"I Should Be So Lucky" is a song by Kylie Minogue from her debut studio album Kylie (1988). Released on 29 December 1987 by Mushroom Records and PWL Records, the song became a worldwide breakthrough hit; its now-iconic image of Kylie on the front cover was shot by David Levine.
The song was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman for Kylie, and they went on to produce Kylie's first four studio albums. "I Should Be So Lucky" was an international hit, reaching number one in several countries including Australia, United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany, as well as making the US Billboard Hot 100 top 30.
Background and Composition[]
After the success of her debut single "Locomotion" in Australia, Kylie traveled to London to work with Stock Aitken Waterman, a successful British writing and production team. They knew little of Kylie and had forgotten that she was arriving; as a result, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" in forty minutes while she waited outside the recording studio. Mike Stock wrote the lyrics for the song in response to what he had learned about Kylie prior to her arrival. He believed that although she was a successful soap star in Australia and very talented, there must be something wrong with her and figured that she must be unlucky in love. Kylie recorded the song in less than an hour, which Stock attributes to her good ear for music and her quick memorization skills. After Kylie finished the recording session she returned home to Australia to continue work on the soap opera, Neighbours.
"I Should Be So Lucky" is a pop, dance-pop, and Hi-NRG song, which features elements of bubblegum pop and new wave music. According to the music sheet on MusicNotes.com, the song is set in the key of C Major. Kylie's vocals span from the key note of D4 to the key note of C5. The song is set in common time and moves at a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. The song features synthesizers, keyboards and guitars. According to PopMatters, they said the song features "numerous orchestra hits to the uncomfortably thin sounding drum machine. Waterman has admitted the tune is based on Pachelbel's Canon
"I Should Be So Lucky" received positive to mixed reviews from contemporary music critics, who thought that the song was an instant highlight and good song within the 80's, while some dismissed the lyrical content. Despite this, the song received commercial attention around the world, where the song peaked in the top ten in many countries including Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Dance charts in the U.S.
The song was also known to many in the late 1980s and early 1990s as one of Kylie's signature songs, which many critics entering the song on their best track or worst track list. And additionally, in 2011, "I Should Be So Lucky" was added to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Sounds of Australia registry.
An undisputed classic, "I Should Be So Lucky" later appeared on six of Kylie's hit compilations including Greatest Hits (1992), Greatest Hits: 87-97 (2003), Greatest Hits: 87-99 (2003), Ultimate Kylie (2004), her compilation The Best of Kylie Minogue (2012) and The Abbey Road Sessions (2012).
Reception[]
Critical response[]
"I Should Be So Lucky" garnered positive reviews from some music critics. Nick Levine, from Digital Spy, called it "standout track". Chris True from Allmusic had reviewed the album, and highlighted the song as an album standout. But as a separate rating, they gave the single three stars out of five. In the review of The Best of Kylie Minogue (2012), Tim Sendra highlighted it as an album standout. Hunter Felt from PopMatters gave it a positive review, stating "something about Kylie’s innocent yet forceful vocals and the sheer catchiness of the song itself [...] So the song became a beloved secret, and I never bothered to try to tune my friends in on “I Could Be So Lucky”, or, crazier yet, proclaim that this “has-been” would be a critical and commercial darling in a few years time." However, he did say the song was cliché. However, Mark Edwards from Stylus Magazine gave it a scathing remark by saying "Listening to the first tracks on Ultimate Kylie, you want to skip straight through, because early songs like “I Should Be So Lucky” and “Locomotion” are unlistenable—horribly naff, squeaky songs" and criticized Stock, Aitken and Waterman songs they produced in the 80's by stating "[the songs] transport the listener back to a time when every single in the UK charts was either written by Stock, Aitken and Waterman or sung by an Aussie soap star, or both." OK! called the song a "classic".
The song won the Highest Selling Single award at the 3rd annual ARIA Awards.
Chart performance[]
"I Should Be So Lucky" was released on 29 December 1987. It was a commercial success, reaching atop the Australian Kent Music Report chart for six consecutives weeks, and became her second number-one single after "The Loco-Motion". The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and ranked at number five on the Year-end chart for 1988. In New Zealand, the song entered at No. 15 on New Zealand Top 40 and peaked at No. 3 on 27 March 1988, spending twelve weeks on the chart. In United Kingdom, "I Should Be So Lucky" was released on 29 December 1987. The song entered at No. 90 on the UK Singles Chart, climbing to No. 54 the following week and three weeks later, it was No. 1 and remained at the top position for five weeks. It spent seventeen weeks on the chart. It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for the shipment of 600,000 copies. The song was one of the best-selling singles of 1988, with estimated sales of over 675,000.
Elsewhere, "I Should Be So Lucky" peaked on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Dance Club Play. The song reached No. 10 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart on 4 June 1988 and no. 28 on the Hot 100 on 16 July 1988. In Canada, the song reached at No. 61. Across Europe, "I Should Be So Lucky" also topped the singles charts in Germany, Ireland and Switzerland. It became a top-five hit in Austria, France and Norway, as well as a top-thirty hit in Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden. It peaked at No. 1 in Finland, Israel and Hong Kong. The song was certified silver by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) and gold in Germany.
