Promised You a Miracle

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This article is about the song. For the book, see Andy Beckett.

"Promised You a Miracle"
Single by Simple Minds
Single by Simple Minds
from the album New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84)
B-side"Theme for Great Cities"
Released2 April 1982 (1982-04-02)
Recorded12–14 February 1982[1][2]
StudioThe Town House, London
Genre
Length3:59
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Derek Forbes and Mick MacNeil
Producer(s)Peter Walsh
Simple Minds singles chronology
"I Travel (reissue)"
(1982) 		"Promised You a Miracle"
(1982) 		"Glittering Prize"
(1982)

"Promised You a Miracle" is a 1982 song by Scottish band

UK Singles Chart and charting for 11 weeks.[5] Their previous nine UK singles yielded no Top 40 hits in that country[6]
although some had sold well in Scotland.

It was the only song on the album that included Kenny Hyslop as the studio session drummer.[7] Mike Ogletree and Mel Gaynor contributed for the other eight tracks.

The song triggered a prolonged period of commercial success for the band, during which they yielded 21 original UK hit singles in a row, up to and including 1998's "Glitterball" from the album

Neapolis.[8][9] It also enabled them to make their debut on the British music television show Top of the Pops.[10][11]

The music video, directed by

colour television
imagery, interspersed with an uncredited female model passing through an airport X-ray and sunbathing.

A live version from the album Live in the City of Light was released in 1987. The video was a simulated live performance filmed in London's east end. Directed by John Scarlett-Davis and produced by Nick Verden.

Style

"Promised You a Miracle" is a dance track which is driven by a combination of "deep electronic beats"

Allmusic notes gives it a "brash pop edge".[16]

Release

"Promised You a Miracle" was released as a single in April 1982 during the second leg of the band's "Sons and Fascination Tour" were the song was performed live. As the band at that point had not recorded any other new material, the instrumental track "Theme for Great Cities" was lifted from their 1981 album

Sons and Fascination album. The cover, designed by Malcolm Garrett, featured a still from the "Sweat in Bullet" video.[14]

Critical reception

"Promised You a Miracle" has been praised by many critics as one of

Allmusic noted its "funky bass line", "bright melody", and "splashy keyboard hook".[18] Dave Simpson in The Guardian referred to the song as a "showcase of early-80s optimism" with a "wistful edge".[19] A feature in a 2002 edition of Uncut by David Stubbs said: "What's so great about this track, and indeed 'Big Sleep', isn't just its combination of stinging riff with delicate mosaic musical colouring, but its subtle rhythmical patterns, which are a feature of the whole album".[20] A later Uncut review described the song as a "teetering moment of pop promise they could never surpass".[21]

Chart performance

Weekly charts

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