Crazy (Gnarls Barkley song)
"Crazy" | |
---|---|
Song | |
B-side | "Just a Thought" (7", UK CD, Australian CD) "Go-Go Gadget Gospel" (US 12") "The Boogie Monster" (Australian CD) |
"Crazy" is the debut single by Gnarls Barkley, a musical collaboration between Danger Mouse and CeeLo Green, taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and other countries.
The song was leaked in late 2005, months before its regular release, and received a lot of airplay on BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, most notably by radio DJ Zane Lowe, who also used the song in television commercials for his show.[2] When it was finally released in March 2006, it became the first single to top the UK Singles Chart on download sales alone. The song remained at the top of the British charts for nine weeks (which no other song had achieved in over ten years, and was only surpassed by Rihanna's "Umbrella" in July 2007) before the band and their record company decided to remove the single from music stores in the country so people would "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it."[3] In spite of this deletion, the song became best-selling single of 2006 in the UK.[4] Due to continued download sales, it reached 1 million copies in January 2011.
The song won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2007, and was also nominated for Record of the Year, which it lost to "Not Ready To Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks.[5] It was also nominated and further won a 2006 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song. The song was also named the best song of 2006 by Rolling Stone[6] and by the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll.[7] The song was listed at #11 on Pitchfork Media's top 500 songs of the 2000s. The song is also in the #66 place in the list of the best songs ever of Acclaimed Music. In 2010, it was placed at #100 in the "updated" version of Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and ranked at the top position of Rolling Stone's top 100 songs of the decade (2000–2009). "Crazy" was notably performed at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards, with Danger Mouse and CeeLo dressed as various Star Wars characters.[8][9]
Background
The song was picked up by Downtown Records. Danger Mouse's manager sent the song to Downtown's A&R Josh Deutsch because they were looking for an independent label with the same resources as a major. According to an interview with Deutsch in HitQuarters, he heard the song and signed it after a single listen.[10] He said:
"Once in a while you hear a record that is obviously so important on so many levels. The beauty of my position is that it's very direct. If I find something I like there's no bureaucratic process associated with signing it."[10]
By the time the record was signed to Downtown there was already a huge swell of anticipation, in part due to the established reputation of the two artists but even more as a result of the demo being played on BBC Radio One and sparking a profound online awareness. The record began to break even before the deals with Downtown Records were complete. On its release "Crazy" became the most downloaded song in the history of the UK music business, going to number one in the strength of downloads alone.[10]
Composition and inspiration
Musically, "Crazy" was inspired by film scores of Spaghetti Westerns, in particular by the works of Ennio Morricone, who is best known as the composer of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy,[11] but more specifically the song "Last Man Standing" by Gian Piero Reverberi and Gianfranco Reverberi from the 1968 Spaghetti Western Django, Prepare a Coffin, a sequel to the better-known Django. "Crazy" not only samples the song, but utilizes the parts of the main melody and chord structure. The original songwriters for "Last Man Standing" are credited by Gnarls Barkley for this song alongside their own credits.[citation needed]
The lyrics for the song developed out of a conversation between Danger Mouse and CeeLo. According to Danger Mouse, "I somehow got off on this tangent about how people won't take an artist seriously unless they're insane... So we started jokingly discussing ways in which we could make people think we were crazy... CeeLo took that conversation and made it into 'Crazy,' which we recorded in one take."[12]
Reception
Critical
Upon release, "Crazy" was met with widespread acclaim from music critics. This song was number one on Rolling Stone′s 2009 list of the 100 Best Songs of the Decade. They also placed it as the 100th greatest song of all time.[13] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 32 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[14] In 2007, "Crazy" was named the best single of 2006 by The Village Voice's "Pazz & Jop annual year-end critics' poll. NME also placed the song at #475 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[15]
Chart performance
In the United Kingdom, following its release as a digital download on March 13, 2006, the song debuted at the number one spot on the UK Download Chart on March 22, 2006.[16] At the time chart rules allowed a song to appear in the UK Singles Chart based on their download sales if a physical equivalent was to be released the following week. "Crazy" became the first number one single in the United Kingdom based on download sales alone (selling over 31,000 times that week), on April 2, 2006 ― for the week ending date April 8, 2006 ―[2] with the CD single being released one day later. It remained on top of the chart for nine weeks and on top of the download chart for a record 11 weeks, until the single was pulled from British stores by the band and their record label on May 29, 2006, after seven consecutive weeks at number one, so people will "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it."[3] The last song to spend such a long time at number one in the UK was "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet in 1994, which was number one for 15 weeks.
