Peak
4
Weeks
22
Score
3,875
Chart Year
1966
Originally, this was a Italian song composed by Pino Donnagio. Springfield heard Donnagio perform it at the San Remo festival and asked her friend Vicki Wickham, who produced the British TV show Ready Steady Go, to write some English lyrics for it. With the help of Yardbirds manager Simon Napier-Bell, she did. In the book 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, Simon Napier-Bell is quoted as saying: "Vicki and I used to eat together, and she told me that Dusty wanted a lyric for this song. We went back to her flat and started working on it. We wanted to go to a trendy disco so we had about an hour to write it. We wrote the chorus and then we wrote the verse in a taxi to wherever we were going. It was the first pop lyric I'd written, although I've always been interested in poetry and good literature. We'd no idea what the English lyric said. That seemed to be irrelevant and besides, it is much easier to write a new lyric completely." Springfield didn't read much into the lyrics of her previous hits "Wishin' And Hopin'" and "I Only Want to Be With You," where she sang from the perspective of a woman who was perhaps a little over-devoted to her man. This song had a much more profound effect on the singer. She said that he cried when she first heard the song. Other hit versions in the UK were by Elvis Presley (1971 #9), Guys And Dolls (1976 #5) and Denise Welch (1995 #23). As part of a series of re-releases of Elvis songs in the UK in 2007, Presley's live version re-entered the UK chart at #16. This one didn't come easy for Springfield - it took her 47 takes to record. Elvis Presley's version reached #11 in the US in 1970. Maureen McGovern also recorded it for her 1992 album Baby I'm Yours." >>
When I said I needed you You said you would always stay It wasn't me who changed but you and now you've gone away Don't you see that now you've gone And I'm left here on my own That I have to follow you and beg you to come home You don't have to say you love me just be close at hand You don't have to stay forever I will understand Believe me, believe me, I can't help but love you But believe me I'll never tie you down Left alone with just a memory Life seems dead and so unreal All that's left is loneliness there's nothing left to feel You don't have to say you love me just be close at hand You don't have to stay forever, I will understand Believe me, believe me You don't have to say you love me just be close at hand You don't have to stay forever, I will understand Believe me, believe me
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 21, 1966 | 76 | 50 |
| 2 | May 28, 1966 | 49 | 77 |
| 3 | Jun 4, 1966 | 23 | 103 |
| 4 | Jun 11, 1966 | 17 | 109 |
| 5 | Jun 18, 1966 | 12 | 114 |
| 6 | Jun 25, 1966 | 9 | 117 |
| 7 | Jul 2, 1966 | 5 | 121 |
| 8 | Jul 9, 1966 | 5 | 121 |
| 9 | Jul 16, 1966 | 4 | 122 |
| 10 | Jul 23, 1966 | 5 | 121 |
| 11 | Jul 30, 1966 | 15 | 111 |
| 12 | Aug 6, 1966 | 26 | 100 |
| 13 | Aug 13, 1966 | 42 | 84 |
| 14 | Aug 20, 1966 | 14 | 112 |
| 15 | Aug 27, 1966 | 17 | 109 |
| 16 | Sep 3, 1966 | 20 | 106 |
| 17 | Sep 10, 1966 | 20 | 106 |
| 18 | Sep 17, 1966 | 23 | 103 |
| 19 | Sep 24, 1966 | 26 | 100 |
| 20 | Oct 1, 1966 | 33 | 93 |