Oh No!

"Oh No!"
Single by Marina and the Diamonds
from the album The Family Jewels
B-side	"Starstrukk"
Released	2 August 2010 (2010-08-02)
Format	CD single digital download 7" single
Recorded	2009–10
Genre	Indie pop electropop dance-rock
Length	3:00
Label	679
Writer(s)	Marina Diamandis Greg Kurstin
Producer(s)	Greg Kurstin
Marina and the Diamonds singles chronology
"I Am Not a Robot" (2010) "Oh No!" (2010) "Shampain" (2010)

"Oh No!" is a song by Welsh recording artist Marina and the Diamonds from her debut album, The Family Jewels (2010). It was released as the album's fourth single on 2 August 2010.^[1]

Background

Written on a trip to Los Angeles a week after The Family Jewels was mastered, "Oh No!" was the final track to complete the album.^[2] Diamandis explained:

["Oh No!"] was written in response to be terrified of not achieving what I say I want to achieve every time I open my big mouth. It's my part ii to "Mowgli's Road". I was paralysed by fear before my trip to the states and couldn't stop thinking about being a failure "etc" and was convinced that I'd become a self-fulfilling prophecy if my brain didn't shut up and stop being so negative. So I put it in a song. "Mowgli's [Road]" questioned who I want to be, "Oh No!" confirms it. It made me feel confident again after a shaky 6 months. Life is just a barrel of laughs at end of day, anyway!^[2]

On Greg Kurstin, who produced the song, she said, "I had really admired his work for a long time. Seeing as I was in LA, I asked if he wanted to write together and [the song] came out really well. He's great actually, very easy to work with. I really like his production style as well."^[3]

The instrumental of "Oh No!" was used to advertise the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory on E4 in the United Kingdom.

She performed the track on Big Brother's Little Brother, a spin-off show of reality show Big Brother (UK) in 2010 on E4 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The song was used in a promo for the show Awkward on MTV in 2013.

The song is on the 2012 video game Just Dance 4.

Music video

Diamandis in the music video for "Oh No!"

The music video for "Oh No!" was directed by Kinga Burza^[4] and filmed on 10 June 2010.^[5] It was released on 28 June 2010.^[6] Diamandis said the music video was influenced by 1990s cartoons and the old "zany neon" MTV graphics.^[7] Burza said the concept of the video stems from the lyrics of "Oh No!" which reference being obsessed with consumerism, success, money and fame.^[7] The music video features a dance sequence with four dancers which was choreographed by David Leighton. He described the routine as quirky and "very bubblegum pop".^[7] The stylist for the video was Celestine Cooney who chose to feature outfits by Christopher Kane, Henry Holland and Ashish Soni.^[7]

Track listings

• UK CD single

1. "Oh No!" – 3:02
2. "Starstrukk" – 4:44

• UK iTunes EP^[8]

1. "Oh No!" – 3:02
2. "Oh No!" (Active Child Remix) – 3:53
3. "Oh No!" (Grum Remix) – 4:22
4. "Oh No!" (Steve Pitron and Max Sanna Remix) – 7:28
5. "Oh No!" (Jaymo & Andy George's Moda Mix) – 4:02

• UK 7" single

1. "Oh No!" – 3:02
2. "Oh No!" (Active Child Remix)

Personnel

• Marina Diamandis – vocals
• Greg Kurstin – producer, keyboards, guitar, mixing, programming
• Dan Gulino – bass guitar
• Jon Shone – piano, arranger

Charts

References