El Lute/Gotta Go Home Explained

Gotta Go Home
Cover:Boney M. - Gotta Go Home (1979 single).jpg
Type:single
Artist:Boney M.
Album:Oceans of Fantasy
B-Side:El Lute
Released:1979
Label:Hansa Records (FRG)
Composer:Heinz Huth, Jürgen Huth, Frank Farian
Lyricist:Fred Jay
Producer:Frank Farian
Prev Title:Hooray! Hooray! It's a Holi-Holiday
Prev Year:1979
El Lute
Title2:Gotta Go Home
Next Title:I'm Born Again / Bahama Mama
Next Year:1979

"Gotta Go Home" is a 1979 double A-side single by German group Boney M. It was the lead single from their fourth album Oceans of Fantasy (1979) and was the group's eighth and final number-one single in the German charts.

In the UK, where "Gotta Go Home" was chosen as the main A-side, the single was their first one since their debut single not to reach the Top 10, peaking at number 12. Boney M. used the double A-side format over the next years, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides were usually switched on the accompanying 12" single.

In 2010, Boney M's "Gotta Go Home" was sampled on the Duck Sauce dance hit "Barbra Streisand".

"El Lute"

"El Lute" tells the true story of Spanish outlaw Eleuterio Sánchez, who was still in prison at the time the song was released, though he was shortly to be released following a pardon. The song presents his claim that he was wrongly convicted of murder and links his liberation from prison to the liberation of his country from oppression after the rule of Franco. During a promotional visit in Spain, Boney M. met Sánchez and gave him a golden record for the sales of the single.

Margot Borgström wrote lyrics in Swedish, as Wizex recorded the song on the 1979 album Some Girls & Trouble Boys.[1] Released under Kikki Danielsson's name, the song became a Svensktoppen hit for 10 weeks between 25 November 1979 – 10 February 1980, even topping the chart for one week.[2] [3] Liz Mitchell later released a version on the album No One Will Force You titled "Mandela" with the lyrics altered to describe the life of Nelson Mandela, who was still in prison at the time.

"Gotta Go Home"

"Gotta Go Home" was re-written from a German single "Hallo Bimmelbahn" (1973) by Nighttrain with the brothers Heinz and Jürgen Huth, both also credited as co-writers on Boney M.'s version. Boney M. first promoted it in a few TV shows in its early version "Going Back Home". Several single versions featured a 4:40 version (timing on label 4:22), a slightly remixed edit of the full 5:04 version, and longer than the 3:45 album edit. Later single pressings featured a 4:00 edit, which is the same as the album edit but with the "going back home.." break slightly extended. In 2010 "Gotta Go Home" was sampled on the Duck Sauce track "Barbra Streisand".[4]

"Gotta Go Home" was issued as an A-side in Canada, and was a Top 40 hit on the RPM Magazine charts there, peaking at number 35 in November 1979.

Releases

7" Single

12" Single

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1979)Peak
position
Argentina[5] 4
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 44
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[7] 1
Finland (Suomen Virallinen)[8] 2
France (IFOP)[9] 5
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[10] 2
Spain (AFE)[11] 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1979)Rank
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] 16
France (IFOP)[14] 16
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 15
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 27
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 8
West Germany (Official German Charts)[18] 14

Covers

The song was sampled by Vietnamese rapper named Antoneus Maximus (Long Mộng Gà) and Phương Vy - female singer for their 2014 single "On and On".

On November 8, 2023, Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani released a cover of Gotta Go Home.[19]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Some girls and trouble boys / Wizex . . 14 June 2014 .
  2. Web site: Svensktoppen: 1979 . . 14 June 2014 .
  3. Web site: Svensktoppen: 1980 . Svensktoppen . 14 June 2014 .
  4. Web site: Jon . O'Brien . Duck Sauce – Artist Biography . . 15 May 2016 .
  5. Latin American Hit Parada > Argentina . . 23 February 1980 . 47 . World Radio History .
  6. Web site: Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989 . Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien . 14 June 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131020025459/http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=21533&pages= . 20 October 2013.
  7. Web site: UK, Eurochart, Billboard & Cashbox No.1 Hits . MusicSeek.info . https://web.archive.org/web/20060614052056/http://musicseek.info/no1hits/1979.htm . 14 June 2006.
  8. Book: Nyman, Jake. 2005. Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja. 1st. Tammi. Helsinki. 951-31-2503-3. fi.
  9. Web site: Le Détail par Artiste . InfoDisc . 15 May 2016 . Select "Boney M" from the artist drop-down menu . fr.
  10. Web site: South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (B) . Rock.co.za . 10 July 2013 .
  11. Book: Salaverri, Fernando . September 2005 . Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 . 1st . Fundación Autor-SGAE . Spain . 84-8048-639-2 . es.
  12. Web site: Jahreshitparade 1979 . Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien . 14 June 2014 . de.
  13. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 1979 . Ultratop. Hung Medien . 14 June 2014 . nl.
  14. Web site: TOP – 1979 . Top-france.fr . 16 June 2014 . fr.
  15. Web site: Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1979 . . 14 June 2014 . nl.
  16. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Single 1979 . Single Top 100. Hung Medien . 14 June 2014 . nl.
  17. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1979 . Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien . 8 June 2014 . de.
  18. Web site: Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1979 . . 22 September 2023 . de.
  19. Web site: 2023-11-08 . KORPIKLAANI - Covern "Gotta Go Home" von BONEY M. ! . 2023-11-08 . earshot.at . de-AT.