You're the Voice

"You're the Voice"
Single by John Farnham
from the album Whispering Jack
B-side	"Going, Going, Gone"
Released	September 1986
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD
Recorded	1985/1986
Genre	Rock
Length	5:04
Label	Wheatley Records
Writer(s)	Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder, Chris Thompson
Producer	Ross Fraser
John Farnham singles chronology
"Love (It's Just the Way It Goes)" (1985) "You're the Voice" (1986) "Pressure Down" (1986)

"You're the Voice" is a song written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson for John Farnham, which he recorded for his sixteenth album Whispering Jack released in 1986. The song was awarded the 1987 Aria Award for "Single of the Year". The song was one of the biggest hits of the year in Australia, topping the singles chart there for many weeks. It is also one of Farnham's biggest international successes, reaching the top 10 in many European countries, although in the US it performed relatively poorly. BMG/RCA re-released the song in the US in February 1990, after Farnham made the Adult Contemporary charts with "Two Strong Hearts". It spent 8 weeks on the charts, peaking only at #82.

Pop culture appearances

The song appeared in the 2007 film Hot Rod, and was featured on the film's soundtrack. The song appears in a scene when the main character Rod is preparing to jump 15 buses to raise money to save his stepfather. Some of the crowd are also involved in singing along to it, and a small 3-piece bagpipe band is shown walking along the road in time to the song's version of the same.

The song was also featured on the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City on the fictional in-game radio station "Vice City FM". It was used in the Applause Coca-Cola light ad as well.

This track has also recently been covered by UK Rock band 'Forever Never' as part of an EP called 'I Can't Believe It's Not Metal'.

The song was also performed by Colin Morgan and Bradley James in the video diaries of Merlin.

Chart history

Chart (1986–87)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	6
Danish Singles Chart	1
Dutch GfK Singles Chart	18
Dutch Top 40	15
German Singles Chart	1
Icelandic Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	3
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	3
UK Singles Chart	6
Chart (1990)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100	82

Cover versions

• Coldplay performed the song live alongside Farnham at the 2009 Sound Relief event at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
• UK heavy band Forever Never on their EP I Can't Believe it's Not Metal!.
• The power metal band Blind Guardian on their 2010 album At the Edge of Time
• A cappella group Club for Five in 2009 on their album "You're The Voice".
• Kate Miller-Heidke on her 2009 album Live at The Hi-Fi
• Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall for the ITV1 show Guilty Pleasures in 2008
• Chris Thompson on the version found on the SAS Band's self titled album from 2004.
• The British vocal group G4 on their 2004 album G4 & Friends.
• Rebecca St. James on her 1996 album "God"
• Alan Parsons on his 1996 album The Very Best Live as an unreleased studio version that allowed Chris Thompson a first chance to record his own song as lead vocalist.
• Dutch a cappella group Montezuma's Revenge in 1995 on their album "Make A Noise"
• Lavrentis Machairitsas covered the song with Greek lyrics in his 1993 album Ρίξε κόκκινο στη νύχτα.
• David Foster in his 1990 album "River of Love".
• Brenda Cochrane on her second album The Voice which went gold in the autumn of 1990.
• A UK hardcore track released by Waxman in 1996 sampled 'You're The Voice'

David Archuleta covered the song on American Idol 2008 during the week of the Top 10. The weeks theme was songs from the year the contestants where born. A full length studio version of the song recored by Archuleta appeared on iTunes during his time on American Idol.

Heart

"You're the Voice"
Single by Heart
from the album Rock the House Live!
B-side	"Wild Child (live)"
Released	October 1991
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD
Recorded	November 1990
Genre	Rock
Length	5:05
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder, Chris Thompson
Producer	Richie Zito
Heart singles chronology
"Secret" (1991) "You're the Voice" (1991) "Will You Be There (In the Morning)" (1993)

As a lead promotion for their first live album Rock the House Live! in 1991, US rock band Heart released their live version of "You're the Voice" as a single. It was captured during the US leg of their Brigade world tour in November 1990. The single performed moderately well, reaching #20 on the US Mainstream Rock chart, whilst it was a minor hit in the UK reaching #56.

It was released in multiple limited edition formats in different territories, with the UK boasting the highest number of these:

1. 7" etched one-sided single
2. 7" red vinyl single
3. 10" red vinyl single
4. 12" etched one-sided single
5. CD single

A studio version of the track had been recorded in late 1989 as part of the sessions for the Brigade album, though the track did not make the album cut track list. This studio version would not see release until its later inclusion on a greatest hits package, Greatest Hits: 1985–1995, in July 2000.

Chart performance

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	65
UK Singles Chart	56
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart	20