More Than Words

"More Than Words" is a song by American rock band Extreme. The song is a ballad featuring acoustic guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt and the vocals of Gary Cherone (with harmony vocals from Bettencourt). The song represented a departure from the band's usual funk metal style. "More Than Words" was released as the third single from the band's second album, Pornograffitti (1990), on March 12, 1991. The song was a number one hit in the United States, where it was certified gold. Content "More Than Words" is a ballad. It features acoustic guitar work by Nuno Bettencourt and vocals by Gary Cherone (with harmony vocals from Bettencourt). In "More Than Words", the singer wants his lover to do more than simply saying "I love you" to demonstrate her love for him. Bettencourt described it as a warning that the phrase was becoming meaningless: "People use it so easily and so lightly that they think you can say that and fix everything, or you can say that and everything's OK. Sometimes you have to do more and you have to show it—there's other ways to say 'I love you'". Release The band fought with their record company to get "More Than Words" released as a single. At one point, Bettencourt even quit the band over the issue. In 2016, Bettencourt told Billboard: "'Our label at the time [A&M Records] didn't want to release "More Than Words" as a single because there was nothing on the radio like that at the time. The label said, "Who's going to play it?" Everybody was doing big power ballads at the time, and this was more like an Everly Brothers or Beatles track. But we fought for it'".