Mouth (song)

"Mouth"
Single by Merril Bainbridge
from the album The Garden
Released	24 October 1994 (see release history)
Format	CD
Recorded	001 Studios, Carlton, Victoria, 1994
Genre	Pop
Length	3:25
Label	Gotham, Arista, Universal
Writer(s)	Merril Bainbridge
Producer(s)	Siew
Merril Bainbridge singles chronology
"Mouth" (1994) "Under the Water" (1995)
Alternative cover The cover of the single released in the United States

"Mouth" is a pop song written by Merril Bainbridge, and produced by Siew for Bainbridge's debut album The Garden (1995). It was released as the album's first single in October 1994 in Australia, then was re-issued on 13 March 1995. It became her biggest hit to date peaking at number-one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart for six consecutive weeks. The song also became a Top 5 hit in the United States. Filipino-Australian singer Anne Curtis covered the song on her 2011 album Annebisyosa.

The song, a playful and suggestive tune, was often referred to having something related to sexual themes. Bainbridge stated that "(Any sexuality on "Mouth" was) not deliberate - it was definitely not a sexual song. It's just honest - about a relationship, how you feel in a relationship. Sometimes you feel you're in control and the next thing, you're insecure - it's the role playing thing. To me, it's not about straight up sexuality. It doesn't bother me if people connect with that, because obviously it's there, but it wasn't something I was aware of".

There were two music videos for the song, both directed by one of Gotham Records founders Ross Fraser. The first video is a simple video with no plot, shot in both black and white and colour. Scenes included Bainbridge flirting with a man in a car and singing to camera wearing a black lingerie dress with a red heart in the middle of it, intercut with shots of another man's mouth. This video was released in Australia. The second video is in black and white and is just the footage of Bainbridge in the car kissing the man for the whole video, looking at the camera three times. It was filmed along Yarra Boulevard in the Melbourne suburb of Kew. This video as well as the first, was released around the world. The first music video can be found on the special edition of The Garden as a CD Rom.

It was first released in Australia in 1994 but disappeared quickly due to lack of interest and airplay, becoming lost in the annual flood of releases that occur around Christmas. The song was repackaged and reissued in 1995 and with the help of airplay and more promo it became the biggest song of her career. It debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number sixty, and during its ninth week on the chart it reached the number-one position and stayed there for six consecutive weeks. This feat gave Bainbridge the accolade of having longest running number one by an Australian female in the 1990s. "Mouth" spent a total of twenty-six weeks in the charts, was the fourth highest selling single for 1995, and was accredited platinum by ARIA. The song was nominated for five ARIA Awards in 1995 - "Single of the Year", "Best Female Artist", "Best New Talent", "Breakthrough Artist - Single" and "Best Pop Release" but failed to win.