"Crazy"'s eleven weeks at the top of the UK Download Chart were the longest stay on that chart that any song has achieved as of 2006. Despite its official removal, record shops had enough stock remaining to sell 19,827 physical copies; along with download sales, this kept the song at number two in the chart week ending date June 10, 2006.[17] The following week, "Crazy" was at number five, before disappearing completely from the chart a week later, as under chart rules a physically deleted single could not remain on the chart longer than two weeks after deletion date. Thus, "Crazy" made history at both ends of its chart run. It marked the most rapid exit from the British chart ever for a former number one, and makes number five the highest position at which a single has ever spent its final week on the chart. In the first week of 2007, "Crazy" recharted at number 30, based purely on downloads. The chart rules had been changed yet again, allowing any sold song to chart, irrespective of whether or not it was still on sale in stores.[18] Due to continued download sales, the single became a million-seller in January 2011. It was the 104th single to do this.
During its long stay in the British charts, the single also entered multiple other single charts throughout Europe, including the German, the Swedish, the Austrian and the Irish Singles Charts, and the Dutch Top 40, resulting in a number one position on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles. "Crazy" also performed strongly outside Europe, with top-five positions on the New Zealand and Australian Single Charts, and was also certified gold in both countries.[19] On 29 May 2006, the single went down in New Zealand music history by becoming the 500th number one single in New Zealand since the official Top 40 chart was started in 1973. The Discount Rhinos Full Control Remix of the track also featured in the Top 20 of the Australian ARIA Club chart.[20] When the album St. Elsewhere was released in the United States on 9 May 2006, the song had debuted at #91 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached the Top 40 on May 23, 2006. In the summer of 2006, "Crazy" spent seven consecutive weeks in the number two spot, but because of the massive airplay and sales of Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous", it never reached number one. It became the year's first single to peak at #2 and never reach #1. The song also charted well on other charts, hitting number seven on the US Modern Rock chart and #53 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks. As of June 2013, the song has sold 3,401,000 downloads copies in the United States.[21]
Music videos
There are two different music videos for this song.
Going along with the psychiatric theme of the song, Gnarls Barkley's music video for "Crazy" is done in the style of the Rorschach inkblot test. Animated, mirrored inkblots morph into another, while taking on ambiguous shapes. Both Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse appear in the shapes, as do the band's gunshot/heart logo, "Satan", a cranium and various animals, including centipedes, birds, bats, spiders, and insects.
The inkblot illustrations were done by art director and motion graphic designer Bryan Louie,[22] whose other works include commercial campaigns for the Scion tC, and produced by motion design studio Blind, Inc.[23] The music video for "Crazy" was directed by Robert Hales, who had previously directed music videos for Jet, Nine Inch Nails and Richard Ashcroft, amongst others.
The video was nominated for three 2006 MTV Video Music Awards: Best Group Video, Best Direction, and Best Editing, and won the latter two. It was also nominated for a 2006 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video, but lost to "We Are Your Friends" by Justice vs. Simian.
Before the final music video was finished, the band's UK label released a different video to media outlets such as the BBC. This early promo, directed by Mina Song, is also completely animated and features several symbols from many cultures and religions that appear in a disjointed harmony to the lyrics. Lyrics of the song, and again the band's gunshot/heart logo also appear prominently. The video also includes elements of the single's cover art.
Usage in media
"Crazy" was used in several films and TV shows including Kick-Ass, I Think I Love My Wife, Religulous, The Big Short, Cold Case, Grey's Anatomy, Medium, Boyhood, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. A slower remix of the song was used in the trailer for the 2014 film Birdman while the original version was used for the film's TV spots.[24] The song was also featured in the indie horror game Donald: The Return.
Personnel
- Gnarls Barkley - Primary Artist[25]
Cover versions
Violent Femmes cover
"Crazy" | |
---|---|
Song |
Violent Femmes released a cover of the song on June 24, 2008, through the iTunes Store[26] and on a limited edition, baby blue 12" vinyl.[27] It was their first newly recorded song since 2000. Gnarls Barkley had previously covered the Violent Femmes song "Gone Daddy Gone" on their album St. Elsewhere.
