We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.

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
Released	May 12, 2008
Recorded	2007–2008
Studio	Kensaltown Recording Studios (London, England) Little Big Sound Studio (Nashville, Tennessee) Casa Nova Studio (Oceanside, California)
Genre	Pop folk blue-eyed soul jazz
Length	50:49
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Martin 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.
"I'm Yours" Released: February 12, 2008 "Make It Mine" Released: August 8, 2008 "Lucky" Released: January 13, 2009

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

Background and production

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

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	60/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Blender	[10]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[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

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Make It Mine"	Jason Mraz	3:08
2.	"I'm Yours"	Jason Mraz	4:02
3.	"Lucky" (with Colbie Caillat)	Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat, Timothy Fagan	3:09
4.	"Butterfly"	Jason Mraz	5:00
5.	"Live High"	Jason Mraz	4:12
6.	"Love for a Child"	Jason Mraz, Martin Terefe, Sacha Skarbek	4:05
7.	"Details in the Fabric" (featuring James Morrison)	Jason Mraz, Dan Wilson	5:45
8.	"Coyotes"	Jason Mraz	3:38
9.	"Only Human"	Jason Mraz, Sacha Skarbek	4:02
10.	"The Dynamo of Volition"	Jason Mraz	3:36
11.	"If It Kills Me"	Jason Mraz, Martin Terefe, Sacha Skarbek	4:33
12.	"A Beautiful Mess"	Jason Mraz, Mona Tavakoli, Chaska Potter, Mai Bloomfield, Becky Gebhardt	5:37

iTunes bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Make It Mine" (live: London Sessions)	Jason Mraz	3:30
14.	"Life Is Wonderful" (live from Amsterdam)	Jason Mraz	4:35

Limited edition bonus tracks (Disc 2)

No.	Title	Writer(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 Dylan	4:18
12.	"Mudhouse/Gypsy MC" (Live from Amsterdam)		7:00

Limited edition bonus tracks (Disc 3/DVD)

No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Writer(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 Dylan	4:18
16.	"Life Is Wonderful" (live in Amsterdam)		4:35

Tour edition (DVD)

No.	Title	Length
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

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

Additional personnel

Martin Terefe – bass guitar on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, piano on tracks 2 and 3, guitar on track 2, drums on tracks 6 and 11, choir vocals on track 8, production on all tracks Karl Brazil – drums on tracks 1, 4, 5 and 10 Luke Potashnick – guitar on tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 Nikolas Torp Larsen – keyboards on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12, choir vocals on track 8 Carlos Sosa – tenor saxophone on tracks 1, 4, 5 and 9, baritone saxophone on tracks 1, 4 and 9, flute on track 4, horn arrangements Fernie Castillo – trumpet on tracks 1, 4, 5, and 9, flugelhorn on track 4, horn arrangements Raul "Ralo" Vallejo – trombone on tracks 1, 4, 5 and 9, horn arrangements Noel "Toca" Rivera – backing vocals on tracks 1, 2 and 12 Abby Schwartz – backing vocals on tracks 1 and 2 Gianna Muir-Robinson – backing vocals on tracks 1 and 2 Lauren De Rose – backing vocals on tracks 1 and 2 Taylor-Tay – backing vocals on tracks 1 and 2 Kristoffer Sonne – drums on tracks 2, 3, 8, 9 and 12 Colbie Caillat – vocals on track 3 David Davidson – violin on tracks 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12, string arrangements David Angell – violin on tracks 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 Kristin Wilkinson – viola on tracks 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 Keith Nichols – cello on tracks 3 and 12 Judy Renea Flenoid – choir vocals on track 5 Shardie Flenoid – choir vocals on track 5 Karen Mills – choir vocals on track 5 Betty Mills – choir vocals on track 5 Chirell Warren – choir vocals on track 5 Tanya Tolver – choir vocals on track 5 Tanya Murphy – choir vocals on track 5 Ida Rhem – choir vocals on track 5 Sia Thompson – choir vocals on track 5 Connie Corn – choir vocals on track 5 Sacha Skarbek – piano on track 6, keyboards on track 9 John Catchings – cello on tracks 6, 7 and 11 James Morrison – vocals on track 7

Bushwalla – voicemail message on track 7, backing vocals on track 12 Andreas Olssen – synthesizer on track 8, 808 on track 10, programming on all tracks Aaron Leibowitz – saxophone on track 8 Justin Kirk – trombone on track 8 Ben Adamson – trumpet on track 8 Noah Terefe – choir vocals on track 8 Rita Ora – choir vocals on track 8 Kiera McGuinness – choir vocals on track 8 Olivia Ansah-Smith – choir vocals on track 8 Julia Morgan – choir vocals on track 8 Julia Cailleteau – choir vocals on track 8 Kiera Zekra – choir vocals on track 8 Teymor Gray – choir vocals on track 8 Joseph Alfille-Cook – choir vocals on track 8 Sofia Loopuit – choir vocals on track 8 Walid Massoud – choir vocals on track 8 Thomas Picard – choir vocals on track 8 Hanna Terefe – choir vocals on track 8 Tia Terefe – choir vocals on track 8 Pete Ibsen – choir vocals on track 8 Nick Whitecross – choir vocals on track 8 Jon Hall – choir vocals on track 8 Savanna Sparks – choir vocals on track 8 Rebecca Lacey – choir vocals on track 8 Zatac Sylwiz – choir vocals on track 8 Xoreal Harrison – choir vocals on track 8 Millet Oliver – choir vocals on track 8 Jane Tomes – backing vocals on track 12 Alexis Fedorowich – backing vocals on track 12 Tricia Huffman – backing vocals on track 12 Tony Maserati – mixing on all tracks Szyyd Drullard – mixing assistance on all tracks Adam Thompson – mixing assistance on all tracks Chris Gehringer – mastering on all tracks Bil Zelman – interior album photo

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. Chart (2008–2023) Peak position Argentine Albums (CAPIF)[22] 18 Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 3 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[24] 4 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 47 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[26] 15 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[27] 3 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[28] 24 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[29] 6 French Albums (SNEP)[30] 6 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31] 14 Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[32] 12 Irish Albums (IRMA)[33] 15 Italian Albums (FIMI)[34] 36 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[35] 5 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[36] 4 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[37] 4 Scottish Albums (OCC)[38] 18 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[39] 9 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[40] 5 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[41] 12 UK Albums (OCC)[42] 8 US Billboard 200[43] 3 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[44] 2

Year-end charts 2008 year-end chart performance for We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. Chart (2008) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[45] 10 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[46] 64 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[47] 36 French Albums (SNEP)[48] 60 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[49] 100 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[50] 32 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[51] 64 US Billboard 200[52] 68 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[53] 15 2009 year-end chart performance for We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. Chart (2009) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[54] 64 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[55] 31 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[56] 20 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[57] 29 French Albums (SNEP)[58] 15 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[59] 29 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[60] 67 UK Albums (OCC)[61] 50 US Billboard 200[62] 28 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[63] 8 2010 year-end chart performance for We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. Chart (2010) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[64] 75

Certifications

Certifications for We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[65]	2× Platinum	140,000^
Belgium (BRMA)[66]	Gold	15,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[67]	4× Platinum	320,000‡
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]	2× Platinum	30,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[75]	Gold	10,000^
Singapore (RIAS)[76]	2× Platinum	20,000*
Sweden (GLF)[77]	Gold	20,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[78]	Platinum	30,000^
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.