Turn Off the Light

"Turn Off the Light"
Single by Nelly Furtado
from the album Whoa, Nelly!
Released August 14, 2001 (2001-08-14) (See release history)
Format CD single
Recorded 2000
Genre Pop, folk, trip-hop
Length 4:36 (album version)
3:36 (radio edit)
Label DreamWorks
Writer(s) Nelly Furtado
Producer Gerald Eaton, Brian West
Nelly Furtado single chronology
"I'm Like a Bird"
(2000)		 "Turn Off the Light"
(2001)		 "... On the Radio (Remember the Days)"
(2001)
Audio sample
file info · help
Alternative cover
Australian cover

"Turn Off the Light" is a pop song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado for her debut studio album, Whoa, Nelly!. Produced by Gerald Eaton and Brian West, it was released as the album's second single in mid-2001 (see 2001 in music). Furtado, who cited a song by the Canadian band Big Sugar as the inspiration for "Turn Off the Light", has described it as "a real song ... Though I may seem so independent and stuff, blah, blah, blah, when I turn out the light at night I can get lonely just like everybody else. Maybe that's why it's such a good song and everyone is responding to it – because it's real. Just a song with a fun, hooky chorus."

Contents

Music video

There were two music videos made for "Turn Off the Light", the underground version, and the normal version. The normal version was directed by Sophie Muller.[1] The music video for the normal version of "Turn Off the Light" begins in a swamp where Furtado is sitting on the edge of a log and people are swimming in the swamp. She begins to sing the first verse and when the chorus commences the people in the swamp pull her in and they start dancing in the swamp. The second verse starts and Furtado is seen at a temple singing while some dancers jump out and dance with Furtado. During the second part of the chorus, she is surrounded by a group at the temple and they dance around her while she sings. During the bridge she is shown at an old house singing and is sitting on a chair. The video ends with Furtado back at the temple eating noodles. The underground video features Nelly playing the guitar in a wooden shed, wearing a white top and jeans. She is also seen buying flowers. There are also scenes of Nelly walking in the grass wearing a white dress and sandals with an umbrella. Later in the video she loses the sandals and is seen walking in the grass barefoot. There is also a scene of her walking on rocks barefoot wearing a white dress.

Chart performance

The song eventually became her most successful song at the time of its release. In New Zealand, it became her first number-one single there and stayed in the chart for twenty-seven weeks.[2] It became the second most successful song of 2001 year-end chart.[3] The song is 28th most successful song in that country and the most successful song for Nelly Furtado in that country.[4] It peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 . A remix featuring rappers Ms. Jade and Timbaland was released, and a dance remix reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The song ranked at number 70 in the Year-End chart of 2001 and at number 92 on the 2002 recap. It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay Chart. It peaked at number seven in Australia, being her second top ten single there and stayed in the chart for twenty-one weeks.[5] It also peaked at number four in United Kingdom, becoming her second top five single there.

Tracklisting

UK CD Single[6]
  1. "Turn Off the Light" (Radio Edit) - 3:36
  2. "Turn Off the Light" (Remix Feat. Timbaland & Ms. Jade) - 3:38
  3. "I'm Like A Bird" (Acoustic Version) - 4:00
  4. "Turn Off the Light" (Video)
German 2-Track Single
  1. "Turn Off the Light" - 3:36
  2. "Turn Off the Light" (So Solid Crew Remix) - 5:22
German 4-Track Single[7][8]
  1. "Turn Off the Light" (Radio Edit) – 3:36
  2. "Turn Off the Light" (Sunshine Reggae Mix) – 3:59
  3. "I'm Like A Bird" (Acoustic Version) – 4:00
  4. "Turn Off the Light" (Underground Video) – 3:38

Personnel

Credits adapted from the Whoa, Nelly! album liner notes.[9]

Charts

Chart (2001)[10] Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 7
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)[12] 22
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] 13
France (SNEP)[14] 46
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[15] 10
New Zealand (RIANZ)[16] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[17] 5
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 9
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 2
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[20] 4
US Billboard Hot 100[21] 5
US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[22] 1
US Latin Pop Songs (Billboard)[23] 3

Release history

Country Release date
Canada August 14, 2001 (2001-08-14)
United States
United Kingdom August 20, 2001 (2001-08-20)

References

  1. ^ Nelly Furtado Central - Videos
  2. ^ NELLY FURTADO - TURN OFF THE LIGHT (SONG) charts.org.nz
  3. ^ 2001 Year-End Chart of RIANZ
  4. ^ All Time Chart of New Zealand
  5. ^ NELLY FURTADO - TURN OFF THE LIGHT (SONG) australian-charts.com
  6. ^ Turn Off the Light/I'm Like a Bird | Album Track Listing|MTV
  7. ^ Nelly Furtado - Turn Off The Light
  8. ^ Nelly Furtado - Turn Off The Light
  9. ^ (2000) Album ntoes for Whoa, Nelly! by Nelly Furtado [liner notes]. DreamWorks Records.
  10. ^ "International Chart Performance". Swisscharts. http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?key=4814&cat=s. Retrieved 2008-03-26. 
  11. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Hung Medien.
  12. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light – Austriancharts.at" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  14. ^ "Lescharts.com – Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light" (in French). Les classement single. Hung Medien.
  15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light" (in Dutch). Mega Single Top 100. Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  16. ^ "Charts.org.nz – Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light". Top 40 Singles. Hung Medien.
  17. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light". VG-lista. Hung Medien.
  18. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light". Singles Top 60. Hung Medien.
  19. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light – swisscharts.com". Swiss Singles Chart. Hung Medien.
  20. ^ "Chart Stats – Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light" UK Singles Chart. Chart Stats.
  21. ^ "Nelly Furtado Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Nelly Furtado. Prometheus Global Media.
  22. ^ "{{{artist}}} Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play for {{{artist}}}. Prometheus Global Media.
  23. ^ "Nelly Furtado Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Latin Pop Songs for Nelly Furtado. Prometheus Global Media.
Nelly Furtado
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Nelly Furtado singles
Whoa, Nelly!
"I'm Like a Bird" · "Turn Off the Light" · "... On the Radio (Remember the Days)" · "Hey, Man!"
Folklore
Loose
Mi Plan
The Best of Nelly Furtado
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"Party's Just Begun (Again)" · "Trynna Finda Way" · "Mi Plan"  · "Siencio" · "Fuerte  ·
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