They (song)

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"They" is the first single released by Jem from her debut album Finally Woken. It includes a sample of the Swingle Singers' 1963 adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Prelude in F minor from Book II of Well-Tempered Clavier.^[1]

The song became her most popular single, peaking at #6 on the UK Singles Chart. "They" was used in TV series like Crossing Jordan and Grey's Anatomy. A Chinese version of the song "They" was covered by popular Taiwanese singer, Jolin Tsai, for an advertisement advertising Motorola phones. They is now the title song for the hit MTV show The X Effect.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] They Pt. 1

1. They
2. Maybe I'm Amazed

[edit] They Pt. 2

1. Original Version
2. Cut Chemist Remix
3. Mdk & Ayesha Mix (Eye in the Sky Mix)
4. Video

[edit] Meaning

According to Jem: "Who are they/Where are they/How can they possibly know all this? It is a song about the things that 'they' say, whoever 'they' are that we listen to and we act on without questioning. The example being, and what I wrote it about, was when I went to New York I had read in a New York guide, to not look people in the eye on the subway it kind of implied that I would get shot or something. When I got there I was really scared and literally would not look at anyone.

"Years later I was on the subway every day going to Brooklyn and I thought, 'Oh my God, it's fine!' I had completely believed this book. It made me think about all the things 'they' say."^[2]

[edit] Music videos

Jem released two music videos for They:

• U.S. version:
  • Released: June 2004;
  • Plot: Jem walking in a park;
  • Director: Honey.
• E.U. version:
  • Released: February 2005;
  • Plot: Inspired by the opening scene from the film Barbarella, Jem strips herself in a spaceship (although she remains covered by strategically placed holograms); actually a boy dreams her as he constructs a model of the same spaceship back on Earth.
  • Director: Laurent Briet;
  • The EU version of They music video was nominated for Annual Music Videos Awards Show 2005 in the category "Direction of a New Artist."^[3]

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] References

1. ^ Allegro, Ostin. Ostin Allegro's Pop Meets The Classics. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
2. ^ Interview.
3. ^ MVPA Awards: Annual Music Videos Awards Show.