1981 - Our Lips Are Sealed

The Go-Go's first lp - Beauty and the Beat - became one of the surprise hits of the 1981, staying at #1 for six weeks and selling over two million copies.

Their first single released from the lp, Our Lips Are Sealed - became a huge summertime favorite on the radio. Suddenly, the Go-Go's were a national sensation.

The song, Our Lips Are Sealed was written by Jane Wiedlin and Specials singer Terry Hall. It was the lead-off song for their album Beauty and the Beat. It was also the first single released from the lp - in early 1982.

The song was originally written and performed with 3 verses. However, an abbreviated version of the song appeared on Beauty and the Beat. This version of the song was released as a single in early 1982. It peaked at #20 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and #15 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart. It remained on the charts for most of 1982, long after its peak.

Lyrics to Our Lips Are Sealed
Songwriters: Terry Hall and Jane Wiedlin

Can you hear them
They talk about us
Telling lies
Well that's no surprise

Can you see them
See right through them
They have no shield
No secrets to reveal

It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous haves people play
Our lips are sealed

Careless talk
Through paper walls
We can't stop them
Only laugh at them

Spreading rumors
So far from true
Dragged up from the underworld
Just like some precious pearl

It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous ways people play
Our lips are sealed

Pay no mind to what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Our lips are sealed

There's a weapon
We must use
In our defense
Silence

When you look at them
Look right through them
That's when they'll disappear
That's when you'll be feared

Hush, my darling
Don't you cry
Quiet, angel
Forget their lies

In 2000 - Rolling Stone named it one of the 100 Greatest Pop Songs of all time.

In 1982, co-writer Terry Hall re-recorded the song with his own band, Fun Boy Three. In the UK it was a major hitm and reached #7 on the UK Singles Chart.

In an interview with Jane Wiedlin for Songfacts, Jane recalls how the lyrics for Our Lips came about.

In 1980 we were playing at the Whisky on Sunset and The Specials were in townfrom England. They came to see us, and they really liked us and asked us if we would be their opening act on their tour. I met Terry Hall, the singer of the Specials, and ended up having kind of a romance. He sent me the lyrics to "Our Lips Are Sealed" later in the mail, and it was kind of about our relationship, because he had a girlfriend at home all this other stuff. So it was all very dramatic. I really like the lyrics, so I finished the lyrics and wrote the music to it, and the rest is history.

She continues..

Like I said, he had a girlfriend in England, and they were talking about getting married and all this stuff. So I don't know how I got in the picture, And, you know, that's something that I did as a teenager, maybe I was 20. That's something I would never do know, knowingly enter into a relationship with someone who was with someone else. I mean, it was completely screwed on my part. Although I think when people do that, you really have to look at the person who's in the relationship, and they have to take the burden of the responsibility as well. Anyways, it was one of those tragic letters.
(Read the complete interview here: Songfacts)

The Music Video to Our Lips Are Sealed

The accompanying video (for Our Lips Are Sealed) was an early favorite on the new MTV channel. The video helped establish the Go-Go's fun and energetic persona.

MTV was launched in August of 1981.
It was the first 24-hour satellite music channel on TV. Initially few cable TV operators carried it, but it rapidly becomes a major hit and the Go-Go's video soon became a MTV favorite.

Click below to view the video of Our Lips Are Sealed.
Our Lips Are Sealed

In essence, the music video features sequences of the band members riding around in a convertible, stopping at a lingerie shop and splashing around in a city fountain. This is all interspersed with footage of the band playing a club booking.

The video shows the girls visiting:

• Visible next door to the lingerie shop is the Coronet Theater at 366 N. a Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood.

GoGo wear

• Driving down Wilshire Blvd. to Santa Monica Blvd. to splash around in the famous Electric Fountain in Beverly Hills on Wilshire Blvd.

2009 photo: tlc

Across the street...Beverly Hilton

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