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"Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)" is a single by Welsh band Lostprophets, which was released in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2006.
The first airing of the single in the UK was in the Muni Arts Center in Pontypridd on the 24th April 2006.
The song is taken from the number one album Liberation Transmission and was recorded in Hawaii. The b-sides found on the single came from the same sessions - all of which are brand new tracks. The video was filmed on location in Los Angeles, California and was co-directed by the band and Ryan Phillips (of Story of the Year) [1].
The single entered the UK Singles Chart at #8, making it the joint highest performing Lostprophets single along with Last Train Home.
[edit] Music Video
The music video for the song shows the band on top of what appears to be a helicopter pad. At the beginning, the individual members of the band are shown, while a flag showing the band's logo, flutters behind them. As the band sings, three teenagers are shown. They are a girl sitting at dinner with her parents when they suddenly start arguing, a boy with piercings in his mouth and chin in a kitchen as his boss starts shouting at him, possibly for being too slow with the orders, and a boy sitting in the back seat of a car while his father shouts at him. As the band reaches the "scream your heart out" portion of the song, the teenagers obviously can't take anymore and start to scream suddenly. The girl with the arguing parents shatters every glass on the table as her mother covers her ears, the diner boy blowing plates off the shelf in front of him, and the boy blowing out the car's windows. The band finishes playing, and the view goes fuzzy.
[edit] Meaning
The general inference behind the video is what happens when you bottle up frustration and anger and have to release it all at once by yelling, hence the line in the song "everybody scream your heart out". The selection of punk/emo characters in the video yelling after being constantly shouted at or criticised for expressing themselves through clothing and piercings etc should not be lost. Most of the fanbase for the band is teens - late 20s, and so should be relevant to the age group. Also, being railed on by older authority figures is likely to be something they can identify with.
[edit] Track list
| Compact Disc ONE |
 |
Track |
Title |
Time |
| 1 |
"Rooftops" |
4:11 |
| 2 |
"Ordinary Life" (Demo) |
3:24 |
| Compact Disc TWO |
 |
Track |
Title |
Time |
| 1 |
"Rooftops" |
4:11 |
| 2 |
"Dead to Me" (Demo) |
3:25 |
| 3 |
"No Way Out" (Demo) |
3:52 |
| Vinyl |
 |
Side |
Title |
Time |
| A |
"Rooftops" |
4:11 |
| B |
"Etched" |
N/A |
[edit] Trivia
- When the band pitched their dream video for Rooftops to their record label, it was refused because it would have cost 8 million pounds to produce. It subsequently went through several re-drafts before they settled on the final version.
- The chorus was inspired by the scene in the film Garden State where the characters are screaming into a chasm. The general theme of the song also matches the film's — "make a mark" in your life while there's still time.
- The lyric "scream your heart out" can also be found on Lostprophets' previous single Goodbye Tonight.
- The band admitted that this was the easiest song they have ever produced.[citation needed]
- Also, the song lyrics and rhythm structure bear resemblance to the song of the same name by Mest, recorded for their 2003 Mest (album).
- The music video stars Jono Evans from Los Angeles-based rock band Endless Hallway as the screaming blonde boy in the car. There are also several videos of Jono messing about with Sonny Moore on YouTube.
- This song was used by U.S. premium movie network, Starz! for their end of the year montage of movies played in 2006 as well as movies coming in 2007.
- This song was played on the last episode of the MTV show "Road Rules: Viewer's Revenge" along with the Story of the Year song "Anthem of Our Dying Day."
- This song was used in a montage ad for The OC by the Fox Network during the premiere of the second season of Prison Break on August 21st 2006.
- This song was also used in a video tribute to Jeff Hardy on WWE Monday Night Raw and on WWE.com. WWE frequently shows the video during commercial breaks at live events.
[edit] Chart positions
[edit] External links
