True Colors (Cyndi Lauper song)

Composition

Billy Steinberg originally wrote "True Colors" about his own mother. Tom Kelly altered the first verse and the duo originally submitted the song to Anne Murray, who passed on recording it, and then to Cyndi Lauper. Their demo was in the form of a piano-based gospel ballad like "Bridge over Troubled Water". Steinberg told Songfacts that "Cyndi completely dismantled that sort of traditional arrangement and came up with something that was breathtaking and stark." Other songs they wrote for Lauper include "I Drove All Night" and "Unconditional Love".

Critical reception

Jerry Smith of the Music Week magazine deemed that "Lauper's fragile little girl voice" perfectly matches with this "effective ballad with its sympathetic, sparse accompaniment", but also added that this "downbeat style" was unlikely to make the song memorable. Di Cross of Record Mirror was strongly critical of "True Colors", stating that Lauper "does nothing to restore her flagging credibility rating with a dire, slushy attempt at an emotional ballad, the mixture curdled further by some appalling little girl vocals, complete with whispering asides and chest beating passion play".

The pan-European magazine Music & Media named "True Colors" one of its "records of the week" in the issue dated September 6, 1986.

Chart performance

"True Colors" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 25, 1986. It also peaked at number three in Australia and New Zealand, and number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.

Music video

The music video for "True Colors", which received heavy rotation on MTV, was directed by American choreographer Patricia Birch. In the video, Lauper sings on a dark soundstage, sitting beside a drum and holding a black flower. A young girl who explores a beach takes the flower and ends up seeing two women, one light-skinned and one dark-skinned, drinking tea on a boat. Lauper appears on the beach in an elaborate jeweled headdress with a shell in her hand. She is then seen lying on a white sheet, which a long haired man (David Wolff) proceeds to pull. They eventually share a kiss. Lauper is then seen walking on the beach with a skirt made of newspaper while she walks past a class of schoolchildren. At the end of the video, she leans over a pool of water, in a scene reminiscent of the album photo cover. The video ends as it began, only now, Lauper is beating on the drum four times, in time with the music.

Legacy

The single has become a popular anthem in the gay community. In various interviews, Lauper elaborated that the song had resonated with her because of the recent death of her friend, Gregory Natal, from HIV/AIDS. Years later, Lauper co-founded the True Colors Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating LGBT youth homelessness. On December 13, 2022, Lauper performed the song at the ceremony where US President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law. In 2025, Billboard magazine ranked it number nine in their list of "The 100 Greatest LGBTQ+ Anthems of All Time".

"True Colors" was also featured in a 1999 promo for PBS Kids, a children's programming brand of the American public television network PBS.

Tours

Lauper embarked on a True Colors Tour in 2007 with several other acts, including Eddie Money, Deborah Harry and Erasure. The tour was for the Human Rights Campaign to promote LGBT rights in the US and beyond. A second True Colors Tour occurred in 2008.

Track listings

• 7-inch single

1. "True Colors" – 3:45
2. "Heading for the Moon" – 3:17

• European 12-inch single

1. "True Colors" – 3:45
2. "Heading for the Moon" – 3:17
3. "Money Changes Everything" (Live) – 6:04

Personnel

• Cyndi Lauper – lead vocals, arrangements, backing vocals
• Peter Wood – keyboards, arrangements
• John McCurry – guitars
• Neil Jason – bass guitar
• Jimmy Bralower – LinnDrum programming, percussion, jam box
• Angela Clemmons-Patrick – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Phil Collins version

| B-side =

• "I Missed Again"

• "In the Air Tonight"

• "Don't Lose My Number"

• "Take Me Home"

• Virgin

• Face Value

• Tom Kelly

• Billy Steinberg

English musician Phil Collins recorded a cover of "True Colors" for his first greatest hits album, ...Hits (1998). It was released on October 5, 1998, in Japan and on October 26 in the United Kingdom. R&B singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds produced this version and provided backing vocals. The track peaked at number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, number two on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. It additionally reached the top 40 in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, and Hungary.

