"Promise Me" is a song by British singer-songwriter Beverley Craven. It is written by Craven and produced by Paul Samwell-Smith. Released by Epic Records as the lead single of her debut album, Beverley Craven, in 1990, the song initially failed to chart. Appearances on British TV and a successful UK tour prompted a re-release of the single in 1991, when it peaked at number three on the UK singles chart that May. It was successful across Europe, peaking at number two in Belgium and entering the top 10 in France, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The song became popular with loved ones of military personnel deployed to Iraq and Kuwait during the Gulf War.[1]
David Giles of Music Week stated that "on the evidence of this single, [Craven] is aimed at a Kate Bush level of epic grandeur, and, although the arrangement is classic enough, she lacks Bush's melodic inventiveness".[2] Writing for AllMusic, Charles Donovan said that it was "now widely acclaimed as a contemporary standard".[3]
The song has been covered numerous times, most notably being reworked as a dance song by group Lazard, who re-titled the song "4 O'Clock (In the Morning)". Other cover versions are by Jodie Brooke Wilson, Hind, Lutricia McNeal, Sandy Lam, Tabea, and by Rosa Lรณpez who released a Spanish version (titled "Jรบrame") in 2008; a more faithful Spanish version was named "Entre tรบ y yo" and was performed by Mexican actress Chantal Andere in 1992 for her second album and as the main title song of the telenovelaTriรกngulo.[24] Other notable covers are by Hong Kong Cantopop diva Sandy Lam titled as "Without You, But Still Love You",[25] and Taiwanese Mandopop diva Winnie Hsin titled as "Selfish".[26] Sometimes the Mandarin version and English version would be crossed over for singing competitions, as exemplified by British-Taiwanese singer (now newscaster) Annie Lin (ๆๅฎ่).[27]
In June 2012, Technoboy and Tuneboy sampled the song on their hardstyle single "Promise Me".[28] Three months later, German techno band Scooter sampled "Promise Me" on their single "4 AM", in a nod to a 1993 breakbeat hardcore track by Orca, which also sampled verses from "Promise Me".[29]
^"Eurochart Hot 100 1991"(PDF). Music & Media. Vol.ย 8, no.ย 51โ52. December 21, 1991. p.ย 21. Retrieved January 17, 2020 โ via World Radio History.
^"1991 Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 11 January 1992. p.ย 20.
NVPI. Retrieved 27 August 2018. "Mellow โ Single by Showtek, Technoboy & Tuneboy on Apple Music". Apple Inc. Archived from the original on September 24
song entitled "Mellow" that sampled this song's lyrics with Technoboy and Tuneboy.[citation needed] In 2017, Japanese singer-songwriter Rina Sumioka covered
