Will You?

Album: Breaking Glass soundtrack (1980)
Charted: 8
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Will You?" is one of 12 songs from the soundtrack of the 1980 film Breaking Glass, which featured an unknown Hazel O'Connor in the lead role. In spite of her apparent inexperience, she was also commissioned to compose the soundtrack. "Will You?" is the odd one out, both in style and because it was not actually written for the film.

    In her 1981 autobiography, O'Connor explained that she penned it a long time before the film and that it was "not the kind of material I sang at gigs. If you are a support band you cannot get away with a piece like that". She sounds as though she is ashamed of this hauntingly beautiful ballad, but this is a song that anyone from George Michael to Neil Diamond would have been proud to have written.
  • O'Connor said "Will You?" fitted with a scene from the film that she and her lead Phil Daniels had improvised. In the book that accompanied the film, The Illustrated Breaking Glass, she is credited as sole author of the song, but elsewhere the saxophonist Wesley McGoogan is credited as co-writer, probably because of the extended saxophone solo which adds magic to enchantment.
  • "Will You?" was released as a single with another song from the film soundtrack - "Big Brother" - as the B-side. The full version runs to 4 minutes 49 seconds. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 3

Comments: 3

  • Arlene from The NorthWho produced and arranged it ?
  • Baz from Englandsimply her best song
  • Rachael from Addlestone, United KingdomThis track goes right back into my youth and deeply connects me to who I was back then. Thanks to Hazel and some special memories.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.

Divided Souls: Musical Alter Egos

Divided Souls: Musical Alter EgosSong Writing

Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.

90s Metal

90s MetalFact or Fiction

Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.

Jonathan Cain of Journey

Jonathan Cain of JourneySongwriter Interviews

Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."