"If I Ruled the World" is a popular song, composed by Leslie Bricusse and Cyril Ornadel, which was originally from the 1963 West End musical Pickwick (based on Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers). In the context of the stage musical, the song is sung by Samuel Pickwick, when he is mistaken for an election candidate and called on by the crowd to give his manifesto.
The song is usually associated with Sir Harry Secombe, who got the song to No 18 in the UK charts in 1963, but has been performed by other singers, notably Tony Bennett, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Tom Jones and Regina Belle. Bennett originally recorded the song in 1965, and had a number 34 hit with it on the U.S. pop singles charts. Bennett, with Celine Dion, returned to the song on his Grammy-winning 2006 album Duets: An American Classic.
Andy Hallett — the actor best known for playing the part of Lorne ('The Host') in the television series Angel — sang a cover version of the song in that series' final episode. The 1998 UK game show If I Ruled the World was named after the song.
This song was featured in Spring/Summer 2009 on the Vodafone adverts in the UK.
Jamie Cullum also recorded a version for his album The Pursuit, and performed it at his special performance at the Late Night Prom, number Prom 55, of The Proms in London, with The Heritage Ensemble, on Thursday 26 August 2010 between 22:15 and 13.45. As shown on BBC televisions' BBC Four on the following night.
A very recent duet version of the song is to be released by Bradley Williams and Gingi Lahera on their 2012 CD "Personality." http://BradAndGingi.com.
Famous quotes containing the words the world, ruled and/or world:
“The day the world ends, no one will be there, just as no one was there when it began. This is a scandal. Such a scandal for the human race that it is indeed capable collectively, out of spite, of hastening the end of the world by all means just so it can enjoy the show.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets ours norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest—whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories—comes afterwards. These are games; one must first answer.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)