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Under the Water

{{Short description|1995 single by Merril Bainbridge}}

{{About|the Merril Bainbridge song|the Aurora song|All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Under the Water

| cover = Under the Water 3.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Merril Bainbridge

| album = The Garden

| released = {{Start date|df=yes|1995|7|24}}

| recorded =

| studio = 001 (Carlton, Victoria)

| venue =

| length = 4:13

| label =

| writer =

  • Merril Bainbridge{{Cite web|url=http://apraamcos.com.au/search?searchtype=works&keywords=merril+bainbridge&x=29&y=37|title=Search results}}
  • Owen Bolwell
  • Stanley Paulzen

| producer = Siew

| prev_title = Mouth

| prev_year = 1994

| next_title = Power of One

| next_year = 1995

}}

"Under the Water" is a song written in 1990 by Owen Bolwell and Stanley Paulzen, produced by Siew for Australian singer-songwriter Merril Bainbridge's first album, The Garden (1995). The song is about a lover who drowned.{{cite web|url=http://www.thei.aust.com/isite/merril5.html|title=song meaning|work=their.aust.com|access-date=22 December 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970526012239/http://www.thei.aust.com/isite/merril5.html|archive-date=26 May 1997}}

The first version of the song was released in late 1991 on Bolwell and Paulzen's band Tlot Tlot's album A Day at the Bay as "Marshall", featuring Angie Hart from Frente!. The Bainbridge version of the song was released as the album's second single in July 1995 in Australia and February 1997 in the United States. Although it was successful in Australia, reaching number four on the ARIA Singles Chart. In the United States and Canada, the song peaked at numbers 91 and 72, respectively. At the APRA Music Awards of 1996 it won a trophy for Most Performed Australian Work.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918020033/http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/APRAAwards/MusicAwards/History/1996Winners.aspx|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/APRAAwards/MusicAwards/History/1996Winners.aspx|title=1996 Winners – APRA Music Awards|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS)|archive-date=18 September 2009|access-date=11 September 2018}}

Commercial performance

"Under the Water" had commercial success in Australia. In late July 1995 it debuted at number 46 on the ARIA Singles Chart. During its fifth week on the chart, it peaked at number four, making the song Bainbridge's second top-10 single. The song spent a total of 16 weeks in the top 50, and the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awarded the single a platinum certification for shipping 70,000 copies. It became the 24th-highest-selling single in Australia for 1995, selling an estimate of 80,000 copies around Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.thei.aust.com/isite/merril5.html|title=The Making of Merril|work=interview|access-date=23 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970526012239/http://www.thei.aust.com/isite/merril5.html|archive-date=26 May 1997}} The song was nominated for an ARIA Award as the "Highest Selling Single" for 1996 but lost to "Let's Groove" by CDB.[http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-year.php?year=1996 "1996: 10th Annual ARIA Awards"]. ARIA Awards. Retrieved 28 October 2008.

The song was released in the United States on 18 February 1997 but failed to replicate the top-10 success of "Mouth", peaking at ninety-one and spending only six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Bainbridge's last song to chart on the Hot 100.

Music video

There were two music videos produced to promote the song, the first one for Australia and a second version for the United States. The original Australian version was a simple black and white video with Bainbridge walking around a forest and performing the song with a band. However, when Bainbridge broke in the U.S. with her previous single "Mouth", a sleeker video, directed by Martin Kahan,{{cite web|url=http://www.mvdbase.com/video.php?id=2278|title=Music video director|work=mvdbase|access-date=22 December 2006}} was produced for the American market. It was released in December 1996 and shows a man and a woman in a room filled with water.

Track listings

Australian CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Under the Water|others=Merril Bainbridge|year=1995|type=Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=Gotham Multimedia|id=GOTH 95012}}

  1. "Under the Water"
  2. "Garden in My Room" (demo)
  3. "Mouth" (demo)

US CD and cassette single{{cite AV media notes|title=Under the Water|others=Merril Bainbridge|year=1996|type=US CD single liner notes|publisher=Universal Records|id=UDS-56112}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Under the Water|others=Merril Bainbridge|year=1996|type=US cassette single sleeve|publisher=Universal Records|id=UCS-56112}}

  1. "Under the Water"
  2. "Mouth" (alternate take)

French CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Under the Water|others=Merril Bainbridge|year=1997|type=French CD single liner notes|publisher=Gotham Multimedia|id=74321 46626 2}}

  1. "Under the Water"
  2. "Under the Water" (rhythmic version)

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1995–1997)

!Peak
position

{{single chart|Australia|4|artist=Merril Bainbridge|song=Under the Water|rowheader=true|access-date=19 October 2018|refname="aus"}}
{{single chart|Canadatopsingles|72|chartid=3161|rowheader=true|access-date=19 October 2018}}
{{single chart|Canadaadultcontemporary|27|chartid=3177|rowheader=true|access-date=19 October 2018}}
{{single chart|Billboardhot100|91|artist=Merril Bainbridge|rowheader=true|access-date=19 August 2019}}

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1995)

!Position

scope="row"|Australia (ARIA){{cite web|url=https://www.ariacharts.com.au/annual-charts/1995/singles-chart|title=1995 ARIA Singles Chart|publisher=ARIA|access-date=19 August 2019}}

|24

{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=1995|certyear=1995|certref=|salesamount=80,000|salesref=|access-date=24 October 2018}}

|}

Release history

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! Region

! Date

! Format(s)

! Label(s)

! Catalogue

! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row"| Australia

| 24 July 1995

| CD

| Gotham

| GOTH 95012

| {{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

scope="row" rowspan="2"| United States

| 11 February 1997

| Contemporary hit radio

| rowspan="2"| Universal

| {{n/a}}

| {{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-02-07.pdf|title=New Releases|magazine=Radio & Records|issue=1183|page=39|date=7 February 1995|access-date=3 September 2021}}

18 February 1997

| {{hlist|CD|cassette}}

| {{hlist|UDS-56112|UCS-56112}}

| {{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Merril Bainbridge}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Under The Water}}

Category:1995 singles

Category:1995 songs

Category:APRA Award winners

Category:Merril Bainbridge songs