Wisemen

This article is about the song by James Blunt. For other uses of the term, see Wise men (disambiguation).

"Wisemen"
Single by James Blunt
from the album Back to Bedlam
Released	7 March 2005
Format	CD single
Recorded	Los Angeles, California
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:42
Label	Atlantic, Custard Records
Writer(s)	J. Blunt J. Hogarth S. Skarbek
Producer	Tom Rothrock Jimmy Hogarth
James Blunt singles chronology
"You're Beautiful" (2005) "Wisemen" (2005) "Goodbye My Lover" (2005) 2006 Re-release cover

"Wisemen" is a pop rock song written by British singer James Blunt, Jimmy Hogarth and Sacha Skarbek for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam. The song was produced by Tom Rothrock and Jimmy Hogarth. The song was released as the second single in the first quarter of 2005 and reached the top fifty in the United Kingdom, peaking at number forty-four. Following the success of "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", "Wisemen" was re-released in the spring of 2006, number twenty-one in New Zealand, and at number twenty-three in the UK. The song was met with positive reviews.

Music videos

The first music video, released in tandem with the first UK release of the single, has Blunt and his band performing in the Café de Paris. The only occupants of the café are three middle-aged men, supposedly businessmen, who are accompanied by a young woman. The woman stands and begins to dance in the middle of the room but is ignored by the men. Three masked men, supposedly the wisemen, then enter and kidnap Blunt, putting him into a car and driving to the shore where he is imprisoned in a hastily-constructed shack by the seaside, in reference to the lyric, "Those three wisemen, they've got a semi by the sea." The masks were constructed from moulds cast from Blunt's own face. The second version, which was released in tandem with the UK re-release of the single, has Blunt burning his personal papers and passport in a forest before slowly internally combusting. This video has been released to the US market. During a guest-hosting slot on the BBC2 program "Never Mind The Buzzcocks", James was asked what the line meant and said that "Semi" referred to a "semi-automatic rifle".

Release

The initial release was available on three physical formats. The CD single includes an exclusive live performance of "No Bravery". The DVD includes the original video for "Wisemen", exclusive "Making-Of" footage and a live audio recording of "Out Of My Mind". The 7" Vinyl includes a live performance of "Billy". The re-release was also available on three physical formats, containing a similar tracklisting. CD1 includes a live performance of "Out Of My Mind", taken from the initial DVD single; CD2 includes the live performances of "No Bravery" and "Out Of My Mind", plus the video for "Wisemen"; and the limited edition one-sided 7" Vinyl features "Wisemen" only.

Track listings

• 2005

CD

1. "Wisemen" - 3:45
2. "No Bravery" (Live) - 3:24

DVD

1. "Wisemen" (Audio) - 3:45
2. "Wisemen" (Video) - 3:50
3. "High" (Video) - 3:45
4. "Wisemen" (The Making Of The Video) - 3:00

7" Vinyl

1. "Wisemen" - 3:45
2. "Billy" (Live) - 4:12

• 2006

CD1

1. "Wisemen" - 3:45
2. "Out Of My Mind" (Live At The Bowery Ballroom, NYC) - 3:22

CD2

1. "Wisemen" - 3:45
2. "No Bravery" (Live) - 3:16
3. "Out Of My Mind" (Live At The Bowery Ballroom, NYC) - 3:00

7" Vinyl

1. "Wisemen" - 3:45

Chart performance

On 7 March 2005, "Wisemen" was released in the United Kingdom. The song became Blunt's first single not to chart within the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number forty-four. It was re-released in the UK the following March and became his fourth top forty single when it peaked at number twenty-three on the singles chart, and spent a total of six weeks in the top seventy-five. It reached number eleven in Australia and became his third single to reach the top twenty. In Canada, the song became an airplay hit, reaching number three on the BDS Airplay chart.

Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	44
Chart (2006)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	11
Austrian Singles Chart	15
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart	52
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart	41
Czech IFPI Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	9
Dutch Top 100 Singles	17
German Singles Chart	40
Irish Singles Chart	36
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	21
Swedish Singles Chart	38
Swiss Singles Chart	23
UK Singles Chart	23