Hummingbird (Seals and Crofts song)
{{Infobox song
| name = Hummingbird
| cover = Hummingbird_-_Seals_&_Crofts.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Seals and Crofts
| album = Summer Breeze
| B-side = Say
| released = January 1973
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soft rock
| length =
| label = Warner Bros.
| writer = Jim Seals, Dash Crofts
| producer =
| prev_title = Summer Breeze
| prev_year = 1972
| next_title = Diamond Girl
| next_year = 1973
}}
"Hummingbird" is a song by American soft rock duo Seals and Crofts, released as a single in 1973. It was the second single from their fourth studio album, Summer Breeze, the follow-up to the LP's title track.
Background
The “hummingbird” in the song’s lyrics is a metaphor for Baha'u'llah, Prophet of the Baha'i Faith. The album version contains a prologue that is omitted from the shorter radio edit.
The song reached No. 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}} and number 15 on the Cash Box Top 100.{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19730324.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, March 24, 1973 |access-date=December 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609181952/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19730324.html |archive-date=June 9, 2015 |url-status=dead }} "Hummingbird" was a bigger Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number 12 on the U.S. chart{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |year= 1993 |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 |publisher= Record Research |page=214}} and number three in Canada.[http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4838&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4838.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4838 Adult Contemporary playlist, April 28, 1973]
Harvey Brooks played bass on this song and talks about it in this interview for No Treble.{{Cite web|url=https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2019/04/18/stories-behind-the-songs-harvey-brooks/|title=Stories Behind the Songs: Harvey Brooks|first=Kevin|last=Johnson|date=April 18, 2019}}
Chart performance
{{col-begin|width=65%}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" |
| Chart (1973)
! Peak |
|---|
| align="left"|Canada RPM Top Singles
| 40 |
| align="left"|Canada RPM Adult Contemporary
| 3 |
| align="left"|U.S. Billboard Easy Listening
| 12 |
| align="left"|U.S. Cash Box Top 100
| 15 |
| align="left"|U.S. Billboard Hot 100
| 20 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart (1973)
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank |
|---|
| U.S. (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual){{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |date=1999 |title=Pop Annual |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |publisher=Record Research Inc. |isbn=0-89820-142-X}}
| style="text-align:center;"|145 |
{{col-end}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{YouTube|fysxCBOIa9U|Listen to "Hummingbird"}}
{{Seals and Crofts}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Seals and Crofts songs
Category:Songs written by James Seals
Category:Warner Records singles
Category:Hummingbirds in popular culture
{{1970s-single-stub}}