Whatever You Want (song)
Encyclopedia
"Whatever You Want" is a rock song by the British
rock
band Status Quo. Written by Rick Parfitt
and Andy Bown
, it was released on the album of the same name in 1979
and has become one of the band's better-known works. It originally appeared on the band's 1979 album Whatever You Want
and was later re-recorded for their 2003 album Riffs
.
playing notes from chords. This lasts for approximately 26.54 seconds, and fades out towards the end. After this, the guitar picks up once more with a D-minor riff, and 40 seconds into the piece, the familiar D-major riff
of the song begins, accompanied by drum
s from the 56 second mark.
At 1 minute, 11 seconds, all audio pauses for approximately half a second; at this point, the lyrical portion commences. The music returns as soon as the first lyrics are heard. This pause creates a short-lived dramatic start to the song, which lasts for a total of 4 minutes.
The basic riff appears to be based on the overture phrase from an upbeat version of Bob Dylan
's song, "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
, recorded by him on 12/4/75 at the Forum de Montreal, Canada. This song appears on the 2002 album, The Rolling Thunder Revue
.
, the song reached 4th position in the music charts in 1979. The song has been used in advertising campaigns by popular UK retailer Argos
and Ireland based The Gift Voucher Shop which sells the one4all gift vouchers and gift cards, as well as being the theme tune to an ill-fated Saturday night TV show of the same name as the song. In 2008
, the song was sampled on the hardstyle
song "1980" by Citizen, and then later that same year by German
techno
band Scooter
on the song "Jump That Rock
!" from the hit album Jumping All Over The World
.
The guitar low 'E' string is tuned to a D (the song is also in the D chord). This is required to play the intro and also the low strumming after the intro. In this later part a flanger effect is used together with the ever-present overdrive/distortion effect.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Status Quo. Written by Rick Parfitt
Rick Parfitt
Richard John Parfitt, OBE is best known for being a singer and the rhythm guitarist in the English rock band Status Quo.-Career:...
and Andy Bown
Andy Bown
Andy Bown is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar. He is a member of the rock band Status Quo.-Career:...
, it was released on the album of the same name in 1979
1979 in music
See also:Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979.-January–February:*January 1...
and has become one of the band's better-known works. It originally appeared on the band's 1979 album Whatever You Want
Whatever You Want
Whatever You Want is the twelfth studio 1979 rock album by the British band Status Quo. It features 10 tracks including the title track....
and was later re-recorded for their 2003 album Riffs
Riffs (album)
"Riffs" is the twenty-sixth studio album by the English rock group "Status Quo", released in 2003. Ten tracks were cover versions of pop and rock standards, the other five were re-recordings of songs they had previously issued during the 1970s...
.
Composition
The song commences with a quiet introduction, containing a guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
playing notes from chords. This lasts for approximately 26.54 seconds, and fades out towards the end. After this, the guitar picks up once more with a D-minor riff, and 40 seconds into the piece, the familiar D-major riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
of the song begins, accompanied by drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s from the 56 second mark.
At 1 minute, 11 seconds, all audio pauses for approximately half a second; at this point, the lyrical portion commences. The music returns as soon as the first lyrics are heard. This pause creates a short-lived dramatic start to the song, which lasts for a total of 4 minutes.
The basic riff appears to be based on the overture phrase from an upbeat version of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's song, "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is a song written by Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962. It was first recorded in Columbia Records' Studio A on 6 December 1962 for his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The lyric structure is based on the question and answer form of the traditional ballad "Lord...
, recorded by him on 12/4/75 at the Forum de Montreal, Canada. This song appears on the 2002 album, The Rolling Thunder Revue
The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue
The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue is a live album by Bob Dylan released by Columbia Records in 2002. It documents the Rolling Thunder Revue, led by Bob Dylan prior to the release of the album Desire...
.
Impact
Within the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the song reached 4th position in the music charts in 1979. The song has been used in advertising campaigns by popular UK retailer Argos
Argos (retailer)
Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...
and Ireland based The Gift Voucher Shop which sells the one4all gift vouchers and gift cards, as well as being the theme tune to an ill-fated Saturday night TV show of the same name as the song. In 2008
2008 in music
2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...
, the song was sampled on the hardstyle
Hardstyle
Hardstyle is an electronic dance genre mixing influences from hardtechno, hard house, hard trance, hardcore and rave music. It is between 148 and 157 bpm in speed and is written in 4/4 time....
song "1980" by Citizen, and then later that same year by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
band Scooter
Scooter (band)
Scooter are a German hard dance band founded in Hamburg, who have sold over 25 million records and earned over 80 gold and platinum awards. Scooter are considered the most successful single-record German act with 23 top ten hits. The band is currently composed of members H.P. Baxxter, Rick J....
on the song "Jump That Rock
Jump That Rock (Whatever You Want)
Download12"NL CD Single...
!" from the hit album Jumping All Over The World
Jumping All Over the World
Jumping All Over the World is the thirteenth studio album by German techno group Scooter, released in Germany in 2007. Five singles have been released from it: "The Question Is What Is the Question?", "And No Matches", "Jumping All Over the World", a remix of "I'm Lonely" and a new version of "Jump...
.
Instruments
The song is guitar oriented, like most Status Quo songs. During recording up to three guitar 'layers' were used, though it can be played with two: rhythm guitar and solo guitar. The other instruments are a bass guitar, keyboards and drums. The lyrics are multi-vocal; for instance the 'Whatever you want' part is sung entirely with two voices.The guitar low 'E' string is tuned to a D (the song is also in the D chord). This is required to play the intro and also the low strumming after the intro. In this later part a flanger effect is used together with the ever-present overdrive/distortion effect.