Let Her Go

"Let Her Go"
Single by Passenger
from the album All the Little Lights
Released 24 July 2012
Format
Recorded Linear Recording, Sydney, March 2011
Genre Folk pop
Length
  • 4:13 (album version)
  • 3:37 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s) Mike Rosenberg
Producer(s)
  • Mike Rosenberg
  • Chris Vallejo
Passenger singles chronology
"The Wrong Direction"
(2012)		 "Let Her Go"
(2012)		 "Holes"
(2013)

"The Wrong Direction"
(2012)		 "Let Her Go"
(2012)		 "Holes"
(2013)
Music video
"Let Her Go" on YouTube
Audio sample
18-second sample from Passenger's Let Her Go
  • file
  • help

"Let Her Go" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Passenger. It was recorded at Sydney's Linear Recording and co-produced by Mike Rosenberg and Chris Vallejo. The recording features Australian musicians Stu Larsen, Georgia Mooney, Stu Hunter, Cameron Undy, and Glenn Wilson. "Let Her Go" was released in July 2012 as the second single from Passenger's fourth album, All the Little Lights.

The song has achieved international success, topping the charts in many countries around the world, and has sold over 1 million digital copies in the UK, and over 4 million in the US as of July 2014.[1][2] In 2014, the song was nominated for the Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and won Passenger the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Work.[3][4]

Background

The lyrics of the song are poetic and melancholic, describing the regrets associated with ending a relationship. The chorus describes situations in which one does not appreciate what he/she has until it is gone, and relates this to love. The verses give detailed scenes involving a heartbroken man dealing with his breakup.

"Let Her Go" is driven by a chorus which is repeated five times throughout the song. The second half of the final chorus is performed a cappella. Including acoustic guitar and vocals from Rosenberg, backing vocals, piano, drums, bass, and strings, the song is instrumentally diverse. The song is performed in the key of G major, played with a capo on the seventh fret of the guitar.

Commercial performance

"Let Her Go" was released in July 2012 as the second single from Passenger's third album All the Little Lights. The song became a hit first in the Netherlands after Dave, a Dutch fan, e-mailed Passenger expressing his wish to introduce the song to some Dutch radio stations, claiming it could be a hit there.[5] This resulted in the song trending on Dutch stations and finding enormous commercial success with the Dutch public. The song became a hit first in the Netherlands, reaching number two in the Dutch Top 40 in November 2012 and spending a total of four non-consecutive weeks at that position.

Since 2013, and after initial success in the Netherlands, "Let Her Go" has reached number-one in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, number two in the UK Singles Chart, number five in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on Billboard Hot Rock Songs, making it his first international success. The song has sold over 1 million digital copies in the UK,[1] and over 4 million in the US as of July 2014.[2]

Let It Go

Passenger admitted in an August 2016 interview on The Project that the song is frequently confused with "Let It Go," Idina Menzel's 2013 hit single from the Disney film Frozen.[6] As a result, he "always" receives song requests for the latter, even though it is not his song.[6]

Music video

The music video was uploaded on July 25, 2012, directed and produced by the Australian video artist Dave Jensen and Tavic.[7] It shows the stage being prepared for a Passenger concert, with footage of Passenger performance with his backing band and shots of the audience present reacting.

As of August 4, 2017, the video has received over 1.5 billion views on video-sharing website YouTube, making it the 27th most viewed video of all time on the site.[8] It also makes the list of most liked YouTube videos with 5.5 million likes.

Track listing

Digital promo
No.TitleLength
1."Let Her Go"4:13
CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Let Her Go" (Album Version)4:12
2."Let Her Go" (Acoustic)4:27
Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Let Her Go"4:13
2."Let Her Go" (Acoustic)4:27
3."Let Her Go" (Live Version)4:05

Cover versions

Taylor Henderson, the runner-up of the fifth season of The X Factor Australia, performed it during the show. He also covered it in his debut self-titled album released through Sony Music Australia on 29 November 2013. The album debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

In October 2013, a piano-driven version of the track was sung by young Italian singer Violetta Zironi during season 7 of the Italian version of The X Factor. The track was also recorded and included in her debut EP Dimmi che non passa released in December 2013.

British singer Birdy recorded a cover version called "Let Him Go" in 2013 on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.[9] It was also covered by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation on the album Hydra (iTunes version) in 2014 and The Q-Music Sessions, as well as by Jasmine Thompson on the album Bundle of Tantrums.

An unreleased acoustic version of the song was donated to support college radio in the USA on the 2013 College Radio Day Vol. 2 album. The song was limited to being on only the CD version of the album (only 1,500 copies have been pressed).[10]

In February 2014, a club remix of the song was released by Swedish DJ and producer Avicii[11] featuring Passenger's vocals. It has also been remixed by French DJ David Guetta and Norwegian producer Kygo.

