Our Lips Are Sealed

"Our Lips Are Sealed"
"Our Lips Are Sealed"
Single by the Go-Go's
from the album Beauty and the Beat
B-side	"Surfing and Spying"
Released	June 12, 1981
Recorded	1981
Genre	Power pop; new wave;
Length	2:44
Label	I.R.S.
Songwriter(s)	Jane Wiedlin; Terry Hall;
Producer(s)	Richard Gottehrer; Rob Freeman;
The Go-Go's singles chronology

"Our Lips Are Sealed" is a song co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three.

It was first recorded by the Go-Go's as the opening track on their album Beauty and the Beat (1981) and was their debut American single in June 1981. The single eventually reached the top 5 in Australia and Canada, and the top 20 in the United States. Originally written and performed with three verses,^[2] the song appears in an abbreviated version on Beauty and the Beat. Most of the song's vocals are performed by lead singer Belinda Carlisle, with co-writer Wiedlin singing the bridge.

In 1983, Hall's band Fun Boy Three released their version of "Our Lips Are Sealed". Issued as a single, the track became a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom, besting the recording by the Go-Go's which only made it to No. 47 in the UK.

Record World described the song as being as "innocent and infectious as pop music can be", with a "steady, pulsating dance beat" and "candy-coated keyboard riffs".^[3]

In 2000, Rolling Stone & MTV put the Go-Go's' original version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" at No. 57 on a list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs.^[4] In 2021, their version was also listed at No. 477 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[5] The Go-Go's performed the song, along with "Vacation" and "We Got the Beat", during the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.^[6]

^ Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave?: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-472-03470-3.
^ See video "Totally Go-Go's" recorded live on December 4, 1981, at Palos Verdes High School
^ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. July 4, 1981. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
^ "Rock On The Net: Rolling Stone & MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs: 51-100". Rock On The Net. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
^ Zaleski, Annie (October 30, 2021). "The Go-Go's Break Out Hits, 'Rock Star' Poses for Long Overdue Rock Hall Induction". Rolling Stone.

[1] Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave?: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-472-03470-3.

[Totally_Go-Go's-2] See video "Totally Go-Go's" recorded live on December 4, 1981, at Palos Verdes High School

[rw-3] "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. July 4, 1981. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-02-28.

[4] "Rock On The Net: Rolling Stone & MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs: 51-100". Rock On The Net. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2022-12-20.

[5] "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-07-03.

[6] Zaleski, Annie (October 30, 2021). "The Go-Go's Break Out Hits, 'Rock Star' Poses for Long Overdue Rock Hall Induction". Rolling Stone.

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