Thumbs (song)
"Thumbs" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Sabrina Carpenter | ||||
from the album Evolution | ||||
Released | January 3, 2017 | |||
Format | Digital download | |||
Recorded | August 2016 | |||
Studio | Rokstone Studios (London, United Kingdom) | |||
Genre | Electropop | |||
Length | 3:36 | |||
Label | Hollywood | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Mac | |||
Sabrina Carpenter singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Thumbs" on YouTube |
"Thumbs" is a song by American singer Sabrina Carpenter. It was released as a third and final promotional single from her second studio album, Evolution (2016), on October 7, 2016.[1] The song was released as the second single from the album on January 3, 2017.[2] It was written by Steve Mac and Priscilla Renea, with the production being handled by Mac.[3] The song talks about embracing individuality and rising above mediocrity.
Background and composition
"Thumbs" is a electropop song with house and pop elements. It was released initially as a promotional single and later released as a single. The song was written by Steve Mac and Priscilla Renea and was the only song in the album without Carpenter's writing credit. The song was the last recorded for the album, Carpenter says. "We'd finish the album, I then heard "Thumbs" which gave me these vibes of fame and black and gold and just like some of my favorite soulful songs."[4] The song talks about embracing individuality and escaping mediocrity. The lyric “They gonna keep on twiddling them thumbs” is a metaphor that means wasting your time doing pointless things and never making any real progress. She says that if people are falling into the same mistakes they are going to continue twiddling them thumbs, so they are going to live in the mediocrity. Carpenter describes the other songs in the album as "children" of "Thumbs."
Music video
The music video, which was directed by Hayley Young,[5] was uploaded on her Vevo account on YouTube on February 10, 2017.[6] The set of the music video is downstairs in a subway car and it was made in one take. The music video features Sabrina singing the song with several people inside the subway doing their daily tasks. When the idea of the video was being processed, Sabrina thought of a subway because it's where you find different people, the line "Somewhere in the world" represents that people.
Critical reception
Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues of ANDPOP said "the jazzy vibe of this song sold us, and the scatting just made us play it on repeat. With this tune Sabrina really makes us fall for her unique jazz vibes she sprinkles into her pop sound."[7]
Live performances
Carpenter first performed the song on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles on August 25, 2016, along with other new music before the release of Evolution.[8] She performed the song on Today on November 22, 2016.[9] On April 17, 2017, she made her late night talk show debut by performing the song on The Late Late Show with James Corden.[10] On April 29, 2017, she performed the song at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards.
Credits and personnel
- Recording and management
- Recorded at Rokstone Studios (London, United Kingdom)
- Lead Vocals Recorded in North Hollywood, California
- Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City)
- BMG Gold Songs/Rockstone Music (ASCAP), All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US), LLC. Used By Permission. All Rights Reserved./WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)
- Personnel
- Sabrina Carpenter – vocals
- Steve Mac – songwriting, production
- Priscilla Renea – songwriting, background vocals
- Chris Laws – engineering
- Dan Pursey – engineering
- Mitch Allan – lead vocals
- Phil Tan – mixing
- Chris Gehringer – mastering
Credits adapted from Evolution liner notes.[11]
Charts
Charts (2017) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[12] | 173 |
Australia Hitseekers (ARIA)[13] | 18 |
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[14] | 129 |
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[15] | 48 |
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[16] | 63 |
Finland Download (Latauslista)[17] | 26 |
Norway (VG-lista)[18] | 19 |
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[19] | 62 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] | 88 |
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[21] | 1 |
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[22] | 28 |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | October 7, 2016 | Digital download | Hollywood | [1] |
January 3, 2017 | Top 40 radio | [2] | ||
References
- 1 2 "Amazon.com: Thumbs: Sabrina Carpenter: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- 1 2 "Top 40/M Future Releases - Mainstream Hit Songs Being Released and Their Release Dates". AllAccess Music Group. January 3, 2017. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ↑ "Evolution - Sabrina Carpenter - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Sabrina Carpenter - Thumbs - Commentary".
- ↑ "Thumbs - Sabrina Carpenter". VEVO. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
- ↑ "Official Video". YouTube. Hollywood Records. Retrieved 4 March 2017.Masters, Cayla. "Sabrina Carpenter drops music video for ‘Thumbs’". Celeb Mix. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ↑ Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues (October 14, 2016). "ANDPOP - Track By Track Review Of EVOLution By Sabrina Carpenter". ANDPOP. Channel Zero. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Sabrina Carpenter To Perform New Music at iHeartRadio Theater Show - Ryan Seacrest - On Air with Ryan Seacrest". iHeartRadio. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ↑ "Sabrina Carpenter sings 'Thumbs' live on TODAY - TODAY.com". Today. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ↑ The Late Late Show with James Corden (2017-04-18), Sabrina Carpenter: Thumbs, retrieved 2017-04-21
- ↑ Evolution liner notes [CD] Hollywood Records (2016).
- ↑ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2017-03-07". imgur.com. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
- ↑ "The ARIA Report" (PDF) (1408). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). February 20, 2017: 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Sabrina Carpenter – Thumbs" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Sabrina Carpenter – Thumbs" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
- ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201713 into search. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ↑ "Sabrina Carpenter: Thumbs" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ↑ "VG-lista – Sabrina Carpenter / Thumbs". VG-lista. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
- ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201709 into search. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
- ↑ "Sverigetopplistan - Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- ↑ "Sabrina Carpenter – Chart history" Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 for Sabrina Carpenter. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
- ↑ "Sabrina Carpenter – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Sabrina Carpenter. Retrieved March 21, 2017.