In 2004, a live rehearsal version was released on Collins' Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and New album.

Track listings

UK CD1 and cassette single

1. "True Colors" – 4:33
2. "I Missed Again" – 3:41
3. "In the Air Tonight" – 7:32

UK CD2

1. "True Colors" – 4:33
2. "Don't Lose My Number" – 4:47
3. "Take Me Home" – 5:51

European CD single

1. "True Colors" – 4:33
2. "In the Air Tonight" – 7:32

Australian CD single

1. "True Colors" – 4:33
2. "In the Air Tonight" – 7:32
3. "Don't Lose My Number" – 4:47
4. "I Missed Again" – 3:41

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK CD1 liner notes.

Studio

• Recorded and mixed at Brandon's Way Recording (Los Angeles)

Personnel

• Tom Kelly – writing
• Billy Steinberg – writing
• Phil Collins – vocals, drums
• Michael Thompson – guitar
• Cornelius Mims – bass
• Greg Phillinganes – acoustic piano, Wurlitzer
• Babyface – backing vocals, keyboards, drum programming, production
• Sheila E. – percussion
• Eric Rigler – Uilleann pipes
• Jon Gass – mixing
• E'lyk – assistant mixing engineer
• Paul Boutin – engineering
• Ivy Skoff – production coordination
• Wherefore ART? – artwork design, illustration
• Trevor Keys – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Kasey Chambers version

| B-side =

• "If I Could" (live)

• "Lonely"

• Tom Kelly

• Billy Steinberg

In 2003, Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers' recording of "True Colors" became the theme song for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The song peaked at number four, was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), and went on to be the 76th best-selling single in Australia that year. As of , it is Chambers' second-highest-charting single in Australia, after "Not Pretty Enough".

Track listing

Australian CD single

1. "True Colours"
2. "If I Could" (live)
3. "Lonely"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other versions

In 2001, Sarina Paris recorded the song and it was included on her self-titled debut album. Released on May 22, the album was composed of songs co-written by Paris, with the exception of this cover. The album reached number 167 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S.

In 2009, Jenna Ushkowitz performed it on the television program Glee, and this version was included on the compilation album Glee: The Music, Volume 2, released on December 4, 2009. The single charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and reached number 15 in Ireland, number 35 in the United Kingdom, number 38 in Canada and number 47 in Australia.

In 2012, Artists Against Bullying (often styled as "Artists Against"), an agglomeration of seven Canadian musicians, re-recorded the song and released it during Bullying Awareness Week. The project was inspired by the increase in teen bullying and cyberbullying, especially the Amanda Todd case, with proceeds being donated to Kids Help Phone, a Canadian counseling service for children and youth. The artists involved in the recording were Lights, Pierre Bouvier (from Simple Plan), Jacob Hoggard (from Hedley), Fefe Dobson, Kardinal Offishall, Alyssa Reid and Walk Off the Earth. The song entered the Canadian Singles Top 100 chart at number 10 the week it was released.

In 2016, Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick covered the song for the DreamWorks Animation movie Trolls. Their version was certified platinum in Brazil, gold in the United Kingdom and platinum in New Zealand.

For BBC Children in Need in 2019, 1,399 children sang the song in unison from nine towns across the UK. The performance on the telethon started in the studio and as all the choirs sang it cut between them giving them about 20-25 seconds on air, all in real time as they sang. The choirs sang from: Elstree at Elstree Studios the studio just outside of London where the main telethon was held, Hartlepool at The Town Hall Theatre, Belfast at W5, Maidstone at Allington Castle, The Wirral at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Cardiff at The Broadcasting House, Mountsorrel at The Mountsorrel Memorial Centre, Larkhill at St Michael's CE Primary School, Glasgow at BBC Pacific Quay

References

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