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir *Lucy Lintott / MND Scotland Choir *Maggies Cancer Centre (West London) Choir *Missing People Choir *Parrs Wood High School Harmony Group *Pop Up Purpose Choir *UK Hospices Choir

References

{{Authority control 1984 songs Paul McCartney songs Songs written by Paul McCartney Rupert Bear Music published by MPL Music Publishing English children's songs Songs written for films Songs about comics Song recordings produced by George Martin