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La La La (Naughty Boy song)

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"La La La"
Song

"La La La" is a single released by British producer Naughty Boy, featuring vocals from Sam Smith. It was released on 18 May 2013 as the second single from Naughty Boy's debut album, Hotel Cabana (2013). The track reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and, at its time of release, was confirmed by the Official Charts Company as the fastest selling single of 2013 in the UK, the Czech Republic and Italy.[2] By the end of 2013, "La La La" was the sixth fastest-selling single of the year in the UK, selling 145,000 copies in the first week.[3]

Production and composition

According to Naughty Boy, "La La La" was conceived "from a real, not experience, but that sentiment" similar to the song "Don't Speak" by No Doubt, which "came from something [he] felt". He states that, "It was just before everything popped up and she was somebody I neglected while I was trying to find me. When I found me, she found it best to neglect me. It's cool... Covering my ears like a kid and saying, 'La. La. La.' It's the man-kid in me."[4]

"La La La" was written by Khan, Jonny Coffer, Al-Hakam El Kaubaisy, Frobisher Mbabazi, James Murray, Jimmy Napes, Mustafa Omer, and Sam Smith.[5] Although Naughty Boy originally intended to write the song with Emeli Sandé, she was on tour at the time, and he wrote it with Sam Smith instead. Naughty Boy said "It just had to be Sam because where it went from there is perfect.”[6] Naughty Boy and Komi produced the track, with co-production handled by Mojam.[5] The song was produced using Logic Pro and Reason.[7] It was recorded and mixed at Cabana Studios (Ealing Studios) in Ealing, West London, and mastered by Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis Mastering Studios in London, UK.[5] The song was finished in three hours,[8] and was the last done for Hotel Cabana.[9]

"La La La" plays for three minutes and 40 seconds. The piece is performed in F♯ minor, with the chord progression of F♯m—C♯m—D followed for most of the song, and Sam Smith's vocal ranges two octaves in the key of C♯, from a fourth to a sixth octave. The song performs in common time at a tempo of 125 beats per minute.[10] According to Komi, the song's Indian sample in the hook was taken and chopped from an EarthMoments sample pack.[11]

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "La La La" was first released onto YouTube on 18 April 2013 at a total length of four minutes and five seconds.[12] The video is directed by Ian Pons Jewell and shot in 4 days[8] in La Paz, Salar de Uyuni and Potosí (Cerro Rico), Bolivia.

Content

In the music video,[12] a young Bolivian boy is being verbally abused by a man who is presumably his father. Looking out of his apartment window, he sees an unusually dressed man and his dog standing on the pavement outside. The boy then puts his fingers in his ears and begins singing 'La la la' in response to his father's outburst. Running out of the apartment, the boy joins the mysterious figure outside and pats his dog. Seeing the boy outside, the father picks up an egg from a birds nest on the window-sill and throws it down at the boy.

The boy and dog run away and the scene cuts from evening to daytime. The boy is walking the dog along a city street, and he goes into a shopfront and downstairs. In the basement of the building, he finds a gymnasium and a scared looking man who is covered in dust. The man holds a stereo which is providing music for a group of women doing aerobics. The boy encourages the man to leave, but he appears reluctant. The boy then mimes the act of putting his fingers in his ears and singing 'La la la', and the man responds by turning up the volume on the stereo. One of the women begins yelling at the man, and he puts his fingers in his ears and sings 'La la la' in response to her tirade. The dusty man, boy and dog leave the gymnasium and are followed by the woman who yells after them as they leave.

The pair then come across a vendor on the street. The boy gives him some coins, and he takes out what appears to be a human heart from a collection in his cart. He holds the heart in the air and then slips it inside the jacket pocket of the dusty man. The boy then looks onto the road and sees a traffic policeman dressed in an unusually coloured police uniform, made of knitted fabric matching the man's face which is also made of knitted fabric in place of skin. His exaggeratedly-sized nose and ears are also made of knitted fabric. The traffic policeman is dancing as he directs traffic. The boy mimes the ear plugging and singing to the traffic policeman, and he then performs the gestures himself. The three of them leave together, and the scene cuts to their journey into a mountainous region outside of the city. They walk along disused railway tracks and pass a discarded, unplugged television that still shows images on the screen. Their journey then takes them across long, flat plains of salt flats, with the traffic policeman carrying the sleeping boy and the dusty man walking the dog.

The scene cuts to nightfall where they have set up a campfire. The boy sleeps in the arms of the traffic policeman while the dusty man holds and pats the dog. The scene cuts to the next day, where they walk up a hillside towards a disused mine. Leaving the dog tied up at the entrance, they venture inside the mine. They discover Baphomet sitting immobile at the end of a tunnel. At the sight of the figure, the boy begins crying and is hugged and comforted by both men. The men then leave, and the boy remains kneeling before the figure and singing 'La la la' with his fingers in his ears. The video ends with the two men and the dog having left the mine and they are shown walking away.

