| "Praise You" | ||||
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| Single by Fatboy Slim | ||||
| from the album You've Come a Long Way, Baby | ||||
| Released | 4 January 1999 (UK) 16 February 1999 (US) |
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| Recorded | 1998 | |||
| Genre | Big beat, alternative rock | |||
| Length | 5:23 (album version) 3:24 (radio edit) |
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| Label | Skint (UK) Astralwerks (US) |
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| Writer(s) | Norman Cook, Camille Yarbrough | |||
| Producer | Norman Cook | |||
| Fatboy Slim singles chronology | ||||
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"Praise You" is a song by English big beat musician Fatboy Slim. It was released as the third single from his second studio album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby, in 1999. It reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1999 and No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States on 11 May 1999. It also reached No. 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks.
The song provided accompaniment to scenes in several movies and TV series, such as Cruel Intentions (and is also included on the soundtrack), Sex and the City (episode 29, "Twenty-Something Girls vs. Thirty-Something Women"), Daria (fifth episode of season three, "Daria Dance Party"), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (series 3, episode 20, "The Prom"). In an interview in 2001 during a tour in Moscow, Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) revealed to a local newspaper that the song was dedicated to a cloning regime currently undertaken in the UK, and the clones should be "praised" as normal born humans if the scientists were successful.
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The song features a prominent vocal sample from the opening of "Take Yo' Praise" by Camille Yarbrough,[1] as well as a prominent piano sample from the track "Balance and Rehearsal" from a test LP entitled Sessions released by audio electronics company JBL.[2] The song also features a guitar sample from the opening of "It's a Small World" from the Disneyland Records-released LP Mickey Mouse Disco,[3] and the song's bridge also subtly samples the theme from the cartoon series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.[4]
The accompanying video for "Praise You" was directed by Spike Jonze.[5] Jonze starred in the film under the pseudonym Richard Koufey, along with a fictional dance group The Torrance Community Dance Group.[5] Moreover, the video is called "A Torrance Public Film Production" in its intro.[6]
The video was shot guerrilla-style (that is, on location without obtaining permission from the owners of the property) in front of puzzled onlookers outside a movie theatre in Westwood, California.[7] In the video, Jonze and the dance group dance to "Praise You", much to the chagrin of a theatre employee who turns off their portable stereo. One of the actor-dancers in the fictional Torrance Community Dance Group, Michael Gier, documents the making of the "Praise You" video on his website.[7]
The "Praise You" video came into being because Spike Jonze, unable to work with Fatboy Slim on the video for "The Rockafeller Skank", recorded and sent his own solo dance video to "Skank" as a gift; Jonze's 'alternate' music video was so well-received by Slim that Jonze's fictional Torrance Community Dance Group was green-lighted for the official video for "Praise You".
Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) is briefly seen in the video as one of the many onlookers, with the clearest view shown at the conclusion of the video, while Jonze is talking about the dance. Cook curiously peers over Jonze to catch a glimpse of the camera before walking off to the right.
The video reportedly cost only US$800 to produce, with most of that money going towards a replacement boombox and food for the cast and crew.
The video won three major awards at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Direction (awarded to "Torrance Community Dance Group"), and Best Choreography (awarded to "Richard Koufey & Michael Rooney"). It was also nominated for, but did not win, Best Dance Video.[8] The group also put on a dance performance to the song at the awards.[9]
| Chart (1999) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 28[10] |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 31 |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 4 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 46 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 11 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 32 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 44 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 36 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 2 |
| Preceded by "Heartbeat / Tragedy" by Steps |
UK Singles Chart number-one single 10 January 1999 – 16 January 1999 |
Succeeded by "A Little Bit More" by 911 |
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