"Why" is the first solo single by the Scottish singer Annie Lennox, released in 1992. It was taken from her debut solo album Diva and reached No. 5 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, "Why" peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was also a big hit internationally, reaching No. 1 in Italy and peaking within the Top 10 in Belgium, Canada, Ireland and five other countries.
Critical reception
Jennifer Bowles from Associated Press described the song as an "emotional, hypnotizing ballad". Larry Flick from Billboard called it a "soft-yet-vivid ballad that beautifully showcases the rich and distinctive tone of her voice". He noted that the "sophisticated nature of track will strain at the tight boundaries of top 40 radio." Keith Wallace from Columbia Daily Spectator said that "Why" "wants to be a soulful ballad, but it's so drippy and goofy that it doesn't come anywhere close." HuffPost wrote that Lennox' vocal approach "evokes" Sting and Paul Simon and added "she declares, "This is the book I never read, these are the words I never said, this is the path I'll never tread", then went on to say, "These are the dreams I'll dream instead", making this her sideways stab at creating her own "My Way"." Music & Media commented that Lennox "confidently goes AC on her first solo effort" and that the song is "gently moving and highly polished. She could hardly move farther away from the stirring rock of Eurythmics." Kjell Moe from Nordlys called it "beautiful and intense". Pop Rescue noted that "a soft brushed beat and gentle percussion sit comfortably beneath Annie's sad vocals. This song gently grows, throwing in some extra soft beats, but generally keeps itself a little low-key." Nick Griffiths from Select said that it is "the sort of tasteful soulful ballady thing you 'd probably expect of her by now, and when the tide of tasteful soulful balladiness swamps her halfway through it's no surprise either." Slant Magazines Eric Henderson wrote that "Why" is "hardly the sort of melodramatic setting we'd imagine from an album whose very name evokes histrionic pretense. But Annie Lennox isn't and has never been a representative pop diva. Her body is lanky and angular instead of curvaceously plush. Her exaggerated facial features are matched in androgen-fabulousness only by her tremulously guttural alto." In 2015, Stereogum ranked "Why" at number-one in their list of the 10 best Annie Lennox songs. They wrote:
Music video
The music video was directed by Sophie Muller and was filmed during the shoot for the Diva album cover. The video shows Lennox sitting in front of a vanity mirror staring and marveling at herself before slowly putting on makeup. By the middle of the video, Lennox is fully made up and in the outfit she wore on the Diva album cover. The rest of the video consists of shots of Lennox posing for the cameras along with in-between shots of her singing the song. The video won Lennox an award for Best Female Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.
In 2005 "Why" was covered by Spanish producer DJ Sammy with vocals by German singer Britta Medeiros. "Why" is the second single from the albumThe Rise. The music video features DJ Sammy in a room with a mixboard that he uses to create three holographic women that sing the song.
The song was interpreted by Amii Stewart and Dee Dee Bridgewater on the 1994 Italian song festival. In 2001, Neal Schon performed an instrumental version on the album Voice. In 2003 the song was performed by popular NOLA singer /musician John Boutte on his album . The song was also covered by Kelly Clarkson, live on her. This song has also been covered by Keith Caputo on Died Laughing Pure. In March 2008 the song was covered by Italian singer Silvia Aprile on X-Factor Italy stage. The studio version of Aprile's cover was later included in the Italian X-Factor compilation. In August 2009, the song was covered by David Rose. Also, the song was covered in September 2009 by European singer Lara Fabian on her new album "Every Woman In Me" and by Canadian artist Allison Crowe on her 2010 album Spiral. It was also covered live in January 2010 by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Annie Clark of St. Vincent at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. At Christmas season 2010 it was covered by Patrice Pike in a live recording Sudden Light: Christmas at the Carillon with Conspirare. In July 2011, the song was covered by singer/songwriter Kevin Caffrey. Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak covered the song in May 2012. The movie "Hope Springs" released 2012 starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones uses the song in one of its last scenes. The song was also covered in the Finale of The Voice and was released on iTunes in June 2013 by contestant Michelle Chamuel.
