White Flag (song)

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"White Flag"
Single by Dido
from the album Life for Rent
B-side "Paris"
Released 1 September 2003 (2003-09-01) (UK)
Format CD single
Genre Pop rock
Length 4:01 (album version)
3:40 (radio edit)
Label BMG
Writer(s) Dido Armstrong, Rollo Armstrong, Rick Nowels
Producer Rollo Armstrong, Dido Armstrong
Dido singles chronology
"All You Want"
(2001)		 "White Flag"
(2003)		 "Life for Rent"
(2003)

"White Flag" is a song by English singer-songwriter Dido, released as the lead single from her second album Life for Rent on 1 September 2003. "White Flag" is the biggest hit of Dido's career. It is considered one of her signature songs, and helped Life for Rent sell over ten million copies worldwide. The song was nominated for the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards, but lost to Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful". It won the Best British Single at the 2004 Brit Awards. The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn features actor David Boreanaz as Dido's love interest. The song ranked on Blender's list "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" at number 317.[1] The single fared very well on the charts around the world, peaking at number one in Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Norway; number two on the Irish Singles Chart, and number 18 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song reached number two in the UK being kept off the top spot by the UK top selling single of the year, "Where Is the Love?".

Contents

[edit] Background and composition

"White Flag" was written and produced by Dido, Rollo Armstrong and Rick Nowels.[2] In the song, the protagonist is unwilling to give up, even if they know their relationship is over.[3] In a battle, a white flag signals surrender. By stating there will be "No white flag," she indicates she will not give up on the relationship and that she intends to fight until the bitter end, and that she will not give up on her relationship with her partner.[4] Dido wrote the song about a past relationship, but later said that she initially regretted writing it because it caused more problems with the person involved. However, she has said that she now likes to perform the song.[5]

"White Flag" begins with a lone synth-chord reminiscent of Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".[6] It features "multi-layered" sound, delicate piano outro, and strings.[3] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, it is written in the key of D minor and Dido's vocals range from the low note of A3 to the high note of C5.[7]

[edit] Critical reception

"It is the archetypal pop love song, done well. Telling of her eternal devotion to what appears to be either an ex-boyfriend or an unrequited love, this is Dido-Pop at its best. 'White Flag' was always going to be the hit single from this album. Caught between uplifting and melancholy, the lyrics may perhaps be generic but will certainly strike a chord with a huge proportion of listeners. Everyone can relate to unrequited love. The lingering, sedate piano complements the string-section backing, providing one of the most instrumentally-appealing tracks on the album."

—Sputnikmusic review of the single.[2]

David Jeffries from Allmusic wrote a largely positive review, praising "Dido's sweet delivery" and stating that "It’s all very beautiful, the perfect soundtrack for weeping, and the definition of “wistful” in a song."[3] Derryck Strachan wrote for BBC Music that the song is "engaging to the extent that you could easily be humming along without it registering in your brain. There's something unconscious, pleasantly innocuous about it. It's comfort food for the ears and it could be easily on a Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan romantic comedy.[8] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian wrote that the song "is a superb, confidently written pop song, possessed of a chorus that is impossible to dislodge from your memory without the aid of hypnotherapy."[9]

[edit] Awards and success

The song was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2004 Grammy Awards, but lost out to Christina Aguilera for "Beautiful."[5] The song won the award for "Best Single" at the 2004 BRIT Awards.[4] It sold one million copies in five days on its way to total sales of over five million, making it the fastest selling album by a female artist.[5]

[edit] Music video

The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn and it features actor David Boreanaz as her love interest.[4] The video tells a story about a relationship that is over, but both still in love by each other, meeting in everywhere that they go and trying to not see each other. By the end of the video, they get back to the apartment and Dido's room is filled with David's photos and David's room is filled with Dido's photos.[10]

[edit] Track listings

UK CD single
  1. "White Flag" – 3:40
  2. "Paris" – 3:24
  3. "White Flag" (Johnny Toobad mix) – 6:17
USA CD single
  1. "White Flag" (radio edit) – 3:36
  2. "Stoned" (Deep Dish radio edit) – 4:02
  3. "Paris" – 3:24
  4. "White Flag" (video) – 3:40
USA DVD single
  1. "White Flag" (video) – 3:40
  2. "Life For Rent" (video) – 3:41
French CD single
  1. "White Flag" – 3:58
  2. "Paris" – 3:24

[edit] Charts and sales

[edit] Peak positions

Charts (2003) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[11] 1
Austrian Singles Chart[11] 1
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[11] 3
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)[11] 2
Danish Singles Chart[11] 2
Dutch Singles Chart[11] 5
European Hot 100 Singles 1
Finnish Singles Chart[11] 19
French Singles Chart[11] 5
German Singles Chart[12] 1
Irish Singles Chart[12] 2
Italian Singles Chart[11] 1
Norwegian Singles Chart[11] 1
New Zealand Singles Chart[11] 12
Spanish Singles Chart[13] 11
Swedish Singles Chart[11] 2
Swiss Singles Chart[11] 2
UK Singles Chart[14] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15] 18
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Tracks[15] 2
U.S. Billboard Adult Pop Songs[15] 4
U.S. Billboard Pop Songs[15] 19

