Drowning (Backstreet Boys song)

"Drowning"
Single by Backstreet Boys
from the album The Hits – Chapter One
Released October 16, 2001[1]
Recorded July 2000
Polar Studios, Cheiron Studios,
(Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre Pop
Length 4:27
Label Jive
Songwriter(s) Andreas Carlsson, Linda Thompson, Rami
Producer(s) Kristian Lundin, Rami
Backstreet Boys singles chronology
"More than That"
(2001)		 "Drowning"
(2001)		 "Incomplete"
(2005)

"More than That"
(2001)		 "Drowning"
(2001)		 "Incomplete"
(2005)

"Drowning" is a song by American boy band Backstreet Boys. It was released on October 16, 2001 as the first and only single from their compilation album The Hits – Chapter One. The song was written by Andreas Carlsson, Rami and Linda Thompson and produced by Rami and Kristian Lundin. The song was initially recorded for the Black & Blue album, but there was not any room on the tracklist for it.

It was released as an iTunes Exclusive Play on January 14, 2008. It features member Kevin Richardson on piano and was also their last release before a two-year-hiatus from 2002 - 2004.

The song reached #28 in the US on November 13, 2001 and also did moderately well in the international charts, peaking at #3 in Sweden and #5 in Norway. The song also did exceptionally well on TRL, and the video for it was retired on February 26, 2002. The song was featured on the 2002 compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 9.

Parts of the song, e.g. the piano intro and the chorus, are very similar to "Långsamt farväl" released by the Swedish artist Mauro Scocco in 1997. Andreas Carlsson, co-writer of "Drowning", actually sang backing vocals on Lisa Nilsson's version of "Långsamt farväl" released in 2003.[2]

Music video

Official version

The official music video was directed by Paul Boyd. It featured the band gathered around monuments and an old building resembling a church.

The video is notable for its frequent used of the contre-jour technique, which puts the subject directly against the source of light, thus giving a clear, dark outline of the figure. In the video, the Boys are often seen as silhouettes moving and singing against the background. This was filmed in Los Angeles in November 2001.

There are two edits of the video, one made for the album version (4:33) and a slightly shorter one made for the radio edit (4:14).

Unreleased version

Before the final video was produced, a different concept was in production. The concept was eventually abandoned and the official video was produced instead. One of the preliminary cuts of this original video was leaked to the public. This video was done in August 2001, then canceled and replaced by the end of the month.

It features the band members dressed in black outfits, which can be seen in the photograph on the CD single cover. The video was shot mainly using green screen to place the band on an arid salt flat. The sun is initially shining, but dark clouds quickly fill the sky in the first chorus, and it begins to rain in the second verse. A flood of water fills the area and the storm continues to get worse. At the key change, and at the end of the song, the band members are hit with a large wave. Through the rest of the video they simply sing in a shallow depth of water.

Track listing

International

  1. "Drowning" (Album Version) - 4:25
  2. "Back to Your Heart" - 4:21
  3. "Shape of My Heart" (Video) - 3:50

UK CD1

  1. "Drowning" (Radio Edit) - 4:13
  2. "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (Sharp London Vocal Mix) - 7:58
  3. "I Want It That Way" (Morales Club Version) - 7:25

UK CD2

  1. "Drowning" (Radio Edit) - 4:13
  2. "Drowning" (Dezrok Radio Mix) - 4:04
  3. "Drowning" (Rizzo & Harris Radio Mix) - 4:02
  4. "Drowning" (Video) - 4:32

UK promo single

  1. "Drowning" (Rizzo and Harris Club Mix) - 7:53

Other uses

Charts

References

  1. ↑ "AllMusic: Drowning". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
  2. ↑ "Groove" (PDF). 2003.
  3. ↑ Now That's What I Call Music! 9 (U.S. series)
  4. ↑ "Billboard - Google Books". 2001-11-10. Retrieved 2014-02-26 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Billboard - Google Books. 2001-12-08. Retrieved 2012-02-14 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Romanian Top 100". rt100.ro.
  7. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Backstreet Boys – Drowning" Canciones Top 50.
  8. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  9. ↑ 2001 Italian Singles Chart. Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved on 2011-06-29.
  10. ↑ 2001 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch Archived November 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. (Retrieved April 20, 2010)
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