Is It Any Wonder?
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| “Is It Any Wonder?” | |||||
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| Single by Keane from the album Under the Iron Sea |
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| B-side | "Let It Slide" "He Used To Be A Lovely Boy" |
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| Released | May 29, 2006 | ||||
| Format | 7" Vinyl CD single Download |
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| Recorded | Helioscentric Studios, Rye, East Sussex The Magic Shop, NY |
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| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 3:06 | ||||
| Label | Island Records | ||||
| Producer | Andy Green | ||||
| Keane singles chronology | |||||
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| Alternate cover | |||||
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| Vinyl cover | |||||
| Under the Iron Sea track listing | |||||
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"Is It Any Wonder?" is a song performed and composed by English piano rock and alternative rock band Keane and is featured on their second studio album, Under the Iron Sea as the second track. This is considered to be the second single on "Under the Iron Sea era", after the download-only "Atlantic". However, it is also considered to be the album's first physical single release.
The song was released to the iTunes Store on May 16, and to shops on May 29, 2006 as the lead single from the album (see 2006 in British music). The single debuted at #15 in the UK Singles Chart on 28 May based on download sales alone but reached #3 with physical sales on June 4.[1] The song was officially premiered on April 17 on Jo Whiley's BBC Radio 1 show. Soon after this, it was leaked into the Internet.
"Is It Any Wonder?" is the first Keane single to be sold in Mexico and other Latin American countries, where it is even more expensive than the album (approx. US$15.00).
The song was featured on the compilation Now That's What I Call Music! 64 (U.K. series), the soundtrack of the 2006 film Ice Age: The Meltdown and in the video games Madden NFL 07 and Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2.
Although being a genre contradiction[citation needed], the song was nominated for the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal for the 2007 Grammy Awards.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] CD Single
Catalogue number: CID934
- "Is It Any Wonder?"
- "Let It Slide"
- "He Used to Be a Lovely Boy"
[edit] UK 7" Vinyl
Catalogue number: IS934
This version also included a poster with the art cover.
- "Is It Any Wonder?"
- "Let It Slide"
[edit] Composition and recording
"Is It Any Wonder?" was composed by Tim Rice-Oxley in 2005, being first demoed the same year. The "guitars" actually came out from Tim's pianos and synthesizers, so they are only sound effects. An early demo appeared on the Under the Iron Sea DVD. It was mainly recorded at The Magic Shop studios, New York and programmed and engineered by Andy Green.
[edit] Musical structure
"Is It Any Wonder?" was composed under an 8 beat 4/4 time signature and a 130bpm tempo. The main key of the riff is A major, alternating to G major when the bass starts playing. At least three different synthesizer sounds are used through the song.
The riff starts with a deep guitar sound to prelude the distorsion synthesizer sound. Then, the bass and the drums begin to finally introduce Tom Chaplin with the vocals of the first verse. As with almost all Keane songs, it includes a bridge after the second chorus, preceding the outro. Live performances show several differences from the studio version. Firstly, the deep sound is changed for the same synthesizer used for the whole song, which is also quite different from the one of the studio album. During the first verse of the original version, only synthesizer strings are used as a background for Chaplin's singing. However, on the live performance, Rice-Oxley keeps playing his distorted Yamaha CP70 through all the song. Finally, drumming on the main riffs is modified, with Hughes beating the crash cymbal again and again.
[edit] Meaning
The song is about the Iraq War:
| “ | It's probably the one song on the record that most expresses our dismay and confusion about what it means to be a British citizen, in terms of what our society's contributing to the world at large," Rice-Oxley explains. "It's very hard to make sense of why Britain feels it needs to sign up with George Bush's attacks on Iraq and the whole Afghanistan thing. It feels like there's a whole lot of trouble brewing up over Iran, and you just don't know where it's going to end. On a personal level, for people of our age, it's really unsettling...[2][3] | ” |
| “ | The song is not an attempt at some sort of wide-sweeping political statement, it's just about just seeing things from a personal level - what are you supposed to believe, what is actually right? How can you work out what is the truth, and what is the right thing to do? And there's so many different opinions, and you're supposed to have an opinion on what your country is doing, and yet it is so hard to even begin to gather all the facts. It's really distressing thing for people of our generation I think, the feeling of not being able to do anything about that. I guess that was something we were all feeling very acutely in the song. And I think the sounds of the song sum that up in a very tangible way.[4] | ” |
[edit] B-sides
[edit] Let It Slide
The Under the Iron Sea DVD includes bass recording sessions of this song. It was previously going to be a track on the album but it was released as a b-side.
