More Than Words

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For other uses, see More Than Words (disambiguation).
"More Than Words"
Song

"More Than Words" is a ballad written and originally performed by American rock band Extreme. It is built around acoustic guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt and the vocals of Gary Cherone (with harmony vocals from Bettencourt). Released in 1990 on the album Pornograffitti, the song is a detour from the funk metal style that permeates the band's records. As such, it has often been described as "a blessing and a curse" due to its overwhelming success and recognition worldwide, but the band ultimately embraces it and plays it on every show.

This song appears in the 1999 album Monster Ballads. "More Than Words" was a favorite song of Selena Quintanilla Perez so they played and dedicated the song at a tribute for the American Latin superstar after her death in 1995.

Content

The song was described by Bettencourt as a song warning that the phrase "I love you" was becoming meaningless: "People use it so easily and so lightly that they think you can say that and fix everything, or you can say that and everything's OK. Sometimes you have to do more and you have to show it—there's other ways to say 'I love you.'"[1]

Music video

The song's music video was filmed in black and white and was produced and directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

Parodies and other uses

The video for "More Than Words" was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic for his original song, "You Don't Love Me Anymore". The comedic duo Paul and Storm produced an original pastiche of the song entitled "More Than Two" on their album Gumbo Pants. Also, Amateur Transplants wrote a comedic song to the same tune as "More Than Words" entitled "Northern Birds", which was released on their 2006 album "We Are So Bad". The video was also parodied by Jason Segel and the cast of How I Met Your Mother in an online tie-in music video on the episode "The Sexless Innkeeper". An Indian styled version of the song and video was parodied by Mike Myers in his film "The Love Guru". ApologetiX asserts the Christian proposition that one cannot earn salvation with "More than Works". ZDoggMD has performed a parody-PSA version about HPV and HPV vaccination, entitled "More Than Warts".

On May 4, 2015, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon covered the song and video with Fallon and Jack Black.[2]

Chart performances

On March 23, 1991, "More Than Words" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number 81 and soon after reached number one. It also reached number two in the United Kingdom, where the group had success before its American breakthrough. Though they had made a few European charts before, this brought the band to their first mainstream success in the United States.

Extreme followed "More Than Words" with another acoustic ballad, "Hole Hearted", which peaked at number four in the United States and number three in Canada.

Track listings

CD maxi
  1. "More Than Words" — 5:33
  2. "Kid Ego" — 4:04
  3. "Nice Place to Visit" — 3:16
7" single
  1. "More Than Words (Remix)" — 3:43
  2. "Nice Place to Visit" — 3:16

Charts

Chart successions

Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
June 8, 1991 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Canadian Singles Chart number-one single
June 8, 1991 – June 29, 1991
Preceded by New Zealand RIANZ number-one single
July 5, 1991 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Dutch Top 40 number-one single
July 13, 1991 		Succeeded by

Westlife version

"More Than Words"
Song

Irish boyband Westlife covered the song for their debut-album Westlife and released as promotional single in their Venezuelan only compilation album Grandes Exitos, peaking at #3 on the Venezuelan singles chart. The single featured exclusive remixes of three of the group's biggest hits.[25]

Track listing

  1. "More Than Words
  2. "I Lay My Love on You (Single Remix)
  3. "World of Our Own (Single Remix)
  4. "Uptown Girl (Radio Edit)

Charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Venezuelan Singles Chart 3

Other cover versions

References

  1. ^ Billik, Kira L. (1991-06-20). "Extreme: Boston Group Riding the Funk-O-Metal Machine". Albany Herald. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  2. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=172&v=1ISYT6EeUM0
  3. ^ "Extreme – More Than Words". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  4. ^ "Extreme – More Than Words" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  5. ^ "Extreme – More Than Words" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  6. ^ Canadian Singles Chart [1] (Retrieved September 28, 2008)
  7. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  8. ^ "Extreme – More Than Words" (in French). Les classement single.
  9. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
  10. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Extreme" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  11. ^ "Extreme – More Than Words". Top 40 Singles.
  12. ^ "Extreme – More Than Words". VG-lista.
  13. ^ "Extreme – More Than Words". Singles Top 100.
  14. ^ "Extreme – More Than Words". Swiss Singles Chart.
  15. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
  16. ^ a b c Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved August 29, 2008)
  17. ^ 1991 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved August 29, 2008)
  18. ^ "Single top 100 over 1991" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  19. ^ 1991 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved August 29, 2008)
  20. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1991". Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  21. ^ Canada certifications cria.ca (Retrieved August 29, 2008)
  22. ^ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved September 11, 2008)
  23. ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved August 29, 2008)
  24. ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved August 29, 2008)
  25. ^ a b "Westlife - More than Words (Single)". Retrieved 2014-07-12.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=More_Than_Words&oldid=722013109"