features a reference to the opening notes of Ennio Morricone's theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
"Word Up" was a colloquialism, popular in New York City and other US urban areas, that acted as an affirmation of what was said—a kind of a more-hip "You Bet".
was first covered by Scottish hard rock band Gun, whose version carried a harder, more rock-oriented sound, including a guitar solo.
[citation needed] Taken from their third album, Swagger (1994), it was released on July 1, 1994 by A&M Records, and peaked number eight on the UK Singles Chart.
[48] Brown's bandmate Emma Bunton sings background vocals on the B-side "Sophisticated Lady", with an uncredited rap by Dexter.
Two music videos were created for the song: One live-action, which features Verne Troyer (the Mini-Me actor in the Austin Powers films) and was predominantly filmed with the use of green screen, and another that takes places in a black-and-white, highly animated and complex world, entirely digitally animated.
However, some of the imagery in the video was deemed to be too dark and sexually suggestive, as well as scary, for minors to be exposed to;[by whom?]
one scene, for example, portrayed Melanie lying down nude, with a heart covering her private area.
Overall, it was the heavy and potentially scary fantasy imagery that garnered a second version to be made, featuring Melanie in a blue-metallic setting wearing shining, gem-like outfits.
Its musical arrangements are similar to that of the cover version by Gun, except it is played in a lower sounding 7 string guitar tuning instead of the standard E.[citation needed] "Word Up!"
It was released as the album's first single in July 2004, and received heavy airplay on alternative radio at its time of release, peaking in the top 20 of both Billboard charts,[56] whilst making a respectable impression on the mainstream charts of other countries, including Australia (where it debuted at number 28),[57] and Germany (number 46).
Lead singer Jonathan Davis has said of the band's decision to include the song on their greatest hits, "We've been doing 'Word Up!'
British girl group Little Mix released a cover version of the song for Sport Relief 2014, through Syco Music and Columbia Records.
[79] Kevin Kevinpod of DirectLyrics said that "[Little Mix's] harmonies are spot-on, and the whole record is pure fire."
[83] It features celebrity cameos from Nick Grimshaw, Louie Spence, Louis Smith, Arlene Phillips, Melanie C and Chris Barrie.
The scene then switches to a court with the band exercising and dancing the same time along with other people while singing the chorus of the song.
Jesy continues with her part while dancing in front of two men working out on treadmills and fall off them after some time.
During the chorus, the scene changes again to the court with the manager (Barrie, who had previously played leisure centre manager Gordon Brittas in BBC sitcom The Brittas Empire) of the gym seeing the girls and the rest dancing and runs upset out of his office.