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True Colors (Cyndi Lauper song)

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"True Colors"
Single by Cyndi Lauper
from the album True Colors
B-side"Heading for the Moon"
ReleasedAugust 15, 1986[1]
GenreSynth-rock[2]
Length3:46
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Cyndi Lauper
  • Lennie Petze
Cyndi Lauper singles chronology
"The Goonies 'R' Good Enough"
(1985) 		"True Colors"
(1986) 		"Change of Heart"
(1986)
Music video
"True Colors" on YouTube

"True Colors" is a song written by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. It was both the title track and the first single released from American singer Cyndi Lauper's second studio album of the same name (1986).[3] Released in mid-1986, the song spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, being Lauper's second and last single to occupy the top of the chart. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Composition

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Billy Steinberg originally wrote "True Colors" about his own mother. Tom Kelly altered the first verse and the duo originally submitted the song to Anne Murray, who passed on recording it, and then to Cyndi Lauper.[4] Their demo was in the form of a piano-based gospel ballad like "Bridge over Troubled Water". Steinberg told Songfacts that "Cyndi completely dismantled that sort of traditional arrangement and came up with something that was breathtaking and stark."[3] Other songs they wrote for Lauper include "I Drove All Night" and "Unconditional Love".

Music video

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The accompanying music video for the song, which received heavy rotation on MTV, was directed by American choreographer Patricia Birch. In the video, Lauper sings on a dark soundstage, sitting beside a drum and holding a black flower. A young girl who explores a beach takes the flower and ends up seeing two women, one light-skinned and one dark-skinned, drinking tea on a boat. Lauper appears on the beach in an elaborate jeweled headdress with a shell in her hand. She is then seen lying on a white sheet, which a long haired man (David Wolff) proceeds to pull. They eventually share a kiss. Lauper is then seen walking on the beach with a skirt made of newspaper while she walks past a class of schoolchildren. At the end of the video, she leans over a pool of water, in a scene reminiscent of the album photo cover. The video ends as it began, only now, Lauper is beating on the drum four times, in time with the music.

Critical reception

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Jerry Smith of the Music Week magazine deemed that "Lauper's fragile little girl voice" perfectly matches with this "effective ballad with its sympathetic, sparse accompaniment", but also added that this "downbeat style" was unlikely to make the song memorable.[5] Di Cross of Record Mirror was strongly critical of "True Colors", stating that Lauper "does nothing to restore her flagging credibility rating with a dire, slushy attempt at an emotional ballad, the mixture curdled further by some appalling little girl vocals, complete with whispering asides and chest beating passion play".[6]

The pan-European magazine Music & Media named "True Colors" one of its "records of the week" in the issue dated September 6, 1986.[7]

Chart performance

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"True Colors" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 25, 1986. It also peaked at number three in Australia and New Zealand, and number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. In Mexico's Notitas Musicales (Hit Parade) "True Colors" stayed several months on the Top 10, reaching #5 on January 15, 1987.

Legacy

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The single has become a popular anthem in the gay community. In various interviews, Lauper elaborated that the song had resonated with her because of the recent death of her friend, Gregory Natal, from HIV/AIDS.[8] Years later, Lauper co-founded the True Colors Fund,[9] a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating LGBT youth homelessness. On December 13, 2022, Lauper performed the song at the ceremony where U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law.[10]

"True Colors" was also featured in a 1999 promo for PBS Kids, a children's programming brand of the American public television network PBS.[11]

Tours

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Lauper embarked on a True Colors Tour in 2007 with several other acts, including Eddie Money, Deborah Harry and Erasure. The tour was for the Human Rights Campaign to promote LGBT rights in the US and beyond. A second True Colors Tour occurred in 2008.

Track listings

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  • 7-inch single
  1. "True Colors" – 3:45
  2. "Heading for the Moon" – 3:17
  • European 12-inch single
  1. "True Colors" – 3:45
  2. "Heading for the Moon" – 3:17
  3. "Money Changes Everything" (Live) – 6:04

Personnel

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Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[44] Gold 50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[45] Gold 45,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[46]
Since 2009 		Gold 50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[47]
2006 release 		Gold 400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[48] Platinum 1,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Phil Collins version

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"True Colors"
Single by Phil Collins
from the album ...Hits
B-side"In the Air Tonight"
Released26 October 1998
StudioBrandon's Way (Los Angeles)
Length4:34
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Babyface
Phil Collins singles chronology
"The Same Moon"
(1997) 		"True Colors"
(1998) 		"You'll Be in My Heart"
(1999)
Music video
"Phil Collins - True Colors (Official Music Video)" on YouTube

In 1998, the song was recorded by English musician Phil Collins for his first greatest hits album, ...Hits (1998). R&B singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds produced and provided backing vocals. The track peaked at number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. It additionally reached the top 40 in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, and Hungary.

In 2004, a live rehearsal version was released on Collins' Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and New album.

