When Will I See You Again


 * Not to be confused with When Can I See You or When Can I See You Again?. For other uses, see When Will I See You Again (disambiguation).

"When Will I See You Again" is a song released in 1974 by American soul group The Three Degrees, from their third album The Three Degrees. The song was written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Sheila Ferguson sang the lead, accompanied by Fayette Pinkney and Valerie Holiday.

It was one of the most successful recordings of the "Philly Soul" era. In the U.S., the song reached number one on the adult contemporary chart, number two on the pop singles chart, and number four on the R&B chart in the autumn of 1974. In the UK, it fared even better, spending two weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart in August 1974. The Three Degrees performed the song at Prince Charles' 30th birthday party at Buckingham Palace in 1978.

Sheila Ferguson recalled that "the song was played to me by Kenny Gamble at the piano in 1973 and I threw a tantrum. I screamed and yelled and said I would never sing it. I thought it was ridiculously insulting to be given such a simple song and that it took no talent to sing it. We did do it and several million copies later, I realized that he knew more than me." She would later have a #60 hit with a solo remake of the track in 1994. The song is unique in that every sentence is a question, heightening the overall effect and emotion. In the film Kill Bill: Volume 2, Bill cites this song as his "favorite soul song of the 70s".

Cover versions

 * Ami Aspelund recorded the Finnish rendering of the song: "Koska Sun Taas Nähdä Saan", on her 1976 album Yön Jälkeen.
 * Magda Layna released the song as a single on Megatone Records in 1983.
 * British boy band Brother Beyond covered the song on their 1989 album Trust, peaking at #43 in the UK Singles Chart.
 * Japanese singer CINDY covered the song on her 1997 1st compilation album Surprise
 * British ska band Bad Manners recorded the song for a demo in 1976 and it was finally released as part of their 1999 compilation Rare & Fatty.
 * German singer Thomas Anders covered the song for his 1993 album of the same name.
 * British singer/songwriter PJ Harvey performed the song in the Sarah Miles film Amaeru Fallout 1972.
 * British synthpop duo Erasure covered it for their 2003 cover album Other People's Songs.
 * Billy Bragg recorded a cover of the song on his Must I Paint You A Picture? compilation; it had previously been featured on the compilation album Ruby Trax.
 * Priscilla Chan, a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer, also covered it as a popular bilingual dance song in 1988.
 * Kyōko Koizumi covered the song, retitled "Tenshi no sasayaki", on her 1992 Koizumix Production's Bambinater mini-album.
 * Jared Gomes, vocalist of nu-metal band Hed PE, covered a reggae version of the song, retitled When, on his 2012 solo EP Unite.