"When You Walk in the Room" is a song written and recorded by
Jackie DeShannon. It was initially released as a single on November 23, 1963,[1] as the B-side to "Till You Say You'll Be Mine". It was re-released as an A-side in September 1964, and later included on the album Breakin' It Up on the Beatles Tour. The single charted on the US
Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 99.[2]
The song has been
covered by many other artists including
The Searchers, whose version reached number 3 in the UK in 1964. Other versions, all of which made the British charts though less successfully, were recorded by
Paul Carrack in 1987,
Status Quo in 1996, and
Agnetha Fältskog in 2004.
Content
The song's lyrics attempt to detail the singer's emotions when in the presence of the person he or she loves. There is also an expression of frustration by the singer that he or she cannot manage to tell that person of his or her love.
The Searchers had a hit song in early 1964 with "
Needles and Pins," previously recorded by Jackie DeShannon, and they then recorded this, another song previously recorded by DeShannon.[4] Their version reached No. 35 in the US and No. 3 in the UK. The group also recorded a German version titled "Wenn ich dich seh".[5]
Australian
rock band
The Sports released a version of the song as the second single from their debut studio album, Reckless. It reached No. 42 on the Australian
Kent Music Report chart.[11]
Former
ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog released her version of "When You Walk in the Room" as the second single from her 2004 album, My Colouring Book. The track peaked at number 11 in Sweden and number 34 in the UK, where it remained in the chart for only two weeks. It was remixed by Almighty and SoundFactory.
