What It Takes (Aerosmith song)

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

What It Takes (Aerosmith song) - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "What It Takes" Aerosmith song – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

"What It Takes"

Single by Aerosmith

from the album Pump

B-side

"Monkey on My Back"

Released

February 26, 1990^[1]

Recorded

1989

Genre

Country^[2]
soft rock^[3]

Length

6:28 (Album Version With Hidden Track)
5:11 (Single Version)
4:08 (CHR Remix-Edit) (From the album Devil's Got a New Disguise)

Aerosmith singles chronology

"Janie's Got a Gun"
(1989)

"What It Takes"
(1990)

"The Other Side"
(1990)

Music video

"What It Takes" on YouTube

"What It Takes" is a power ballad^[4] by American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Desmond Child,^[5] it was released in 1989 as the third single from the critically and commercially successful 1989 album Pump. "I'll put some ballads on an album," Tyler remarked, "if that's what it takes so that some young kid can get to hear a 'Young Lust' or 'F.I.N.E.*'."^[6]^[7]

Background

Child had co-written the power ballad "Angel" for Aerosmith's previous album, but the band wanted to make sure that its own identity was reflected in "What It Takes." According to Perry "It started off sounding really county-western. We didn't want to write a song like 'Angel,' and for Desmond, that's where his heart and soul is. He's into big, dramatic ballads. But we wanted to do something different." Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford stated that "It was a keyboard song to begin with. Somewhere along the line we knew it was special, so it had to be approached in a different manner." Perry went on to say that "The thing that made it for me was when [Fairbairn] put an accordion on it. That gave it the flavor it needed. Otherwise it would have just been nice chords and nice changes."^[8]

Lyrics and music

The lyrics to "What It Takes" are about getting over a past relationship and the resulting hurt feelings.^[8] Lyrics in the song reference two other Aerosmith songs: F.I.N.E.*, also featured on the Pump album; and "Heart's Done Time", featured on the band's previous album, Permanent Vacation.

Music video

There are two videos for the song. One, directed by Wayne Isham,^[9] features the band performing in the Longhorn Ballroom in the middle of a brawl. The other, directed by Keith Garde and Martin Torgoff, is culled from scenes from The Making of Pump, a film which documented the recording process of the Pump album. The latter received much greater airplay, and was also the version the band chose to include on their video collection Big Ones You Can Look At.

Charts

Chart (1990)	Peak Position
Australia (ARIA)^[10]	46
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[11]	15
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[12]	19
US Billboard Hot 100^[13]	9
US Album Rock Tracks^[14]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)	Position
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)^[15]	91

References

^ "Aerosmith - Singles". hitparade.ch. Retrieved June 23, 2021. Click on individual song pages for dates.
^ Bienstock, Richard (September 15, 2011). Aerosmith: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Boston Bad Boys. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-1-61059-769-2.
^ Allen, Jeremy (March 16, 2016). "Aerosmith - 10 of the best". The Guardian. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
^ Kielty, Martin (February 27, 2020). "How Aerosmith Created Power-Ballad Masterpiece 'What It Takes'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
^ "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Aerosmith Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. November 7, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
^ Ingham, Chris (June 2001). "Play for today". Classic Rock #28. p. 50.
^ "The 20 Songs That Can Represent The Career Of Aerosmith". Society of Rock. July 8, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Kielty, Martin (February 27, 2020). "How Aerosmith Created Power-Ballad Masterpiece 'What It Takes'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
^ "Video Track" (PDF). Billboard. March 10, 1990. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
^ "Aerosmith – What It Takes". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5299". RPM. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
^ "Aerosmith – What It Takes". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
^ "Aerosmith - Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
^ "Aerosmith - Mainstream rock". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
^ "1990 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 102, no. 51. December 22, 1990. p. YE-14.

v t e Aerosmith
Steven Tyler Tom Hamilton Joey Kramer Joe Perry Brad Whitford Ray Tabano Jimmy Crespo Rick Dufay
Studio albums	Aerosmith Get Your Wings Toys in the Attic Rocks Draw the Line Night in the Ruts Rock in a Hard Place Done with Mirrors Permanent Vacation Pump Get a Grip Nine Lives Just Push Play Honkin' on Bobo Music from Another Dimension!
Live albums	Live! Bootleg Classics Live I and II A Little South of Sanity Rockin' the Joint
Extended plays	Vacation Club Made in America
Singles	"Dream On" "Mama Kin" "Same Old Song and Dance" "Train Kept A-Rollin'" "S.O.S. (Too Bad)" "Sweet Emotion" "Walk This Way" "You See Me Crying" "Toys in the Attic" "Last Child" "Home Tonight" "Back in the Saddle" "Draw the Line" "Kings and Queens" "Get It Up" "Come Together" "Chip Away the Stone" "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" "Bitch's Brew" "Let the Music Do the Talking" "Shela" "My Fist Your Face" "Darkness" "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" "Hangman Jury" "Angel" "Rag Doll" "Love in an Elevator" "F.I.N.E.*" "Janie's Got a Gun" "What It Takes" "The Other Side" "Monkey on My Back" "Love Me Two Times" "Helter Skelter" "Livin' on the Edge" "Eat the Rich" "Fever" "Cryin'" "Amazing" "Shut Up and Dance" "Deuces Are Wild" "Crazy" "Blind Man" "Walk on Water" "Nine Lives" "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" "Hole in My Soul" "Pink" "Taste of India" "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" "What Kind of Love Are You On" "Angel's Eye" "Jaded" "Fly Away from Here" "Sunshine" "Just Push Play" "Girls of Summer" "Baby, Please Don't Go" "Devil's Got a New Disguise" "Legendary Child" "Lover Alot" "What Could Have Been Love" "Can't Stop Lovin' You"
Compilations	Greatest Hits (1980) Gems Pandora's Box Pandora's Toys Big Ones Box of Fire Classic Aerosmith: The Universal Masters Collection Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith Tough Love: Best of the Ballads Greatest Hits (2023)
Videos and DVDs	Aerosmith Video Scrapbook Permanent Vacation 3x5 Live Texxas Jam '78 Things That Go Pump in the Night The Making of Pump Big Ones You Can Look At You Gotta Move Rock for the Rising Sun
Concert tours	Back in the Saddle Tour Permanent Vacation Tour Pump Tour Get a Grip Tour Nine Lives Tour Just Push Play Tour Aerosmith World Tour 2007 Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour Global Warming Tour Let Rock Rule Tour Blue Army Tour Rock 'N' Roll Rumble Tour Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour Deuces Are Wild Peace Out: The Farewell Tour
Related articles	Discography Videography Songs Band members Concert tours Awards Super Bowl XXXV halftime show Toxic Twins The Strangeurs/Chain Reaction Whitford/St. Holmes The Joe Perry Project Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith Wherehouse Aero Force One Blue Army Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith Quest for Fame Revolution X Guitar Hero: Aerosmith songs "Boulevard of Broken Songs"
Category