Skinny Love

"Skinny Love"
Single by Bon Iver
from the album For Emma, Forever Ago
Released	28 April 2008 (2008-04-28)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	November 2006 – February 2007
Genre	Indie folk
Length	3:58
Label	4AD Jagjaguwar
Songwriter(s)	Justin Vernon
Bon Iver singles chronology
"Skinny Love" (2008) "Monster" (2010)
"Skinny Love" (2008) "Monster" (2010)

"Skinny Love" is a song by American indie folk band Bon Iver.

Background

"Skinny Love" was the first single released from Bon Iver's 2007 début album For Emma, Forever Ago in America. The song was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 28 April 2008. While "Skinny Love" has been considered a reference to his relationship with former girlfriend Christy Smith,^[1] Vernon countered this as "not entirely accurate [...] it's about that time in a relationship that I was going through; you're in a relationship because you need help, but that's not necessarily why you should be in a relationship. And that's skinny."^[2]

The song was used in the first episode of Grey's Anatomy's fifth season. The digital download track "Skinny Love" was selected to be iTunes (UK) single of the week and was available for free during that time, as well as being featured as the track of the day on National Public Radio. On 6 October 2008, "Skinny Love" was featured in the NBC series Chuck (season 2, episode 3).^[3][4] On 11 December 2008, Bon Iver performed "Skinny Love" on the Late Show with David Letterman.^[5] On 26 January 2009, "Skinny Love" was announced at #21 by the Australian national radio station Triple J in the annual Hottest 100 countdown of the previous year's best songs.^[6] In July 2009, "Skinny Love" was announced at #92 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time countdown.^[7] In June 2013, "Skinny Love" was announced at #16 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of the Last 20 Years countdown.^[8]

Track listing

Chart performance

Birdy version

"Skinny Love"
Single by Birdy
from the album Birdy
Released	30 January 2011 (2011-01-30)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2010
Genre	Piano ballad
Length	3:22
Label	14th Floor Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Justin Vernon
Producer(s)	Alex H. N. Gilbert
Birdy singles chronology
"Skinny Love" (2011) "Shelter" (2011)
"Skinny Love" (2011) "Shelter" (2011)

British musician Birdy released a cover version of the song in 2011 as her debut single. The single has been B-listed on Xfm and is a particular favourite with listeners of Shak's overnight show. The song was also chosen as "Record of The Week"^[11] by UK radio DJ Fearne Cotton. This version was used in Season 2 Episode 21 of The Vampire Diaries and in Season 1 Episode 1 of Prisoners' Wives.

The song also skyrocketed in Australian popularity within the ARIA Charts' top ten, partly because of Bella Ferraro, an X Factor 2012 Top Four contestant, who performed the song at the X Factor auditions aired in Australia in August 2012. A similar event took place in New Zealand in May 2013 after X Factor winner Jackie Thomas performed the song at her audition. The song entered the top 40 for the first time and reached #2 on the RIANZ charts following the broadcast.^[12]

In 2011, "Skinny Love" sold 259,000 copies in the UK, becoming the third biggest selling rock single of that year.^[13] As of August 2016, the song had sold 744,502 copies in the UK.^[14]

Birdy's version of the song was serviced to U.S. contemporary hit radio on 11 February 2014.^[15]

Music videos

There are three music videos for this single. The first music video for the song was uploaded to YouTube on 1 April 2011.^[16] It features Birdy playing the piano of walking in a dark house. The second music video was shot in one take and framed on Birdy's face. The camera changes focus as she sings. It was uploaded on 14 October 2011.^[17] The third music video was uploaded on 15 January 2014.^[18]

