I'm Looking Out the Window

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"I'm Looking Out the Window" is a ballad written by Don Raye and John Jacob Niles.[1] Peggy Lee first recorded the song as a B-side for her 1959 single "Hallelujah, I Love Him So".[2] The song is best known as a hit record for Cliff Richard in 1962 in numerous countries (excluding the U.S.).

The authorship of the song has not always been clear. Peggy Lee's original release on Capitol Records was credited to Don Raye.[2] Cliff Richard's release on Columbia was credited to John Jacob Niles.[3] The Songwriter's Hall of Fame now credits it to both.[1]

Cliff Richard version

"I'm Lookin' Out the Window"
Single by Cliff Richard
B-side "Do You Want to Dance"
Released May 1962 [4]
Recorded 11 December 1961, Abbey Road Studios
Label Columbia
Writer(s) John Jacob Niles
Producer(s) Norrie Paramor
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"The Young Ones"
(1962)
"I'm Lookin' Out the Window/Do You Want to Dance"
(1962)
"It'll Be Me/Since I Lost You"
(1962)

Cliff Richard with The Norrie Paramor Orchestra recorded it for release as a single in 1962. It reached number 2 in the UK singles chart and was successful in numerous other countries.[5] It was only Cliff's second song released as a single without the backing of his band The Shadows (known as The Drifters on his first five singles).

The song was somewhat overshadowed by its upbeat B-side, Do You Want to Dance, which gained its own UK chart position of number 10 in the New Musical Express singles chart[6] (as it allowed separate listing of B-sides). Notably, it also became the sole or primary listed song of the single in some countries' charts (refer to the Chart Performance section below). As was more usual on singles in the early part of Cliff's career, Do You Want to Dance also featured The Shadows backing Cliff.

Chart Performance

Chart entries as I'm Looking Out the Window/Do You Want to Dance:

Chart (1962) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[5] 2
Denmark (Tracklisten)[7] 6
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] 18
India[9] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 2
New Zealand[11][12] 2
Norway (VG-lista)[13] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 3

Chart entries as "Do You Want to Dance" or "Do You Want to Dance/I'm Looking Out the Window":

Chart (1962) Peak
position
UK (New Musical Express Chart)[6] 10
Australia (Kent Music Report)[15] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[16] 4
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[17] 1
South Africa[18] 2
Spain (Promusicae)[19] 15

Other Versions

  • French singer Francois Feguelt recorded a French version titled "Deja le jour se leve" (1963).[20]
  • Nancy Holloway also recorded a version of "Deja le jour se leve" as the B-side of her single "Prends garde a toi".[21]

References

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  4. http://www.cliffrichardsongs.com/crworks6.php
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Cliff Richard: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  10. "Chart Track: Week 20, 1962". Irish Singles Chart.
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  12. Billboard did not publish the NZ chart every week. This NZ chart (source unknown) has the song at number 3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. "Norwegiancharts.com – Cliff Richard – I'm Lookin' Out The Window". VG-lista.
  14. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. "Ultratop.be – Cliff Richard – Do You Wanna Dance" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Cliff Richard – Do You Wanna Dance" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
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  20. International News Reports, Belgium, second paragraph Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links