Live performances[]
| Dates | Show | Channel | Country |
|---|
| 1988 | |||
| 21 November | Royal Variety Performance | BBC | England |
| 2001 | |||
| 6 October | An Audience With... Kylie Minogue | ITV | England |
| 2007 | |||
| 9 November | Star Academy | TF1 | France |
| 31 December | Jools' Annual Hootenanny | BBC Two | England |
| 2011 | |||
| 22 October | X Factor Ukraine | STB | Ukraine |
| 22 November | X Factor Australia | Seven Network | Australia |
| 14 December | Elite Model Look | ― | China |
| 2012 | |||
| 8 September | BBC Proms in the Park | BBC | England |
| 2018 | |||
| 24 February | Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway | ITV | England |
| 2023 | |||
| 1 December | An Audience With... Kylie Minogue | ITV | England |
| Tour | Dates | Performances |
|---|
| Disco in Dream | 2―27 October, 1989 (All dates) | 14 |
| Enjoy Yourself Tour | 3 February―26 May, 1990 (All dates) | 24 |
| Rhythm of Love Tour | 10 February―10 March, 1991 (All dates) | 20 |
| Let's Get to It Tour | 25 October―8 November, 1991 (All dates) | 12 |
| Intimate and Live | 2 June―31 July, 1998 (All dates) | 22 |
| On a Night Like This Tour | 3 March―15 May, 2001 (All dates) | 46 |
| KylieFever2002 | 26 April―16 August, 2002 (All dates) | 49 |
| Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour | 19 March―17 May, 2005 (All dates) | 38 |
| Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour | 11 November, 2006―12 January, 2007 18―23 January, 2007 |
33 |
| KylieX2008 | 17 May―4 November, 2008 13 November―16 December, 2008 19 December, 2008―6 August, 2009 |
64 |
| For You, For Me | 3―4 & 13 October, 2009 | 3 |
| Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour | 23 February, 2011 6 & 11 March, 2011 2, 5―7, 23―25 April, 2011 16 May, 2011 29 June, 2011 1 July, 2011 |
12 |
| Kiss Me Once Tour | 24―26 September, 2014 29 September―7 October, 2014 13 October, 2014―21 March, 2015 |
33 |
| Kylie Summer 2015 | 12 June―18 July, 2015 (All dates) | 6 |
| Golden Tour | 22 November, 2018 | 1 |
| Kylie Summer 2019 | 20 June―3 August, 2019 | 15 |
| More Than Just a Residency | 4 May, 2024 | 1 |
| Tension Tour | 15 — 18 February, 2025 | 2 |
| Total: | 395 |
Notes[]
"I Should Be So Lucky" has been performed on nearly every one of Kylie's tours; it first appeared on the set list for her debut concert tour Disco in Dream, where it closed the show. The extended mix of the song was performed on the Enjoy Yourself, Rhythm of Love and Let's Get to It tours in 1989 and 1990.
The song was reworked into a torch version for 1998's Intimate and Live, launched in promotion of Impossible Princess (1997). It opened the Cute Kylie section of the show, where Kylie entered the stage in a pink corset, which became a showgirl outfit for "Dancing Queen". A shortened orchestral version of the song was performed in the Broadway Swing section of o the On a Night Like This Tour in 2001. The track was then transformed into a trance song for KylieFever2002, where it was performed in the Cybertronica section of the song; the performance also featured an excerpt of "Dreams". The song was performed in the Kylesque section for the Showgirl tour; this tour was postponed after the European leg due to Kylie's cancer diagnosis; it was resumed under the name Homecoming tour in 2006; "I Should Be So Lucky" included in the Pop Paradiso section of the show.
"I Should Be So Lucky" was then performed on KylieX2008, where it closed the show. The song was not added until the eighth show of the tour. The torch version of the song was performed on the For You, For Me tour in 2009, which served as Kylie's first time touring North America. The song was performed as a request at most dates of the Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour, but got full performances for the Japanese shows of the tour. "I Should Be So Lucky" was then included in the Dollshouse Medley of the Kiss Me Once Tour, where Kylie emerged to perform four of her PWL songs —"Hand on Your Heart", "Never Too Late", "Got to Be Certain" and "I Should Be So Lucky". It was also included as an acapella performance on the 2015 mini-tour.
More recently, the song was performed as the second song of the show in the 2019 summer tour, which included a performance in the legends slot at Glastonbury. The first two lines of the song were included in the one-off live stream Infinite Disco, launched in promotion of Disco (2020); the excerpt was included between "Supernova" and "Dancefloor Darling". Over the following years, "I Should Be So Lucky" was performed sporadically in Kylie's shows; usually as an acapella; the most notable performance of the song was during An Audience With... Kylie Minogue in 2024.
Formats and track listings[]
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "I Should Be So Lucky".
|
7" Single
12" Single
12" (The Bicentennial Mix) Single
North American 12" Single
|
iTunes digital EP - Remixes
Other official versions
|
Lyrics[]
In my imagination
There is no complication
I dream about you all the time
In my mind, a celebration
The sweetest of sensation
Thinking you could be mine
In my imagination
There is no hesitation
We walk together hand in hand
I'm dreaming
You fell in love with me
Like I'm in love with you
But dreaming's all I do
If only they'd come true
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
It's a crazy situation
You always keep me waiting
Because it's only make believe
And I would come a-running
To give you all my loving
If one day, you would notice me
My heart is close to breaking
And I can't go on faking
The fantasy that you'll be mine
I'm dreaming
That you're in love with me
Like I'm in love with you
But dreaming's all I do
If only they'd come true
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
I should be so lucky (So lucky, so lucky)
I should be so lucky
I, I, (I, I)
I should be so lucky (So lucky, so lucky)
I should be so lucky
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I
In my imagination
There is no hesitation
We walk together hand in hand
I'm dreaming
You fell in love with me
Like I'm in love with you
But dreaming's all I do
If only they'd come true
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love
