Whole Wide World (song)

"Whole Wide World" is a song written by English rock singer-songwriter Eric Goulden, better known as Wreckless Eric. Goulden wrote the song in May 1974,^[3] and recorded it in 1977, whilst an original member of the Stiff Records label. Additional musicians on the record were Nick Lowe on guitar and bass, and Steve Goulding on drums.

The song was never a chart hit single for Goulden, though it subsequently became his most well-known recording. The only charted version of "Whole Wide World" was a cover by the Australian band Mental As Anything, who took it #53 on the Australian singles chart in 1995.

Structure

The song is a simple one for beginner guitar players to learn. Instead of the three chords of most pop songs, it contains only guitar chords E and A. The verses are in a steady 4/4 time with the only difference being a more spirited strum during the chorus^[4] and a catchy single bar of 2/4 during its last line.

Sung by Eric Goulden

• 1977 on the compilation album A Bunch of Stiff Records
• 1978 on the self-titled Wreckless Eric album, track 6
• 1979 on That Summer film soundtrack
• 1979 on the compilation album The Whole Wide World, track 1
• 1980 on Big Smash! album, side 3, track 1 (double LP) or CD 2, track 1 (2-CD set)
• 2001 on Greatest Stiffs album, track 1^[5]
• 2002 on the Me Without You soundtrack, track 14^[2]
• 2006 on Stranger than Fiction soundtrack, track 3^[6]
• 2006 on "Whole Wide World 4 England" single, track 1^[7]
• Wreckless Eric singing "Whole Wide World" live^[8]

Covers by other artists

• 1977: Elvis Costello live
• 1978: Italian female pop singer Anna Oxa, on her album Oxanna. Italian translation, titled "Un cielo a metà"
• 1978: Finnish rock band Eppu Normaali had the song translated to Finnish ("Nuori Poika", meaning Young Boy) as a B-side of their single, "Jee Jee"
• 1978: Australian band Kevin McLaughlin and the Murrumbidgee Orchestra, B-side to the single "Thunder on the Mountains"
• 1987: The Monkees on their Pool It! reunion album^[9]
• 1988: Dogs on their A Million Ways of Killing Time album, and on their live album Fast & Tight (2001)
• 1991: Black, B-side to the single "Fly Up to the Moon"
• 1991: Die Toten Hosen on Learning English, Lesson One; vocals by Eric Goulden
• 1993: Paul Westerberg during a tour promoting his first solo album, 14 Songs
• 1995: Mental As Anything on their album Liar Liar Pants on Fire and as a single
• 1998: The Prissteens on their album Scandal, Controversy & Romance
• 1998: Jesse Hartman's Laptop on a single^[10]
• 2006: Will Ferrell in the movie Stranger than Fiction^[11][12]
• 2006: Gemma Hayes live at Vicar St, Dublin^[13]
• 2007: Amy Rigby live in UK concerts^[11]
• 2007: The Proclaimers on the Life with You album^[14]
• 2009: The Bad Shepherds on the Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Methera! album
• 2011: Bahamas on his album Pink Strat
• 2012: The Wallflowers, Japanese bonus track on their album Glad All Over.
• 2013: Sallie Ford on the Summer EP^[15]
• 2013: The Vaccines often play this in concert
• 2013: Mikal Cronin covers this song live
• 2013: The Wedding Present, B-side to the single "Two Bridges"
• 2014: Meursault on their album The Organ Grinder's Monkey
• 2015: Torres for Session Acoustique OÜI FM

In films

• Stranger than Fiction (2006)
• Me Without You (2001)
• Different for Girls (1996)

References

Specific references:

General references:

External links

• Whole Wide World YouTube