Sex on Fire: Difference between revisions
Tonythepixel (talk | contribs) Updated chart stats, and differentiated between "official" Top 75 figures and non-canon Top 100 ones |
|||
| Line 46: | Line 46: | ||
==Music video== |
==Music video== |
||
The director of the music video for "Sex on Fire" was [[Sophie Muller]]. As of |
The director of the music video for "Sex on Fire" was [[Sophie Muller]]. As of November 2009, the video has been viewed over 23 million times on [[YouTube]]<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhhcKxflMY</ref>. |
||
==Track listing== |
==Track listing== |
||
Revision as of 14:06, 2 November 2009
| "Sex on Fire" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Sex on Fire" is the first single to be taken from Kings of Leon's fourth studio album Only by the Night and as of September 2009, the second most-downloaded digital single ever in the United Kingdom.[1] The song gave Kings of Leon their first number-one single in Australia, Finland, Ireland and United Kingdom, charting at the top-spot in the UK Singles Chart on digital downloads alone, before its physical release. It has also gained significant popularity in the United States, reaching #1 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their second highest charting song in their homeland on the former chart. Along with all of these achievements, in 2008, the song earned the band their first Grammy nominations. The song was nominated for Best Rock Song, and won the award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. In addition, the album earned a nomination for Best Rock Album. Channel V Australia named the song as the 3rd biggest hit of 2008. It was voted #1 in Triple J Hottest 100 countdown for 2008. By September 6, 2009, the single had sold 747,713 copies to date.[2] Following the success of the follow-up single "Use Somebody" in the United States on pop radio, the track will be re-serviced[3] to US pop radio in November.
The song is available as downloadable content in the game Rock Band, and is also featured as a playable track in Guitar Hero 5.
Critical reception
The song has received generally positive reviews. Digital Spy rated the song four stars out of five, describing it as "A truly stirring single that will be a definite highlight on their winter arena tour."[4] The Sun also praised the song, saying it is "another of the latest album’s genuinely great and grand numbers."[5] Planet Sound also rated the song 9/10. However, Caleb Followill originally thought the song was "terrible"[6]; according to Spin Magazine it was almost ditched during recording. Despite giving the album a 4 out of 5, Spin thought the song was 'silly'.[6] Music reviews blog Urbanite Youth described the song as "a rather generic rock single" [7] but did praise Caleb Followill for his vocal talents. This song was number 40 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.[8]
Composition
In an interview with Robbie, Marieke and the Doctor on Australian radio station Triple J, Nathan Followil explained that the band never intended the song to be named "Sex on Fire".
"They were totally different lyrics. Depending on whether a song starts with a melody or starts with lyrics, you know if it starts with a melody you just keep playing the melody over and over until you get it down and just throw in any lyrics that fit the verbal flow. It was actually going to be "Set Us on Fire", but one of the sound mixers in the studio walked in as we were playing and said, "Sex on Fire", huh?" And it just kind of became a running joke, and we stuck with it.".
Nathan also said that some lyrics tried were "Socks on Fire", "Snatch on Fire" and "Cocks on Fire".[9]
The song is played in the key of E Major at a tempo of 152bpm. The vocal range is B4-G#5[10].
Music video
The director of the music video for "Sex on Fire" was Sophie Muller. As of November 2009, the video has been viewed over 23 million times on YouTube[11].
Track listing
7" vinyl:
- "Sex on Fire"
- "Beneath the Surface"
CDS:
- "Sex on Fire"
- "Knocked Up" (Live @ Oxegen '08)
Chart positions
Sex on Fire spent an unbroken 42 weeks on the official UK Top 75, only dropping out due to the surge in sales of Michael Jackson titles immediately after his death, but two weeks later it was back. On August 29, 2009, the song was performed by an auditionee Jamie Archer, also known as Jamie Afro on The X Factor and susbequently on August 30 it moved up from #49 to #33 on the UK Singles Chart. It was reported on September 1 that the song was due to re-enter the Top 10 on downloads alone.[12] These reports were proved to be true as on 6 September Sex on Fire charted at number 6, almost a year after it originally entered. It has now spent an incredible 58 weeks on the Top 75, making it the 6th longest runner of all time, and 60 weeks in the Top 100, and as of November 1st 2009, it is still at #31 on the charts. 45 of its weeks have been spent in the top 40, and the song has now sold over 800,000 copies.
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart[13] | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart[13] | 29 |
| Belgian Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) | 10 |
| Canadian Hot 100[13] | 22 |
| Danish Singles Chart[13] | 12 |
| Dutch Top 40[13] | 16 |
| Finnish Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| German Singles Chart | 33 |
| Irish Singles Chart[13] | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart[13] | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 16 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 54 |
| Turkey Top 20 Chart[15] | 20 |
| UK Singles Chart[16] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] | 56 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[18] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[19] | 24 |
| U.S. Billboard Rock Songs | 10 |
Hamish and Andy performed three different versions of the song advertising different businessess like Jims Mowing and Beaurepairs.
Release history
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| Europe | September 5, 2008 |
| United States | September 9, 2008 |
| United Kingdom | September 15, 2008 |
References
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8240696.stm
- ^ http://www.kingsofleon.com/pages/news/692
- ^ http://www.allaccess.com/site/coolNewMusic/index.php?bs=sk&sn=coolNewMusic&d=top40M&f=body&ng=top40M&ag=77
- ^ Singles Reviews - Kings Of Leon: 'Sex On Fire' - Digital Spy. Digital Spy. Retrieved September 15, 2008.
- ^ Kings Of Leon look set for ultimate success | The Sun. The Sun. Retrieved September 15, 2008.
- ^ a b Kings of Leon: 'Sex on Fire' is 'Terrible' - Spin Spin Magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2008
- ^ http://blog.urbanite-youth.co.uk/blog/_archives/2008/11/12/3974872.html
- ^ "The 100 Best Songs of 2008". Rolling Stone (December 25, 2008). Retrieved 2008-12-25
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s2484480.htm
- ^ "Kings of Leon: Sex on Fire Sheet Music". sheetmusicdirect.com. © Copyright 2008 Martha Street Music/Followill Music/McFearless Music/Coffee Tea Or Me Publishing.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhhcKxflMY
- ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a174991/sugababes-vs-jay-z-rihanna--kanye.html
- ^ a b c d e f g "Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved September 15, 2008.
- ^ Suomen virallinen lista
- ^ "Turkey Top 20 Chart". Billboard Türkiye. Billboard. December 8, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ Chartstats.com
- ^ <"Billboard Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
- ^ "US Alternative Chart". Billboard.com. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
- ^ "US Active Rock Chart". radioandrecords.com. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
External links
| |
| Studio albums | |
| EPs | |
| Singles |
|
| Other songs |
|
| Tours |
|
| Home media | |
| Related articles | |
