"Gotta Go Home" is a 1979 double A-side single by German groupBoney M. It was the lead single from their fourth albumOceans of Fantasy (1979) and was the group's eighth and final number-one single in the German charts.
In the UK, where "Gotta Go Home" was chosen as the main A-side, the single was their first one since their debut single not to reach the Top 10, peaking at number 12. Boney M. used the double A-side format over the next years, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides were usually switched on the accompanying 12" single.
"El Lute" tells the true story of Spanish outlawEleuterio Sánchez, who was still in prison at the time the song was released, though he was shortly to be released following a pardon. The song presents his claim that he was wrongly convicted of murder and links his liberation from prison to the liberation of his country from oppression after therule of Franco. During a promotional visit in Spain, Boney M. met Sánchez and gave him a golden record for the sales of the single.[1]
Margot Borgström wrote lyrics in Swedish, asWizexrecorded the song on the 1979 albumSome Girls & Trouble Boys.[2] Released underKikki Danielsson's name, the song became aSvensktoppen hit for 10 weeks between 25 November 1979 – 10 February 1980, even topping the chart for one week.[3][4]Liz Mitchell later released a version on the albumNo One Will Force You titled "Mandela" with the lyrics altered to describe the life ofNelson Mandela, who was still in prison at the time.
"Gotta Go Home" was re-written from a German single "Hallo Bimmelbahn" (1973) by Nighttrain with the brothers Heinz and Jürgen Huth, both also credited as co-writers on Boney M.'s version. Boney M. first promoted it in a few TV shows in its early version "Going Back Home". Several single versions featured a 4:40 version (timing on label 4:22), a slightly remixed edit of the full 5:04 version, and longer than the 3:45 album edit. Later single pressings featured a 4:00 edit, which is the same as the album edit but with the "going back home.." break slightly extended. In 2010 "Gotta Go Home" was sampled on theDuck Sauce track "Barbra Streisand".[5][6]
"Gotta Go Home" was issued as an A-side in Canada, and was a Top 40 hit on theRPM Magazine charts there, peaking at number 35 in November 1979.
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