| "Our Lips Are Sealed" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by the Go-Go's | ||||
| from the album Beauty and the Beat | ||||
| B-side | "Surfing and Spying" | |||
| Released | June 12, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:44 | |||
| Label | I.R.S. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
| |||
| The Go-Go's singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Our Lips Are Sealed" is a song co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three.
It was first recorded by the Go-Go's as the opening track on their album Beauty and the Beat (1981) and was their debut American single in June 1981. The single eventually reached the top 5 in Australia and Canada, and the top 20 in the United States. Originally written and performed with three verses,[2] the song appears in an abbreviated version on Beauty and the Beat. Most of the song's vocals are performed by lead singer Belinda Carlisle, with co-writer Wiedlin singing the bridge.
In 1983, Hall's band Fun Boy Three released their version of "Our Lips Are Sealed". Issued as a single, the track became a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom, besting the recording by the Go-Go's which only made it to No. 47 in the UK.
Record World described the song as being as "innocent and infectious as pop music can be", with a "steady, pulsating dance beat" and "candy-coated keyboard riffs".[3]
In 2000, Rolling Stone & MTV put the Go-Go's' original version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" at No. 57 on a list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs.[4] In 2021, their version was also listed at No. 477 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[5]
The song was later included in the jukebox musical Head over Heels that debuted on Broadway in 2018. The Go-Go's also performed the song, along with "Vacation" and "We Got the Beat", during the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.[6]
- ^ Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave?: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-472-03470-3.
- ^ See video "Totally Go-Go's" recorded live on December 4, 1981, at Palos Verdes High School
- ^ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. July 4, 1981. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ "Rock On The Net: Rolling Stone & MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs: 51-100". Rock On The Net. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
- ^ Zaleski, Annie (October 30, 2021). "The Go-Go's Break Out Hits, 'Rock Star' Poses for Long Overdue Rock Hall Induction". Rolling Stone.