If I Ruled the World

For the Kurtis Blow song, see America (Kurtis Blow album). For the song by Nas featuring Lauryn Hill, see If I Ruled the World (Imagine That). For the UK game show, see If I Ruled the World (game show).

"If I Ruled the World" is a popular song, composed by Leslie Bricusse and Cyril Ornadel, which was originally from the 1963 West End musical Pickwick (based on Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers). In the context of the stage musical, the song is sung by Samuel Pickwick, when he is mistaken for an election candidate and called on by the crowd to give his manifesto. Ornadel and Bricusse received the 1963 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.^[1]

The song is usually associated with Sir Harry Secombe, who got the song to No 18 in the UK charts in 1963, but has been performed by other singers, notably Tony Bennett, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Tom Jones and Regina Belle. Bennett originally recorded the song in 1965, and had a number 34 hit with it on the U.S. pop singles charts. Bennett, with Celine Dion, returned to the song on his Grammy-winning 2006 album Duets: An American Classic.

Andy Hallett – the actor best known for playing the part of Lorne ('The Host') in the television series Angel – sang a cover version of the song in that series' final episode. The politician-spoofing BBC panel show If I Ruled the World was named after the song.

This song was featured in Spring/Summer 2009 on the Vodafone adverts in the UK.

Jamie Cullum also recorded a version for his album The Pursuit, and performed it at his special performance at the Late Night Prom, number Prom 55, of The Proms in London, with The Heritage Ensemble, on Thursday 26 August 2010 between 22:15 and 13.45. As shown on BBC televisions' BBC Four on the following night.^[2]

References

↑ Lister, David, Pop ballads bite back in lyrical fashion, The Independent, 28 May 1994
↑ BBC – Proms – 26 August 2010

External links

Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers (1836)

Characters	Samuel Pickwick Sam Weller Alfred Jingle Nathaniel Winkle Mr Wardle

Places	Goswell Street Dingley Dell Bath Ipswich Fleet Prison Eatanswill

Short Stories	"The Stroller's Tale" "The Convict's Return" "A Madman's Manuscript" "The Bagman's Story" "The Parish Clerk, A Tale of True Love" "The Old Man's Tale About the Queer Client" "The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton" "The True Legend of Prince Bladud" "The Story of the Bagman's Uncle"

Adaptations	1913 film 1921 film 1952 film 1963 musical 1969 TV movie 1985 TV series 1985 film

Other	"If I Ruled the World" George and Vulture

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.