I'm a Believer

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"I'm A Believer" is a song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by the band The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks, becoming the biggest-selling record for all of 1967, and one of the biggest of all time. Because of advance orders, it went gold within two days of release.

This song was covered by Smash Mouth and Eddie Murphy in 2001, as part of the soundtrack to the movie Shrek (the band also released the song on their self-titled album). Eddie Murphy, portraying the character "Donkey", also performed a rendition of the song in the film. The song was chosen for its opening line, "I thought love was only true in fairy tales," which matched the fairy tale motif of the film. "I'm a Believer" was a hit for both The Monkees and Smash Mouth.

Diamond's own recording of the song is available on September Morn and his greatest hits album, The Essential Neil Diamond. A cover by British singer-songwriter Robert Wyatt was an unlikely hit in the UK in 1974. In 1995, British comedian Vic Reeves teamed up with then-popular band EMF for a version which reached #3 on the UK singles chart; this cover is notable for its semi-comic inclusion of three solo drumbeats and a shout of "Oi!" between the first and second lines of the first and second verses. This addition to the song has permeated popular culture in the UK to the extent that it has become almost impossible for the original version to be played in public without the audience adding their own "Oi!".

[edit] Selected list of recorded versions

• 1966 The Monkees single, also on the 1967 album More of The Monkees
• 1967 The Four Tops on the album Reach Out
• 1967 The Ventures on the 1967 album Guitar Freakout
• 1967 Neil Diamond on the album Just for You
• 1974 Robert Wyatt single, also on the 2004 album His Greatest Misses
• 1979 Bram Tchaikovsky on the album Strange Man, Changed Man
• 1979 Neil Diamond on the album September Morn (with new lyrics)
• 1982 A La Carte on the album Rockin' Oldies
• 1993 Lulu Santos on the album Acervo Especial
• 1995 Vic Reeves and EMF, non-album track
• 1996 Neil Diamond on the album In My Lifetime
• 2001 Smash Mouth on the Shrek Soundtrack
• 2001 Eddie Murphy on the Shrek Soundtrack
• 2005 Daniel O'Donnell on his Rock n' Roll Tour

Preceded by "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys

Billboard Hot 100 number one single (The Monkees version) December 31, 1966

Succeeded by "Kind of a Drag" by The Buckinghams