You're the Inspiration

"You're the Inspiration"
Single by Chicago
from the album Chicago 17
B-side	"Once In a Lifetime"
Released	November 29, 1984
Format	7"
Recorded	1984
Genre	Rock, Soft Rock, Pop Rock
Length	3:53
Label	Full Moon/Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Peter Cetera, David Foster
Producer	David Foster
Chicago singles chronology
Hard Habit to Break (1984) You're the Inspiration (1984) Along Comes a Woman (1985)

"You're the Inspiration" is a song written by Peter Cetera and David Foster for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago 17 (1984), with Cetera singing lead vocals. The third single released from that album, it reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in January 1985, and also climbed to the top position on the adult contemporary chart at the same time.

History

Cetera stated in a 2004 interview that "Inspiration" started out as a song for Kenny Rogers. David Foster was working in the studio with Rogers and called Cetera to tell him that Kenny wanted Peter to write a song for him. Cetera said in the interview, "David Foster called me up and he said 'I'm in the studio with Kenny Rogers and he would like you to write a song for him.' I said 'That's great! As a matter of fact I'm leaving for Italy, I was going to Europe for something, I don't remember, and this was like nine o'clock in the morning. I said 'I'm leaving for Italy tonight about five o'clock, I'll be there about two weeks, and I'll call you when I come back.' He said 'No, he means now.'(....)So David was in the studio, of course, last minute and I told him, 'Come out here right now and we'll see what we can do.' Well in the midst of packing David drove out to where I was then living, and we basically in about three hours came up with a little chordal structure for 'You're the Inspiration', which it wasn't called that at the time. And we sort of made this little tape of this chord structure, I took it on the plane, went to Italy, and of course lying in these beautiful baroque and marble, and rooms, I was writing things about 'Michelangelo, you should know, Michelangelo'. Then I came up with, oh, you're the inspiration! Anyway, I came back with the words and melody, and presented the song: and he basically didn't have the time or didn't want to do it...good for me!"^{[citation needed]} He then changed some of the words and recorded it with Chicago for their Chicago 17 album.

Music video

The music video for this song was a simple blend of performance miming and scenario playing interspersed throughout. Various couplings are shown showing affection for one another. Cetera is shown strumming his bass (which is flipped upside down, perhaps to better fit the shot or possibly done by Cetera as a bit of a joke) while seated informally on a plush chair for most of the video's duration. Cetera is shown throughout the video wearing a t-shirt for the goth rock pioneers Bauhaus. The band's name is hidden but the logo is unmistakable. This is noteworthy because Bauhaus and Peter Cetera are so incongruous in the public's perception of the two. Also during the video, band member Walt Parazaider is just sitting around, reading a newspaper, looking very bored. Actor Matt Dillon makes a cameo in the music video.

Charts

Chart (1984/85)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	3
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
Dutch Top 40	32
New Zealand Singles Chart	30
Swedish Singles Chart	6
UK Singles Chart	4

Preceded by "All I Need" by Jack Wagner

Billboard Adult Contemporary (chart) number-one single January 26, 1985 – February 2, 1985

Succeeded by "Careless Whisper" by Wham! featuring George Michael

Peter Cetera feat. Az Yet version

"You're the Inspiration"
Single by Peter Cetera feat. Az Yet
from the album You're the Inspiration: A Collection
Released	August 26, 1997
Format	CD
Recorded	1996
Genre	Rock R&B Adult Contemporary
Length	4:06
Label	Platinum Entertainment
Writer(s)	Peter Cetera, David Foster
Producer	Babyface
Peter Cetera feat. Az Yet singles chronology
"Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (1997) "You're the Inspiration" (1997) "Keep on Pushin'" (2007)

Track listings

1. You're the Inspiration 4:06
2. Hard to Say I'm Sorry 3:14

Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	77
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	29
Dutch Top 40	72

Cover versions

• "You're the Inspiration" was covered by UK singer Elkie Brooks on her 1989 album, Inspiration, and by David Foster as an instrumental-piano version on his 1991 album, Rechordings. In 2003, pop singer Stevie Brock covered the song on his 2003 debut self-titled album.
• The song was also covered by Julian Miranda for the 2006 Nintendo DS game Elite Beat Agents.
• The song was covered by Relient K for inclusion on their 2011 EP, Is for Karaoke.

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1985 (U.S.)

The song was later covered by the Jamaican Reggae group L.U.S.T. in 2009