Situation (song)#Accolades

{{short description|1982 single by Yazoo}}

{{for|the song by A Little Sound and Sugababes|Situation (A Little Sound and Sugababes song)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Situation

| cover = YazooSituation.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Artwork for 1982 US release

| type = single

| artist = Yazoo

| A-side = Only You

| B-side = Remix (12-inch)

| album = Upstairs at Eric's

| released = 1982

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = {{hlist|Synth-pop{{cite magazine|title= On Stage > Alison Moyet – Old Vic Theater, London – Dec. 1 |magazine= Billboard |date= 21 December 2002 |volume= 114 |issue= 51 |page= 37 |issn= 0006-2510 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2002/BB-2002-12-21.pdf |quote= "Situation," followed by "Don't Go," two synth-pop dance jams from the singer's Yazoo days that, sadly, sounded out of place"}}|dance-pop{{cite web|url=https://www.liveabout.com/best-dance-pop-songs-4147273|title= 25 Best Dance Pop Songs of All Time|last=Lamb|first=Bill|date=21 August 2019|access-date=7 June 2022|website=LiveAbout}}|new wave{{cite web|first= Michael |last= Marotta |title= Deco do it again by taking Arctic Monkeys back to Yazoo's '80s dancefloor |work= Vanyaland |date= 17 February 2021 |access-date= 19 February 2021 |url= https://vanyaland.com/2021/02/17/deco-do-it-again-by-taking-arctic-monkeys-back-to-yazoos-80s-dancefloor/}}|dance-rock{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Jon |title=Soft Cell and Yaz(oo): Synths and Singers |journal=Trouser Press |date=February 1983 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/soft-cell-and-yazoo-synths-and-singers |access-date=4 June 2023}}}}

| length = {{unbulleted list|2:22 (UK B-side)|3:44 (US 7-inch single)|5:40 (US 12-inch single)}}

| label = {{hlist|Mute|Sire}}

| writer = {{hlist|Alison Moyet|Vince Clarke}}

| producer = {{hlist|Eric Radcliffe|Daniel Miller|Vince Clarke}}

| prev_title = Don't Go

| prev_year = 1982

| next_title = The Other Side of Love

| next_year = 1982

}}

{{Listen|filename= Sample_of_"Situation"_by_Yaz.ogg|pos= right|title= "Situation"|description = A 19-second sample of "Situation" demonstrating the synthesizer hook and the laugh that has been sampled by other artists.}}

"Situation" is a 1982 single by British synth-pop band Yazoo. The song was released in the UK as the B-side to Yazoo's debut single "Only You", which went to number two on the UK singles chart. Released as a single in North America, the song peaked at number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, and hit the top 40 in Canadian charts, peaking at number 31. In late-summer 1982 it became Yazoo's first song to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, remaining at number one on this chart for four weeks. It also crossed over to the Black Singles chart, peaking at number 31.

Its most well-known version is the U.S. 12-inch remix by François Kevorkian. This version was included on the U.S. version of Yazoo's debut album Upstairs at Eric's (1982), and it is the version of the song which receives the most radio airplay in the United States (where the song, despite its modest showing on the Hot 100, is still played on alternative, variety-hits and dance-oriented radio stations).

In 1990, and again in 1999, the song was remixed by several noted DJs, including Peter Rauhofer and Richard "Humpty" Vission. The 1999 remixes were released to dance clubs. In October of the same year, this renewed interest in the song sent "Situation" to number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for a second time.

In 2006, Slant ranked the song at number 64 in its list of the "100 Greatest Dance Songs".

The song was heavily sampled in the Saturdays' 2008 debut single "If This Is Love". Moyet's laugh at the start of the track has been sampled on several different recordings, including the 1995 smash dance hit "Macarena" by Los del Río. The song was also interpolated by Heidi Montag for the 2009 single "Body Language."{{cite news |date=August 16, 2007 |title=New Heidi Montag (Feat. Spencer Pratt)–"Body Language" |url=https://www.stereogum.com/6158/heidi_montag_feat_spencer_pratt_body_language/news/ |website=Stereogum }}

Tom Jones covered the song on his 1994 album The Lead and How to Swing It.