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We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.

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We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. is the third studio album by American musician Jason Mraz, released on May 12, 2008.[1] The album peaked at number three in the Billboard 200, making it Mraz's highest-peaking album at the time. Mraz took the name of the album from a work by the artist David Shrigley.[2]

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
Studio album by
Jason Mraz
ReleasedMay 12, 2008
Recorded2007–2008
StudioKensaltown Recording Studios
(London, England)
Little Big Sound Studio
(Nashville, Tennessee)
Casa Nova Studio
(Oceanside, California)
Genre
Length50:49
LabelAtlantic
ProducerMartin Terefe
Jason Mraz chronology
We Steal Things.
(2008) 		We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
(2008) 		Beautiful Mess: Live on Earth
(2009)
Singles from We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
  1. "I'm Yours"
    Released: February 12, 2008
  2. "Make It Mine"
    Released: August 8, 2008
  3. "Lucky"
    Released: January 13, 2009

On August 10, 2023, the album was certified 4x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America.[3]

Background and production

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Progress of the recording of the album has been documented on the YouTube series "Crazy Man's Ju-ju" which contain clips from San Diego and London, where most of the album was made. "I'm Yours" was the first single from the album and was made available on iTunes, Zune Marketplace and Amazon.com on February 12, 2008. The album features collaborations with James Morrison on the track "Details in the Fabric" and with Colbie Caillat[4] on the track "Lucky".

The album was preceded by three EPs released at monthly intervals for a limited time. We Sing. was released on March 18. We Dance. was released on April 15. The third installment, We Steal Things., was released as part of a digital bundle through iTunes, JasonMraz.com and AtlanticRecords.com on the release of the album on May 13, 2008.[5] Up to March 17, 2010, the album had sold 1,491,736 copies in the US.[citation needed] In 2016, the album was certified three times Platinum by the RIAA.[6]

On November 18, 2008, the album was re-released with the name We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. Limited Edition. The re-released album is a three disc set that includes the original 12-track CD, the second disc includes the three EPs all on one disc, and the third DVD includes an unreleased full-band concert Live at the Highline Ballroom in New York, a 30-minute documentary titled "Here We Are" and a preview to Mraz's "a thousand things." Polaroid book. The packaging also includes a 20-page CD booklet with full lyrics and additional artwork.

In honor of the album's fifteenth birthday, a deluxe version of the album, entitled We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. Deluxe Edition. was released on September 22, 2023. The version contains 14 new-to-vinyl songs, including demos and a previously unreleased song.[7]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic60/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [9]
Blender     [10]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[11]
Entertainment.ie     [12]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide) [13]
PopMatters          [14]
Yahoo! Music          [15]
Slant Magazine     [16]
Sputnikmusic     [17]

The album, overall, gained mixed to positive reviews. Commenting on the album's "pleasantly lightweight jams", "beachy guitars", "R&B horns" and "playful scat singing", Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+.[11] In an overall positive review, Billboard said, "Mraz emerges even bolder than before on an album loaded with strings, horns, formidable grooves and a dozen songs dripping with mantra-like positivity."[18]

AllMusic wrote, "The nice thing about the soulful shimmer of We Sing is that it's so slick that it's easy to ignore the gibberish spilling out of Mraz's mouth and just enjoy the sunny, easy sound."[9]

PopMatters wrote that "the album sounds great, and Mraz knows what he is up to. Less clear, I think, is whether the razzle-dazzle wordsmith who loves his Eminem records is ready to truly enter the marketplace as a serious vocalist and a sober songwriter", giving the album a positive rating of seven out of ten overall.[14]

Giving the album two-and-a-half out of five stars, Blender concluded that whether "pondering his parents divorce or describing intricate and delicate sex acts, Mraz's tasty tenor remains a modestly classy pleasure. But he's lost crucial cool."[10]

Even less flattering, Uncut magazine said that "listening to [the album] is like being followed home by a puppy — initially cute and guilelessly affecting, but rapidly irritating".[19] Writing for The Big Issue, Lianne Steinberg stated that "listening to this album is akin to being woken from a comfortable deep sleep by a circus clown with a water pistol full of warm urine", singling out the "terrible lyrics and hamfisted rhymes" for their "hilarity".[20]

