If I Ruled the World

For the Sammy Davis Jr. album, see If I Ruled the World (album). For the Kurtis Blow song, see America (Kurtis Blow album). For the song by Nas featuring Lauryn Hill, see If I Ruled the World (Imagine That). For the UK game show, see If I Ruled the World (game show).
"If I Ruled the World"
Single by Tony Bennett
from the album If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set
B-side"Take the Moment"
ReleasedJanuary 25, 1965
Recorded1964
GenreEasy listening
Length3:00
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Leslie Bricusse, Cyril Ornadel
Producer(s)Ernie Altschuler
Tony Bennett singles chronology
"Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)"
(1964) 		"If I Ruled the World"
(1965) 		"Fly Me to the Moon"
(1965)

"If I Ruled the World" is a popular song, composed by Leslie Bricusse and Cyril Ornadel, which was originally from the 1963 West End musical Pickwick (based on Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers).

Background

In the context of the stage musical, the song is sung by Samuel Pickwick, when he is mistaken for an election candidate and called on by the crowd to give his manifesto. Ornadel and Bricusse received the 1963 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.[1]

First recordings

Other recordings

It has been performed by other singers, notably:

  • Jamie Cullum also recorded a version for his album The Pursuit, and performed it at the Late Night Prom, number Prom 55, of The Proms in London, with The Heritage Ensemble, on 26 August 2010; as shown on BBC Four the following night.[4]

References

  1. ^ Lister, David, Pop ballads bite back in lyrical fashion, The Independent, 28 May 1994
  2. ^ "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 31.
  4. ^ BBC – Proms – 26 August 2010