About The Song
“Faith” is a song by English singer and songwriter George Michael. Written and produced by Michael, it was released via Columbia Records as the second single from his 1987 debut solo album of the same name. It held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks and, according to Billboard magazine, was the number-one single of the year in the United States in 1988. The song also reached number one in Australia and Canada and number two on the UK Singles Chart. In 2001, it placed at number 322 on the Songs of the Century list.
As with the rest of the album, the track was written, arranged, and produced by Michael. It is claimed that the idea came from publisher Dick Leahy’s suggestion that Michael write a rock and roll pastiche. The song began life in May 1987 at Puk Studios in Gjerlev, Denmark, with Michael doing a 2-bar LinnDrum loop and Hugh Burns playing the Bo Diddley-style acoustic rhythm guitar part on a nameless metal-bodied acoustic. Long-time bassist Deon Estus laid down a bass part, while the cathedral organ part was recorded with a Yamaha DX7 (although some sources state it is from a Roland D-50). While recording the vocals on the Faith album and other subsequent solo albums, Michael would usually write lyrics in front of the mic, and build the lead vocal by singing a line, each time he had Chris Porter rewind the tape so he could drop in at certain points to create the right emotional effect with his voice.[1] For this song, George wanted the vocals to be “dry and in-your-face”, like on Prince’s songs at the time, which Porter noted “had a very tight delay on the vocals, making him sound very growly but dry and aggressive”—it was that kind of effect they managed to recreate with an AMS digital delay.
Work on the song later resumed on 1 September 1987, when a new bridge added and a 1950s-inspired guitar solo by Burns—played on a Geffen custom Stratocaster —were added at Sarm West Studio 2 in London. According to Porter, the solo was constructed bar-by-bar over a period of 4 hours in a similar fashion to recording George’s vocals.
Michael never thought of releasing “Faith” as a single in the beginning but once he decided it was going to be released he extended the song length to add the guitar solo, as explained in an interview with Countdown in 1988:
“Faith” was never actually intended as a single when I first recorded it. And then I listened to it more and more and… ’cause in fact, originally it was two minutes long. Originally there was no guitar solo. There was no real guitar sound on it or anything. And everyone said it’s great, it’s great but it’s too short, you know. And everyone kept saying that “I love ‘Faith’, I love ‘Faith'”. So I thought, well maybe I should put it out as a single when it came to that. I said, I think a two-minute long single is a bit, you know… so I went in and extended it. But it was originally never intended as a single. It was just gonna be a small track on the album, a really short track.
The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in late October and early November 1987.
On the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Faith” went from number 54 to number 37, the week of 31 October 1987. It reached number one on 12 December 1987 and remained there for four consecutive weeks. Altogether, “Faith” stayed in the top 10 for nine weeks, the top 20 for 11 weeks and the top 40 for 15 weeks.
Video
Lyrics
Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body
I know not everybody has got a body like you
But I gotta think twice before I give my heart away
And I know all the games you play because I played them tooOh, but I need some time off from that emotion
Time to pick my heart up off the floor
Oh, when that love comes down without devotion
Well it takes a strong man, baby
But I’m showin’ you the door‘Cause I gotta’ have faith
I gotta have faith
Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith
I got to have faith, faith, faithBaby, I know you’re askin’ me to stay
Say, “Please, please, please don’t go away”
You say I’m givin’ you the blues
Maybe (Huh) you mean every word you say
Can’t help but think of yesterday
And another who tied me down to loverboy rulesBefore this river becomes an ocean
Before you throw my heart back on the floor
Oh, baby, I reconsider my foolish notion
Well, I need someone to hold me
But I’ll wait for somethin’ moreYes I gotta have faith
Ooh, I gotta have faith
Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith
I gotta have faith, faith, faithI’ll just have to wait
Because I’ve got to have faith
I gotta have faith
I’ve got to, got to, got to have faithBefore this river becomes an ocean
Before you throw my heart back on the floor
Oh, oh, baby, I reconsider my foolish notion
Well, I need someone to hold me
But I’ll wait for somethin’ more‘Cause I gotta’ have faith
Ooh, I gotta have faith
Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith
I gotta have faith, faith, faith