Viva Forever

"Viva Forever" is a song recorded by English girl group the Spice Girls for their second album, Spiceworld (1997). It was written by the group with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, whilst produced by the latter two. The song was released on 20 July 1998 in the United Kingdom and received critical acclaim. The song also charted well becoming the band's seventh UK number one single gaining a Platinum certification whilst also topping the charts in New Zealand. The single was a commercial success despite poor promotion.

"Viva Forever"
Single by Spice Girls
from the album Spiceworld
Released20 July 1998 (1998-07-20)
RecordedSummer 1997
StudioWhitfield Street Studios (London, England)
Genre
Length5:09 (album version)
4:10 (radio/video edit)
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Spice Girls singles chronology
"Stop"
(1998)		 "Viva Forever"
(1998)		 "Goodbye"
(1998)
Music video
"Viva Forever" on YouTube

An accompanying music video directed by Steve Box was released featuring the five band members as animated fairies that interact with two friends in a forest. The video was commissioned months before Geri's departure, and as such she appears in the video and the accompanying single artwork. The four remaining members performed the track on shows Top of the Pops and on the National Lottery television show. An adapted pop-opera duet version was performed with Pavarotti at his annual charity event Pavarotti and Friends. The song was also performed live as a five-piece on their return concert tour, Return of the Spice Girls. In the book The Spice Girls Revisited by David Sinclair, it was confirmed by the co-writers/producers of the song Matthew Rowe & Richard Stannard that Geri Halliwell was the main songwriter of "Viva Forever".

Background and release

In late March, the single was first reported as "Never Give Up on the Good Times"/"Viva Forever". Smash Hits' famous "Bandwatch" section provided a close watch on the status of the single, and the first piece of news it gave was that one of the songs was to have a cartoon-based video.[1] Originally, the single was going to be released on 11 May 1998. Soon after, it was pushed back, in this first case to 25 May.[2] In late April, the release date was pushed back to 8 June, and at this point a promotional cassette for "Viva Forever" circulated without "Never Give Up on the Good Times". In early May the release date changed again to 29 June. A competition appeared in the Evening Mail (19 May 1998) saying the following: "10 copies of the video to be won. Each prize winner will also receive a Spice Girls T-Shirt and a copy of the new double A-side single Viva Forever/Never Give Up on the Good Times, released on 29 June."[1]

On 27 May, the Spice Girls appeared on the National Lottery, performing "Viva Forever" and "Spice Up Your Life" without Geri Halliwell, the excuse being that she was ill.[3] In early June, the single was confirmed to simply be "Viva Forever". The single was to be released on 13 July, over two months after the original release date of 11 May. Even though posters were printed showcasing the 13 July release date, it was not long before the release dates started changing again.[1] On the day of release, stores around the United Kingdom received a notice saying that the single was not going to be released on 13 July, and it would be released in a week or two. After the constant delays, the single was finally released on 20 July.[4]

Reception

Critical response

"Viva Forever" received critical acclaim from music critics. Sputnikmusic called it "a genuinely great song", adding that it is "sincerely moving" and that "never would I have imagined the Spice Girls could pull off a song like this".[5] Yahoo! Music compared the song with "Mama", and added "a tear-jerking flamenco guitar and lush strings weave into this break-your-heart, 'I Will Always Love You' ballad with a touch of Madonna about it [...] inspired".[6] However, Rolling Stone called it "a big ballad that is about as convincing as the Spices' Spanish accents".[7]

Chart performance

"Viva Forever" was poorly promoted, due to the four remaining girls touring in America. Its only real driving promotional force behind the release was the hype from Geri's departure. The song was released on 20 July 1998, selling 100,000 in the first three days and 277,000 copies in its first week.[8][9] It stayed at number one for two weeks in the UK, spending nine weeks in the top 40, and thirteen weeks inside the top 75;[10] it went on to be certified platinum,[11] and sold 690,000 copies in the UK as of July 2017.[12] In Switzerland the single debuted on 9 August 1998 at number six, reaching a peak position of three two weeks later. It stayed thirteen weeks in the top ten, twenty-two weeks in total,[13] and was eventually certified Gold by the IFPI.[14] In Austria the single debuted at number fifteen, reaching a peak position of four for two weeks (their highest peak position since May 1997 when "Mama" reached the top of the chart),[15] staying ten weeks in the top ten and fifteen weeks in total.[16] In New Zealand the song debuted at the top, staying at number-one for two weeks, and eleven weeks in total on the chart.[17] In Australia, it debuted at number fifty-nine,[18] peaking at number two for two weeks (held off by "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"), spending thirty-one weeks on the chart,[19] and receiving a Platinum certification by ARIA.[20]

Music video

Background and release
The Spice Girls in the music video as fairies.

