1985 · Behind the Songs
The synth duo goes full rock-soul — and lands another American Top 5.
Plugging in
For Be Yourself Tonight (1985), Eurythmics deliberately plugged in. After two albums of synthesizer-driven pop, Dave Stewart reached for electric guitars and a rock-soul arrangement with Motown in its DNA. “Would I Lie to You?” was the statement single: brash, brassy and built on a riff, with Annie Lennox testifying over the top like a soul singer fronting a rock band.
The shift was strategic — the duo wanted to prove they were a band, not a studio project — but it was also genuine. Stewart had always been a guitarist first, and the song lets him play like one.
Charts and legacy
Released as the lead single from Be Yourself Tonight in the spring of 1985, “Would I Lie to You?” reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 17 in the UK. It gave Eurythmics one of their biggest American hits and proved the reinvention could work — the duo were not just a synth act, but songwriters who could wear any sound.
What to listen for
The guitar riff — pure rock swagger — and the call-and-response between Lennox’s lead vocal and the backing shouts. This is Eurythmics at their most extroverted, a long way from the cool detachment of “Sweet Dreams.”