In August 2014, Glen Templeton made a country cover of the song.[12]

In October 2014, Bulgarian singer Maria released a song with, also Bulgarian singer, Azis called: "Чуй ме" (Chuy Me, Hear Me). The original version had an intro that featured Let Her Go,[13] but later on was officially edited due to copyright, and now the song has a different tone at the beginning.

Internationally known rapper B-Flo sampled the song on the single (also titled "Let Her Go") on his second solo album, "Floville", made in 2014.

"Let Her Go" was used in a Budweiser commercial shown during Super Bowl XLVIII.[14] It was used also in the season 7 finale of the Canadian Show Heartland as the send-off song.

The intro and first half of the first verse were used in the UK television show, Stella in episode 7 of series 3.

A cover version by British singer Jasmine Thompson was used in the eleventh episode of the sixteenth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

It was used in The Vampire Diaries' 100th episode.

On the popular streaming website Twitch, a remix of the song (a troll version) is frequently used on streams by watchers trying to annoy the streamers.

The song is also as a playable track in Guitar Hero Live.

Bluegrass band The Travelin' McCourys recorded the song at Nashville studio the Butcher Shoppe, releasing the version on January 13, 2017.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[75] 7× Platinum 490,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[76] Platinum 30,000*
Belgium (BEA)[77] 2× Platinum 60,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[78] 6× Platinum 480,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[79] Platinum 60,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[80] Gold 5,057[80]
France (SNEP)[81] Gold 75,000*
Germany (BVMI)[82] Platinum 400,000^
Italy (FIMI)[83] 5× Platinum 250,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[84] 2× Platinum 30,000*
Norway (IFPI Norway)[85] 2× Platinum 20,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[86] Gold 20,000^
Sweden (GLF)[87] 5× Platinum 200,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[88] 3× Platinum 90,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[89] 3× Platinum 1,800,000^
United States (RIAA)[90] 6× Platinum 4,000,000[2]
Venezuela (APFV)[91] Platinum 10,000^
Streaming
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[92] 6× Platinum 10,800,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[93] 2× Platinum 20,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales+streaming figures based on certification alone

See also

Release history

Country Release date Format
United States 24 July 2012 Digital download
Europe 5 November 2012
United Kingdom 22 February 2013 CD
United States 29 April 2013 Contemporary hit radio
Canada 13 May 2013