The music video, which featured stop motion animation of the Spice Girls (including Geri Halliwell), as fairies, was directed by Oscar winner Steve Box of Aardman Animations.[21] Box was the key animator on Aardman's film Chicken Run, which also used stop motion animation. For the video, he created five, 12-inch-high Spice Girls tin puppets with fairy wings who coax an astonished real-life teenage boy into growing up, and took five months to make, considerably longer than it took to make Spiceworld: The Movie.[22] It was screened for the first time in the United Kingdom on 22 June 1998. The video marks the last appearance of Geri Halliwell with the Spice Girls because it was commissioned months before her departure.[23] The video could be viewed as an interactive element on UK CD1, the first time this feature was available on a Spice Girls CD.[24]

Synopsis

The video starts off with a storybook opening up about two boys, both running around in the woods when they encounter a case (similar to the case that is inside a Kinder Surprise, but life-sized) which opens by itself and reveals a toy chicken. The friends then chase after the chicken until they see another case, which the toy chicken bounces on. It opens by itself, and five fairies - the Spice Girls - fly out. While the boy runs away frightened the other one stays, and the fairies play with him before Emma sprays fairy dust on his face. Then they fly him to another place in front of a huge Rubik's Cube. The fairies dance on the cube, to the song, until the middle on the top opens. The boy, assisted by the fairies, is inserted inside the giant Rubik's Cube.

Meanwhile, the boy sees the fairies about to close the cube. By the time that he gets to the cube, his friend is gone, the fairies disappear, and the cube becomes smaller, but still oversized. He then walks in the woods by himself with the cube, which has shrunken to a normal-sized Rubik's Cube, until he sees a giant coin-vending machine which contains other cases. A blue light shines in front of him, from an open case. He puts the now-solved Rubik's Cube inside the case, throws it into the coin-vending machine, and walks away sadly. The video ends with the fairies flying out of the vending machine.

In 2019, when all the music videos of the Spice Girls were re-released in the 4K format, the video for "Viva Forever" received a slightly different ending, in which the boy who disappeared in the Rubik's Cube, also emerges from the vending machine as a fairy, flying towards the camera.

Live performances and covers

The song was included on the set list of the Spiceworld Tour. After Halliwell left, on the American and Back in Britain legs of the tour, the girls sang the radio edit of the song instead of the album version. Melanie Chisholm also sang "Spice Girls forever" rather than the original lyrics "viva forever" near the end of the song. "Viva Forever" was the group's last performance on television as a quintet, on Top of the Pops, which was recorded on 21 May 1998, and broadcast on 5 June 1998. The show's producer, Chris Cowey, said that they originally intended to broadcast the performance in July but they pushed it given Halliwell's departure from the group.[25] It was also the first song they performed on television without Halliwell, on 27 May 1998 at the National Lottery.[3]

The Spice Girls also performed the song with Luciano Pavarotti on the annually hosted Pavarotti and Friends charity concerts some days later.[26] The Pavarotti version is featured on Pavarotti's album entitled Pavarotti and Friends.[27] The song was also performed on the Christmas in Spiceworld Tour, which had stops in London and Manchester in December 1999.[28][29] The song was re-imagined on the Return of the Spice Girls world tour in 2007 with Flamenco elements, and the girls standing on rotating podiums.[30][31] The song was also included on the setlist of the Spice World - 2019 Tour.

"Viva Forever" has been covered by Jim O'Rourke on the "Guilt By Association" compilation album, and Deja Vu, which can be found on the "Tribute to the Spice Girls" album. In 2013, Australian UK Hardcore artist S3RL released a high-tempo dance cover.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Viva Forever":

Credits and personnel

Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd/Polygram Music Publishing Ltd.

Charts

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[67] Platinum 70,000^
Belgium (BEA)[68] Gold 25,000*
France (SNEP)[69] Gold 250,000*
Germany (BVMI)[70] Gold 250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[71] Platinum 30,000*
Sweden (GLF)[72] Gold 15,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[73] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[74] Platinum 740,000[75]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Notes and references
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  6. Yahoo! Music Review. Uk.launch.yahoo.com . Retrieved 29 September 2007.
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  10. UK Chart-History. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
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