Moving Mountains (song)

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"Moving Mountains"
Usher
from the album Here I Stand
B-side"Love in This Club Part II"
ReleasedMay 23, 2008
RecordedTriangle Sound Studios, Chalice Recording Studios
Length4:58
LabelLaFace
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • The-Dream
  • Tricky Stewart
Usher
singles chronology
"Love in This Club Part II"
(2008) 		"Moving Mountains"
(2008) 		"What's Your Name"
(2008)
Music video
"Moving Mountains" on
YouTube

"Moving Mountains" is a song recorded by

Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Kuk Harrell and The-Dream, and was produced by Stewart and The-Dream. "Moving Mountains" is a slow tempo ballad
, with lyrics describing a love struggle.

The song appeared on the

green screen as a sequel to the video of "Love in This Club
".

Background and composition

"Moving Mountains"
The song's chorus, demonstrating its slow tempo and Usher's use of falsetto
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Moving Mountains" was written by

Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Kuk Harrell and Usher, and produced by The-Dream and Stewart.[1] Recorded at Triangle Sound Studios and Chalice Recording Studios,[1] it was leaked in February 2008,[2] before being officially released for sale on May 23, 2008.[3]

"Moving Mountains" is a

musical instruments are accentuated.[8] Usher's voice ranges from tenor to falsetto.[5] The song's lyrics are of a "struggle to get through to his girl",[9] and contain an extended metaphor, relating his fight for love to that of moving mountains, wishing for the situation to change.[10] Fraser McAlpine from BBC called it "a cold, sad song with cold, sad lyrics".[7]

Critical reception

Leah Greenblatt called it "an easy pick" as a single,[4] while Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine lauded it as "further evidence that Usher always delivers musically".[11] "Moving Mountains" was dubbed by The Guardian's Rosie Swash "a marked improvement on the sex-pestery" of "Love in This Club",[12] and the AbsolutePunk reviewer called it "one of Usher’s most impressive efforts to date", likening the song to Usher's 2004 single "Burn".[13] However, while Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy was impressed with the technicalities of Usher's vocals, he found it "hard to take Usher completely seriously when he insists on wailing each line", advising Usher to "stick to party bangers in the future".[14]

Chart performance

"Moving Mountains" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number seventy-two on the chart date June 14, 2008.[15] It peaked at number sixty-seven on August 2, 2008, falling off the chart two weeks later, after spending a total of nine weeks on the chart.[16] The song is Usher's lowest-peaking song on the Hot 100.[17] It fared better on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, where it peaked at number eighteen and spent seventeen weeks on the chart.[16] It placed at number eighty-four on the end-of-year R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[18] "Moving Mountains" reached number fifty-six on the Pop 100.[19]

The song appeared on the

New Zealand 2008 year-end Singles Chart.[34]

Music video

The music video to "Moving Mountains" was released on May 21, 2008. Directed by the Brothers Strause,

green screen.[37]

The video begins with Usher exiting the club in which the "Love in This Club" video takes place, then shows a fiery transition into the next scene, showing the burnt-down club. As the song begins, Usher inspects the smoking ruins and imagines a woman in a shard of a broken mirror. He travels through a

love interest appears, Usher climb the mountain and rain starts to fall.[38] When he reaches the top of the mountain, the rain clears to be replaced by snowfall.[7] Usher finds that the woman is, yet again, merely an illusion. He opens a locket
to reveal a portrait of himself and his partner, which freezes over and cracks. As the video ends, Usher kneels, and the mountains breaks around him, leaving a sole pillar for him to stand on.

BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008 list.[39]

Personnel

Credits lifted from the liner notes of Here I Stand.[1]

Track listings

Charts

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Moving Mountains"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[52] Gold 35,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[53] Gold 7,500*
United States (RIAA)[54] Platinum 1,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

References

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    Usher. LaFace Records. 2008.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link
    )
  2. ^ "New Music: Usher – 'I Can't Win' & 'Moving Mountains'". Rap-Up. February 20, 2008. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Moving Mountains – Single" (in Dutch). iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  4. ^
    Time Warner). CNN
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  5. ^ a b Hope, Clover (May 27, 2008). "Usher Doesn't Have Sex Anymore". The Village Voice. Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  6. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (May 27, 2008). "Review: Here I Stand". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2010. Alt URL
  7. ^ a b c McAlpine, Fraser (July 17, 2008). "Usher – 'Moving Mountains'". BBC Radio 1. BBC. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
  8. ^ Barrett, Angela. "Album Preview: Usher – 'Here I Stand'". Rap-Up. New York. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  9. ^ "Usher – Here I Stand". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!. June 3, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
  10. Time Warner
    . May 30, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  11. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (May 24, 2008). "Usher: Here I Stand". Slant Magazine. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  12. ^ Swash, Rosie (July 24, 2008). "Songs that say 'Up yours, Radio 1!'". The Guardian. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
  13. ^ "Usher – Here I Stand". AbsolutePunk. June 22, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  14. ^ Fletcher, Alex (July 21, 2008). "Usher: 'Moving Mountains'". Digital Spy.
  15. ^ "Lil Wayne Fends Off Coldplay, Perry On Hot 100". Billboard. prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
  16. ^ a b "Moving Mountains – Usher". Billboard. prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 4, 2010.
  17. ^ a b "Usher Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
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  22. ^ a b "Usher – Moving Mountains" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
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  33. ^ "Latest Gold / Platinum Singles". March 29, 2009. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011.
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  38. ^ a b "New(ish) Video: Usher, 'Moving Mountains'". MTV. June 25, 2008. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
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