Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)

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"Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)"
Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand).jpg
Side-B label of US vinyl single "Time Is on My Side"
Single by Irma Thomas
A-side"Time Is on My Side"
Released1964
Recorded1964
GenreR&B
Length2:58
LabelImperial
66041[1]
Songwriter(s)Jeannie Seely, Randy Newman, Judith Arbuckle, Pat Sheeran
Producer(s)Eddie Ray
Irma Thomas singles chronology
"Wish Someone Would Care"
(1964) 		"Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)"
(1964) 		"Times Have Changed"
(1964)

"Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" is a 1964 song written by Jeannie Seely and Randy Newman. It was recorded by Irma Thomas that same year and released as the B-side to "Time Is on My Side". It has come to prominence in recent years due to occasional appearances in the television series Black Mirror.

In his 2005 book Randy Newman's American Dreams, Kevin Courrier describes the song as one that "comfortably sits in that long pop - and blues - tradition of the sacrificial woman who stands by her no-good man" and describes Thomas's performance as one of "immaculate conviction that is both defiant and pained".[2]

The song peaked at number 2 on Billboard's Top TV Songs chart in 2018.[3]

History[]

The genesis for the song came to Jeannie Seely who was working as a secretary at Liberty Records in Hollywood, Los Angeles. In a 2018 interview Seely said that the song originated from "a pantyhose ad in a magazine. It read: 'Anyone who knows what comfort is...'", and stayed after work to compose the song on a piano. Seely said that she "could hear these chords in my mind but I couldn't play them. I thought if I could corner a musician at the office, I could get some help. I saw Randy Newman walking in the hallway. ...I was a secretary and he was a songwriter. We didn't hang together. I figured the worst that could happen is that he would say no". Randy Newman was then a songwriter signed to Metric Music, a publishing company owned by Liberty Records; he agreed to collaborate on the song with Seely. "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" is one of only three writing collaborations that Newman has made in his career, the others being with Bobby Darin and Jackie DeShannon. Newman said that he had forgotten the song by the time he had seen it on Black Mirror and that it "sounded familiar" upon hearing it and that "I knew where the song was going. It took a day for me to remember it."[3]

Judith Arbuckle and Pat Sheeran are also credited as co-composers on the finished version of "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)". What their specific writing input may have been (if any) is unknown.

Seely featured the song on her 2017 studio album Written in Song; it was her first recording of the song. Seely said that she wrote the song "when I was 23...I never thought I would still be getting royalties for it at 78"[3] and that it was "absolutely amazing to me the way this song just keeps showing up in different genres and uses...One of the reasons, I believe, is the haunting melody, and the other is the vulnerability of the lyrics. ...I'm very grateful to all who have recorded it."[3]

Use in popular culture[]

Irma Thomas in 2008

"Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" has gained renewed appreciation as a result of its inclusion in numerous episodes of the science fiction television anthology series Black Mirror, stretching back to the show's first season in 2011.[4] Series creator Charlie Brooker said in a 2018 interview that the song was chosen as it has "...the sound of a timeless haunting classic, yet wouldn’t be familiar to most viewers". Executive producer Annabel Jones said that Brooker keeps featuring the song because "he liked the idea of nesting all the episodes together in an artistic universe of sorts".[4]

The song first appears in the series one episode "Fifteen Million Merits", sung by Jessica Brown Findlay.[4][5] It later appears in a karaoke segment in the special episode, "White Christmas" and in the third season in "Men Against Fire."[6] It is featured again in the fourth season in "Crocodile"[7] and in season five, Miley Cyrus sings the song in "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too".[8]

The song was also featured in the official trailer to the 2018 film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.[9]

The song is used during the end credits of Treme, season 3 episode 6, "Careless Love". Irma Thomas also appears in the episode as herself.[10]

The song is played in the background of the opening bar scene of episode 8 in the first season of Watchmen.

The song is played in the show Dead to Me, in Season 1, Episode 7, "I Can Handle It".

The song is played in the show Big Little Lies, in Season 1, Episode 4, "Push Comes to Shove" during the ending.

The song is also played in the second episode of the German TV series Ku'damm 59.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ "Irma Thomas - Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)/Time Is On My Side at 45cat". 45cat. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  2. ^ Kevin Courrier (2005). Randy Newman's American Dreams. ECW Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-55022-690-4.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "'Anyone Who Knows What Love Is': Why An Obscure '60s Song Is Bigger Than Ever In 2018". Billboard. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Jennifer Maas. "Here's Why You Hear That One Song Over and Over in 'Black Mirror'". The Wrap. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  5. ^ Bland, Archie (19 September 2016). "What was the best hour of television ever?". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  6. ^ Papet, Charlotte (12 March 2015). "Théorie Black Mirror: Un seul univers et une seule timeline?" (in French). Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  7. ^ Maas, Jennifer (11 February 2018). "Here's Why You Hear That One Song Over and Over in 'Black Mirror'". TheWrap. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  8. ^ Maas, Jennifer (7 June 2019). "Here Are All the Ways 'Black Mirror' Season 5 Connects to the Rest of the Show's Universe". TheWrap. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom trailer - Uncle Chris Pratt needs to save his dinosaurs from a volcano". Hindustan Times. 8 December 2017. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  10. ^ ""Treme" Careless Love (TV Episode 2012)", IMDb.com, retrieved 21 November 2019
  11. ^ user craz_anne. "Ku'damm 59 (TV series 2017)". spotify.com. Retrieved 9 March 2021.

External links[]

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