Talk:When a Man Loves a Woman (song)

Lyrics

The lyrics of the bridge are difficult to understand, and the lyrics sites on the Web provide lyrics that don't seem to match what I hear on my headphones (with the use of special software to slow down the recording and to clean it up). This is what I hear (although it's not backed up by any site out there); words/letters in parentheses are virtually inaudible...

Well, your man loves (you), woman I gave you everything I ha(d) Tryin' to hold onto your heart that long Baby, please don't treat me bad

Is this what others hear as well? Other sites give lines like "tryin' to hold onto your hot blood long," which just doesn't make sense, or "... to your precious love"; neither matches the original recording very well. As well, the first line of the bridge is often cited as "Well, a man loves a woman"; again, this isn't quite what I'm hearing, and it doesn't match the rest of the lyrics in the bridge.

rAS


 * I'm not trying to rewrite history, but here's an opinion. A quick search shows this is what people hear:
 * precious love
 * costless love
 * backwards love
 * hot blood long
 * heartless love
 * heart that's gone
 * restless love
 * high class love
 * hot first love
 * (her) kind of love
 * Here's how it seems to me:
 * Starts with 'h'
 * Does not end with "love"
 * "heart (th)at's gone" is a terrible fit
 * So of some combination of these, "hot blood love" seems to work best, though it may not seem to make sense


 * With my ear pressed against the speaker, I too have problems with the first two lines, but the third, "Tryin' to hold on to your high-class love" is perfectly clear. Some of the alternatives you list might fit better, but that's actually an argument against them: We tend to hear what we want to hear. Thanks for broaching this. (I know W is not a forum, but please indulge us this once.) Jackaroodave (talk) 21:52, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Percysledge.jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Percysledge.jpg
Image:Percysledge.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 23:37, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Whiter Shade of Pale
If someone wants to do some (unoriginal) research, there is an contriversial but uncited claim in this article. The connection between this song and Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is, we are told, that this song is the "instrumental basis" for Procol Harum's song. Actually, if I am not mistaken, Sledge and Procol Harum both independently lifted the same riff from Johann Sebastian Bach. But someone probably needs to find the specific Bach composition. Timothy Horrigan (talk) 19:47, 18 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I am moving that claim to here for further discussion.
 * It is the instrumental basis of the 1967 song A Whiter Shade of Pale.

Song by Ray Charles
This song is sung by a Ray Charles too and it is never mentioned in this article what is bad treatment to that one of musical geniuses of our time ! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.198.215.200 (talk) 21:56, 14 September 2011 (UTC)

Covers
It seems odd to mention some of the covers in the main section and others under the appropriate heading. Shouldn't we tidy this? Król Maciuś II (talk) 07:23, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Crying game
Should there be also not a mention of this being the theme tune to said film — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wangersnmash (talk • contribs) 02:22, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

Horns "out of tune?"
I know the following statement is technically original research (which doesn't hold up in comparison to cited facts) but the horns don't sound out of tune to me. I think they sound just fine. I see that this statement is cited, but I know what an instrument or a group of instruments sounds like when out of tune. The horns sound like perfect pitch to my ears. Maybe the horns were a little off-pitch, but off-pitch/out of tune isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's hard to hear because the horns are playing in unison with the backing vocals. It's not until the end of the song when the horns enter. I don't sing or play any instruments myself, but I know the sounds of "out of tune" instruments (they sound terrible) and overall, I know a lot about music. Whether the horns are out of tune or not, this is a beautiful song and I don't mean to be subjective. I would like for someone else to explain how the producer(s) of this song managed to make it sound so beautiful if the horns actually were out of tune in the final recording.--Kevjgav (talk) 10:17, 10 September 2015 (UTC)

I know that "Wikipedia is not a social networking service, blog, web hosting service or memorial site" but I asked a friend of mine who is a multi-talented musician (female) who plays guitar, bass and keyboards (piano, organ and synthesizer) to listen to the song and give me her musicianly knowledge on whether or not the horns sound out of tune. She said that the horns are, in fact, out of tune. She then said for me to listen carefully and I did notice that the horns are clearly out of tune. Even so, the horns can only be heard for about a minute before the song fades so it didn't ruin the recording. So now I know how the song became a hit and retained its soulful sound. I didn't mean to post irrelevant material.--Kevjgav (talk) 11:59, 12 September 2015 (UTC)

https://www.rhino.com/article/single-stories-percy-sledge-when-a-man-loves-a-womanWamnet (talk) 23:53, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Release date
I'm confused. In the article itself, in says the song was released in April 1966, but in the infobox, it says March 1966. And so, which one is it? AFAIK, It can't be both. Does anyone have a reliable source with the correct information?--2601:153:800:8308:3813:9EF8:FA5A:C703 (talk) 21:11, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

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