Track listing

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We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Make It Mine"Jason Mraz3:08
2."I'm Yours"Jason Mraz4:02
3."Lucky" (with Colbie Caillat)Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat, Timothy Fagan3:09
4."Butterfly"Jason Mraz5:00
5."Live High"Jason Mraz4:12
6."Love for a Child"Jason Mraz, Martin Terefe, Sacha Skarbek4:05
7."Details in the Fabric" (featuring James Morrison)Jason Mraz, Dan Wilson5:45
8."Coyotes"Jason Mraz3:38
9."Only Human"Jason Mraz, Sacha Skarbek4:02
10."The Dynamo of Volition"Jason Mraz3:36
11."If It Kills Me"Jason Mraz, Martin Terefe, Sacha Skarbek4:33
12."A Beautiful Mess"Jason Mraz, Mona Tavakoli, Chaska Potter, Mai Bloomfield, Becky Gebhardt5:37
iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Make It Mine" (live: London Sessions)Jason Mraz3:30
14."Life Is Wonderful" (live from Amsterdam)Jason Mraz4:35
Limited edition bonus tracks (Disc 2)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm Yours" (From the Casa Nova Sessions) 4:47
2."Live High" (From an Avocado Salad Session) 4:03
3."If It Kills Me" (From the Casa Nova Sessions) 5:01
4."A Beautiful Mess" (From a Raining Jane Session) 5:15
5."Make It Mine" (From the Casa Nova Sessions) 3:24
6."Butterfly" (From the Casa Nova Sessions) 5:11
7."Only Human" (From the Casa Nova Sessions) 4:48
8."The Dynamo of Volition" (From an All-Night Session) 4:23
9."Love for a Child" (From the Casa Nova Sessions) 3:53
10."Coyotes" (From a Girl in New York Sessions) 4:19
11."Man Gave Names to All the Animals" (From the Gospel Collection Sessions)Bob Dylan4:18
12."Mudhouse/Gypsy MC" (Live from Amsterdam) 7:00
Limited edition bonus tracks (Disc 3/DVD)
No.TitleLength
1."Plane" 
2."Make It Mine" 
3."Geek in the Pink" 
4."Dramatica Mujer" 
5."The Dynamo of Volition" 
6."A Beautiful Mess" 
7."If It Kills Me" 
8."The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" 
9."1000 Things" 
10."Live High" 
11."Only Human" 
12."Butterfly" 
13."I'm Yours" 
14."No Stopping Us" 
15."Fall Through Glass" 
16."Outro" 
17."Here We Are" (A Mraz Documentary) 
18."A Thousand Things" (Book Preview) 
Tour edition (Bonus tracks)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."I'm Yours" (From the Casa Nova Sessions) 4:47
14."Mudhouse/Gypsy MC" (live in Amsterdam) 7:00
15."Man Gave Names to All the Animals" (From the Gospel Collection Sessions)Bob Dylan4:18
16."Life Is Wonderful" (live in Amsterdam) 4:35
Tour edition (DVD)
No.TitleLength
1."I'm Yours" (Recorded at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on July 9, 2007 by Fabchannel) 
2."Here We Are (Documentary)" (a film by Jarrod Allen, Produced by Jason Mraz) 

The Latin American and Spanish re-release of the album includes a Spanish version of the song "Lucky" which was recorded by Mraz and the Mexican singer Ximena Sariñana.[21]

Personnel

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  • Jason Mraz – lead vocals on all tracks, guitar on all tracks

Additional personnel

Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[65] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Belgium (BEA)[66] Gold 15,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[67] 2× Platinum 160,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[68] 2× Platinum 40,000‡
France (SNEP)[69] 3× Platinum 300,000*
Germany (BVMI)[70] Gold 100,000^
Ireland (IRMA)[71] Gold 7,500^
Japan (RIAJ)[72] Gold 100,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[73] Gold 30,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[74] Gold 7,500^
Portugal (AFP)[75] Gold 10,000^
Singapore (RIAS)[76] 2× Platinum 20,000*
Sweden (GLF)[77] Gold 20,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[78] Gold 15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[79] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[80] 4× Platinum 4,000,000‡
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[81] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Jasonmraz.com – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things Jason Mraz Official Store Pre-Order Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Blair, Tom (November 2008). San Diego Magazine. CurtCo/SDM LLC. p. 46.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ iTunesLive – iTunesLive London Sessions Archived February 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Via Atlantic Records – Jason Mraz releases/Tour talk! Archived May 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "American album certifications – Jason Mraz – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  7. ^ Iahn, Buddy (August 8, 2023). "Jason Mraz announces 'We Sing We Dance We Steal Things' deluxe edition". themusicuniverse.com. The Music Universe. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  8. ^ "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things by Jason Mraz". Metacritic. Archived from the original on June 26, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Jason Mraz - We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things". AllMusic. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  10. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (May 20, 2008). "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things". Blender. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009.
  11. ^ a b Wood, Mikael (May 9, 2008). "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  12. ^ Murphy, Lauren (December 24, 2008). "Jason Mraz - We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things". Entertainment.ie. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  13. ^ Christgau, Robert (August 1, 2008). "Consumer Guide: August 2008". MSN Music. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  14. ^ a b Layman, Will (May 28, 2008). "Jason Mraz: We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  15. ^ Gill, Jaime (January 9, 2009). "Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011.
  16. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (May 22, 2008). "Review: Jason Mraz, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  17. ^ Tyler (May 23, 2008). "Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  18. ^ Graff, Gary (May 24, 2008), "News". Billboard. (Retrieved January 13, 2009)
  19. ^ Byline unknown (July 2008), [2]. Uncut. :104 (accessed January 13, 2009)
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  73. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Jason Mraz – We Sing We Dance We steal things" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved June 26, 2019. Enter We Sing We Dance We steal things in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2009 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
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  75. ^ "Portuguese album certifications – Jason Mraz – We Sing. We Dance. We steal thin" (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Archived from the original on March 4, 2010. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
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