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"Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)"
Single by Eurythmics
from the album Savage
B-side	"Heaven" (LP Version)
Released	12 October 1987
Recorded	1987
Genre	Synth-pop
Length	4:40 (album version) 3:56 (single version)
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Annie Lennox David A. Stewart
Producer(s)	David A. Stewart
Eurythmics singles chronology
"Missionary Man" (1987) "Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)" (1987) "Shame" (1987)
Music video
"Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)" on YouTube

"Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)" is a song by British pop duo Eurythmics, released on 12 October 1987 as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Savage (1987). Written by both Lennox and Stewart, lyrically, it focuses on a woman going insane, with the accompanying music video which was directed by Sophie Muller accompanying this portrayal. The song was pitched to their record label, RCA Records, with the strong correlation between both the song and the music video in mind.

Background and composition

It was written by group members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart. Although not released as a single in the United States, the track appeared as a double A-side of the 12 inch single for "I Need a Man", and received heavy rotation on MTV. It was a Top 20 hit in several European territories and also in Australia. The Savage album returned Eurythmics to a more electronic sound and the "Beethoven" vocals are performed mostly as spoken-word from Lennox, with the exception of the repeated phrase "I love to" throughout the track.

Lyrically, the song portrays a woman going mad as portrayed by Lennox. David A. Stewart claimed the song was about "somebody losing their mind, a woman under the influence or that kind of feeling", later claiming that "Annie grasped that concept straightaway". Stewart composed the song primarily on a Synclavier machine, allowing him to produce the song in a manner which allowed for lines throughout the song to be repeated. The lyrics "I was dreaming like a Texan girl" and "a girl who thinks she should have something extreme" are to contradict the portrayal of a satisfied housewife in the accompanying music video.

The song was not initially the preferred choice as lead single from the album by their record label, RCA Records, however, at this stage of their career, Eurythmics had full control over which songs were to be released as singles from their albums. Stewart claimed that "imagine, I delivered this video as the first single to the record label, they all sitting in a room, I put it on, and there's Annie going, I was dreaming like a Texas girl". Stewart imagined the response from the record label would have been along the lines of "what the hell is this?" or "she's got a wig on and knitting".

Music video

Music videos were produced for all twelve tracks on the Savage album, most of which were directed by Sophie Muller, and most of them with a shared concept featuring character(s) played by Lennox who display characteristics of dissociative identity disorder or split personalities.

As the first part of this loose narrative, the "Beethoven" video begins with Lennox portraying a repressed, middle-class housewife, knitting in her apartment. She exhibits characteristics of obsessive–compulsive disorder through her habitual cleaning and chopping of vegetables. The video also includes a mischievous little girl who has blonde hair, and a man who is wearing make-up and an evening gown, neither of whom are directly noticed by the housewife even though they are in her living room with her.

These characters are seemingly components of a new character that the dowdy housewife becomes as she has a nervous breakdown and transforms herself into a blonde, overtly sexual vixen. In this newly liberated persona, she trashes the apartment that, as a housewife, she had kept meticulously clean. The video ends with her walking out into the street laughing.

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single, Pete Paisley of Record Mirror described it as "the strangest Lennox/Stewart song to date" and "totally loop-di-loop". He added, "Annie assumes a variety of singing voices over a typically brisk production from chum Dave. Impossible to tell what's going on. But let's just hope they make enough dosh from it never to have to do it again." Jerry Smith of Music Week praised it as a "striking track" with its "spoken verses and curiously catchy chorus".

Track listings

• 7-inch single (UK, GER, FR, SP, AUS)

1. "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)" (7" Edit) – 3:59
2. "Heaven" (LP Version) – 3:24

• 12-inch (UK, GER, FR, SP, AUS)

1. "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)" (Dance Mix) – 5:18
2. "Heaven" (LP Version) – 3:24
3. "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)" (LP Version) – 4:48 *

• CD single (UK, GER)

1. "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)" (7" Edit) – 3:59
2. "Heaven" (LP Version) – 3:24
3. "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)" (Dance Mix) – 5:18

• CD single (JP)

1. "Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)" (7" Edit) – 3:59
2. "Heaven" (LP Version) – 3:24

• this version although labelled as "extended" on the single cover is actually the LP version.

Charts

References

1. "Index: Releases". Record Mirror. 3 October 1987. p. 8. ISSN 0144-5804.
2. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "Eurythmics". Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 135–136. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
3. ^ "Beethoven (I Love to Listen To) by Eurythmics". Song Facts. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
4. Paisley, Pete (17 October 1987). "Singles". Record Mirror. p. 12. ISSN 0144-5804.
5. Smith, Jerry (17 October 1987). "A&R: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 22. ISSN 0265-1548. Retrieved 29 January 2023 – via World Radio History.
6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 105. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
7. "Eurythmics – Beethoven" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
8. "European Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 47. 28 November 1987. p. 18. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
9. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
10. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
11. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2022. Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Eurythmics" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
12. "Eurythmics – Beethoven" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
13. "Eurythmics – Beethoven" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
14. "Eurythmics – Beethoven". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
15. "Eurythmics – Beethoven". VG-lista. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
16. "SA Charts 1965–1989 (As presented on Springbok Radio/Radio Orion) – Acts E". The South African Rock Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
17. Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
18. "Eurythmics – Beethoven". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
19. "Eurythmics – Beethoven". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
20. "Eurythmics: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
21. "Eurythmics Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
22. "Eurythmics Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Eurythmics – Beethoven" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 24 April 2020.

• 1987 songs
• 1987 singles
• Eurythmics songs
• Music videos directed by Sophie Muller
• RCA Records singles
• Songs written by Annie Lennox
• Songs written by Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)
• Song recordings produced by Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)