References

  1. 1 2 Kreisler, Lauren (December 5, 2013). "Passenger's Let Her Go adds to the UK's biggest haul of million-selling singles in 15 years!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Grein, Paul (July 30, 2014). "Chart Watch: Jason Aldean Is Back". Yahoo!. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  3. ↑ Pakinkis, Mike (22 May 2014). "Ivor Novello Awards 2014: All the winners". Music Week. London, England: Intent Media. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "Brits 2014: Nominations in full". BBC News. Retrieved 9 January 2014
  5. ↑ Passenger live at Pinkpop 2013 - FULL SHOW - Passenger says during the Pinkpop concert in Holland after singing "Let Her Go": "You know, I wrote that song two-and-a-half years ago and put it on an album and we released the album, and for nine months, nothing happened. No one gave a s*** basically. It's funny, we're kind of working on the next record, saying ok cool, no problem, and this guy called Dave from Holland gave us an e-mail and he said: Look I've heard this song "Let Her Go" and I want to take it to the radio here because I think here in the Netherlands it could really work and could do something. I said cool, do your thing, knock yourself up. And within two weeks, I think it got to number one and that's kind of what started this whole crazy f****** thing. Firstly I want to thank Dave because without Dave I don't think I'd ever be here at all. And secondly, I want to thank you guys just for supporting me and my music before anybody else did really. So a massive massive thank you. "Let Her Go" is your song, thank you very very much". [from 27:50 to 28:50 on the tape]
  6. 1 2 Thwaites, Millie (25 August 2016). "'That flipping film has ruined my life': Let Her Go singer Passenger says Frozen and its signature track Let It Go are the bane of his existence". Daily Mail Australia. Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Online Creative Portfolios and Creative Jobs - The Loop".
  8. ↑ "Most Viewed Videos of All Time (Over 100 million views)". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Birdy - Let Her Go (Passenger) in the Live Lounge". BBC. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Home - College Radio Day Records". Wearecollegeradio.com. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  11. ↑ "House| Let Her Go (Avicii Remix) by Passenger". The Most Unreal Beats. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  12. ↑ "Country Version of Passenger 'Let Her Go' - Broadway's Electric Barnyard - Country 92-5".
  13. ↑ .
  14. ↑ Nudd, Tim (2014-01-29). "Budweiser Set to Charm the World With Its 'Puppy Love' Super Bowl Ad". Adweek. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  15. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Passenger – Let Her Go". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  16. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Passenger – Let Her Go" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  17. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Passenger – Let Her Go" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Passenger – Let Her Go" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  20. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201325 into search. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  21. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201419 into search. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  22. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Passenger – Let Her Go". Tracklisten. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  23. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Billboard Euro Digital Songs for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  24. ↑ "Passenger: Let Her Go" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  25. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Passenger – Let Her Go" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  26. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Passenger – Let Her Go". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  27. ↑ "Airplay Charts Deutschland – Woche 12/2013". German Charts. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  28. ↑ "Greece Digital Songs - April 27, 2013". Billboard. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  29. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  30. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 09, 2013". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  31. ↑ "Passenger – Let Her Go Media Forest". Israeli Airplay Chart. Media Forest. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  32. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Passenger – Let Her Go". Top Digital Download.
  33. ↑ "The Official Lebanese Top 20". The Official Lebanese Top 20. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  34. ↑ "Luxembourg Digital Songs - April 27, 2013". Billboard. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  35. ↑ "Mexico Ingles Airplay - November 30, 2013". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  36. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Passenger – Let Her Go" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  37. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Passenger – Let Her Go". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  38. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Passenger – Let Her Go". VG-lista. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  39. ↑ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  40. ↑ "Portugal Digital Songs - June 1, 2013". Billboard. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  41. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2013-05-25". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  42. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201327 into search. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  43. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201428 into search. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  44. ↑ "EMA Top 10 Airplay: Week Ending 2013-06-04". Entertainment Monitoring Africa. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  45. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Passenger – Let Her Go" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  46. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Passenger – Let Her Go". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  47. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Passenger – Let Her Go". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  48. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2013-05-25" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  49. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2013-05-18" UK Indie Chart. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  50. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  51. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rock Songs for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  52. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Billboard Rock Airplay for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  53. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Billboard Adult Alternative Songs for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  54. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  55. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  56. ↑ "Passenger – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Passenger. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  57. ↑ "Record Report - Pop Rock General". Record Report (in Spanish). R.R. Digital C.A. 2013-11-30. Archived from the original on 2013-11-29.
  58. ↑ "2013 Year End Singles Chart". ARIA. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
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  60. ↑ "Jahrescharts 2013: Helene Fischer & Avicii vorn". musikmarkz.de. 2014-01-03.
  61. ↑ "Week Chart : 35 28-08-16 03-09-16". Archived from the original on 2014-12-24.
  62. ↑ "Single Top 20". italiancharts.com. December 26, 2013.
  63. ↑ "Top Selling Singles of 2013". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  64. ↑ "Top 50 Canciones Anual 2013". Promuiscae.es. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
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  67. ↑ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  68. ↑ "Triple A Songs: 2013 (Year-End)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 May 2014. (Subscription required (help)).
  69. ↑ "Canadian Hot 100 - Year End 2014". Prometheus Gobal Media. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  70. ↑ "FIMI - Classifiche Annuali 2014 "TOP OF THE MUSIC" FIMI-GfK: un anno di musica italiana" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
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  72. ↑ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  73. ↑ "Adult Alternative Songs: Year End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
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  75. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2013 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  76. ↑ "Austrian single certifications – Passenger – Let Her Go" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Passenger in the field Interpret. Enter Let Her Go in the field Titel. Select single in the field Format. Click Suchen
  77. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2016". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  78. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Passenger – Let Her Go". Music Canada. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  79. ↑ "Certificeringer - Passenger - Let Her Go" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  80. 1 2 "Passenger" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  81. ↑ "French single certifications – Passenger – Let Her Go" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  82. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Passenger; 'Let Her Go')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  83. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Passenger – Let Her Go" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  84. ↑ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  85. ↑ "Troféoversikt" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  86. ↑ "Top 50 Canciones - Semana 36: del 02.09.2013 al 08.09.2013" (PDF) (in Spanish). PROMUSICAE. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  87. ↑ "Passenger - Let Get Go" (in Swedish). Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  88. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Passenger; 'Let Her Go')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  89. ↑ "British single certifications – Passenger – Let Her Go". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 14, 2017. Enter Let Her Go in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  90. ↑ "American single certifications – Passenger – Let Her Go". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  91. ↑ APFV (30 November 2013). "Certificaciones De Venezuela Del 2013" (PDF) (in Spanish). APFV. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  92. ↑ "Certificeringer - Passenger - Let Her Go" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  93. ↑ "Canciones - 29-12-2014 a 4-1-2015" (PDF) (in Spanish). PROMUSICAE. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
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