"You Were Right" is the first single released from English singer-songwriter

Badly Drawn Boy Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show '' The Magic Ball'', which he saw on TV ...

's second studio album, ''

Have You Fed the Fish? ''Have You Fed the Fish?'' is an album released by Badly Drawn Boy (born Damon Gough) in 2002. The album's title originates from the question which Gough asks his daughter each day "to the point where it got to sound like one of those words you ...

'' He recorded the song and album following his work on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the 2002 romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film '' About a Boy''. The song, written through the process of arranging random words into fluent verses, contains references to several musicians, including

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (raised as Scott Moorhead; November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997) was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, he attracted a cult following in the early 1990s performing at venues in ...

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

, and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, as well as

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. "You Were Right" was released in the United Kingdom on 14 October 2002, debuting and peaking at number nine on the UK Singles Chart but staying in the top 100 for only three weeks. It remains Badly Drawn Boy's highest-charting single and sole top-10 hit in the UK. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, the track charted for one week at number 45. The music video for the song was directed by

Simon Henwood Simon Henwood (born, 31 March 1965, died 21 January 2024) was a British artist, author, film director, and music video director. Henwood first gained attention as a children's writer and later on for his paintings inspired by adolescence, as well ...

Background

first wrote the song when he thought of the phrase 'the night Sinatra died'. He created the melody of the song and presented it to his parents, who responded with indifference, but the singer believed that the song possessed something. After composing the opening line, 'And you were right to bide your time / And not buy into my misery', he then sang random words into a

Dictaphone Dictaphone was an American company founded by Alexander Graham Bell that produced dictation machines. It is now a division of Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Although the name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, it has ...

and analysed the results. Once he had arranged the phrases into a pleasing outcome, he met with producer

Tom Rothrock Tom Rothrock is an international musician, composer, record producer, and owner of Bong Load Records. Tom Rothrock has worked with James Blunt, Foo Fighters, Moby, Beck, Badly Drawn Boy, R. L. Burnside, Athlete, Sloan, Gwen Stefani, Mot ...

and drummer

Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He has performed with acts including Beck, R.E.M., Oasis and Roger Waters, and is a member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Back ...

to set the composition to music. It was recorded at three studios:

Cello Studios United Western Recorders was a two-building recording studio complex in Hollywood that was one of the most successful independent recording studios of the 1960s. The complex merged neighboring studios United Recording Corp. on 6050 Sunset Boul ...

in Los Angeles, California; the Embassy in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

, England; and

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

in London, England.

Lyrical content

Badly Drawn Boy composed the lyric to "You Were Right" by arranging random words into a song that both made sense and reflected upon his life. It eventually resulted in the tribute verse that mentions the deaths of several of Badly Drawn Boy's idols—

, and

. He then came up with the line about

, 'I'm turning Madonna down / Calling it my best move', then began to piece the indiscriminate lines together until he achieved the message he wanted the song to send. According to Badly Drawn Boy, the song is about 'not wasting the chance with real life just because you got this opportunity to be a pop star,' and it serves as a 'reminder of what's important and not to lose your marbles'.

Critical reception

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 ...

critic Tom Maginnis wrote that "You Were Right" is an 'ambitiously orchestrated bit of pop music that is equal parts confessional and affirmation', and that Badly Drawn Boy 'manage to pull it all together in a bittersweet, tumultuous swirl, built around a halting mid-tempo beat that combines layers of guitars and strings to which Gough sings with a matter of fact directness that gives emotional weight to his almost free associative soul baring ... All , "You Were Right" reveals a deeply thoughtful songwriter, interweaving mature themes into compelling music that challenges both himself and his listeners'.

Track listings

UK and Australian CD single # "You Were Right" – 4:49 # "Last Fruit" – 4:20 # "You Were Right" (live at

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

2002) – 5:34 UK and Australian 7-inch single :A. "You Were Right" :B. "Last Fruit"

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the UK CD single liner notes. Studios * Recorded at

(Los Angeles, California), the Embassy (

, England), and

(London, England) Personnel * Badly Drawn Boy – writing, vocals, guitars, piano,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

, production * John "Gumby" Goodwin –

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

* Sasha Krivtsov – bass * Joey Waronker – drums * Matt Dunkley – string arrangement and conductor * Tom Rothrock – production, mixing * John Paterno – engineering * Dan Porter – assistant engineering * Darren Mora – assistant engineering * Mike Tarantino – digital editing, additional engineering *

Andy Votel Andrew Shallcross (born 4 November 1975), known as Andy Votel, is an English musician, DJ, record producer, graphic designer and co-founder of Twisted Nerve Records and the reissue label Finders Keepers Records. As musician Violators of t ...

– artwork

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2002 songs 2002 singles Badly Drawn Boy songs Cultural depictions of Elizabeth II Cultural depictions of Frank Sinatra Cultural depictions of John Lennon Cultural depictions of Kurt Cobain Cultural depictions of Madonna Song recordings produced by Tom Rothrock Songs about musicians UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles XL Recordings singles