"(Believed You Were) Lucky" is a song by American band 'Til Tuesday, released in 1988 as the lead single from their third and final studio album, '' Everything's Different Now''. The song was written by

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released ten studio albums as a solo artist. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects, often d ...

(music, lyrics) and

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night", the Bangles' hit " If She Knew What She Wants", and the Ignatius Jones and Allison Moyet ...

(music), and produced by

Rhett Davies Rhett Davies (born 1949 in London) is an English record producer and engineer. Davies' father was the trumpet player Ray Davies. Davies became a studio engineer at Island Records in the early 1970s. One of his first recording sessions was for B ...

. "(Believed You Were) Lucky" peaked at No. 95 on the US ''

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 advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. The single version of the song, which is also used on the video, is different to the album version, replacing the final profane chorus with a non-profane version.

Background

"(Believed You Were) Lucky" was one of a number of songs on ''Everything's Different Now'' which was inspired by Mann and Shear's failed relationship. Mann told Steve Morse of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' in 1988, "It was a really amazing relationship. I thought it was very healthy to stay together, but Jules just couldn't make up his mind."

Music video

The song's music video was directed by Peter Wallach and produced by Michael Faerman and Wallach. In a 2018 interview with ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'', Mann criticized the video for being "super dumb". She added, "It was supposed to look like the Twilight Zone opening. I think that was the concept."

Critical reception

On its release, ''

'' described the song as a "spirited pop number" which is "delivered with conviction" and "shouldn't be overlooked". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' listed the single as one of their "feature picks" during October 1988. They felt the song "fits into the quasi-sixties bag" and noted the "tight vocal harmonies". During February 1989, ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' selected the song as their "Single of the Week" and wrote, "This is well produced, atmospheric folk/rock complete with attractive, intriguing melodies supported by a semi-acoustic sound." They also noted Mann's "fanciful vocals" as being "one of the most attractive things about this band".

David Cavanagh David Cavanagh was an Irish writer and music journalist. He was editor of '' Select'' magazine in the 1990s and wrote ''My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize'' (2000), which detailed the rise and fall of Creation Records. Cavanagh was born in D ...

of '' Sounds'' described it as "piping, tuneful stuff, but necessarily wistful" and "a twist on the dreaded Dear John scenario" as Mann "curtail all amorous proceedings because her man lacks self-belief". In a retrospective review of ''Everything's Different Now'', Alex Henderson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

picked the song as one of the album's "introspective and personal gems" which shows Mann "coming from the heart".

Track listing

;7" and cassette single #"(Believed You Were) Lucky" - 3:37 #"Limits to Love" - 3:35 ;7" single (US promo) #"(Believed You Were) Lucky" - 3:37 #"(Believed You Were) Lucky" - 3:37 ;12" and CD single (UK release) #"(Believed You Were) Lucky" - 3:37 #"Limits to Love" - 3:35 #" Voices Carry" - 4:22 #"

What About Love "What About Love" is a song originally recorded by Canadian rock band Toronto in 1982. It was later recorded by American rock band Heart in 1985 and was released as the first single from the band's self-titled album, ''Heart''. The band's "come ...

" - 4:01 ;CD single (US promo) #"(Believed You Were) Lucky" - 3:37

Personnel

'Til Tuesday *

– vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, arranger * Robert Holmes – guitar *

Michael Montes Michael Montes is a Peruvian-American composer. Life and career Michael Montes was born in Houston, the son of American nurse Anne Pryor and Peruvian doctor Mario Montes who came to the United States in the early fifties. The family eventually sett ...

– keyboards * Michael Hausman – drums, percussion, programming, arranger Production *

– producer (all tracks except "Voices Carry") * Mike Thorne – producer of "Voices Carry" *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born Chiaramonte, January 15, 1953) is an American mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Pretenders, and Bryan A ...

– mixing on "Voices Carry"

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Believed You Were Lucky 1988 songs 1988 singles 'Til Tuesday songs Epic Records singles Songs written by Aimee Mann Songs written by Jules Shear Song recordings produced by Rhett Davies