Songfacts®:

• This is the lead single of Scottish singer Susan Boyle's second album, The Gift. The song was written and originally recorded by New York rock singer-songwriter Lou Reed.
• Boyle was scheduled to perform the song on an episode of America's Got Talent, but permission was withheld, leaving the Scottish singer in tears. At first it was believed that Reed himself had vetoed the performance, but it was later claimed that a "licensing glitch" was to blame, and Reed knew nothing of the decision.
• Reed directed the song's music video as a way of showing support for Boyle after the America's Got Talent controversy. It is a journey through stunning natural settings of the Scottish singer's homeland. The singer told the Sunday Mail: "I loved that Lou understood how much it meant to me to film in Scotland. I didn't mind how much it rained or blew a gale - I enjoyed every minute."
  
  It was Reed who called Boyle to offer his services. He told the Sunday Mail: "I wanted to create a beautiful and intimate piece shot in Susan's native Scotland and she quickly agreed."
• The Gift topped both the American and British album charts. This meant that Boyle became the first woman, and only other artist besides the Beatles and the Monkees, to land two straight #1 albums within a calendar year in both the UK and the US.