Swing, Swing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Swing, Swing"
Single by The All-American Rejects
from the album The All-American Rejects
Released December 2, 2002
Format CD promo, maxi single, 7" vinyl, digital download
Recorded 2002
Genre Emo, Pop punk
Length 3:53
Label DreamWorks, Polydor
Writer(s) Nick Wheeler, Tyson Ritter
Producer(s) Tim O'Heir
The All-American Rejects singles chronology

"Swing, Swing"
(2002)		 "The Last Song"
(2003)
Music video
"Swing, Swing" on YouTube

Alternative cover
United States CD promo cover

"Swing, Swing" is a song by American rock band The All-American Rejects, released as their debut single from their self-titled debut studio album on December 2, 2002.

Background

"Swing, Swing" was written by Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter. According to Ritter, the song was written in his grandparents' cabin in his hometown of Stillwater in Oklahoma when he came up with the chorus one weekend morning. "My ex-girlfriend and I had a rough relationship, and that was written when it sucked real bad," Ritter explained, "I liked this other chick, so that's what the second verse is about, moving on to a hotter chick - no I'm just kidding. Moving on to another girl... or just moving on." [1]

The song was also one of the last to be written and recorded for the duo's self titled debut album "It was over and done with a year ago," Ritter said of the misery-inducing relationship that also inspired many other tear-jerking pop songs, such as "My Paper Heart" and "Don't Leave Me." "But I got a great record out of it... as far as lyrics. I didn't have to think too hard." [1]

Reception

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics. Rockfeedback, who rated the track 3 out of 5 stars, reviewed the song as "Very polished, insanely catchy, and heart-on-sleeve this record is. Dramatically expressive lyrics ('Did you think that I would cry, on the phone...?', 'My heart is crushed by a former love!'), ultra-glossy production and a ridiculously infectious chorus: you wouldn't bet against them." [2] Contactmusic.com said "The melody is appealing and its pop punk sounds like something from Simple Plan or Blink 182. The lyrics are slightly baffling with 'swing, swing, swing from the tangles of' - a classic example." [3]

MusicOMH regarded "Swing, Swing" as "top form" and commented with "These small-town American, fun rockers are hard to dislike. Swing Swing swings along pleasantly enough, developing from an organ intro to a good-natured, old-style rock out that does just what you expect it to. Rock, that is", [4] while CityLife praised the track as "imaginative" and that "The use of a church organ gives way to a totally catchy - if formulaic - college rock anthem. Vocals are typically American high-pitched angst, while the simple "Swing-Swing" chorus should guarantee favourable radio play on both sides of the Atlantic." [5]

Chart performance

Upon release, "Swing, Swing" gained attention on Los Angeles modern rock radio station KROQ-FM and WXRK in New York City. When The All-American Rejects was re-released in early 2003, "Swing, Swing" gained more commercial success; peaking at #8 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in March, [6] #60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and #13 UK Singles Charts in August for five weeks respectively.

"Swing, Swing" was digitally released later in 2005; reaching #75 on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs, it also briefly returned to the UK Singles Chart in April 2009 at #99. [7]

Music video

The music video for "Swing, Swing" was directed by Marcos Siega and shot in December 2002 in Los Angeles and was released on January 7, 2003. It involves the band performing the song in a small trailer park while scenes of a young couple going through their relationship are overlapped through the video - eventually ending with them breaking up.

Appearances in popular culture

"Swing, Swing" is featured on the soundtrack of the American comedy film American Wedding, the video games Playboy: The Mansion, Lego Rock Band, "MVP Baseball 2003" and on the compilation album Sky High Invasion - Volume 1 as a remix by DJ Loopy. Television-wise, the song has appeared in the American action series Smallville, the pilot episode of teen drama The OC, the British topical news comedy show Russell Howard's Good News and was covered by the cast of the British drama series All the Small Things in character.

Track listing

CD single
No. Title Length
1. "Swing, Swing"   3:54
2. "The Cigarette Song" (acoustic) 3:36
3. "Too Far Gone" (demo version) 4:02
4. "Swing, Swing" (music video) 3:29

CD promo
No. Title Length
1. "Swing, Swing"   3:54
7" vinyl
No. Title Length
1. "Swing, Swing" (side A) 3:54
2. "Too Far Gone" (demo version) (side B) 4:02

Charts and awards

Weekly charts

Chart (2002–05) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[8] 13
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 60
US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay[10] 59
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[11] 8
US Billboard Hot Digital Songs[12] 75
US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[13] 17
US Billboard Top 40 Tracks[14] 30

Awards

Year Awards ceremony Award Results
2003 MTV Video Music Award Best New Artist style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated

Release history

Country Date Format Label
United States December 2, 2002 CD promo Universal Music Group
United Kingdom[15] July 14, 2003 Digital download Polydor
July 21, 2003 Maxi single, 7" vinyl

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "All-American Rejects: Red, White And So, So Blue". MTV. Retrieved 4 December 2002. 
  2. ↑ "The All-American Rejects - 'Swing Swing' (Dreamworks)". RockFeedBack. Retrieved 26 November 2003. 
  3. ↑ "All American Rejects". contactmusic. Retrieved 21 February 2003. 
  4. ↑ "The All-American Rejects - Swing Swing (Dreamworks)". musicOMH. Retrieved 21 July 2003. 
  5. ↑ "The All-American Rejects - Swing, Swing (Dreamworks)". CityLife. Retrieved 18 July 2003. 
  6. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/379327/all-american-rejects/chart?f=377
  7. ↑ http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=31053
  8. ↑ http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=31053
  9. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/379327/all-american-rejects/chart?f=379
  10. ↑ "Hot 100 Airplay: Swing, Swing" (Subscription required). Billboard. Retrieved 2010-04-10. 
  11. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/379327/all-american-rejects/chart?f=377
  12. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/379327/all-american-rejects/chart?f=395
  13. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/379327/all-american-rejects/chart?f=381
  14. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p535218/charts-awards/billboard-singles
  15. ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swing-All-American-Rejects/dp/B0000A9BQ7/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1379960835&sr=8-3&keywords=the+all-american+rejects+swing+swing

External links

The All-American Rejects
Studio albums
and singles
The All-American Rejects
Move Along
When the World Comes Down
Kids in the Street
Other songs
Extended plays
DVDs
Labels
Lists
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.