What It Takes (Aerosmith song)

"What It Takes"
"What It Takes"
Single by Aerosmith
from the album Pump
B-side	"Monkey on My Back"
Released	February 26, 1990
Recorded	1989
Genre	Country; soft rock;
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)
Label	Geffen
Songwriter(s)	Steven Tyler; Joe Perry; Desmond Child;
Producer(s)	Bruce Fairbairn
Aerosmith singles chronology
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.