Track listing

Charts Weekly charts Chart (2011–14) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[19] 2 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[20] 15 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[21] 3 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[22] 4 France (SNEP)[23] 2 Germany (Official German Charts)[24] 73 Ireland (IRMA)[25] 22 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[26] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[27] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[28] 2 Poland (ZPAV) 88 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[29] 17 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 19 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[31] 17 US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[32] 24 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[33] 40 US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[34] 40 Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[35] 20 Dutch Singles Chart[36] 22 Chart (2012) Position Australia (ARIA)[37] 8 Chart (2013) Position New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[38] 24 Chart (2014) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[39] 48 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/Sales Australia (ARIA)[40] 6× Platinum 420,000^ Belgium (BEA)[41] Platinum 30,000* Canada (Music Canada)[42] Gold 40,000^ France (SNEP)[43] Platinum 150,000* Italy (FIMI)[44] Platinum 50,000 Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[45] Gold 15,000^ United Kingdom (BPI)[46] Platinum 744,502[14] United States (RIAA)[47] Platinum 1,000,000^ *sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone Release history Country Date Format Label United Kingdom 30 January 2011[48] Digital download Atlantic Records References ↑ Grayson Haver Currin (July 27, 2011). "Bon Iver's long wager". Indy Week. Retrieved November 25, 2015.  ↑ Grayson Currin (June 13, 2011). "Interviews: Bon Iver". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 25, 2015.  ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185873/soundtrack ↑ "BON IVER: Anywhere From Here". Volume One magazine. 4 December 2009.  ↑ Letterman, David; indiemusicfilter. "The Late Show Musical Guest Bon Iver 12/11/08 HQ Video" (video). Vodpod.com. Late Show with David Letterman. Retrieved 2011-08-29.  ↑ "Kings of Leon top Triple J's Hottest 100". Courier-Mail. 25 January 2009.  ↑ "Countdown | Hottest 100 – Of All Time | triple j". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2011-08-29.  ↑ "Countdown | Twenty Years of Triple J's Hottest 100 | triple j". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2013-06-09.  ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Bon Iver – Skinny Love". Tracklisten. ↑ "Official Streaming Chart Top 100 – 19th January 2013 The Official Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts. Retrieved 2013-01-16.  ↑ River Studios News, 2011 Archived 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. ↑ "BIRDY - SKINNY LOVE (SONG)". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 8 May 2013.  ↑ "The Top 20 rock singles and albums of 2011 revealed". The Official Charts Company. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2014.  1 2 "Birdy Reveals How She Flew From Sync Queen To Sales Queen". Music Week. Intent Media. August 3, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.  ↑ http://www.allaccess.com/top40-mainstream/future-releases ↑ "Birdy – Skinny Love [Official Music Video". YouTube. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2013-01-16.  ↑ "Birdy – Skinny Love [One Take Music Video]". YouTube. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2014-02-02.  ↑ "Birdy – Skinny Love [One Take Music Video]". YouTube. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2014-02-02.  ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Birdy – Skinny Love". ARIA Top 50 Singles. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Birdy – Skinny Love" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Birdy – Skinny Love" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Birdy – Skinny Love" (in French). Ultratop 50. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Birdy – Skinny Love" (in French). Les classement single. ↑ "Musicline.de – Birdy Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 39, 2013". Irish Singles Chart. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Birdy search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Birdy – Skinny Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Birdy – Skinny Love". Top 40 Singles. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2011-05-14". Scottish Singles Top 40. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Birdy – Skinny Love". Swiss Singles Chart. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2011-05-14" UK Singles Chart. ↑ "Birdy – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rock Songs for Birdy. Retrieved 21 December 2014. ↑ "Birdy – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Birdy. Retrieved 26 March 2014. ↑ "Birdy – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Birdy. Retrieved 21 January 2014. ↑ "JAAROVERZICHTEN 2011" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2011-12-29.  ↑ "JAAROVERZICHTEN – SINGLE 2011". Retrieved 2011-12-29.  ↑ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2012". Retrieved 2013-01-21.  ↑ "Top Selling Singles of 2013". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 1 January 2015.  ↑ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2014.  ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2013 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 20 October 2012.  ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2012". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 January 2016.  ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Birdy – Skinny Love". Music Canada. Retrieved 20 January 2014.  ↑ "French single certifications – Birdy – Skinny Love" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 23 October 2012.  ↑ "Italian single certifications – Birdy – Skinny Love" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 17 May 2017.  ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Birdy; 'Skinny Love')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 October 2012.  ↑ "British single certifications – Birdy – Skinny Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 December 2014.  Enter Skinny Love 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 ↑ "American single certifications – Birdy – Skinny Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 6 October 2014.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH ↑ "Skinny Love – Single by Birdy www.amazon.co.uk/". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-01-16.  External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics