Ebony and Ivory

This article is about the song. For the piano duo, see Ebony and Ivory (piano duo). For the fictional handguns, see Dante (Devil May Cry). For piano keys, see Piano#Keyboard.

"Ebony and Ivory"
Single by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
from the album Tug of War
B-side	"Rainclouds"
Released	29 March 1982
Format	7"
Recorded	1981
Genre	Pop/R&B
Length	3:42
Label	Parlophone/EMI (UK) Columbia (U.S.)
Writer(s)	Paul McCartney
Producer	George Martin
Paul McCartney singles chronology "Temporary Secretary" (1980) "Ebony and Ivory" (1982) "Take It Away" (1982) Stevie Wonder singles chronology "That Girl" (1982) "Ebony and Ivory" (1982) "Do I Do" (1982)

"Ebony and Ivory" is a 1982 number-one single by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 29 of that year. The song is featured on McCartney's album Tug of War. The song reached number one on both the UK and the U.S. charts. It reappears on McCartney's All the Best! in 1987.

Background

At the simplest level, the song is about the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys on a piano, but also deals with integration and racial harmony on a deeper level. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!". The figure is much older. It was popularised by James Aggrey in the 1920s, inspiring the title of the pan-African journal The Keys, but was in use from at least the 1840s.

Written by McCartney alone, the song was performed live in the studio by both McCartney and Wonder, though due to conflicting work schedules, both recorded their parts for the song's music video separately (as explained by McCartney in his commentary for The McCartney Years 3-DVD boxed set).

Chart rankings

"Ebony and Ivory" spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was the fourth-biggest hit of 1982. For McCartney, the song's run atop the chart was the longest of any of his post-Beatles works, and second longest career-wise (behind "Hey Jude" with The Beatles); for Wonder, it was his longest-running chart-topper. It marked the first time that any single released by any member of the Beatles hit the Billboard R&B chart.

In 2008, the song was ranked at #59 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.

Critical reception

Following the song's huge chart success, it was derided as "saccharine" and was later named as the tenth worst song of all time by Blender magazine. On October 2007, it was named the worst duet in history by BBC 6 Music listeners. (In September 2010, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio ranked the song at #9 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever, stating that the song was "[d]one much better by Joe Piscopo and Eddie Murphy [in Saturday Night Live (see below)]. Everybody: 'You are blind as a bat and I have sight...'") However, the song's title was picked up by a journalist reporting on two stroke victims — one black, one white — who played a duo, one hand each.

This song has been parodied in many U.S. television shows, such as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Father Ted, Everybody Hates Chris, Arrested Development and Saturday Night Live, as well as movies such as Undercover Brother and Guess Who.^{[citation needed]} The phrase, "Keyboard, Oh Lord! Why Don't We?" was used for the title of the third album by Norwegian stoner rock band Thulsa Doom. The song and video were parodied in a commercial for the 2008 season of the USA Network show Psych.

"Ebony and Ivory" was banned in South Africa until apartheid finally ended.^{[citation needed]}

Track listings

7" single

1. "Ebony and Ivory" (with Stevie Wonder)
2. "Rainclouds"

12" single

1. "Ebony and Ivory" (with Stevie Wonder)
2. "Rainclouds"
3. "Ebony and Ivory" (solo version)
4. "Ebony and Shaft" (Funky version)

Personnel

• Paul McCartney: Bass, guitar, synthesisers, vocoder, percussion, piano and vocals
• Stevie Wonder: Electric piano, synthesisers, drums, percussion and vocals
• Isaac Hayes: Back up vocals

Chart positions

Chart (1982)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report	2
Austrian Singles Chart	3
Canadian RPM Top Singles	1
German Media Control Singles Chart	1
Japanese Oricon Singles Chart	26
Japanese Oricon International Chart	1
Norwegian VG-lista Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	1

See also

• List of RPM number-one singles of 1982
• List of European number-one hits of 1982
• List of number-one hits of 1982 (Germany)
• List of number-one hits in Norway
• List of number-one singles from the 1980s (UK)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1982 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1982 (U.S.)

Preceded by "My Camera Never Lies" by Bucks Fizz	UK number-one Single 24 April 1982 - 8 May 1982 (3 weeks)	Succeeded by "A Little Peace" by Nicole
Preceded by "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis	Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 15, 1982 – June 26, 1982 (7 weeks)	Succeeded by "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League
Preceded by "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League	Canadian "RPM" Singles Chart number-one single May 22, 1982 - June 19, 1982 (5 weeks)	Succeeded by "I've Never Been to Me" by Charlene