"Charade" is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

written by

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popul ...

and

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

released in 1974 by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

. It was the third and final single released from the '' Mr. Natural'' album. This track was edited to 3:14 for its single version. Like the parent album, the single was not a hit and only managed to climb to #31 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart in late 1974. It did reach the Top 10 in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, peaking at #7.

Background

This song was recorded on 20 December 1973 in IBC Studios, London and made full use of

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

's talents as arranger, with

Phil Bodner Philip L. Bodner (June 13, 1917 – February 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist and studio musician who also played flute, oboe, saxophone, and English horn. Career A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Bodner worked as a studio musician ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

solo at the song's instrumental break. Three days later, the Bee Gees and the backing band spent some time crossfading this track into "Throw a Penny" with a quiet sound effect and "Throw a Penny" into "Down the Road" with a newly recorded link track. The singer said that they made their love in the sand at summer nights and they held their love hand in hand at the dawn and they listened to the ocean where the music is playing, the words on the music is about their two hearts were saying that only two lovers can hear. They can follow the sun until the daylight is gone they can gaze at the sky until the night is over, the light of his life as she was welcome to his

charade Charade or charades may refer to: Games * Charades, originally "acting charades", a parlor game Films/TV * ''Charade'' (1953 film), an American film featuring James Mason * ''Charade'' (1963 film), an American film starring Cary Grant and A ...

. This track has also a gripping chorus, ethereal harmonies and deserves to be around for years to come. The song starts with a Fender Rhodes electric piano played by Geoff Westley. On 0:46, Arif Mardin's orchestra and strings arrangement was heard. At 1:16, Robin Gibb takes the lead vocal his first line on this song was ''And this feeling''. At 2:19, the instrumental break was started as Phil Bodner's clarinet was heard. ''

'' praised the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

and the harmony vocals, saying that it was the Bee Gees "strongest release" in years.

Chart performance

Cover versions

Hajji Alejandro Angelito Toledo "Hajji" Alejandro (born December 26, 1954) is a Filipino singer and actor Alaminos, Pangasinan, who was a major pop star in the 1970s and 1980s. Just like another OPM legend Basil Valdez, he came from the group Circus Band. H ...

, a Filipino singer sang the melody of this song in 1976, with Tagalog lyrics by Willy Cruz as "Tag-araw... Tag-ulan" (Summer and Rain). "Tag-Araw, Tag Ulan" was later covered by Filipina singer

Joey Albert Joey Albert (born March 19, 1960) is a Filipina pop and jazz singer, musician, lyricist, and songwriter. An alumna of St. Theresa's College Manila and Assumption College San Lorenzo, she began her professional singing career in 1981. In 1982, sh ...

. The melody was also used by

Tito Tito may refer to: People Mononyms * Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman * Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...

Vic Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

as a parody in their 1977 album, the song is called "Kajjo Department" with different lyrics. *

Samantha Sang Cheryl Lau Sang (born 5 August 1951), known professionally as Samantha Sang, is an Australian singer. She had an earlier career as a teenage singer under the stage name Cheryl Gray, before adopting the stage name she is more widely known as in 1 ...

recorded "Charade" for her first album ''Emotion'' on which the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may al ...

written also by Barry and Robin Gibb. *Charade was recorded in Portuguese by Brazilian artist Ana Gazzola and included on her album Musicas e Palavras dos Bee Gees.

References

{{authority control 1974 singles 1974 songs Bee Gees songs Demis Roussos songs Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Robin Gibb RSO Records singles Mercury Records singles Blue-eyed soul songs 1970s ballads Pop ballads Soul ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Song recordings produced by Arif Mardin