Wisemen
Encyclopedia
"Wisemen" is a pop rock
song written by British
singer James Blunt
, Jimmy Hogarth
and Sacha Skarbek for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam. The song was produced by Tom Rothrock
and Jimmy Hogarth. The song was released as the second single
in the first quarter of 2005
and reached the top fifty in the United Kingdom
, peaking at number forty-four. Following the success of "You're Beautiful
" and "Goodbye My Lover
", "Wisemen" was re-released in the spring of 2006
, number twenty-one in New Zealand
, and at number twenty-three in the UK.
. This video has been released to the US market.
CD
DVD
7" Vinyl
CD1
CD2
7" Vinyl
. The song became Blunt's first single not to chart within the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart
, peaking at number forty-four. It was re-released in the UK the following March and became his fourth top forty single when it peaked at number twenty-three on the singles chart, and spent a total of six weeks in the top seventy-five. It reached number eleven in Australia
and became his third single to reach the top twenty. In Canada
, the song became an airplay hit, reaching number three on the BDS
Airplay chart.
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
song written by British
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...
singer James Blunt
James Blunt
James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...
, Jimmy Hogarth
Jimmy Hogarth
Jimmy Hogarth is a London-based producer and songwriter, whose production and writing credits include Amy Winehouse, Sia, Paolo Nutini, Duffy, Corinne Bailey Rae, Estelle, Tina Turner, KT Tunstall, James Blunt and James Morrison....
and Sacha Skarbek for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam. The song was produced by Tom Rothrock
Tom Rothrock
Tom Rothrock is an international record producer, composer and musician. Tom Rothrock has produced albums with James Blunt, Badly Drawn Boy, R. L. Burnside, Yonder Mountain String Band, Athlete, Sloan and Roman Carter....
and Jimmy Hogarth. The song was released as 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...
in the first quarter of 2005
2005 in music
-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
and reached the top fifty in the United Kingdom
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...
, peaking at number forty-four. Following the success of "You're Beautiful
You're Beautiful
"You're Beautiful" is a pop rock song co-written by British singer James Blunt, Sacha Skarbek, and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam . It was released as the third single from the album in 2005. In the UK and Australia the song reached number one and number two respectively...
" and "Goodbye My Lover
Goodbye My Lover
"Goodbye My Lover" is a pop rock song written by Sacha Skarbek for James Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam. The song was produced by Tom Rothrock and Jimmy Hogarth and received a positive reception from music critics. It was released as the fourth single in November 2005 and reached the top ten in...
", "Wisemen" was re-released in the spring of 2006
2006 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
, number twenty-one in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and at number twenty-three in the UK.
Music videos
The first music video, released in tandem with the first UK release of the single, has Blunt and his band performing in the Café de Paris. The only occupants of the café are three middle-aged men, supposedly businessmen, who are accompanied by a young woman. The woman stands and begins to dance in the middle of the room but is ignored by the men. Three masked men, supposedly the wisemen, then enter and kidnap Blunt, putting him into a car and driving to the shore where he is imprisoned in a hastily-constructed shack by the seaside, in reference to the lyric, "Those three wisemen, they've got a semi by the sea." The masks were constructed from moulds cast from Blunt's own face. The second version, which was released in tandem with the UK re-release of the single, has Blunt burning his personal papers and passport in a forest before slowly internally combustingSpontaneous human combustion
Spontaneous human combustion describes reported cases of the burning of a living human body without an apparent external source of ignition...
. This video has been released to the US market.
Release
The initial release was available on three physical formats. The CD single includes an exclusive live performance of "No Bravery". The DVD includes the original video for "Wisemen", exclusive "Making-Of" footage and a live audio recording of "Out Of My Mind". The 7" Vinyl includes a live performance of "Billy". The re-release was also available on three physical formats, containing a similar tracklisting. CD1 includes a live performance of "Out Of My Mind", taken from the initial DVD single; CD2 includes the live performances of "No Bravery" and "Out Of My Mind", plus the video for "Wisemen"; and the limited edition one-sided 7" Vinyl features "Wisemen" only.Track listings
- 2005
CD
- "Wisemen" - 3:45
- "No Bravery" (Live) - 3:24
DVD
- "Wisemen" (Video) - 3:50
- "Wisemen" (The Making Of The Video) - 3:00
- "Out Of My Mind" (Live At The Bowery Ballroom, NYC) - 3:22
7" Vinyl
- "Wisemen" - 3:45
- "Billy" (Live) - 4:12
- 2006
CD1
- "Wisemen" - 3:45
- "Out Of My Mind" (Live At The Bowery Ballroom, NYC) - 3:22
CD2
- "Wisemen" - 3:45
- "No Bravery" (Live) - 3:16
- "Out Of My Mind" (Live At The Bowery Ballroom, NYC) - 3:00
- "Wisemen" (Video) - 3:50
7" Vinyl
- "Wisemen" - 3:45
Chart performance
On 7 March 2005, "Wisemen" was released in 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 became Blunt's first single not to chart within the top 40 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 ...
, peaking at number forty-four. It was re-released in the UK the following March and became his fourth top forty single when it peaked at number twenty-three on the singles chart, and spent a total of six weeks in the top seventy-five. It reached number eleven in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and became his third single to reach the top twenty. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the song became an airplay hit, reaching number three on the BDS
Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems
Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, better known as BDS, is a service that tracks monitored radio, television and internet airplay of songs based on the number of spins and detections...
Airplay chart.
Charts
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| 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 ... |
44 |
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
11 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 15 |
| Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart | 52 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart | 41 |
| Czech IFPI Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
9 |
| Dutch Top 100 Singles MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
17 |
| German Singles Chart | 40 |
| 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... |
36 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
21 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 38 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 23 |
| 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 ... |
23 |