"Pray" is song by boyband Take That

Take That

Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...

. Written by Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...

 and released on July 5, 1993, it was the second single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from their second album Everything Changes

Everything Changes (album)

Everything Changes is the second album for British boyband Take That. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart, and was nominated for the 1994 Mercury Prize. The album was the third best selling album of 1993 in the UK. The album reached number one in Ireland and the UK and was the bands...

. It is the first of 11 singles by the band to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, staying at number one for four weeks and starting a streak of four consecutive number one singles. The song has received a Gold sales status certification and sold over 410,000 copies in the UK, won Best British Single and Best British Video at the 1994 Brit Awards

Brit Awards

The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...

, and was the finale of the Beautiful World Tour (2007).

Music video

The video was directed by Gregg Masuak and shot in Acapulco

Acapulco

Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. The clip features the band members in the exotic location singing and dancing. Each of the band members is pared with a girl relating to one of the four elements(Mark Owen-Air, Jason Orange-Fire, Robbie Williams-Earth, Howard Donald-Water) with the exception of Gary Barlow which is represented in a neutral black and white context. In Gary Barlow's autobiography, he stated that after the disappointment of where I Found Heaven

I Found Heaven

"I Found Heaven" is the fifth single taken from Take That's debut album "Take That & Party"- Song information :Written and produced by Billy Griffin and Ian Levine, it was released on August 10, 1992 as the fifth single from the band's debut album Take That & Party . It became the group's second...

 was filmed, the band were a lot happier about the location for this video.

Track listings

UK CD Single #1 (74321 15450 2)

1. "Pray" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
2. "Pray" (Acappella) - 4:26
3. "Pray" (Alternative Club Mix) - 5:21

UK CD Single #2 (74321 15451 2)

1. "Pray" (Club Swing Mix) - 5:37
2. "It Only Takes A Minute" (Tommy Musto Underground Dub) - 6:32
3. "Once You've Tasted Love" (Harding & Curnow Remix) - 4:20
4. "It Only Takes A Minute" (Tommy Musto Underground Vocal) - 6:16

EU CD Single (74321 15478 2)

1. "Pray" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
2. "Pray" (Acappella) - 4:26
3. "Pray" (Alternative Club Mix) - 5:21

Japanese 3" CD Single (BVDP-88)

1. "Pray" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
2. "Pray" (Acappella) - 4:26

Australian 'Tour Edition' CD Single (74321 21112 2)(Picture disc w/poster)

1. "Pray" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
2. "Relight My Fire" (Live) - 8:07
3. "Could It Be Magic" (Live) - 5:32
4. "It Only Takes A Minute" (Live) - 4:11

Australian 'Limited Edition' CD Single (74321 21113 2)(Personality Poster Pack)

1. "Pray" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
2. "Pray" (Acappella) - 4:26
3. "Pray" (Alternative Club Mix) - 5:21
4. "Pray" (Club Swing Mix) - 5:37
5. "It Only Takes A Minute" (Tommy Musto Underground Dub) - 6:32
6. "Once You've Tasted Love" (Harding & Curnow Remix) - 4:20
7. "It Only Takes A Minute" (Tommy Musto Underground Vocal) - 6:16

UK Cassette (74321 15452 2)

1. "Pray" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
2. "Pray" (Acappella) - 4:26

UK 7" Single (74321 15453 2)

1. "Pray" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
2. "Pray" (Acappella) - 4:26

European 12" Single (74321 15454 2)

1. "Pray" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
2. "Pray" (Acappella) - 4:26
3. "Pray" (Alternative Club Mix) - 5:21
4. "Pray" (Club Swing Mix) - 5:37

Chart performance

Chart (1993)	Peak Position
Austrian Singles Chart	24
Dutch Singles Chart	38
German Singles Chart	21
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	2
Norwegian Singles Chart	8
Swedish Singles Chart	17
Swiss Singles Chart	24
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	1
Chart (1994)	Peak Position
Australian Singles Chart	10
Chart (1996)	Peak Position
Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....	55

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!End of year chart (1993)
!Position
|-
|UK Singles Chart (1993

1993 in music

This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....

 Year-End)
|align="center"| 18
|-

Chart succession

Certifications

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! bgcolor="#ebf5ff"|Country
! bgcolor="#ebf5ff"|Certification
! bgcolor="#ebf5ff"|Date
! bgcolor="#ebf5ff"|Sales certified
|-
|UK
|align="center"|Gold
|align="center"|1 September 1993
|align="center"|400,000
|-
|}

Official versions

• Album Version (3:45)
• Radio Edit (3:34)
• Acappella (4:26)
• Alternative Club Mix (5:21)
• Swing Club Mix (5:37)
• Live On The Advision Mobile Studio (6:33)
• Live In Berlin (5:16)
• Live at Wembley (4:00)