We Will (song)

"We Will" is a ballad by the Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, released as a single in July 1971. It was O'Sullivan's second top 20 hit, peaking at number 16 in the UK Singles Chart on 4 September 1971.[1] It was included as a bonus track on the 2011 reissue of his debut album Himself.

"We Will"
Single by Gilbert O'Sullivan
B-side"I Didn't Know What To Do"
ReleasedJuly 1971
Recorded1971 (Audio International Studios, London)
GenrePop
Length3'56"
LabelMAM
Songwriter(s)Gilbert O'Sullivan
Producer(s)Gordon Mills
Gilbert O'Sullivan singles chronology
"Underneath The Blanket Go"
(1971)		 "We Will"
(1971)		 "No Matter How I Try"
(1971)

O'Sullivan has described it as "very much a Catholic working class family song".[2] Writing in The Guardian, Bob Stanley considered "We Will" to be "a song of resigned melancholy about how to get through a personal crisis by appreciating things such as kicking a ball, visiting distant relatives, eating corn flakes".[3] The Times writer Pavel Barter wrote in 2017 that the song "introduced a form of kitchen-sink observational drama usually lacking in pop music".[4] Upon release, Peter Jones of Record Mirror considered the song "less infectious" than O'Sullivan's first hit "Nothing Rhymed", but described it as "unmistakeably Gilbert, with that mixture of naivety and power".[5]

O'Sullivan re-recorded "We Will" for his 1987 album Frobisher Drive. The song was covered by Rumer on her 2012 album Boys Don’t Cry. O'Sullivan has recounted in interviews being phoned up by Andy Williams in the 1970s, who was planning to cover the song and wanted permission to change the line 'I bagsy being in goal' as he didn't understand the expression.[6][7][8]

References
  1. "We Will". Official Charts. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  2. Barnard, Jason. "Gilbert O'Sullivan". The Strange Brew. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  3. Stanley, Bob. "Gilbert O'Sullivan: time for a reappraisal?". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  4. Barter, Pavel (29 January 2017). "Gilbert O'Sullivan… Still in the limelight (Naturally)". Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  5. Jones, Peter (10 July 1971). "Gilbert: Power and Naivety" (PDF). Record Mirror: 16. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  6. Wyatt, Michael. "Meeting Himself, coming back – the Gilbert O'Sullivan interview". writewyattuk. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  7. "Gilbert O'Sullivan: Andy Williams didn't get 'bagsy' reference". BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  8. "Episode 72 – Gilbert O'Sullivan". Sodajerker. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
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