Show Me What I'm Looking For

"Show Me What I'm Looking For"
Single by Carolina Liar
from the album Coming to Terms
Released 2008
Recorded 2005-2006;
Conway Recording Studios,
(Los Angeles, California);
Maratone Studios and Decibel Studios,
(Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre Pop rock, gospel
Length 4:00
Label Atlantic
Writer(s) Chad Wolf, Tobias Karlsson
Producer Max Martin, Tobias Karlsson

"Show Me What I'm Looking For" is a song by Swedish-American rock band Carolina Liar. The song was a hit in 2009, particularly in Ireland where it rose up the Irish Singles Chart to number six[1][2] The song was also a radio hit on several stations in the United Kingdom and the United States. It peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States as well. It also reached number 40 on the same country's Hot Modern Tracks Chart.[3] The song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It also had a lengthy run on the top 20 video countdown of cable television network VH1. The song was written by lead singer Chad Wolf with Tobias Karlsson, and it was produced by Max Martin and Tobias Karlsson.

Contents

Background

In the United Kingdom, "Show Me What I'm Looking For" was played on stations such as BBC Radio 1, Xfm, 95.8 Capital FM and Absolute Radio.[4] It was released in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2009.[5]

"Show Me What I'm Looking For" is said to have changed the band members' lives forever.[2] According to vocalist Chad Wolf, the song was written in only twenty minutes, and the vocals used on the final track were his first attempt; recorded in a bedroom. "We tried...a couple of different studios to beat the vocals, but we just couldn't," Wolf explained.[6] Hot Press called the song "a choon and a half" after witnessing it performed live at The Academy, Dublin, in August 2009.[2] During live performances Wolf conducts the audience during the "Save Me/I'm lost" chorus.[2]

In popular culture

"Show Me What I'm Looking For" has featured in numerous American television shows, including The Beautiful Life,[7] The Hills,[8] 90210 and Gossip Girl.[2] When it featured on The Hills, iTunes recorded a boost in sales for the song of more than 3,000 units the following week.[8] The song's use in the The CW Television Network series The Beautiful Life was described by the Boston Herald's reviewer Mark A. Perigard as "an inadvertently hilarious way to close one dramatic scene" and suggested that "the network needs to vet its background music more carefully".[7]

The song was also used in commercials for the ABC legal drama series Eli Stone and in the trailer for the 2009 summer movie Post Grad, with Alexis Bledel.

The song was performed by America's Got Talent contestant Taylor Mathews during the semifinals. He then advanced to the finals.

"Show Me What I'm Looking For" will be featured in commercials for Investigation Discovery's new show Disappeared. "Show Me What I'm Looking For" will also be featured in promo spots for WEtv’s The Locator.

Reception

The Santa Barbara Independent described it as "sunny and poppy" and "a lot like early Phantom Planet".[9] Digital Spy said it was "rock music for anyone who finds Snow Patrol a bit too giddy sometimes".[5] The Houston Chronicle said it had "a tweentastic vibe" and that it was "easy to imagine lip-glossed girls swooning" over the single.[10]

Track listing

  1. "Show Me What I'm Looking For" (Album Version) – 4:02
  2. "Open the Door" – 4:26

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Denmark (Tracklisten)[11] 28
European Hot 100 Singles[12] 87
Ireland (IRMA)[13] 6
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 24
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[15] 31
US Billboard Hot 100[16] 67

References

  1. ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement
  2. ^ a b c d e "Carolina Liar live at the Academy". Hot Press. 2009-08-28. http://www.hotpress.com/music/reviews/live/5761756.html. Retrieved 2009-09-24. "Having been propelled to fame this year with the chart-topping ‘Show Me What I’m Looking For’ (you may recognise it from Gossip Girl, 90210 and just about every other American TV show of the moment), Carolina Liar don't put a foot wrong. [...] Wolf tells us that the song we’re going to hear next changed his and his friends’ lives forever. No one can deny that ‘Show Me What I’m Looking For’ is a choon and a half, or that it feels awesome to sing the familiar ‘Save Me/I’m lost’ refrain with a sweaty and impassioned Chad Wolf conducting." 
  3. ^ "Kentucky Speedway news 2009-03-08". Motor Sport. 2009-08-03. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=320399&FS=INDYCAR. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
  4. ^ "Carolina Liar 'I'm Not Over'". Glasswerk. 2009-09-16. http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/features/national/6684/Carolina+Liar+Im+Not+Over. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
  5. ^ a b "Carolina Liar: 'Show Me What I'm Looking For'". Digital Spy. 2009-06-01. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a156771/carolina-liar-show-me-what-im-looking-for.html. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
  6. ^ "Carolina Liar Lies to FOX All Access". FOX All Access. 2009-05-09. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtv02fc-FVQ#t=4m40s. Retrieved 2009-12-29. 
  7. ^ a b "‘Life’ in the fast lane". Boston Herald. 2009-09-16. http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1197731&srvc=home&position=also. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
  8. ^ a b "“The Hills” a cash cow for MTV". Monsters and Critics. 2009-05-15. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1405475.php/%93The_Hills%94_a_cash_cow_for_MTV. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
  9. ^ "KJEE presents Carolina Liar at SOhO". Santa Barbara Independent. 2009-07-17. http://www.independent.com/news/2008/jul/17/kjee-presents-carolina-liar-soho/. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
  10. ^ Joey Guerra (2009-05-27). "Tweentastic vibe on Carolina Liar's latest". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/music/cdreviews/5803953.html. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
  11. ^ "Danishcharts.com – Carolina Liar – Show Me What I'm Looking For". Tracklisten. Hung Medien.
  12. ^ "Carolina Liar Album & Song Chart History" European Hot 100 for Carolina Liar. Prometheus Global Media.
  13. ^ "Chart Track". Irish Singles Chart. Irish Recorded Music Association.
  14. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 38, 2009" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Stichting Nederlandse Top 40.
  15. ^ "Archive Chart" UK Singles Chart. The Official Charts Company.
  16. ^ "Carolina Liar Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Carolina Liar. Prometheus Global Media.

External links