Wisemen

Infobox Single
Name = Wiseman


Artist = James Blunt
from Album = Back to Bedlam
Released = March 2005 (UK and Europe)
March 2006 (Worldwide re-release)
Format = CD single (Worldwide)
Vinyl single (United Kingdom)
Recorded = Los Angeles, California
Genre = Pop rock
Length = 3:42
Label = Atlantic Records/Custard Records
Writer = J. Blunt
J. Hogarth
S. Skarbek
Producer = Tom Rothrock
Jimmy Hogarth
Certification =
Last single = "High"
(2004)
"High" (re-release)
(2005)
This single = "Wisemen"
(2005)
"Wisemen"
(2005)
Next single = "You're Beautiful"
(2005)
"1973"
(2007)Extra album cover
Upper caption = Alternate Covers


Lower caption = Alternate coverExtra album cover
Upper caption =


Lower caption = 7" single cover

"Wisemen" is a pop rock song written by British singer James Blunt, Jimmy Hogarth and Sacha Skarbek for Blunt's debut album "Back to Bedlam" (2004). The song was produced by Tom Rothrock and Jimmy Hogarth and received a mixed reception from music critics. The song was released as the second single in the first quarter of 2005 and reached the top fifty in the United Kingdom, peaking at number forty-four. Following the success of "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", "Wisemen" was re-released in the spring of 2006, and became a top forty hit worldwide, charting at number eleven in Australia, number twenty-one in New Zealand, and at number twenty-three in the UK.

Music videos

The first music video, released in tandem with the first UK release of the single, has Blunt and his band performing in the Café de Paris. The only occupants of the café three middle-aged men, supposedly businessmen, who are accompanied by a young woman. The woman stands and begins to dance in the middle of the room but is ignored by the men. Three masked men, supposedly the wisemen, then enter and kidnap Blunt, putting him into a car and driving to the shore where he is imprisoned in a hastily-constructed shack by the seaside, in reference to the lyric, "Those three wisemen, they've got a semi by the sea." The masks were constructed from molds cast from Blunt's own face.

The second version, which was released in tandem with the UK re-release of the single, has Blunt burning his personal papers and passport in a forest before slowly internally combusting. This video has been released to the U.S. market.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Wisemen".

UK CD

# "Wisemen"
# "No Bravery" (Live)
# "Out of My Mind" (Live)

UK CD (re-issue)

# "Wisemen"
# "Out of My Mind" (Live at Bowery Ballroom, New York City)

UK one-sided 7" (re-issue)

# "Wisemen"

Chart performance

On March 7, 2005, "Wisemen" was released in the United Kingdom. The song became Blunt's first single not to chart within the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number forty-four. It was re-released in the UK the following March and became his fourth top forty single when it peaked at number twenty-three on the singles chart, and spent a total of six weeks in the top seventy-five.

It reached number eleven in Australia and became his third single to reach the top twenty. In Canada, the song became an airplay hit, reaching number three on the BDS Airplay chart.

Charts

Appearances in Popular Culture

The 2006 film "Trust the Man" used this song in its theatrical trailer. Wismen was also used in the second series of popular BBC Three sitcom Gavin and Stacey.

References

*cite web | title= Chart Data: James Blunt| work= Worldwide chart positions| url=http://www.mariah-charts.com/chartdata/PJamesBlunt.htm| accessmonthday=June 4 | accessyear=2006

External links

* [http://www.jamesblunt.com/ Official James Blunt website]
* [http://www.atlanticrecords.com/ Official Atlantic Records website]