"Your Love Is King"
Single by Sade
from the album Diamond Life
B-side"Love Affair with Life"
ReleasedJanuary 1984[1]
Recorded1983
Genre
Length3:42 (album version)
3:28 (promo version)
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Robin Millar
Sade singles chronology
"Your Love Is King"
(1984) 		"When Am I Going to Make a Living"
(1984)
Music video
"Your Love Is King" on YouTube

"Your Love Is King" is a song by English band Sade from their debut studio album, Diamond Life (1984). The song was written by Sade Adu and Stuart Matthewman, and produced by Robin Millar. It was the album's lead single in the UK, released in January 1984,[5] and the third single in the US, released there circa June 1985.[6]

The song became the group's highest-charting single on the UK Singles Chart to date, peaking at number 6. In the US, it reached number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 35 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart, and number eight on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The B-sides of the 12-inch single were included on cassette versions of Diamond Life, with the extended "Smooth Operator/Snake Bite" replacing the original. The song is performed on the Live Aid concert.

English pop singer Will Young covered the song for the soundtrack to the 2004 film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

Composition

"Your Love is King" was originally published in the key of A Major in 12
8 time with a tempo of 90 beats per minute. Adu 's vocals span from A4 to F#5.[7]

The tenor saxophone is played by Stuart Matthewman.[8]

Reception

"Your Love is King" was ranked at number seven on Heavy's list of Top 51 Best Love Songs: The Heavy Power List.[9] Tanya Rena Jefferson of AXS stated, "The jazzy slow swaying song, allows you to feel the smoothness of Sade's voice."[10] Frank Guan of Vulture commented, "There's a special charm to certain early Sade songs where poise and lightness prove compatible with profound commitment, and this song, with its blend of spiritual and physical love, is definitely one of them."[11]

Track listings

A. "Your Love Is King" – 3:39
B. "Love Affair with Life" (recorded live) – 4:35
A1. "Your Love Is King" – 3:58
B1. "Smooth Operator"/"Snake Bite" – 7:28
B2. "Love Affair with Life" (recorded live) – 4:35

Charts

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Your Love Is King"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Great Rock Discography. 6 March 1995. p. 712. ISBN 978-0-86241-541-9.
  2. ^ a b Hamilton, Andrew. "Sade - Your Love Is King". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  3. ^ Pitchfork Staff (10 September 2018). "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 April 2023. Diamond Life, the group's debut, is impeccably balanced between honeyed smooth jazz and gripping pop—as its blockbuster singles, "Smooth Operator" and "Your Love is King," demonstrate.
  4. ^ a b Wener, Ben (1 January 1998). "Sade". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 415–416.
  5. ^ "New Singles". Music Week: 14. 11 February 1984. This source mentions the 12" release date was 13 Feb 1984; the 7" was released earlier as the debut on the UK charts was 18 February; it debuted on airplay charts in the next issue.
  6. ^ Billboard Hot 100 debut: 22 June 1985
  7. ^ "Sade - Your Love is King". musicnotes.com. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Your Love Is King by Sade on WhoSampled". WhoSampled.
  9. ^ Ryan, Sean (24 September 2018). "Top 51 Best Love Songs: The Heavy Power List". Heavy.com. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  10. ^ Jefferson, Tanya Rena. "Sade's 10 best songs". AXS. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  11. ^ Guan, Frank (26 October 2017). "All 73 Sade Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best". Vulture. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  12. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 263. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ^ "Sade – Your Love Is King" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9263." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  15. ^ "European Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 1, no. 3. 16 April 1984. p. 8. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  16. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Your Love Is King". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2022. Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Sade" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
  18. ^ "Sade – Your Love Is King". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  19. ^ "Sade: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  20. ^ "Sade Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Sade Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  22. ^ "Sade Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  23. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending July 27, 1985". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  24. ^ "The Cash Box Top 100 Black Contemporary – Week ending August 17, 1985". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Top Selling Singles of 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  26. ^ "Top 100 Singles (January 3–December 29, 1984)" (PDF). Music Week. 26 January 1985. p. 37. ISSN 0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
  27. ^ "British single certifications – Sade – Your Love Is King". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
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