Snow (Hey Oh)

"Snow (Hey Oh)"
Single by Red Hot Chili Peppers
from the album Stadium Arcadium
B-side	"Funny Face" "I'll Be Your Domino"
Released	November 20, 2006
Format	CD single, vinyl, digital download
Recorded	March - December 2005 at The Mansion in Los Angeles, California
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	5:34 (album version) 4:37 (radio edit)
Label	Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Flea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith
Producer(s)	Rick Rubin
Red Hot Chili Peppers singles chronology
"Tell Me Baby" (2006) "Snow ((Hey Oh))" (2006) "Desecration Smile" (2007)
Music video "Snow (Hey Oh)" on YouTube

"Snow (Hey Oh)" (stylized "Snow ((Hey Oh))") is a song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers Grammy–winning 2006 double album, Stadium Arcadium. The song was released as the follow-up single to "Tell Me Baby" on November 20, 2006 and became the band's third straight number one hit on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, a spot it held for five straight weeks. The single was their 11th to top that chart, giving the band the all-time record for any artist on that chart, a record they still hold to date and even passed in 2011.

Vocalist Anthony Kiedis states that the track is "about surviving, starting fresh. I've made a mess of everything, but I have a blank slate—a canvas of snow—and I get to start over."^[1]

On June 28, 2012 at the band's concert at Goffertpark in Nijmegen, Netherlands during the I'm with You Tour, the band performed the song for the first time since the end of the Stadium Arcadium Tour nearly five years earlier.

Song background

It is a characteristically soft, melodic song, much like those from the band's prior album By the Way. The song is driven by a rapid guitar riff by John Frusciante, and makes use of double stops on the bass by Flea. The song is in A-flat minor.

Frusciante.net revealed that this was going to be the third of seven songs released as a single from Stadium Arcadium. Before even being released as a single, it climbed to #53 in the UK iTunes top 100 on May 13. Like its predecessor "Tell Me Baby", it peaked at #16 in the UK Singles Chart.

On 17 January 2007, "Snow (Hey Oh)" became the band's record breaking 11th number one Modern Rock single in the United States and is the third consecutive chart-topping Modern Rock single from Stadium Arcadium.

In Germany, it was the band's most successful song, reaching #5, making it the band's only Top-10-song there.^[2]

Music video

In an interview, Tony Kaye, who also directed the video for "Dani California", told MTV he would be directing the video for the song. However, his footage wasn't used (pictures of this shoot can be seen here ). Instead, Warner commissioned director Nick Wickham to shoot a new video showing the band at the 17 October and 18 October 2006 shows at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, along with black and white film of fans at the parking lot and lines at the live show.

Track listings and formats

CD-single

1. "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
2. "Permutation" (Live) – 3:43

Maxi-single 9362 42983-2

1. "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
2. "Funny Face" – 4:46
3. "I'll Be Your Domino" – 3:54

International CD-single 5439 15624-2

1. "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
2. "Funny Face" – 4:46

7" Picture disk 5439 15623-7

1. "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
2. "Funny Face" – 4:46

iTunes version single

1. "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
2. "Funny Face" – 4:46
3. "I'll Be Your Domino" – 3:54
4. "Permutation" (Live) – 3:43

Chart performance

References