“Up Where We Belong” by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
“Up Where We Belong” is one of those songs from the 1980s that you’ve undoubtedly heard before but may not know exactly who sings it. Nor may one be particularly aware of what is being said in the lyrics outside of the phrase “up where we belong”, which comes across quite clearly and effectively in the chorus.
So today our intent is the break down the wording and make an attempt to understand exactly what’s going on here. And interesting to note that at the end of it all, this song isn’t necessarily what one would define as being romantic.
But is in fact a love song, albeit in the most-general sense of the word “love”. Or stated differently yes, this is verily a romantic-sounding duet between a sweet-voiced woman and a masculine-toned man.
Moreover it was verily featured on one of the most-iconic romantic endings in American movie history. But honestly, there is nothing in the lyrics pointing to amorous affection. Instead they read as being more akin to an inspirational piece than anything else.
A Song that Inspires
Or put more precisely, the titular “up” is a metaphor, as you likely already know. But what it alludes to isn’t anything romantic per se. Instead it is an ideologically state where the vocalists are able to “far” transcend “the world below”.
And “the world below” is equivalent to an allegory for the humdrum of everyday, unedifying living.
This premise has been verified by Will Jennings, one of the co-writers of the song. He based the lyrics on his own background, as well as that of the characters in the famous 1980s movie “An Officer and a Gentleman“, who are working-class people.
And fundamentally the narrator of this song is someone who is down and out and at the end of the road. That is the idea which the line “all I know is the way I feel” in the first verse is intended the point to.
Or as Jennings explained, “if you have nothing else to tell you what to do in your life, you have to go with what you feel”.
Also concerning the imagery of the “mountain high”, such as actually symbolic of “striving for the top”. And the eagle crying is representative of “wild freedom”.
Positivity
So this song is sort of like an exercise in positive thinking, if you will. There is “no time to cry”, i.e. harp on the bad breaks life may have thrown your way. Instead you are “alive today”, thus affording you the opportunity to improve your lot. And of course ‘there are mountains in the way’, as in the road to such a lofty ambition being filled with challenges.
“But every day” the vocalists “climb a step”, gradually working their way to the top, i.e. out of their current unfavorable existence and into one which is more edifying, whatever that may mean to them.
Perhaps it could be endeavoring towards a fruitful romance. But honestly such aspirations would be interpreted differently by different listeners.
In Conclusion
But conclusively, all of this is not to imply that this song is all vision and grind. “Love” is obviously an important factor, if not the most-important, in their aspirations. For the vocalists are convinced that it is love – not hard work or patience or perseverance – which more so than anything else has the power to ‘life them up where they belong’.
Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker
Concerning who it is that actually sings this song, that would be Jennifer Warnes and the late Joe Cocker (1944-2014). The former is from the USA (Seattle) and the latter the UK.
In both of their cases, all things considered, this was the most-successful song of their careers, although they enjoyed other number ones as well.
In Warnes case she topped the Billboard Hot 100 again with “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” (1987) alongside Bill Medley, another song made popular by a movie, in that case being 1987’s “Dirty Dancing”.
And way prior to “Up Where We Belong”, in 1968, Joe Cocker scored a UK Singles Chart number one with his cover of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends“.
When was “Up Where We Belong” released?
It came out on 22 July 1982, being part of the soundtrack to “An Officer and a Gentleman” (1982), a film starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger.
The movie itself was a critical success, and the song also achieved a number of notable accomplishments. For instance, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox Top 100. In addition to these achievements, it also achieved number one status in Canada, Australia and South Africa. Additionally it has been certified gold in the United States.
Even more Accolades
“Up Where We Belong” earned its performers a Grammy Award and its composers an Academy Award, on top of a Golden Globe Award. All of that transpired in 1983.
The Grammy was in the category of Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. And both the Golden Globe Award and Academy Award were for what is perhaps the most-distinguished musical accolade associated with those events, Best Original Song.
And just to note, the following year the tune also took home a BAFTA award, again being named Best Original Song.
The RIAA eventually went on to rank it amongst the “Songs of the [20th] Century”, a list that only comprised 365 tracks in total.
Did Joe Cocker write “Up Where We Belong”?
No. The writers of this hit song are Buffy Sainte-Marie (Canada), Will Jennings (USA) and the late Jack Nitzsche (USA, 1937-2000). And interesting to note is that Nitzsche and Sainte-Marie married in 1982, the same year in which this track was officially dropped (having done so after it came out).
Challenges Prior to Recording
As the story goes this song sort of came about as the result of an underground project between Frank Mancuso, who worked for Paramount Pictures, the company that distributed “An Officer and a Gentleman” and Taylor Hackford, the director of the film.
That is to say that they wanted to create an original song for the movie but didn’t have any money left over from the budget to do so. They proceeded anyway, eventually getting in contact with Jennifer Warnes who then suggested she drop a duet with Joe Cocker.
This was because they deemed her voice to be “too sweet” for the sound they desired. Moreover Cocker was in fact a musician whom Warnes looked up to.
At one point the track’s producer, Stewart Levine, was hesitant to get involved but did so anyway due to his admiration of Will Jennings.
On top of that Cocker proved to be “terrified” when it came to actually recording the song and had to be coaxed into participating by Levine.
Challenges after Recording
Then even after all that, Paramount Pictures and others in the game thought the track was a bust. But it ended up on the final cut of the movie regardless because time did not permit Hackford and co. to come up with another song.
And even then for whatever reason, radio stations were reluctant to play it until the movie itself blew up. And ultimately, such an unorthodox and even challenging origin resulted in what is considered to be one of the greatest songs in American history.
Interestingly, even after it blew up, “Up Where We Belong” still caused a considerable amount of discontent in Joe Cocker’s career. For instance, his label, Island Records, was cheesed off that a song he recorded in just a matter of hours instantly outperformed an entire album, “Sheffield Steel” (1982), that he dropped under them just prior which took an entire year to put together.
Also the tone of this track deviated from Cocker’s norm. Or put differently, after the release of “Up Where We Belong”, no one, not even industry execs, knew exactly which genre to classify Joe Cocker in.
Live Performances
Jennifer and Joe made an agreement with each other to never lip sync this song while performing it live. Moreover Warnes in particular has noted that ‘never saw him off stage’, she and Cocker enjoyed a “beautiful” professional relationship and always worked perfectly in unison when rendering this tune.
Popular Covers
This song has been covered by the brother-and-sister team of BeBe & CeCe Winans, being prompted by Tammy Faye Bakker (1942-2007), originally in 1984 and again in 1996.
And the latter went on to win a GMA Dove Award in 1998 in the category of Contemporary Gospel Song of the Year.
Co-writer Buffy Sainte-Marie also came out with her own rendition of “Up Where We Belong” in 1996.
TV Appearances
“Up Where We Belong” has also been featured – in some way, shape or form – on some of the most-popular television shows in history, such as the following:
- “The Simpsons” (1990)
- “Friends” (1996)
- “South Park” (2005)
- “The Office” (2007)
- “Scrubs” (2007)
