Lifted (Lighthouse Family song)


"Lifted" is a song written by British duo Lighthouse Family, for their debut album Ocean Drive. The song was produced by Mike Peden. It was released as the lead single on May 1995 and reached the top 70 in the United Kingdom. In February 1996 the song was re-released, reaching a new peak of number four in the United Kingdom and reaching the top 40 in Austria, Iceland and Ireland, as well as on the Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary chart. In 1999 "Lifted" was again re-released but with a different single cover.

Background and release

Songwriter Paul Tucker worked in a house music club in Newcastle and had written a song called "Ocean Drive". After four years he decided to find a singer to sing it. A friend told him about singer Tunde Baiyewu from London and after singing the song, Tucker felt he was the right person to sing it. Tucker contacted several record companies and sent them the song on cassettes. Several labels showed interest and the duo signed to Polydor Records with only one song. The record company kept asking for more material. They brought in some musicians to record a few songs, but Polydor rejected the songs. "Lifted" came up in this process. Tucker and Baiyewu felt they needed some kind of spiritual lift. Tucker also remembered the tunes he had heard in the club where he worked, like "Promised Land" by Joe Smooth. He drew inspiration from these song into the new song. The duo had a lot of worries in the writing-process. They worried that the record company would drop them. These thought also fed into the lyrics of "Lifted". They sent a tape of the new song to Polydor and they loved it.

Critical reception

Billboard felt singer Tunde Baiyewu's style drew similarities to Seal; and called it a "wonderful British-soul single... With its shuffling, funk-derived beat and strumming melody."

Track listing

  1. "Lifted" — 4:34
  2. "Beautiful Night" — 4:49
  3. "Absolutely Everything" — 3:57
  4. "Lifted" — 4:20
  1. "Lifted" — 4:22
  2. "Lifted" — 6:39
  3. "Lifted" — 6:28
  1. "Lifted" — 4:22
  2. "Absolutely Everything" — 3:57
  1. "Lifted" — 4:21
  2. "Lifted" — 4:03
  3. "Lifted" — 4:08
  4. "Lifted" — 6:08
  1. "Lifted" — 4:21
  2. "Lifted" — 4:00

    Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position

Year-end charts

Certifications

In popular culture

The song was used as the official campaign song for the British Labour Party under Tony Blair in their successful 2001 election campaign.
The song was also used as the theme song for 2018 at Maris Stella High School. Mr Kwok Weng Yee, Dean of Student Development of the school, chose this song to highlight the school vision "Every Marist, a Gentleman of Faith, Vision and Service" in celebration of the school's 60th Anniversary.