"What Makes a Man" is a song by Irish

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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 temporarily di ...

. It was released on 18 December 2000 in the UK and Ireland as the third single from their second studio album, '' Coast to Coast'', the first single from the album having been released with

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

. The song peaked at number two 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 ...

and was their first single not to peak at number one, being beaten to the Christmas number-one spot by " Can We Fix It?", the theme to the cartoon series ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with ...

''. It also debuted and peaked at number two in Ireland, held off the top spot by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

's song " Stan". The song was the 39th-best-selling single of 2000 in the UK and received a gold sales certification for over 400,000 copies sold. It is the band's fifth-best-selling single in paid-for sales, and seventh-best-selling single in combined sales as of January 2019.

Background

"What Makes a Man" 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 T ...

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

, with Filan and Feehily's vocal ranging from the chords of E₄ to Bb₅.

Reception

Brian McFadden Brian Nicholas McFadden (born 12 April 1980) is an Irish pop singer and television presenter who rose to fame in 1998 as a member of the Irish boy band Westlife. Following his departure from the group in 2004, McFadden released his debut solo ...

of Westlife had little faith in the release. Speaking in an interview with Worldpop.com, he remarked: "It's a weak song, and we didn't do much promotional work. Bob he Builderdeserved it."

Track listings

UK CD1 and cassette single # "What Makes a Man" (single remix) # " I'll Be There" # " My Girl" UK CD2 # "What Makes a Man" (single remix) # "I'll Be There" # "

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Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control 2000 singles 2000 songs Bertelsmann Music Group singles Music videos directed by Stuart Gosling RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs written by Steve Mac Songs written by Wayne Hector Westlife songs