Written in the British music hall tradition, the song touches on stoicism and the " stiff upper lip" spirit in the face of adversity, so often associated with British people. It became immensely popular, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1991. [3] Idle performed the song live to a global audience at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony during the one-hour symphony of British Music segment. [4] History [ edit ] I want to be a woman. … It’s my right as a man,” the character claims “I want to have babies… It’s every man’s right to have babies if he wants them.” After Cleese’s protest, the character snaps, “Don’t you oppress me!” When performing the song live in a (solo) sketch within special events, Idle re-wrote one verse of the song to fit the particular occasion, and on one occasion sung a parody of the song with entirely different lyrics. What follows are two such examples of the former, and the latter. Cleese told the Mail on Sunday he was still tweaking the script for the stage project after three years.

The coronation st single | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Cleese claimed it was “misreported” that he was planning to cut the “Loretta” scene. Instead, he said he has “no intention” of removing it. Scooter used a shortened version, also titled "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", on their Scooter Forever album (2017), giving the song a techno version. The song appears twice in the Broadway musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail – once in Act II and again during the curtain call.

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Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 4 November 1991". Bubbling Down Under . Retrieved 4 November 2022. And Cleese added that he will also ditch the scene where ‘Romans Go Home’ is written in graffiti, because the language is much less taught in schools now than when the film was released. a b " Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 24 August 2014. Icons of England, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" ". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. The song appears at the end of the film. The film's lead character Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman) has been crucified for his part in a kidnap plot. After a succession of apparent rescue opportunities all come to nothing, a character on a nearby cross (played by Eric Idle) attempts to cheer him up by singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". As the song progresses, many of the other crucifixion victims (140 in all, according to the script, though twenty-three crosses are actually seen on screen) begin to dance in a very restricted way and join in with the song's whistled hook. [7] The song continues as the scene changes to a long-shot of the crosses and the credits begin to roll. An instrumental version plays over the second half of the credits. Its appearance at the end of the film, when the central character seems certain to die, is deliberately ironic.

The Brobdingnagian Bards recorded the song for their CD A Faire to Remember. American musician Emilie Autumn performed a harpsichord cover of the song for her compilation album A Bit o' This & That. Heavens Gate recorded a metal cover of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" for the album Hell for Sale!. Green Day has used it in their rendition of " Shout" on their concert DVD Bullet in a Bible. Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 10 October 2018. As Deadline previously reported, Cleese insisted he never said that he would remove the politically incorrect scene, even though the film’s 1979 sensibilities will not draw quite the laughs it once did, owing to the rise of trans issues awareness. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol.8, no.43. 26 October 1991. p.33 . Retrieved 12 February 2021.The song would make an appearance on season 8 of The Masked Singer, where Idle sung it as his encore song after being unmasked as the Hedgehog.