Peak
7
Weeks
27
Score
3,451
Chart Year
1986
The band wasn't sure that this song was good enough for the album. It had a more commercial sound and glossier production than their previous jazz funk recordings. It became their first and biggest hit in America. The album has now sold over three million copies worldwide, and had a 72-week stay on the US charts. This song was acknowledged at the 1991 BMI Awards for one million US performances. Bassist Mark King, whose percussive slap bass technique provided the driving groove for this and other Level 42 hits, is known as the "Man with the Golden Thumb." He is such a good bass player that his hands were insured in the late 1980s for a fortune. >> Mark King appeared as a carnival master-like Phantom Of The Video in the expensive music video for this song. King reprised this role for Level 42's song "Leaving Me Now," which was also on The World Machine. >> The band took its name from the Douglas Adams book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which "42" is the answer to a question about the meaning of life. The actress Cheri Lunghi (Excalibur, The Mission) played the love interest in the music video.
How, how can it be That a love carved out of caring Fashioned by fate could suffer so hard From the games played once too often But making mistakes is a part of life's imperfection Born of the years Is it so wrong to be human after all? Drawn into the stream of undefined illusion Those diamond dreams, they can't disguise the truth That there is something about you, baby, so right I wouldn't be without you, baby tonight If ever our love was concealed No one can say that we didn't feel A million things and a perfect dream of life (gone) fragile but free We remain tender together If not so in love And it's not so wrong, we're only human after all These changing years, they add to your confusion Oh and you need to hear the time that told the truth That there is something about you, baby so right Don't want to be without you, baby tonight Because there's something about you, baby, so right I couldn't live without you, baby, tonight And that there's something about you, yeah And I couldn't be without you, tonight
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 15, 1986 | 85 | 41 |
| 2 | Feb 22, 1986 | 80 | 46 |
| 3 | Mar 1, 1986 | 73 | 53 |
| 4 | Mar 8, 1986 | 62 | 64 |
| 5 | Mar 15, 1986 | 57 | 69 |
| 6 | Mar 22, 1986 | 52 | 74 |
| 7 | Mar 29, 1986 | 45 | 81 |
| 8 | Apr 5, 1986 | 38 | 88 |
| 9 | Apr 12, 1986 | 32 | 94 |
| 10 | Apr 19, 1986 | 27 | 99 |
| 11 | Apr 26, 1986 | 20 | 106 |
| 12 | May 3, 1986 | 18 | 108 |
| 13 | May 10, 1986 | 15 | 111 |
| 14 | May 17, 1986 | 13 | 113 |
| 15 | May 24, 1986 | 12 | 114 |
| 16 | May 31, 1986 | 7 | 119 |
| 17 | Jun 7, 1986 | 7 | 119 |
| 18 | Jun 14, 1986 | 10 | 116 |
| 19 | Jun 21, 1986 | 13 | 113 |
| 20 | Jun 28, 1986 | 29 | 97 |