"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by British musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by 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 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, Greatest Hits 1970–2002 and Diamonds as well as a number of other compilations.
In 2004, John and Ray Charles performed the song on Charles' duet album, Genius Loves Company. It would turn out to be the last recording Charles made before his death that June. The duet was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
Background and composition "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a mournful ballad about a romantic relationship that is falling apart. Bernie Taupin said: "It's a pretty simple idea, but one that I think everyone can relate to at one point or another in their life. That whole idealistic feeling people get when they want to save something from dying when they basically know deep down inside that it's already dead. It's that heartbreaking, sickening part of love that you wouldn't wish on anyone if you didn't know that it's inevitable that they're going to experience it one day."
Elton John began writing the song in 1975 in Los Angeles. Whilst many of his songs involved Taupin writing lyrics first, then John writing the music later, John wrote the melody and most of the lyrics for "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", and Taupin completed it afterwards. John explained: "I was sitting there and out it came, 'What have I got to do to make you love me.'" In the singer's 2019 autobiography, he explains that those first lyrics were "the fallout of another disastrous infatuation with a straight guy."
Taupin later said: "I don't think he was intending on writing a song, but we were sitting around an apartment in Los Angeles, and he was playing around on the piano and he came up with this melody line, and I said, 'Hey, that's really nice.' For some reason this lyrical line, 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word' ran through my head, and it fit perfectly with what he was playing. So I said, 'Don't do anything more to that, let me go write something,' so I wrote it out in a few minutes and we had the song." Taupin added: "[The i]nteresting thing about 'Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word' is that it's one of the rare occasions when Elton played me a melody line that inspired a lyric, as opposed to our routine of the lyrics always coming first. He was messing around on the piano one day and was playing something and asked me what did I think. It was actually pretty immediate, the title and the first couple of lines came into my head in a way that I guess I felt they were already there and just needed a little prompting."
Reception 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 US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. In the US, it was certified gold on 25 January 1977 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Billboard praised John's vocal performance, calling it "almost painfully sincere and believable" and also commented on the complexity of the backing vocals. Cash Box called it "a tender love song about breaking up." Record World called it "Elton's most emotional and moving ballad performance since 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight.'"
Personnel Elton John – piano, vocals Ray Cooper – vibraphone Carl Fortina – accordion James Newton Howard – electric piano, strings arrangement Kenny Passarelli – bass
Commercial performance Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1976–1977)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)11US Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – 6US Easy Listening (Billboard)1US Cash Box Top 1007
Year-end charts Chart (1977)RankCanada Top Singles (RPM)83US Billboard Hot 10095
Certifications
Blue version
"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" 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 John and was the second single from the album. It peaked at number one on the UK singles chart on 15 December 2002, giving Blue their third number-one single and John his fifth. It also reached number one in Hungary and the Netherlands, and peaked within the top 10 in an additional 16 countries.
Background When Blue's second studio album, One Love, was being put together, executive producer Hugh Goldsmith said that a cover version should be included on the final tracklist. Band member Lee Ryan suggested "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". Despite reservations from the rest of the group, who were skeptical that John would allow them to record the track, John's management gave permission. John accompanied the band in the recording studio and was originally only going to play the piano, but he later said he was willing to sing as well, and the song became a duet.
Track listings UK CD1 "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (radio edit) – 3:31 "Lonely This Christmas" – 2:08 "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Ruffin Ready Soul mix) – 3:51 Video interactive element – 3:30
UK CD2 "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (radio edit) – 3:31 "Album Medley" – 5:44 "Sweet Thing" – 3:38 Video interactive element – 3:30
UK cassette single "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (radio edit) – 3:31 "Album Medley" – 5:44 "Sweet Thing" – 3:38
Personnel Personnel are taken from the UK CD1 liner notes. Elton John – music, featured vocals Bernie Taupin – lyrics Blue – vocals StarGate – production Max Dodson – photography
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2002–2003)PeakpositionCanada (Nielsen SoundScan)7Croatia (HRT)3Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)2Europe (European Hit Radio)2Finland Airplay (Radiosoittolista)3 France Airplay (SNEP)1Greece (IFPI) See Best column.3Italy (Musica e dischi) Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Blue".6Latvia (Latvijas Top 40)1Portugal (AFP)5Romania (Romanian Top 100)5Spain Airplay (Top 40 Radio)19UK Airplay (Music Week)4
Year-end charts Chart (2002)PositionIreland (IRMA)38UK Singles (OCC)34
Chart (2003)PositionAustria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)29Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)29Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)10Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)6Europe (European Hit Radio)7France (SNEP)28France Airplay (SNEP) 30Germany (Media Control GfK)24Ireland (IRMA)58Italy (FIMI)24Latvia (Latvijas Top 50)10Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)2Netherlands (Single Top 100)4New Zealand (RIANZ)25Romania (Romanian Top 100)11Sweden (Hitlistan)20Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)26Taiwan (Hito Radio)43UK Singles (OCC)90
Decade-end charts Chart (2000–2009)PositionNetherlands (Single Top 100)31
Certifications
Release history RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)United Kingdom9 December 2002 Belgium11 December 2002CDVirginAustralia5 May 2003CD
Other versions In 2004, Elton John and Ray Charles performed the song on Charles' duet album, Genius Loves Company. It would turn out to be the last recording Charles made before his death that June. The duet was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
Suzy Bogguss and Chet Atkins recorded the song for the 1994 duet album, Simpatico. It was nominated for Vocal Event of the Year at the 1995 CMA Awards.
References