Swing, Swing

"Swing, Swing" is the title of a song written and recorded by American alternative rock group The All-American Rejects. It was released in December 2002 as their first single from their debut album The All-American Rejects.

Composition

When the duo was writing for their debut album in lead singer and bassist Tyson Ritter's grandparents' cabin, the tune had come from Ritter at around one in the morning. According to him he started playing the chorus, "and Nick [the band's guitarist] came out and was like, 'What's that?' and [Ritter] told him it was a new song [he] was writing." The band finished writing the song that weekend. Ritter explains the meaning of the song according to the second verse is moving on from past relationships. Apparently the song nearly didn't make The All-American Rejects, and was one of the last songs recorded.^[1][2]

Track listing

UK limited edition 7" orange vinyl

• Side A: "Swing, Swing"
• Side B: "Too Far Gone" (Bedroom Demo Version)

Music video

The music video for "Swing, Swing" was directed by Marcos Siega and was released on January 7, 2003. The video cuts between shots of the band playing in what appears to be a trailer park at night or a car garage during day and scenes that tell the story of a boy and his girlfriend as they go through several events together (such as shoplifting from a convenience store), before eventually breaking up. This is originally thought to be because of his car overheating, but it is more likely that it was because of an argument. The story finishes with him trying to talk to her, but she avoids him and moves on.

Appearances in other media

"Swing, Swing" was featured on the soundtrack of both comedy film American Wedding and videogame Playboy: The Mansion. The song is also briefly heard in the background of the Smallville episode "Witness" and also during the pilot for The OC. In 2009 it was performed by Richard Fleeshman (as his character Kyle Caddick) and others in episode 2 of the British Television Drama: All the Small Things. "Swing, Swing" was remixed by New Orleans Based DJ Loopy. He remixed the song for a compilation album called "Sky High Invasion - Volume 1". This mix of "Swing Swing" was also featured on the AAR website for quite some time. The song is also a playable track in the game Lego Rock Band.^[3][4][5][6] The song has been used as introduction music to the "Mystery Guest" section in an episode of the British topical news comedy show Russell Howard's Good News.

Chart history

When released by Doghouse Records as a single in late 2002 along with the full length album, The All-American Rejects, "Swing, Swing" gained attention on Los Angeles modern rock radio station KROQ-FM, as well as on WXRK in New York City which broadcasted rock music at the time.^[7] The song peaked at number 26 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks.^[8]

When the debut album was re-released on Dreamworks Records in early 2003, "Swing Swing" was reissued. It peaked at number 8 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in March. "Swing, Swing" hit a peak at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of July 19 when it was declining on the Modern Rock chart and was climbing the pop charts. "Swing, Swing" hit its peaks on the pop charts (the Mainstream Top 40 and Top 40 Tracks) in early August.

"Swing, Swing" charted on the UK Singles Chart for five weeks in August, peaking with its debut. Also, "Swing, Swing" was released digitally in 2005, reaching number 75 on Billboard Magazine's "Hot Digital Songs" chart. "Swing, Swing" returned briefly to the U.K. charts at number 99 on April 18, 2009.^[9]

References