Gnarls Barkley described the Violent Femmes' version as: "I might compare it to a calm pond. I caught my reflection in it. And I seemed to be momentarily at peace. This track sounds entirely different in the rain, and supports some intriguing lilypads."[28] The Violent Femmes hosted a YouTube contest beginning June 10, 2008, with a cash award of $1,000USD and "other cool prizes" for creating and submitting a promotional video clip.
Violent Femmes track listing
- "Crazy" – 3:28
- "Crazy (Instrumental)" – 3:30
- "Crazy (A Capella)" – 3:04
Other covers and remixes
The Kooks,[29] Nelly Furtado,[30] and The Zutons have covered "Crazy" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. The Kooks' version was released on Radio 1's Live Lounge, while Furtado's version was released as a B-side on her UK single "Promiscuous" and she performed the song live with Welsh singer Charlotte Church on The Charlotte Church Show.[31] Folk singer Ray LaMontagne has also covered the song, a version very well received by critics[32] and Paris Hilton had delayed the release of her debut album Paris to include a cover of "Crazy" as well,[33] although it was not included in the final track list. G4 also included an operatic cover of "Crazy" on the album Act Three. Other artists, including Maroon 5, Ninet Tayeb, The Raconteurs,[34] Billy Idol,[35] The Academy Is... (with Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes),[36] Butch Walker,[37] Cat Power,[38] Texas,[36] The Twilight Singers,[36] Mates of State,[39] Paco Estrada & One Love, and of Montreal[40] have performed cover versions of the song live in concert. Trey Lorenz (Mariah Carey's backup singer) has also performed the song on Carey's The Adventures of Mimi Tour throughout the summer and autumn of 2006.[41] Shawn Colvin performed the song on A Prairie Home Companion on 4 November 2006.[42] On her recent tour, Cat Power performed the song during her set.[38] Singer-songwriter Jude's cover of the song can be found on YouTube. David Gilmour used to play the song during some of his soundchecks for his On An Island tour in 2006. Prince covered the song in his one-off performance at London's KOKO Club on 10 May 2007, and at several of his 21 concerts at London's O2 Arena in August & September 2007.[citation needed]. P!nk covered Crazy during the entire Funhouse Tour (2009). Paolo Nutini frequently covers the song at his concerts. Little Ghosts performed a cover of the song for their BBC session in 2014. Australian Idol 2007 contestant Natalie Gauci covered the song during the Doin' It For The Kids special, using her own arrangement. On November 6, 2008, the band OneRepublic covered "Crazy" in front of a hometown crowd at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, CO. British soul singer Alice Russell included a cover of the song in her 2008 album Pot Of Gold. Relient K covered the song for their 2011 cover album, Is for Karaoke. The Neighbourhood performed "Crazy" live during their 2015 tour, The Flood tour.
At Glastonbury 2014 on the final night Kasabian covered the song while headlining on the pyramid stage. This was aired on BBC 2 at 10:50 PM on the 29/06/14.
Similarly, many unofficial remixes and mashups of the song were released as white labels and are circulating on file sharing networks and MP3 blogs. The Discount Rhinos Full Control Remix of the track even reached number 15 of the Australian ARIA Club chart.[20]
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[76] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria)[77] | Gold | 15,000* |
Belgium (BEA)[78] | Gold | 25,000* |
Canada (Music Canada)[79] | 2× Platinum | 160,000^ |
France (SNEP)[81] | 165,300[80] | |
Germany (BVMI)[82] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[83] | Gold | 5,000* |
Sweden (GLF)[84] | Gold | 10,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[85] | Gold | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[86] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[87] | 4× Platinum | 3,401,000[21] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ a b "The Billboard Reviews > Singles > Pop : Gnarls Barkley – Run". Billboard. 120 (11): 38. March 15, 2008. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ a b "Crazy song makes musical history". BBC News. April 2, 2006. Retrieved April 2, 2006.
- ^ a b "Gnarls Go Out On Top". Daily Record. May 28, 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2006.
- ^ Top 40 Singles of 2006, from BBC Radio 1 website
- ^ "49th Annual Grammy Awards Nominee List". Grammy.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
{{cite web}}
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- ^ "Pazz & Jop 2006: Singles Winners". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ "2006 MTV Movie Awards". MTV. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
- ^ Slezak, Michael (June 9, 2006). "Vote for the worst 'MTV Movie Awards' moment!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Interview with Josh Deutsch". HitQuarters. 4 Sep 2006. Retrieved Sep 3, 2010.
- ^ "What Influences Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley".
