| "Chasing Cars" |
|
| Single by Snow Patrol |
| from the album Eyes Open |
| Released |
July 24, 2006 (UK) |
| Format |
CD; 7" |
| Recorded |
2005 |
| Genre |
Alternative Rock |
| Length |
4:27 |
| Label |
Interscope |
| Producer(s) |
Jacknife Lee |
| Chart positions |
- #1 (Singapore)
- #2 (Canada)
- #3 (Belgium)
- #4 (New Zealand)
- #5 (US, Switzerland)
- #6 (UK)
- #8 (Dutch Mega Top 50)
- #8 (Germany)
- #10 (Austria)
- #24 (Netherlands)
- #54 (Poland)
- #59 (Slovakia)
- #67 (Mexico)
|
| Snow Patrol singles chronology |
"Hands Open"
(2006) |
"Chasing Cars"
(2006) |
"Set the Fire to the Third Bar"
(2006) |
"Chasing Cars" is the third single from Snow Patrol's fourth album, Eyes Open. It was released on July 24, 2006 in the United Kingdom, as the album's second single. "Chasing Cars" gained significant popularity after being featured on the popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy. It became notable as one of the songs which revealed the impact of legal downloads on single sales in the UK. The song is Snow Patrol's biggest-selling single to date, and ended 2006 as the UK's fourteenth best-selling single of the year.[1]
|
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Formats and track listings
- 3 Chart performance
- 4 References
|
History
The song was first heard on the band's 2005 Final Straw tour, when they began playing it, along with two other newly written songs ("Your Halo" and "It's Beginning to Get to Me") they intended to release on their upcoming album. Since then, the composition of the song was changed slightly, and most of the lyrics were rewritten.
"Chasing Cars" pushed its way onto the download and pop charts in the United States after it was heard in the second season finale of the popular television show Grey's Anatomy on May 15, 2006. Owing to the song's surprise popularity, it was released as an overlapping single in early June and the video was re-recorded to include clips from the show. The video failed to catch on, regardless, so a third version was filmed for the edited single version of the song. On September 13, 2006, the song soared in the digital music charts to become the most-downloaded song in the U.S. iTunes Store, just one day after the DVD release of the second season of Grey's Anatomy.
The song originally entered the UK charts in July 2006. It was selling well, but dropped out of the chart after the CD version of the single was removed from stores. Downloaded sales remained high, however, and the track was selling enough copies to remain in the top 20 of the charts. [2] After chart rules were changed in January 2007 to allow all downloaded songs to enter the charts - whether or not there was also a physical copy of the song available, "Chasing Cars" re-entered the chart at number 9. [3]
The song was nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award for "Best Rock Song".[4]
Gary Lightbody, frontman of Snow Patrol, says it is the "most pure and open love song [he's] ever written." The phrase "Chasing Cars" came from Lightbody's father, in reference to a girl Lightbody was infatuated with, "You're like a dog chasing a car. You'll never catch it and you wouldn't know what to do with it if you did."[5]
The band played "Chasing Cars" on a recent appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
The song was also featured during a highlights package at the end of the final episode of Big Brother 7.
A trance version of the song was recently remixed by Blake Jarrell & Topher Jones. It aired on the highly popular trance radio show A State of Trance on August 17, 2006. [6]
Interestingly, the 7" single version of the song plays at 33rpm, instead of the normal 45rpm. The fact that the label states "45 rpm" indicates that this was a mistake.
Formats and track listings
- UK Promo (released in July 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [radio edit] - 4:10
- "Chasing Cars" [album version] - 4:27
- UK CD (released July 24, 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [album version] - 4:27
- "It Doesn't Matter Where, Just Drive" - 3:37
- UK 7" (released July 24, 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [album version] - 4:27
- "Play Me Like Your Own Hand" - 4:15
- European CD (released in October 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [album version] - 4:27
- "Play Me Like Your Own Hand" - 4:15
- "It Doesn't Matter Where, Just Drive" - 3:37
- U.S. Promo (released in July 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [Top 40 Edit] - 3:58
- U.S. iTunes single (released June 6, 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [Live in Toronto] - 4:28
- "Chasing Cars
- "You're All I Have (live from BNN)"
- "How To Be Dead (live from BNN)"
- "Chasing Cars (live from BNN)"
Chart performance
| Chart (2006) |
Peak
position[7] |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 |
5 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks |
5 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 |
6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks |
10 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Ringtones |
36 |
| Eurochart Hot 100 Singles |
12 |
| Australian ARIA Digital Track Chart |
1 |
| Austria Single Charts |
10 |
| Belgium Single Charts |
3 |
| Dutch Mega Top 50 |
8 |
| Dutch Top 40 |
24 |
| French Singles Charts |
57 |
| German Singles Charts |
8 |
| German Airplay Charts |
18 |
| Irish Singles Chart |
10 |
| Latvian Airplay Top |
3 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart |
4 |
| Polish Singles Chart |
54 |
| Singapore Top 20 |
1 |
| Slovakia Single Chart |
59 |
| Swiss Single Chart |
5 |
| UK Official Download Chart |
2 |
| UK Singles Chart |
6 |
| United World Chart |
6 |
| VSpot Top 20 Countdown |
9 |