Try (Nelly Furtado song)

"Try"
Single by Nelly Furtado
from the album Folklore
B-side "I'm like a Bird"
Released 15 March 2004
Format
Recorded 2003; Metalworks Studios
(Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)
Genre
Length 4:38
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Track & Field
  • Furtado
Nelly Furtado singles chronology
"Powerless (Say What You Want)"
(2003)		 "Try"
(2004)		 "Força"
(2004)
Audio sample
file info · help
Music video
"Try" on YouTube

"Try" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, taken from her second studio album, Folklore (2003). The song, written by Furtado herself, and Brian West, was released as the second single from the album in February 2004.

Lyrically, Furtado said the song "is about the reality of love. My energy used to just go everywhere, but now I'm more grounded because I've found true love. The idea here is that, yeah, sometimes life sucks. But life is only so long, and somebody can come along who makes you want to be a better person. You just have to roll with the punches. So "Try" is not a happy-go-lucky song. It has a strange arrangement because the chorus happens only twice, and the end is improvisational. It's like one of those epic power ballads." The Los Angeles Times said of "Try", "Her unfettered enthusiasm wins out as she sings of passion for life".

Commercial release

Although the single was a big success in countries such as Mexico and Portugal (where it peaked at number one), it did not chart in the United States. "Try" was the last single released from Folklore in the U.S.; the subsequent singles were released only in Canada, Europe and Latin America. Two versions of the song exist; the original with the chorus only occurring twice, and a radio edit version in which the improv is taken out at the end and an extra chorus is added. A Spanish version, "Dar", was released in 2007 in the album of Loose (Summer Edition) only available in Latin America.

Music video

The music video was directed by Sophie Muller. The music video features Nelly and a male actor (who is assumed to be her husband) in traditional Portuguese dress, around the Settler time period. It shows their various hardships, and in one scene Nelly is seen tying lover's knots to the underside of the couple's bedsprings, which is assumed to be an infertility cure from folklore. There is an alternate version of the video, that shows Nelly singing the song with a guitar near the sea.[1]

Track listing

UK 2-track single
No. Title Length
1. "Try" (Radio Edit) 3:49
2. "Try" (Album Version) 4:38
UK 4-track single
No. Title Length
1. "Try" (Radio Edit) 3:49
2. "Try" (Album Version) 4:38
3. "I'm Like a Bird" (Acoustic Version) 3:58
4. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Video) 3:59
German 2-track single
No. Title Length
1. "Try" (Radio Edit) 3:49
2. "I'm Like a Bird" (Acoustic Version) 3:58
German 4-track single[2]
No. Title Length
1. "Try" (Radio Edit) 3:49
2. "I'm Like a Bird" (Acoustic Version) 3:58
3. "Try" (Acoustic Version) 4:43
4. "Try" (Video) 4:05

Remixes

Charts

Chart (2004)[3] Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 27
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[5] 9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[6] 21
Germany (Media Control Charts)[7] 31
Ireland (IRMA)[8] 42
Italy (FIMI)[9] 19
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] 22
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[11] 15
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[12] 29

Release history

Country Date Format Label Ref.
United Kingdom 15 March 2004 Maxi single Polydor [13]
Germany 22 March 2004 CD single Universal [14]
Maxi single [15]
Canada 30 April 2004 [16]
United Kingdom 14 July 2004 Digital download Polydor [17]

References

External links