Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"
Single by Elton John
from the album Blue Moves
B-side	"Shoulder Holster"
Released	1 November 1976
Format	Vinyl record (7")
Recorded	Eastern Sound, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 22 March 1976
Genre	Soft rock
Length	3:48
Label	Rocket (UK) MCA (US)
Writer(s)	Elton John Bernie Taupin
Producer(s)	Gus Dudgeon
Elton John singles chronology
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (1976) "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (1976) "Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)" (1977)

"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the Blue Moves album. It was John's second single released by The Rocket Record Company. The song is a mournful ballad about a romantic relationship which is falling apart. The song is in the key of G melodic minor and G harmonic minor.^[1]

The song also appeared the following year on Greatest Hits Volume II, though for copyright reasons it no longer appears on the current version of that album. It now appears on Greatest Hits 1976–1986, The Very Best of Elton John and in Greatest Hits 1970–2002, as well as a number of other compilations.

The song is also featured prominently in the 1977 movie Slap Shot.

In December 2015, the song was used in a US holiday-themed commercial for Temptation cat treats.

Personnel

• Ray Cooper – vibraphone
• Carl Fortina – accordion
• James Newton Howard – electric piano, strings arrangement
• Elton John – piano, vocals
• Kenny Passarelli – bass

Commercial performance and certifications

Commercial performance

The song was a Top 20 hit, reaching No. 11 in the United Kingdom, No. 6 in the United States and No. 3 in Canada. In addition, the song went to No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart. In the US, it was certified Gold on 25 January 1977 by the RIAA.^[2]

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[3]	Gold	75,000^^
United States (RIAA)[4]	Gold	1,000,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Blue version

"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"
Single by Blue featuring Elton John
from the album One Love
B-side	"Sweet Thing"
Released	9 December 2002
Format	CD single, audio cassette
Genre	Pop, R&B
Length	3:41 (album version) 3.31 (radio edit)
Label	Universal
Writer(s)	Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer(s)	Stargate
Blue singles chronology
"One Love" (2002) "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (2002) "U Make Me Wanna" (2003)

The song was covered in 2002 by English boy band Blue for their second studio album, One Love (2002). The song was recorded as a collaboration with Elton John, and was the second single from the album. It peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 15 December 2002.

Track listing

UK CD1

1. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Radio Edit) – 3:31
2. "Lonely This Christmas" – 2:08
3. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Ruffin Ready Soul Mix) – 3:51
4. "Recording Studio Footage" – 3:30

UK CD2

1. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Radio Edit) – 3:31
2. "Album Medley" – 5:44
3. "Sweet Thing" – 3:38
4. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Video) – 3:31

UK Cassette

1. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Radio Edit) – 3:31
2. "Album Medley" – 5:44
3. "Sweet Thing" – 3:38

Charts and certifications

Chart performance Chart (2002–03) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[5] 43 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 4 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 3 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[8] 4 Canada (Nielsen SoundScan) 7 Denmark (Tracklisten)[9] 5 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[10] 2 France (SNEP)[11] 6 Germany Singles Chart 3 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[12] 1 Ireland (IRMA)[13] 3 Italy (FIMI)[14] 4 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[16] 5 Norway (VG-lista)[17] 2 Romania (Romanian Top 100)[18] 5 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[19] 1 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[20] 7 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 2 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 3 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[23] 1

Sales and certifications Region Certification Certified units/Sales Belgium (BEA)[24] Gold 25,000^* Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[25] Gold 20,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Silver 200,000^^ ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Other versions

"Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" has been covered by a wide variety of artists from country to R&B. It has been recorded as a duet, in Spanish, and has even featured Elton John himself on a couple of versions.

In 1991, Joe Cocker covered this song.

In 1994, country singers Suzy Bogguss and Chet Atkins covered the song on their 1994 Simpatico. It was released as a single but failed to chart.

In 2002, the boy band Blue recorded the song with Elton John (who received a featured artist credit). This version was produced by multi-platinum producer Ray Ruffin and was a hit throughout Europe and went to No. 1 in the UK, where it received a Silver sales certification and sold 315,000 copies.

In 2004, Elton John and Ray Charles performed the song on Genius Loves Company.

Sampling by Pnau

In 2012, the Australian electron pop duo Pnau, signed by Elton John to his own management company, Rocket Music,^[27] produced a remix album of eight Elton tracks. The lead single of this album was Sad, which sampled Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word.

The single was the lead single for the eight-track remix compilation Good Morning to the Night in collaboration with Australian remixer Pnau, which came out on 16 July 2012.

The "so sad" lyric, alongside with elements of previous hits was merged into Elton John's new single "Sad", which had its first play on Magic 105.4 on 9 July 2012.

References

1. Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis, p.41. ISBN 978-0-300-09239-4.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 128.
3. "Canadian single certifications – Elton John – Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". Music Canada. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
4. "American single certifications – John, Elton – Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 22 November 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
5. "Australian-charts.com – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
6. "Austriancharts.at – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
7. "Ultratop.be – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
8. "Ultratop.be – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
9. "Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word Hitlisten.nu" (in Danish). Tracklisten. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
10. "Hits of the World – Eurochart Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 5 April 2003. p. 49. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
11. "Lescharts.com – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
12. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
13. "Chart Track: Week 51, 2002". Irish Singles Chart.
14. "Italiancharts.com – Blue – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
15. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 6, 2003" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
16. "Charts.org.nz – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
17. "Norwegiancharts.com – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". VG-lista. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
18. Romanian Top 100 at the Wayback Machine (archived 18 February 2005)
19. "Archive Chart: 2002-12-21". Scottish Singles Top 40.
20. "Spanishcharts.com – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" Canciones Top 50.
21. "Swedishcharts.com – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Blue feat. Elton John – Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
23. "December 2002/ Archive Chart: 21 December 2002" UK Singles Chart.
24. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2003". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
25. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Blue feat. Elton John; 'Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
26. "British single certifications – Blue ft Elton John – Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 November 2012. Enter Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
27. HI! Magazine » Review: Elton John vs. Pnau – Good morning to the night

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics