Drowning (Backstreet Boys song)

"Drowning"
Single by The Backstreet Boys
from the album The Hits: Chapter One
Released	October 16, 2001
Recorded	July 2000 Polar Studios, Cheiron Studios, (Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre	Pop
Length	4:28
Label	Jive Records Zomba Recording
Writer(s)	Andreas Carlsson, Linda Thompson, Rami Yacoub
Producer	Kristian Lundin, Rami Yacoub
Certification	.7 million
The Backstreet Boys singles chronology
"More than That" (2001) "Drowning" (2001) "Incomplete" (2005)

"Drowning" is the single by the Backstreet Boys from their compilation album The Hits: Chapter One. The song was written by Andreas Carlsson, Rami Yacoub and Linda Thompson and produced by Yacoub and Kristian Lundin. The song was initially recorded for the Black & Blue album, but there wasn't any room on the track list for it. It was released as an iTunes Exclusive Play on January 14, 2008. It features Kevin Richardson on piano. This was their last release before a three-year-hiatus from 2002 - 2005. The song reached #28 in the US on November 13, 2001. The song also did moderately well in the international charts, peaking at #3 in Sweden and #5 in Norway. The song also did exceptionally well on TRL, and the video for it was retired on February 26, 2002. The song was dedicated to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Parts of the song, e.g. the piano intro and the chorus, are very similar to "Långsamt farväl" released by the Swedish artist Mauro Scocco in 1997. Andreas Carlsson, co-writer of "Drowning", actually sang backing vocals on Lisa Nilsson's version of "Långsamt farväl" released in 2003.

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	49
Austrian Singles Chart	9
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart	20
Belgian Tip Singles Chart (Walonia)	4
Canadian Singles Chart	11
Danish Singles Chart	4
Dutch Singles Chart	13
Finnish Singles Chart	10
German Singles Chart	11
Irish Singles Chart	10
Italian Singles Chart	10
New Zealand Singles Chart	27
Norwegian Singles Chart	5
Portuguese Singles Chart	3
Romanian Singles Chart	9
Swedish Singles Chart	3
Swiss Singles Chart	13
UK Singles Chart	4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	28

Track listing

International

1. Drowning (Album Version)
2. Back To Your Heart
3. Shape Of My Heart (Video)

UK CD1

1. Drowning (Radio Edit)
2. Everybody (Backstreet's Back) (Sharp London Vocal Mix)
3. I Want It That Way (Morales Club Version)

UK CD2

1. Drowning (Radio Edit)
2. Drowning (Dezrok Radio Mix)
3. Drowning (Rizzo & Harris Radio Mix)
4. Drowning (Video)

Music video

Official version

The official music video was directed by Paul Boyd. It featured the five Boys gathered around some monuments and an old building which resembles a church.

The video is notable for its frequent used of the contre-jour technique, which puts the subject directly against the source of light, thus giving a clear, dark outline of the figure. In the video, the Boys are often seen as dark figures dancing and singing against a beautiful background. This was filmed in Los Angeles in August 2001.

Wet version

Before the final video was produced, a different concept was in production. The concept was eventually abandoned and the official video was produced instead. One of the preliminary cuts of this original video was leaked to the public. This video was done in August 2001, then canceled and replaced by the end of the month.

It features the band dressed in black outfits, which can be seen in the photograph on the CD single cover. The video was shot mainly using green screen to place the band on an arid salt flat. The sun is initially shining, but dark clouds quickly fill the sky in the first chorus, and it begins to rain in the second verse. A flood of water fills the area and the storm continues to get worse. At the key change, and at the end of the song, the band is hit with a large waves. Through the rest of the video they simply sing in a shallow depth of water.

Other uses

"Drowning" appeared on the US Version of Now That's What I Call Music! 9, which was released March 19, 2002. The song was track #15.