If I Ever Lose My Faith in You

"If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" is a song recorded by English singer Sting. It was the lead single from his album Ten Summoner's Tales and was released in 1993. It achieved moderate success in many countries, reaching number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the top 40 in several European countries. In Canada, the song reached number one, spending three weeks at the summit and finishing 1993 as the fourth-most-successful single. It remains one of Sting's signature songs.

"If I Ever Lose My Faith in You"
Single by Sting
from the album Ten Summoner's Tales
Released1 February 1993 (1993-02-01)
Recorded1992
GenrePop rock
Length4:29
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Sting
Producer(s)
  • Sting
  • Hugh Padgham
Sting singles chronology
"It's Probably Me"
(1992)		 "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You"
(1993)		 "Seven Days"
(1993)

In 1994 the song won Sting a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, while it was also nominated for both Record of the Year and for Song of the Year. It has been included on all of Sting's compilation albums since its release, namely Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994 and The Very Best of Sting & The Police.

Composition

The song, in the key of A major, is played in swing time. According to Sting, the song was written on the piano, and contains a flattened fifth in the song's intro,[lower-alpha 1] which he says was banned in the churches due to its dissonant sound:

It starts off with a flattened fifth. A flat five is an interesting chord because it was banned by the church. It's called a tri-tone, and it was banned by the church - it was the devil's music. Blues music is based on the tri-tone, and in sacred music from the middle-ages, the Pope banned the tri-tone, the flattened fifth. It's disconcerting. It puts you ill at ease. So we start that way so that you think it's been going on for a while, but it hasn't.[1]

The "You" in the song's title is not identified by Sting, as he explained he felt it was important not to point out what it is specifically so that the listeners could connect more with the song:

The song is in two distinct parts. The first part is about the things I've lost faith in. It's quite easy to be precise about the things I've lost faith in - politics, media, science, technology, the things that everybody has, and yet I along with most other people have a great deal of hope, and a feeling that things will and can get better. So what do we place our faith in I can't define that as easily as I can define what I don't believe in anymore. So I haven't defined it, I've just said if I ever lose my faith in you, and "You" could be my producer, it could be faith in God, it could be faith in myself, or it could be faith in romantic love. It could be all of those things, I don't define it. I think it's important not to define it, because once you can define something it evaporates. I think it's important in this day and age when we are dictated to by music television what a particular song is about, that the old ambiguity that songs had can be retained.[1]

Track listings

CD maxi

  1. If I Ever Lose My Faith in You — 4:29
  2. Message in a Bottle [Unplugged] — 5:20
  3. Tea in the Sahara [Unplugged] — 4:25
  4. Walking on the Moon [Unplugged] — 5:06

CD single 1

  1. If I Ever Lose My Faith in You — 4:29
  2. All This Time [Unplugged] — 5:20
  3. Mad About You [Unplugged] — 4:24
  4. Every Breath You Take [Unplugged] — 5:06

CD single 2

  1. If I Ever Lose My Faith in You — 4:33
  2. Message in a Bottle [Unplugged] — 5:47
  3. Tea in the Sahara [Unplugged] — 4:43
  4. Walking on the Moon [Unplugged] — 2:56

CD maxi – Picture disc USA A&M Records #31458-0111-2

  1. If I Ever Lose My Faith in You — 4:29
  2. Everybody Laughed But You — 3:51
  3. January Stars — 3:50
  4. We Work The Black Seam [Alternate Version] — 6:08

Credits
  • Sting – bass, vocals, guitar, harmonica; producer on track 1
  • Dominic Miller – guitars
  • David Sancious – keyboards; piano on tracks 2-4
  • Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
  • Vinx – percussion and backing vocals on tracks 2-4
  • Hugh Padgham – producer on track 1
  • Joel Gallen – executive producer on tracks 2-4
  • Alex Coletti – producer on tracks 2-4

Charts

Cover versions

In 2009, trumpeter Chris Botti covered the song featuring Sting on vocals. The song was released from the album Chris Botti in Boston.[34][35] American singer Lady Gaga also performed the song at the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors, where Sting was an honouree.[36] American rock band Disturbed released a cover in 2020.[37]

Notes
  1. The song begins with a chromatic sequence up from the minor third (C) of A to the flat 5th (E♭), with A minor, A major (C#), A suspended 4th (D), and A flattened 5th (E♭) chords.

References
  1. "Sting.com: Discography : If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, CD digipak". www.sting.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. "Australian-charts.com – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  3. "Ultratop.be – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  4. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1734." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  5. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 0973." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  6. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 10. 6 March 1993. p. 20. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  7. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 11. 13 March 1993. p. 23. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  8. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  9. "Lescharts.com – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  10. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  11. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (5.–11. mars)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 4 March 1993. p. 29. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  13. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 13. 27 March 1993. p. 28. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  14. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 12, 1993" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  16. "Charts.nz – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  17. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You". VG-lista. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  18. "Notowanie nr582" (in Polish). LP3. 12 April 1993. Retrieved 16 February 2019. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  19. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 18. 1 May 1993. p. 24. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  20. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  21. "Swedishcharts.com – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  22. "Swisscharts.com – Sting – If I Ever Lose My Faith in You". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  23. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  24. "Sting Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  25. "Sting Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  26. "Sting Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  27. "Sting Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  28. "Sting Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  29. "The RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1993". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  30. "The RPM Top 100 A\C Tracks of 1993". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  31. "1993 Year-End Sales Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10 no. 51/52. 18 December 1993. p. 15. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  32. "Árslistinn 1993". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 4 January 1994. p. 17. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  33. "Billboard Top 100 – 1993". Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  34. "Chris Botti in Boston Overview". Allmusic.com.
  35. "Chris Botti in Boston". Billboard.biz.
  36. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/see-bruce-springsteen-lady-gaga-bruno-mars-honor-sting-at-kennedy-center-233329/
  37. "DISTURBED To Release Cover Of STING's 'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You'". Blabbermouth. 11 September 2020.
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