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21 Guns (song)

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"21 Guns" redirects here. For the hard rock band of the same name, see 21 Guns (band). For the cannon salute, see 21-gun salute.
"21 Guns"
Song

"21 Guns" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the second single from their eighth album, 21st Century Breakdown. The single was released through Reprise Records on May 25, 2009 as a digital download and July 14, 2009 as a CD single. The song has been a success on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #22, which has become their highest charting single since 2005.

It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo/Group with Vocals and Best Rock Song in 2010. "21 Guns" has sold over 1,850,000 copies as of November 2010.[citation needed]

Release

"21 Guns" was released to modern rock radio stations on May 25, 2009, although it had already been played on some radio stations, such as KROQ in Los Angeles and 101.9 in New York City.[1] In the radio edit, the song is over forty seconds shorter than the album version because the guitar solo is shortened and the beginning is cut out. The CD single and clear 7" single were released on July 14, 2009.

The song is featured heavily in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and appears on the soundtrack, which was released on June 12, 2009.[2] It became available for download on the music video game series Rock Band on July 7, 2009, along with the songs "East Jesus Nowhere" and "Know Your Enemy".[3]

The song was featured in episode 6 of The Vampire Diaries.[4]

A live version was also released on 21 Guns Live EP in September 2009.[5]

The song is featured in the video game Green Day: Rock Band and is downloadable content for the Rock Band series.[6]

Music video

A music video was directed by Marc Webb and filmed in Los Angeles, California on June 6, 2009. It premiered on MySpace on Monday, June 22, 2009 at midnight EDT.[7] A shorter version of the video also exists, which is set to the radio edit of the song. [citation needed]

It is the third Green Day video to feature touring backup guitarist Jason White performing with the band, following "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and "Working Class Hero". He is also seen briefly in the music videos for "When I Come Around" and "Jesus of Suburbia" but he is not performing with the band. [citation needed]

After spending the previous week at number 3, the video peaked at number one on VH1 Top 20 Countdown on August 22, 2009 and again on September 19, 2009. It also won "Best Rock Video", "Best Direction in a Video" and "Best Cinematography in a Video" for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.[8]

The video takes place with the band and the album's two protagonists Christian (Josh Boswell) and Gloria (Lisa Stelly) taking refuge in a white room after robbing a bank. The police arrive outside the room and open fire through the window.[9] As bullets rain through the room, the band continues playing. Gloria picks up the phone and throws it into a fish tank. As the bullets continue to fly and tear apart the room, Christian and Gloria walk toward each other, unharmed by the bullets. They embrace and kiss, recreating the 21st Century Breakdown cover art. The video may represent the meaning of the song in the 21st Century Breakdown story.

Musical cast version

"21 Guns"
Song
B-side"Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan Cover)"

Green Day has recorded two version of "21 Guns" with the cast of American Idiot. The recording was produced by Billie Joe Armstrong. The recording with Armstrong singing the male solo parts was released on December 3 to Spinner.com and also released for digital download on December 22.[10] Video was released February 1.[11][12]

The second version of the song with the cast of American Idiot features Matt Caplan, John Gallagher Jr., and Michael Esper singing their respective solos instead of Armstrong.

It was performed with Armstrong singing lead male vocals at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

Chart positions

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[13] 10

Track listing

  • Original version:
Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."21 Guns"5:21
2."Favorite Son" (Green Day's contribution to the Rock Against Bush Vol. 2 compilation)2:13
3."21 Guns" (Studio 880 version)5:17
CD single/7" single
No.TitleLength
1."21 Guns"5:21
2."Favorite Son" (From "Rock Against Bush Vol. 2")2:13
Promo CD
No.TitleLength
1."21 Guns" (Radio Edit)4:37
  • Musical cast version:
Digital download/CD single
No.TitleLength
1."21 Guns" (Green Day with the cast of American Idiot version)4:41
21 Guns EP[14]
No.TitleLength
1."21 Guns" (Green Day with the cast of American Idiot version)4:41
2."21 Guns" (Original version)5:21
3."21 Guns" (Live in Japan)5:01

