"Emotion" is a song written by Barry and Robin Gibb. It was first recorded by Australian singer Samantha Sang, whose version reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. The Bee Gees recorded their own version of the song in 1994 as part of an album called Love Songs, which was never released, but it was eventually included on their 2001 collection titled . In 2001, "Emotion" was covered by the American R&B girl groupDestiny's Child. Their version of the song was an international hit, reaching the top ten on the US Hot 100 chart and peaking in the top five on the UK Singles Chart. English singer Emma Bunton also covered the song on her 2019 album My Happy Place.
Original version
Background
Originally, the song "Emotion" was recorded by Samantha Sang for the Private Stock label. The song was Sang's only hit single, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard ranked her version as the No. 14 song for 1978. There is a promotional video made for this song. When Sang arrived in Miami, instead of recording "Don't Throw It All Away", Barry Gibb offered her a new song called "Emotion". On this track, Sang sticks to a breathy, Barry-like sound. Gibb himself provided harmony and background vocals in his signature falsetto. The B-side was "When Love Is Gone", a Francis Lai composition. It was recorded around April 1977 in Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida around the same time that Barry contributed writing and producing "Save Me, Save Me" for the band Network. Blue Weaver identified the musicians as shown from memory. On the session, Joey Murcia plays guitar, George Bitzer on keyboards, Harold Cowart on bass and Ron "Tubby" Zeigler on drums. It was originally intended for use in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, but ended up being featured in the film The Stud starring Joan Collins. Also in 1978, "Emotion" was used as the B-side of Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams's single "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late", which reached number one in the US.
In 2001, "Emotion" was recorded by American R&B group Destiny's Child for their third studio albumSurvivor. Produced and arranged by Mark J. Feist, it features a slower tempo than the Samantha Sang original, although a more uptempo Neptunes-produced remix of the song was also produced and included in the band's remix albumThis Is The Remix. Feist had previously produced the song for Filipino singer Regine Velasquez for her album Drawn in 1998 and used exactly the same backing track for Destiny's Child. Issued as that album's fourth single, the song continued the group's streak of top-ten hits in the United States, peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 on 20 November 2001. It was also a hit in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and sold over 145,000 copies, and reached the top ten in several major music markets, including New Zealand, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The single was accompanied by a Francis Lawrence-directed music video featuring a triple split screen effect. The song was heavily on radio station playlists during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and eventually became a tribute song to the family of the victims. The group also paid tribute to late R&B singer Aaliyah, who died in August 2001 in a plane crash, at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards with a performance of this song.
Music video
The music video featured a triple split-screen effect. It was directed by Francis Lawrence. Rowland on the left, Knowles in the center, and Williams on the right. Rowland is seen saying goodbye to her boyfriend before he leaves in a taxi. Knowles catches her boyfriend with another woman and runs around the house in tears. Williams is with her grandmother, who has died in her bed. At the end of the video Williams calls the other group members to her home. The three girls meet there and comfort each other. The screen returns to normal. The music clip is featured as an enhanced video on the European editions of the CD single and on the 2004 Wal-Mart exclusive DVD titled Fan Pack.
Track listings and format
These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Emotion." ;US CD single
