Take Me I'm Yours
{{short description|1978 single by Squeeze}}
{{for|Japanese television series|Take Me, I'm Yours}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Take Me I'm Yours
| cover = Take me i'm yours cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Squeeze
| album = Squeeze
| released = 3 February 1978 (UK)
| recorded = 1977
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Power pop|synth-pop{{cite web |author1=Carly |title=Squeeze - Squeeze |url=https://www.punknews.org/review/15842/squeeze-squeeze |date=1 June 2018 |website=PunkNews |accessdate=16 November 2019}}|}}
| length = 2:45
| label = A&M
| writer = Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook
| producer = Squeeze
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Bang Bang
| next_year = 1978
}}
"Take Me I'm Yours" is the debut single by English new wave band Squeeze. It established the band's trademark vocal style, with Chris Difford singing an octave lower than Glenn Tilbrook.{{cite book |last1=Wade |first1=Chris |title=Interview with the Hound Dawg: Rik Mayall,The Velvet Underground, The Kinks And More... |isbn=978-1-4716-3286-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66uXAwAAQBAJ |language=en}}
Background
"Take Me I'm Yours" was one of the first songs the band had written. As Chris Difford recalled, "[It was] written very early on in our career. I don't know a lot of songs lyrically I find that it takes a while to discover what they're about. You write them down, they're almost negatives of a photograph that need to develop and with that one, it's still developing."{{cite web |last1=Nolasco |first1=Stephanie |title=Squeeze's Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook reveal the strangest fan encounter they've had: 'She wins the award' |date=1 September 2019 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/squeeze-chris-difford-glenn-tilbrook-tell-all |publisher=Fox News |accessdate=10 November 2019}} The song has been described by writers as "synth-pop" and one of Squeeze's "power pop hits",{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/spot-the-difference-184485/ |last1=Kemp |first1=Mark |title=Spot The Difference |accessdate=15 May 2020 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=16 August 2010}} differentiating it from the punk style of much of the band's first album; Difford later named the song one of the only tracks on the album that was representative of Squeeze.{{cite web |last1=Masley |first1=Ed |title='I saw that and it made me cry': Chris Difford on 'Rocketman' and life with Squeeze |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/09/10/squeeze-2019-tour-how-chris-difford-and-glenn-tilbrook-have-made-it-work/2266374001/ |date=10 September 2019 |website=The Arizona Republic |accessdate=11 November 2019}}
Lyrically, the song features images of exotic locations and travels. Difford was inspired to write these lyrics after visiting the home of the band's manager, Miles Copeland: "I was staying at my manager's house and his mother was or is an archaeologist. And she'd worked a lot in Egypt where Miles went to school. She had pictures and matching ornaments from that part of the world, and it inspired that kind of lyric. But it changed into a very different song over the years."{{cite web |last1=Wiser |first1=Carl |title=Squeeze: Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford |url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/squeeze-glenn-tilbrook-and-chris-difford |website=Songfacts |access-date=16 August 2022}}
The song's synth arrangement led the song to be described by author Mark Spicer as possibly the first recording by a UK group featuring a drum machine. Tilbrook explained of the song's sound: "We hired lots of synths and a bloke who knew how to work them and pretended to be Kraftwerk."{{cite book |last1=Spicer |first1=Mark |title=Rock Music |date=5 July 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-55069-7 |page=305 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gD8rDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} Tilbrook cited engineer John Wood as "very helpful" in that he "knew how to rein in what we were producing and gave us some structure".{{cite book|last1=Tilbrook|first1=Glenn|last2=Difford|first2=Chris|last3=Drury|first3=Jim|title=Squeeze: Song by Song|publisher=Sanctuary}} Wood would go on to co-produce the band's subsequent two studio albums.
Release
"Take Me I'm Yours" was released as the first single from the band's debut 1978 album Squeeze. The track peaked at number 19 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1978.{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 522}} The single's success not only established Squeeze as a new wave player, but provided manager Copeland the leverage to negotiate a favorable deal with A&M Records for another band he was managing: the Police, featuring his brother Stewart on drums.{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Aaron J. |title=Sting and The Police: Walking in Their Footsteps |date=1 October 2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-8491-5 |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfqACgAAQBAJ |language=en}}
Record World said that "the synthesizer underpinnings make this offbeat love song stand out; it's a bit like 10cc."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=April 15, 1978|accessdate=2023-02-15|title=Record World Single Picks|page=38|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/78/RW-1978-04-15.pdf}}
The band filmed a music video for the song. Tilbrook later singled out the video for featuring him using "a 1959 Strat" that he described as the "first proper guitar" he ever had. He commented, "It was a lovely guitar and the best Strat I ever had. ... It played like a dream but was stolen."{{cite web |last1=Wood |first1=James |title=Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford answer your questions |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/squeeze-glenn-tilbrook-chris-difford |website=Guitar World |access-date=16 August 2022 |language=en |date=16 May 2022}}
In 1998, the song was used in an American television commercial for Dockers jeans.
Track listing
- "Take Me I'm Yours" (2:45)
- "Night Nurse" (2:43)
Cover versions
The song has been covered several times, including a unique take by Tim Curry on his 1981 album Simplicity, and more recently by Andrea Corr on her album Ten Feet High.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050816200821/http://www.squeezenet.co.uk/ Squeeze discography at Squeezenet]
{{Squeeze}}
Category:Songs written by Glenn Tilbrook