White Flag (Dido song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 183.171.177.227 (talk) at 12:56, 20 April 2014 (Undid revision 604953480 by Pulum34 (talk) See talk page). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"White Flag"
Song
B-side"Paris"

"White Flag" is a song by English singer-songwriter Dido, released as the lead single from her second studio album Life for Rent on 1 September 2003. The song 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 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 on the US 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?". The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn features actor David Boreanaz as Dido's love interest.

The song has been used in several TV series, Smallville, The Inbetweeners, Medium, The Sopranos, Tru Calling, Cold Case, Winners & Losers, and film Perfect Stranger. Carly Rae Jepsen performed a cover version of the song on Canadian Idol.

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 deny her feelings of love or pretend they are gone. 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.[4]

"White Flag" begins with a lone synth-chord reminiscent of Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".[5] 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.[6]

Critical reception

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.[7] 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."[8]

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".[4] The song won the award for "Best Single" at the 2004 BRIT Awards.[9] It helped her album sell 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.[4]

Music video

The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, features actor David Boreanaz as Dido's love interest.[9] The video tells a story about a relationship that is over, but both still in love with each other, meeting everywhere that they go and trying to not see each other. At the end of the video, they return to their apartments and Dido's room is filled with David's photos and David's room is filled with Dido's photos.[10]

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

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[38] Gold 35,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[39] Gold 15,000*
Belgium (BEA)[40] Gold 25,000*
Germany (BVMI)[41] Gold 150,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[42] Platinum 10,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[43] Gold 20,000^
United States (RIAA)[44] Gold 0^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Chart successions

Preceded by Italian FIMI number one single
18 September 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single
28 September 2003 – 5 October 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by German number-one single
3 October 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ö3 Austria Top 40 number-one single
5 October 2003 – 19 October 2003 		Succeeded by

Release history

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

References

  1. ^ The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: 301 - 350
  2. ^ "Dido - Life for Rent (album review) - Sputnikmusic". 21 June 2006. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Jeffries, David. "White Flag - AllMusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  4. ^ a b c "Dido - White Flag - Lyrics Meaning". Music Banner. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  5. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (27 September 2003). "Dido: Life for Rent". Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  6. ^ "Dido - White Flag Digital Sheet Music". Music Notes. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  7. ^ Strachan, Derryck (20 June 2003). "BBC - Music - Review of Dido - Life For Rent". BBC. BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Petridis, Alexis (26 September 2003). "Dido "Life For Rent"". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  9. ^ a b "White Flag by Dido - Songfacts". Songfacts. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  10. ^ "Dido - White Flag - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  11. ^ "Dido – White Flag". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  12. ^ "Dido – White Flag" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  13. ^ "Dido – White Flag" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. ^ "Dido – White Flag" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  15. ^ "Dido – White Flag". Tracklisten.
  16. ^ "Dido: White Flag" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  17. ^ "Dido – White Flag" (in French). Les classement single.
  18. ^ "Dido - White Flag". αCharts.us. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  19. ^ "Dido – White Flag". Top Digital Download.
  20. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Dido" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  21. ^ "Dido – White Flag". Top 40 Singles.
  22. ^ "Dido – White Flag". VG-lista.
  23. ^ Romanian Top 100: Editia 2, saptamina 12.01 - 18.01, 2004
  24. ^ "Dido – White Flag" Canciones Top 50.
  25. ^ "Dido – White Flag". Singles Top 100.
  26. ^ "Dido – White Flag". Swiss Singles Chart.
  27. ^ "Chart Stats - Dido - White Flag". The Official UK Charts Company. Chart Stats. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  28. ^ a b c d "White Flag - Dido". Billboard. Retrieved 19 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "2003 Australian Singles Chart". aria. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  30. ^ "2003 Austrian Singles Chart" (in German). Austriancharts. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  31. ^ "2003 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  32. ^ "2003 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  33. ^ "2003 Dutch Single Chart" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  34. ^ "2003 French Singles Chart" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  35. ^ "2003 Irish Singles Chart". IRMA. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  36. ^ "2003 New Zealand Singles Chart". Rianz. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  37. ^ "2003 Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). Swisscharts. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  38. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2003 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  39. ^ "Austrian single certifications – Dido – White Flag" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  40. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – singles 2003". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
  41. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Dido; 'White Flag')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  42. ^ "Norwegian single certifications – Dido – White Flag" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  43. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('White Flag')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  44. ^ "American single certifications – Dido – White Flag". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_Flag_(Dido_song)&oldid=605011116"