[edit] End-of-year charts

End-of-year chart (2003) Position
Australian Singles Chart[16] 78
Austrian Singles Chart[17] 13
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[18] 25
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[19] 30
Dutch Top 40[20] 10
French Singles Chart[21] 47
Irish Singles Chart[22] 8
New Zealand Singles Chart[23] 27
Swiss Singles Chart[24] 5

[edit] Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[25] Gold 35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[26] Gold 15,000x
Belgium (BEA)[27] Gold 25,000*
Germany (BVMI)[28] Gold 150,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[29] Platinum 10,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[30] Gold 20,000x
United States (RIAA)[31] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

[edit] Chart successions

Preceded by
"You Weren't There" by Lene Marlin		 Italian FIMI number one single
18 September 2003		 Succeeded by
"Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" by Lumidee
Preceded by
"Where Is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas		 Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single
28 September 2003 – 5 October 2003		 Succeeded by
"Not Me, Not I" by Delta Goodrem
Preceded by
"Unrockbar" by Die Ärzte		 German number-one single
3 October 2003		 Succeeded by
"Where Is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas
Preceded by
"Maria (I Like It Loud)" by Scooter		 Ö3 Austria Top 40 number-one single
5 October 2003 – 19 October 2003		 Succeeded by
"Where Is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas

[edit] Release history

Region Date Format Label
Brazil[32] 28 August 2003 Digital download Sony Music Entertainment

[edit] References

 This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (August 2011)
  1. ^ The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: 301 - 350
  2. ^ a b "Dido - Life for Rent (album review) - Sputnikmusic". 21 June 2006. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/7764/Dido-Life-For-Rent/. Retrieved 21 February 2012. 
  3. ^ a b c Jeffries, David. "White Flag - AllMusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/song/white-flag-t6508919. Retrieved 18 February 2012. 
  4. ^ a b c "White Flag by Dido - Songfacts". Songfacts. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3407. Retrieved 21 February 2012. 
  5. ^ a b c "Dido - White Flag - Lyrics Meaning". Music Banner. http://www.musicbanter.com/lyrics/Dido-White-Flag.html. Retrieved 21 February 2012. 
  6. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (27 September 2003). "Dido: Life for Rent". http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/dido-life-for-rent/328. Retrieved 2012-02-21. 
  7. ^ "Dido - White Flag Digital Sheet Music". Music Notes. http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0045300. Retrieved 21 February 2012. 
  8. ^ Strachan, Derryck (20 June 2003). "BBC - Music - Review of Dido - Life For Rent". BBC. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/wvjw. Retrieved 2012-02-21. 
  9. ^ Petridis, Alexis (26 September 2003). "Dido "Life For Rent"". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0%2C11712%2C1049504%2C00.html. Retrieved 2012-02-21. 
  10. ^ "Dido - White Flag - YouTube". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-fWDrZSiZs&ob=av2e. Retrieved 21 February 2012. 
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Dido - White Flag". Ultratop. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Dido&titel=White+Flag&cat=s. Retrieved 2010-04-18. 
  12. ^ a b "Dido - White Flag". αCharts.us. http://acharts.us/song/274. Retrieved 2010-04-18. 
  13. ^ Spanish Charts
  14. ^ "Chart Stats - Dido - White Flag". The Official UK Charts Company. Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=31161. Retrieved 2010-04-19. 
  15. ^ a b c d "White Flag - Dido". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/song/dido/white-flag/4859506. Retrieved 2010-04-19. 
  16. ^ "2003 Australian Singles Chart". aria. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-2003.htm. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  17. ^ "2003 Austrian Singles Chart" (in German). Austriancharts. http://www.austriancharts.at/2003_single.asp. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  18. ^ "2003 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart" (in Dutch). Ultratop. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=2003. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  19. ^ "2003 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/annual.asp?year=2003. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  20. ^ "2003 Dutch Single Chart" (in Dutch) (pdf). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%202003.pdf. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  21. ^ "2003 French Singles Chart" (in French). SNEP. http://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/pag-259376-Classements-Annuels.html?year=2003. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  22. ^ "2003 Irish Singles Chart". IRMA. http://www.irma.ie/best2003.htm. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  23. ^ "2003 New Zealand Singles Chart". Rianz. http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart_annual.asp. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  24. ^ "2003 Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). Swisscharts. http://www.swisscharts.com/year.asp?key=2003. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
  25. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2003 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-singles-2003.htm. 
  26. ^ "Austrian single certifications – Dido – White Flag" (in German). IFPI Austria. http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin.  Enter Dido in the field Interpret. Enter White Flag in the field Titel. Select single in the field Format. Click Suchen
  27. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina - 2003". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/certifications.asp?year=2003. 
  28. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dido; 'White Flag')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=White+Flag&strInterpret=Dido&strTtArt=single&strAwards=checked. 
  29. ^ "Norwegian single certifications – Dido – White Flag" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. http://www.ifpi.no/sok/lst_trofeer_sok.asp?type=artist. 
  30. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Dido; 'White Flag')". Hung Medien. http://www.swisscharts.com/search_certifications.asp?search=Dido+White+Flag. 
  31. ^ "American single certifications – Dido – White Flag". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22White+Flag%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  32. ^ http://sonora.terra.com.br/#/cd/20653/white_flag
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