Chart positions

The song debuted at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #22 (becoming their highest peaking song since the 2005 hit "Wake Me Up When September Ends"), and #81 on the Canadian Hot 100, reaching #15. It reached #3 on the Alternative Songs chart and #17 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Also, on the Billboard Pop Songs it reached #30. On the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, the song peaked at #14. On the UK Singles Chart, it debuted at #100 and rose to #36. In New Zealand, the song debuted at #23 and peaked at #3 in its seventh week on the chart.[15] In New Zealand, it was certified Gold after 13 weeks on the chart, selling over 7,500 copies.[16] It is Green Day's fifth single to be certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[17] 8
Austrian Singles Chart[18] 17
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia) 1
Canadian Hot 100 3
Dutch Singles Chart[19] 21
Israel (Galgalatz) 1
Irish Singles Chart[20] 19
Italian Singles Chart[21] 15
Japan Hot 100[22] 12
European Hot 100 4
New Zealand Singles Chart[23] 1
Swedish Singles Chart 8
Swiss Singles Chart 13
UK Singles Chart 36
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[24] 22
U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs[24] 3
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 9
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 17
U.S. Billboard Rock Songs[24] 5
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[24] 30

Year-end charts

End of year chart (2009) Position
Australian Singles Chart[25][citation needed] 72
Israel (Galgalatz) 10
Italian Singles Chart[26] 75
New Zealand Singles Chart[27] 38
Swiss Singles Chart[28] 60
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[29][citation needed] 78

Personnel

References

  1. ^ FMQB[failed verification]
  2. ^ "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack". digiRAMA. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  3. ^ "MTV Games, Harmonix & Warner Bros./Reprise Records Partner With Green Day to Bring Their Music Exclusively to Rock Band // News // Rock Band". Rockband.com. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  4. ^ "SkinnyLove21's Journal - The Vampire Diaries Soundtrack, Season 1". last.fm. April 16, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  5. ^ "21 Guns Live EP". GreenDay.com. September 20, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  6. ^ ""21 Guns" - Green Day". rockband.com. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  7. ^ "21 Guns Video". Green Day.com. June 5, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  8. ^ "2009 MTV Video Music Awards | Winners". MTV.com. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  9. ^ "Green Day -​ making of 21 Guns video". MySpace Video. June 23, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2010. {{cite web}}: zero width space character in |title= at position 12 (help)
  10. ^ "Press Release". GreenDay.com. November 13, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  11. ^ "Press Release". GreenDay.com. December 2, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  12. ^ "Green Day and the Cast of American Idiot". Maxiocio.net. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  13. ^ "Green Day Feat. The Cast Of American Idiot / 21 Guns". orf.at. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  14. ^ "Get The New 21 Guns EP In Itunes Now". GreenDay.com. February 2, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  15. ^ "Green Day - 21 Guns". charts.org.nz. September 22, 2009. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  16. ^ "September 13, 2009: New Zealand Gold Certification". radioscope.net.nz. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  17. ^ "Australia Singles Top 50". Australian Recording Industry Association. acharts.com. July 27, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2009.
  18. ^ "Austria Singles Top 75". austriancharts.at.
  19. ^ "Top 40 van week 32 - 2009". Micha Jans. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  20. ^ "Green Day - 21 Guns". aCharts. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  21. ^ Steffen Hung (2009-07-30). "Italian charts portal". italiancharts.com. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  22. ^ "Green Day - 21 Guns — Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
  23. ^ "New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart". RIANZ. August 10, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  24. ^ a b c d "Green Day chart history - 21 Guns". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
  25. ^ http://news.com.au
  26. ^ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Ricerche e dati di mercato". Fimi.it. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  27. ^ http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart_annual.asp
  28. ^ "2009 Year End Swiss Singles Chart". Swiss Music Charts. 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  29. ^ Year End
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