Track listings

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UK CD1 and cassette single[49][50]

  1. "True Colors" – 4:33
  2. "I Missed Again" – 3:41
  3. "In the Air Tonight" – 7:32

UK CD2[51]

  1. "True Colors" – 4:33
  2. "Don't Lose My Number" – 4:47
  3. "Take Me Home" – 5:51

European CD single[52]

  1. "True Colors" – 4:33
  2. "In the Air Tonight" – 7:32

Australian CD single[53]

  1. "True Colors" – 4:33
  2. "In the Air Tonight" – 7:32
  3. "Don't Lose My Number" – 4:47
  4. "I Missed Again" – 3:41

Credits and personnel

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Credits are adapted from the UK CD1 liner notes.[49]

Studio

  • Recorded and mixed at Brandon's Way Recording (Los Angeles)

Personnel

Charts

[edit]

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States September 22, 1998 Contemporary hit radio
[72]
Japan October 5, 1998 CD WEA [73]
United Kingdom October 26, 1998
  • CD
  • cassette
[74]

Kasey Chambers version

[edit]
"True Colours"
Single by Kasey Chambers
B-side
  • "If I Could" (live)
  • "Lonely"
ReleasedApril 14, 2003 (2003-04-14)[75]
LabelEMI Music
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Nash Chambers
Kasey Chambers singles chronology
"If I Were You"
(2002) 		"True Colours"
(2003) 		"Hollywood"
(2004)

In 2003, Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers' recording of "True Colors" became the theme song for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The song peaked at number four, was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), and went on to be the 76th best-selling single in Australia that year. As of 2024, it is Chambers' second-highest-charting single in Australia, after "Not Pretty Enough".

Track listing

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Australian CD single[76]

  1. "True Colours"
  2. "If I Could" (live)
  3. "Lonely"

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[77] 4

Year-end charts

[edit]
Chart (2003) Position
Australia (ARIA)[78] 76

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[79] Gold 35,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Other versions

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In 2009, Jenna Ushkowitz performed it on the television program Glee, and this version was included on the compilation album Glee: The Music, Volume 2, released on December 4, 2009. The single charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and reached number 15 in Ireland, number 35 in the United Kingdom,[80] number 38 in Canada[81][82] and number 47 in Australia.

In 2012, Artists Against Bullying (often styled as "Artists Against"), an agglomeration of seven Canadian musicians, re-recorded the song and released it during Bullying Awareness Week.[83] The project was inspired by the increase in teen bullying and cyberbullying, especially the Amanda Todd case,[84] with proceeds being donated to Kids Help Phone, a Canadian counseling service for children and youth.[84] The artists involved in the recording were Lights, Pierre Bouvier (from Simple Plan), Jacob Hoggard (from Hedley), Fefe Dobson, Kardinal Offishall, Alyssa Reid and Walk Off the Earth. The song entered the Canadian Singles Top 100 chart at number 10[85] the week it was released.

In 2016, Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick covered the song for the DreamWorks Animation movie Trolls. Their version was certified platinum in Brazil[86] and gold in the United Kingdom.[87]

For BBC Children in Need in 2019, 1,399 children sang the song in unison from nine towns across the UK. [88] The performance on the telethon started in the studio and as all the choirs sang it cut between them giving them about 20-25 seconds on air, all in real time as they sang. The choirs sang from: Elstree at Elstree Studios the studio just outside of London where the main telethon was held,[88] Hartlepool at The Town Hall Theatre,[88] Belfast at W5,[88] Maidstone at Allington Castle,[88] The Wirral at the Lady Lever Art Gallery,[88] Cardiff at The Broadcasting House,[88] Mountsorrel at The Mountsorrel Memorial Centre,[88] Larkhill at St Michael's CE Primary School,[88] Glasgow at BBC Pacific Quay[88][89][90]

References

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  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 30.
  2. ^ Breihan, Tom (January 11, 2021). "The Number Ones: Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors"". Stereogum. Retrieved October 10, 2022. Lauper took their demo...and turned it into a whisper-to-howl synth-rocker.
  3. ^ a b "True Colors by Cyndi Lauper". Interview with Billy Steinberg about "True Colors". Songfacts. Archived from the original on July 4, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
  4. ^ "Cyndi Lauper". The A.V. Club. October 26, 2011.
  5. ^ Smith, Jerry (September 20, 1986). "Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 24. Retrieved September 8, 2023 – via World Radio History.
  6. ^ Cross, Di (September 6, 1986). "Singles reviewed by Di Cross" (PDF). Record Mirror. London: Spotlight Publications Ltd. p. 10. ISSN 0144-5804. Retrieved November 6, 2023 – via World Radio History.
  7. ^ "M&M Tip Page" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 3, no. 35. September 6, 1986. p. 11. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  8. ^ Burnett, Richard (April 4, 2014). "The true colours of Cyndi Lauper". CurtainsUP. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  9. ^ "Mission Statement". True Colors Fund. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  10. ^ Otten, Tori (December 13, 2022). "Biden Signs Landmark Bill Protecting Same-Sex Marriage". The New Republic. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  11. ^ PBS Kids - True Colors (Full) (2010 Wfwa Dt2), archived from the original on December 22, 2021, retrieved September 30, 2021
  12. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 173. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between 1983 and June 12, 1988.
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  50. ^ True Colors (UK cassette single sleeve). Phil Collins. Virgin Records, Face Value Records. 1998. VSC1715, 7243 8 95383 42.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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  83. ^ "November 12, 2012 Archives". Chymfm.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015.
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  85. ^ "True Colors by Artists Against Bullying - Music Charts". Acharts.co. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  86. ^ "CERTIFICADOS". Pro-Música Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  87. ^ "British certifications – Anna Kendrick/Timberlake – True Colors". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  88. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rimell, William (November 14, 2019). "south wiltshire primary schools sing live bbc children need".
  89. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MHf2yynQNA The BBC Children in Need official YouTube channel version of the full performance without the onscreen graphics
  90. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDxOYAhu1TQ version of the performance with the on-screen graphics which aired on the TV
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