It appeared also on the Japanese version of Under the Iron Sea as the closing track.
[edit] He Used to Be a Lovely Boy
Following a melancholic ballad style, the song suggest a reference to Chaplin by Rice-Oxley. This acoustic song has been compared by fans to Keane's Christmas song "A Heart to Hold You", and b-side "The Way You Want It".
[edit] Technical information on songs
| Song | Length | Tempo | Key | Time signature | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Is It Any Wonder?" | 3:06 | 129bpm | A (La major) | 4/4 on 8 beats | Rock |
| "Let It Slide" | 4:11 | 130bpm | C# (Do sharp major) | 4/4 on 8 beats | Rock |
| "He Used to Be a Lovely Boy" | 3:38 | 65bpm | G (Sol major) | 4/4 | Acoustic ballad |
[edit] Music video
Directed by Kevin Godley, the video is almost the same throughout the song. A camera moves along a metal track like a roller coaster. The camera runs through rails until the end of it, stopping again. Keane are in the middle of it, with Tom appearing sometimes on the scene. On the making of the video, it is said by Richard that they "have done something not quite done before." The CD+DVD edition of Under the Iron Sea includes a trailer for the making of the video, as well as the videoclip.
[edit] Cover art and packaging
The cover artwork for the single was designed by Sanna Annukka Smith, a Finnish artist in March 2006. Sanna originally wanted a red bird crying and Keane wanted a lonely soldier. During the first two weeks of April, the cover showed a soldier but the definite version shows the red bird crying on the soldier’s shoulder, with the soldier referring to war. Some versions didn't include the bird, like the first cover.
Similar to the bookshaped box of the DVD for Under the Iron Sea, this biodegradable single's container is made of carbon neutral and recycled materials, without any plastics.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| iTunes Music Store (UK) | #1 |
| Islas Canarias | #1 |
| Slovakia | #1 |
| Beyond Radio Charts USA | #1 |
| UK Mix | #1 |
| US / Canada Top 100 | #1 |
| Euro Top 20 | #2 |
| Euro Digital Tracks | #2 |
| M4B Charts | #2 |
| International Top 50 | #2 |
| UK Singles Chart | #3 |
| Hong Kong airwave (FM903) | #3[5] |
| Argentina | #3 |
| Greenland | #3 |
| Top France Airplay 100 | #3 |
| U.S. Hot Dance Play | #4 |
| UK Official Download Chart | #5 |
| U.S. Modern Rock Tracks | #5 |
| Chilian Charts | #6 |
| Nederlandse Tippeparade | #6 |
| Dutch Top 40 | #7[6] |
| Russia | #9 |
| Romania | #10 |
| Norway Charts | #12 |
| Czech IFPI Chart | #15 |
| Slovenian Charts | #16 |
| Irish Singles Chart | #18 |
| Italy Official Top 50 | #18 |
| U.S. Adult Top 40 | #19 |
| France Download Chart | #19 |
| Hispanic America Top 40 | #20 |
| Swiss Charts | #28 |
| Latvian airplay | #35 |
| U.S. Hot Digital Tracks | #49 |
| U.S. Pop 100 | #63 |
| U.S. Hot 100 | #78 |
[edit] References
- ^ Music Charts: Official Top 40 UK Singles Chart - Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on May 28, 2006.
- ^ Keane Tacle the War on "Iron Sea"?. Retrieved on May 25, 2006.
- ^ Keaneshaped FAQ: What are the songs about?.
- ^ Keaneshaped FAQ: What are the songs about?.
- ^ Commercial Radio FM903 - International music chart of week 20
- ^ Dutch Top 40
[edit] External links
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