Faith (George Michael song)

"Faith" is a song written and performed by George Michael, from his 1987 debut solo album of the same name. It held the number-one position on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart for four weeks and, according to "Billboard" magazine, was the number-one single of the year in the United States in 1988. The song also reached number one in Australia and Canada and number two on the UK Singles Chart. In 2001, it placed at number 322 on the Songs of the Century list.
Writing & Recording.
As with the rest of the album, the track was written, arranged, and produced by Michael. It is claimed that the idea came from publisher Dick Leahy's suggestion that Michael write a rock and roll pastiche. 
The song began life in May 1987 at PUK Studios, Denmark with Michael doing a 2-bar LinnDrum loop and Hugh Burns playing the Bo Diddley-style acoustic rhythm guitar part on a nameless metal-bodied acoustic, the latter of which engineer Chris Porter recorded with a Neumann KM84 microphone and double-tracked, along with an electric tremolo part doubling the rhythm. Long-time bassist Deon Estus laid down a DI'd bass part, while the cathedral organ part was recorded with a Yamaha DX7 (although it's otherwise thought to be from a Roland D-50). Porter recorded Michael's vocals using a Neumann M49 microphone (which the former soon bought from PUK) - throughout the "Faith" album and other subsequent solo albums, the latter would usually write lyrics in front of the mic, and build the lead by singing a line, and having Porter rewind the tape so he could drop in at certain points to create the right emotional effect with his voice. For this song, George wanted the vocals to be "dry and in-your-face", like on Prince's songs at the time, which Porter noted "had a very tight delay on the vocals, making him sound very growly but dry and aggressive" - it was that kind of effect they managed to recreate with an AMS DMX 15-80S digital delay, with 35 milliseconds panned slightly to the left and 45 milliseconds panned slightly to the right.
After the PUK sessions, the song wasn't developed any further until 1 September 1987, when a new bridge added and a 50s-inspired guitar solo by Burns - played on a Geffen custom Stratocaster - were added at Sarm West Studio 2 in London. According to Porter, the solo was constructed bar-by-bar over a period of 4 hours in much the same way as George's vocals.
Michael explained why it was never envisioned as a single in an interview with Countdown in 1988:
History.
The song incorporates the famous Bo Diddley beat, a classic rock and roll rhythm. It begins with organ played by Chris Cameron, referencing Wham's song "Freedom", followed by guitar strumming, finger clicking, hand-claps, tambourine and hi-hat.
The song was featured in the film "Bitter Moon", directed by Roman Polanski. More recently, it featured in Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One".
Music video.
The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan. It features Michael, with noticeable stubble on his face, wearing a black leather jacket with 'Rockers Revenge' and BSA logo, Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses and a pair of Levi's blue jeans with cowboy boots, playing a guitar near a classic-design Wurlitzer jukebox. Writers Bob Batchelor and Scott Stoddart say the music video positions him as a "masculine sex object", breaking him up into individual body parts such as "stubbled" ["sic"] chin and butt.
The music video also features parts of two other songs by Michael. The jukebox starts by playing "I Want Your Sex", and then is interrupted by a church organ version of Wham!'s "Freedom" before starting into the song.
Chart performance.
The song reached number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number two on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in late October and early November 1987. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 10 but was kept off the top spot by "You Win Again" from the Bee Gees.
On the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Faith" went from number 54 to number 37, the week of 31 October 1987. It reached number one on 12 December 1987 and remained there for four consecutive weeks. Altogether, "Faith" stayed in the top 10 for nine weeks, the top 20 for 11 weeks and the top 40 for 15 weeks.
Track listing.
7": UK / Epic EMU 2
12": UK / Epic EMU T2
Limp Bizkit cover.
American rap rock group Limp Bizkit covered the song "Faith" in their live performances, using the cover to attract attention to the band. Word of mouth attendance and energetic live performances in which guitarist Wes Borland appeared in bizarre costumes increased the band's cult following. Audiences, in particular, were attracted to Borland's guitar playing and appearance.
Despite the success of the song in Limp Bizkit's live performances, producer Ross Robinson was opposed to recording the cover for their debut album, "Three Dollar Bill, Y'all", and tried to persuade the band not to play it on the album. However, the final recording, which incorporated heavier guitar playing and drumming, as well as DJ scratching, impressed Robinson. "I love George Michael and decided to cover 'Faith' for fun. We like to do really aggressive versions of cheesy pop hits," lead singer Fred Durst told "Billboard". "I didn't expect him to get busted in that bathroom but his misfortune actually helped us. We couldn't ask for more of a buzz."
Peter Berg directed a music video featuring a bizarre wedding monologue for the song in promotion for its appearance in his film "Very Bad Things", but Fred Durst was unsatisfied with it and directed a second video which paid tribute to tourmates like Primus, Deftones and Mötley Crüe, who appeared in the video. Borland stated in an interview that George Michael, the writer of the song, hated the cover and "hates us for doing it".