I Shall Be There

"I Shall Be There" is a song by Irish girl-band B*Witched, released as the group's sixth single, and the second single release from their second album Awake and Breathe.

Overview

The recording of the song was a collaboration with African choir Ladysmith Black Mambazo. B*Witched member Edele Lynch explained the pairing:

"We met them backstage at the BRIT Awards in 1999, and me and Keavy had been listening to a lot of their stuff, so we asked if they wanted to work with us, and when we came together in the studio it just all kind of fell into place and made for a really interesting experience."

The video had a very 'African' feel to it and featured two different scenes, a jungle scene with the girls sporting appropriate clothing, and a 'savanna' theme which was darker and had the girls dressed in more conservative and earthy-toned coloured outfits. Both scenes featured computer generated animals.

"I Shall Be There" was released on 6 December 1999, and became their first single to miss the top 10, reaching #13. It spent a total of nine weeks on the chart, five of which were in the top 40. The single was not released in Australia or New Zealand.

Releases

• UK CD 1 [668333 2]

1. I Shall Be There 4:12
2. Don't Say Never 3:54
3. Does Your Mother Know 3:11
4. I Shall Be There (Video)

• UK CD 2 [xxxxxx x]

1. I Shall Be There
2. I Shall Be There (The Bold & The Beautiful Christmas Tree Fairy Mix)
3. I Shall Be There (The Tomski Mix)

• UK Vinyl 1 [XPR 3369]

1. I Shall Be There (The Tomski Mix) 6:53
2. I Shall Be There (The Bold & The Beautiful Christmas Tree Fairy Mix) 8:42

• UK Vinyl 2 [XPR 3361]

1. I Shall Be There (The Bold & The Beautiful Christmas Tree Fairy Mix) 8:42
2. I Shall Be There (The Bold & The Beautiful Christmas Tree Fairy Instrumental Mix) 8:38

Charts