- ^ Klosterman, Chuck (June 18, 2006). "The D.J. Auteur". NY Times. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
- ^ Hermes, Will; Hoard, Christian; Rosen, Jody; Sheffield, Rob (December 24, 2009), "50 Best Songs of the Decade". Rolling Stone. (1094/1095):59-62
- ^ "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". Nme.Com. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". NME.com. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
- ^ Bennett, Cath; Beverley Lyons. "Downloadchart". The Daily Record. Retrieved March 26, 2006.
- ^ "The Market: World Cup songs strike singles chart". Music Week. 2006-06-10. p. 19.
- ^ "Top 40 change helps Snow Patrol". BBC NEWS. January 8, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
- ^ Gold threshold in New Zealand is 5,000 units, in Australia it is 35,000 units.
- ^ a b "Top 50 Club Chart". ARIA. Retrieved June 29, 2006.
- ^ a b Grein, Paul (June 19, 2013). "Week Ending June 16, 2013. Songs: Pharrell Is Chart MVP". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
- ^ Louie, Bryan. "The Work of Bryan Louie". Retrieved January 11, 2008.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley: Crazy". blind.com.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (August 1, 2014). "The Top 10 Songs in This Year's Movie Trailers That TheWrap Is 'Crazy in Love' With". The Wrap. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
- ^ "Crazy AllMusic Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ^ "Violent & Crazy". Violentandcrazy.com. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ ViolentAndCrazy.com Products Page. July 16, 2009.
- ^ ViolentAndCrazy.com. July 16, 2009.
- ^ "The Kooks in the Live Lounge". BBC Radio 1. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved June 2, 2006.
- ^ "Nelly Furtado in the Live Lounge.. your mama central". BBC Radio 1. Retrieved October 22, 2006.
- ^ "Nelly Furtado and Charlotte Church cover Crazy". Netscape. Retrieved November 14, 2006.
- ^ "MP3 Masala: Ray LaMontagne Covers Gnarls Barkley". Village Indian. Retrieved May 25, 2006.
- ^ Kilkelley, Daniel (May 20, 2006). "Hilton's album release put back again?". Digital Spy. Retrieved May 24, 2006.
- ^ Padgett, Ray (2010-08-20). "Consequence of Sound Presents…Best Fest Covers » Cover Me". Covermesongs.com. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ "Billy Idol sings Crazy". Retrieved October 23, 2006.
- ^ a b c "Crazy for 'Crazy' - Everybody is covering Gnarls Barkley's big hit". Slate. Retrieved November 6, 2006.
- ^ Harrington, Richard (September 22, 2006). "Gnarls Barkley, Driving You 'Crazy'". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
- ^ a b "Cat Power in Concert". National Public Radio. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
- ^ ""Random Shit-Starring The Hold Steady And "Crazy" Covers". Berkeley Place. Retrieved February 19, 2007.
- ^ Jordan, Matt. "Of Montreal @ Madison Theater 8.03.06". Retrieved December 24, 2006.
- ^ "Mariah Carey performance brief". The Republican. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
- ^ "A Prairie Home Companion for November 4, 2006 from American Public Media". Retrieved November 6, 2006.
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- ^ "Gnarls Barkley – Crazy" (in French). Les classement single.
- ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
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- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Gnarls Barkley" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley – Crazy". Top 40 Singles.
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- ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200636 into search.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley – Crazy". Singles Top 100.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley – Crazy". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "Gnarls Barkley Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ^ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2006". ARIA. ARIA - Australian Recording Industry Association Ltd. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (|url-status=
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- ^ "Ireland - best of singles 2006". IRMA. IRMA - Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
- ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2006". Top 40. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
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- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Gnarls Barkley; 'Crazy')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
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- ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2006" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17.
- ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Crazy')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
- ^ id MUST BE PROVIDED for UK CERTIFICATION.
- ^ "American single certifications – Gnarls Barkley – Crazy". Recording Industry Association of America.
External links
- Cite certification used for United Kingdom without ID
- Single chart usages for Germany2
- 2006 singles
- 2008 singles
- Gnarls Barkley songs
- European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
- Number-one singles in Denmark
- Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
- Number-one singles in New Zealand
- Number-one singles in Switzerland
- Number-one debut singles
- Song recordings produced by Danger Mouse (musician)
- Music videos directed by Robert Hales
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- UK R&B Singles Chart number-one singles
- Violent Femmes songs
- Billboard Adult Top 40 number-one singles
- Songs written by CeeLo Green
- 2006 songs
- Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance
- Songs written by Danger Mouse (musician)