Meaning

According to Ian Pons Jewell,[13] the music video, which hints at The Wizard of Oz, is about an "aural" Bolivian legend dating to the early 20th century, which concerns a deaf boy who fled from his abusive home and found a stray dog that accompanied him since then. After living on the streets for an undefined amount of time. he discovers that he has special talent of perceiving people's troubles, which he can heal by screaming, which is said to be as loud as an earthquake and a tornado. One day, he finds an old man who is being stoned by villagers while being taunted and ridiculed. By screaming, the boy resolves the situation and revives the old man's heart (in the video, by buying him a new heart). Together, they meet a disfigured man who was abused, considered a leper by society. The disfigured man reveals that he is a prophet who was cursed by a demon (El Tio) because he didn't worship him anymore, and abandoned the society where the demon resided. El Tio is considered as the lord of the underworld, to whom mortal people offer gifts in exchange for protection, or to ease his anger.[14] The prophet said anybody who could hear the demon would fall under his control. He told them the demon could be found in desert, where there once was a town in which people worshipped the demon and he cursed them to kill themselves. Together they go to the place where the demon should reside. They arrive at a mine where the demon is supposed to be, but everybody with their hearing intact could be cursed by the demon, thus the boy had to face the demon alone and overvoice him with his scream to stop him from cursing others.

The video ends with an open end, considering that El Tio is the lord of the underworld who rules in the mines, which were of use for people for a prolonged period of time, whom miners sacrifice a llama from time to time to avoid from being cursed, the boy could be seen as a big sacrifice to redeem the miners from El Tio's undesirable influence.[15]

Additional information

Main article: Yatiri § The Yatiri's Role in Healing

The mask which the deformed man wears is one of the variants of Kusillo which is associated with a ritual dance. It also references to the devil; the horns, which are usually worn on the head, represent demons which inhabit Manca Pacha. Because the man is no longer associated with them, he has no horns on Kusillo.[16]

Caps which the boy and the "shaman" with the dog are wearing are of Andean cultural origin. They are similar to the headgear of Yatiri and Ekeko. This implies that the boy has the ability to heal and to sense other people's problems. To become a Yatiri healer, one important factor is that a young Yatiri will begin a journey to find an elder Yatiri (ch'amakani) - presumably, this is the reason why the boy meets a Yatiri at the beginning.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Digital Spy[17]

Lewis Corner of Digital Spy gave the song a positive review, stating:

As the Wizard of Oz reimagining in the accompanying music video suggests, Naughty Boy is at his best when presenting tales of heartbreak with an otherworldly streak. "Yes our love is running out of time/ I won't count the hours, rather be a coward/ When our words collide," newcomer Sam Smith confesses to his beau over rattling beats and bewitching synths. It results in a soulful, ear-snagging masterpiece that will go down as one of the best investments The [Deal or No Deal] Banker has ever made.[17]

Release

"La La La" premiered on BBC 1Xtra in May 2013.[18]

Sam Smith and Naughty Boy performed "La La La" at the 2013 Jingle Bell Ball held by Global Radio.[19]

The tracks producer/co-writer Komi also released a remix (La La La - Komi and JL remix) which has received considerable airplay [20]

Track listing

Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."La La La" (featuring Sam Smith)3:40
2."La La La" (Kaos Remix)3:54
3."La La La" (Pále Remix)5:34
4."La La La" (DEVolution Remix)5:47
5."La La La" (My Nu Leng Remix)5:00
US digital download[21]
No.TitleLength
1."La La La" (featuring Sam Smith)3:41

Credits

Recording[5]
Personnel[5]
  • Jonny Coffer - songwriter, strings
  • Al-Hakam "Komi" El-Kaubaisy - songwriter, producer, instruments, programming
  • Shahid "Naughty Boy" Khan - songwriter, producer, recording engineer, instruments, programming
  • Daniella Rivera - assistant mixing engineer
  • Phil Tan - mixing engineer

Charts and certifications

Release history

Country Release date Format Label
United Kingdom 19 May 2013[67] Digital download Naughty Boy, Virgin EMI
Canada 15 October 2013[68] Digital download
United States 10 December 2013[21][69] Digital download Capitol Records
7 January 2014[70] Contemporary hit radio

References

  1. ^ Lamb, Bill (22 August 2013). "UK's Naughty Boy Headed To America Via Capitol Records". About.com. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  2. ^ Kreisler, Lauren. "Naughty Boy & Sam Smith's La La La is 2013's fastest selling single!". officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  3. ^ "2013 In Review: Avicii scores fastest selling single of the year". Official Charts Company. 2013-12-30.
  4. ^ Krishnamurthy, Sowmya (12 November 2013). "Naughty Boy Outlines His Plan for Success". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
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