| "Wake Me Up" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Girls Aloud | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album What Will the Neighbours Say? |
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| B-side | "History" "Loving Is Easy" |
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| Released | 21 February 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | CD single, 7" picture disc | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Pop rock, electropop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Polydor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, Paul Woods, Yusra Maru'e | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Xenomania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Girls Aloud singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Wake Me Up" is a song performed by English pop girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their second studio album What Will the Neighbours Say? (2004). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Composed of "boozy" lyrics and a garage rock guitar riff, "Wake Me Up" was released as a single in February 2005. Despite becoming their first single to chart outside of the top three, the single continued Girls Aloud's string of top five hits when it charted at number four on the UK Singles Chart.
The music video portrays Girls Aloud as rocker chicks as they ride motorcycles along a desert road. "Wake Me Up" was promoted through numerous live appearances and has since been performed on a number of the group's concert tours. The "crunchy electro" song received praise from contemporary music critics, who noted the garage rock influences.
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Described as having a garage rock inspired guitar riff,[1][2] "Wake Me Up" is a fast-paced pop rock song with a "crunchy electro" sound.[3] It was said that the song "marries a garage rock guitar sound to strange, almost Aphex Twin-like sound effects ."[2] The single faced a slight controversy due to its "boozy lyrics." The song references Bud and margaritas in the first verse.[4] It was reported that Girls Aloud were going to re-record the song because "ducers are wary of playing the song on children's TV in its unaltered form."[5] However, an edited version never surfaced. The "boozy" first verse was recorded on the last day of sessions for What Will the Neighbours Say?.[6] Kimberley Walsh's "dressed up and put on my make up" line was considered a "pivotal" point in the recording process.[6] The song is Sarah Harding's favourite from the album.[6]
The single was released on two CD single formats, as well as an additional 7" picture disc. The first disc included a remix of Girls Aloud's previous single, a cover version of The Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You".[7] The second CD format included the Tony Lamezma's Love Affair remix of "Wake Me Up", as well as an exclusive b-side.[8] The previously unreleased ballad, entitled "History", was co-written by Girls Aloud and is sung solely by Cheryl Cole (aside from the chorus).[9] The 7" picture disc includes the Gravitas Club Mix of "Wake Me Up" and another new b-side.[10] Another ballad, "Loving Is Easy", was also co-written by Girls Aloud.[11] It only appeared on vinyl until its inclusion on the special edition rarities disc of Girls Aloud's greatest hits album, The Sound of Girls Aloud.[12]
A demo version of "Wake Me Up" with an alternate first verse appears on the special edition rarities disc of The Sound of Girls Aloud.[12]
The Guardian's review said that the song sounds like what would happen if "you married an alarmingly fast techno thud to an implausibly dumb three-chord garage rock riff."[1] John Murphy of MusicOMH.com noted that "Wake Me Up" sees the girls at "their magnificently feisty best [...] It sounds like the soundtrack to the greatest night out ever to which only the lucky few are privileged to have an invite."[13] Alex Kapranos, the lead singer of indie rock band Franz Ferdinand praised the track, saying it inspired the band to work with "Wake Me Up" producer Brian Higgins:
| “ | We've been interested in Brian for years. His production of Girls Aloud's Wake Me Up first caught my attention. I remember thinking: 'What the hell is that? It's amazing'. There was something about their sound which was immediate but dangerous - rare in a girl group. It was really edgy.[14] | ” |
In 2005, "Wake Me Up" won the award for the Popjustice £20 Music Prize, an annual prize awarded by a panel of judges organised by music website Popjustice to the singer(s) of the best British pop single of the past year. Girls Aloud had previously won the award in 2003 for "No Good Advice".
"Wake Me Up" entered the UK Singles Chart at number four on 27 February 2005,[15] making it Girls Aloud's first single to miss the top three.[16] The song fell to number ten in its second week on the chart.[17] The single spent a total of nine weeks in the top 75.[16][18] "Wake Me Up" debuted and peaked at number six on the Irish Singles Chart.[19] It fell out of the top ten to number eleven the following week.[20] The song spent ten weeks in Ireland's top fifty.[21]
The music video for "Wake Me Up" was directed by Harvey & Carolyn.[22]
The video opens with Sarah Harding pulling down her bike helmet, followed by the helmeted faces of all five band members being shown with a title screen. The girls' helmets fly off their heads as they get on their motorcycles. At the front, the girls' names are on them. In subsequent scenes, the band members are shown racing on motorcycles along a desert road. Following the topic of the song, the members are seen applying fake tattoos, painting their nails, and blow-drying their hair, all still while riding on their motorcycles. At one point, the girls dismount from their bikes to dance, but eventually they return to the motorcycles and ride off into the distance.
The music video is available on Girls Aloud's 2005 DVD release Girls on Film and 2007's Style.
Girls Aloud performed the song live for the first time on Top of the Pops on 28 January 2005, wearing stomach-bearing tops and using motorcycles as props.[23] The motorcycles were loaned by Harley Davidson.[6] They appeared on the show again on 4 March.[24] They also performed the song on television programmes such as Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, CD:UK, Ministry of Mayhem, Popbusters, Today with Des and Mel, Top of the Pops Saturday, Wanadoo, and Xchange. The group have also performed "Wake Me Up" at Dublin's ChildLine Concert in 2005 and V Festival in 2006 and 2008.
"Wake Me Up" has been performed by Girls Aloud on all of their concert tours to an extent. For their first tour, 2005's What Will the Neighbours Say? Live, the group performed the song in schoolgirl uniforms. For 2006's Chemistry Tour, it was performed as part of a medley alongside Chemistry album track "Wild Horses". Girls Aloud also included "Wake Me Up" on 2007's The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits Tour. The song was performed alongside "Walk This Way" for 2008's Tangled Up Tour and included in a medley of Girls Aloud's older hits for 2009's Out of Control Tour.
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| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
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| European Hot 100 Singles[25] | 13 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[26] | 6 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[27] | 4 |
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