Sail (song)
"Sail" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Awolnation | ||||
from the album Megalithic Symphony | ||||
Released | November 8, 2010 | |||
Recorded | 2010 | |||
Studio | Red Bull (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | Red Bull | |||
Songwriter(s) | Aaron Bruno | |||
Producer(s) | Aaron Bruno | |||
Awolnation singles chronology | ||||
|
"Sail" is a song by the
."Sail" is the band's most commercially successful song to date, debuting at number 89 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 2011 and spending 20 weeks there before dropping out. The single re-entered the Hot 100 a year later, becoming a massive sleeper hit and reaching a new peak of number 17. "Sail" is the first song to climb to its peak after a year on the Hot 100.[1] It spent the fourth-longest amount of time on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with 79 weeks behind Glass Animals' ”Heat Waves” (91 weeks) The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (90 weeks), and Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" (87 weeks). As of December 2023, the song has accumulated more than 780 million streams on Spotify.[2]
Background
"Sail" is an
Music video and controversy
"Sail" opens with lead singer
Bruno is pulled across the floor by an unknown force. While attempting to cling to a door-frame, he loses his grip. The scene is interspersed with shots of Bruno closing a door and playing the song's piano section. As the song's final chorus section begins, the house shakes, lights and lamps flicker, and gusts of wind blow. Bruno is pulled by a mysterious force outside the house, and is subsequently levitated into the sky as a set of floodlights flashes on him. He drops the tape recorder.
On January 28, 2015, Awolnation had a video uploaded by YouTuber Nanalew, with over 370 million views, was blocked from YouTube due to copyright issues. The video returned several days later, but Nanalew deleted the video herself a few months afterward, posting on her Facebook page that "for the last few years Red Bull Records has been claiming all the earnings for the video. They'd agreed to work with me on a mutually beneficial partnership (including possible compensation for my video), but nothing has come through."[9] The unofficial music video is back on Nanalew's channel and the description has been revised.
Commercial performance
In July 2010,
"Sail" debuted at number 89 on the United States
"Sail" peaked at number five on the Billboard
In
In an interview in late 2016, Bruno said that for a while, "He felt like he didn't deserve [the fact Sail sold so many copies]." He concluded that "at a certain point, you realize 'well I did write the song', and I've become used to it to a certain degree, but more than anything I feel like sort of a messenger of some greater methods that was meant to be heard by people in general."[7]
Covers, remixes and media appearances
This section's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (June 2017) |
Online
"Sail" was used as the
Movies
"Sail" was featured in the 2012 film
TV
- Bravo TV used it to advertise for the reality show "Below the Deck" (2019)
- A BMW commercial that aired during the 2012 Summer Olympics incorporated "Sail".[15]
- The song was featured in a commercial by A1 Telekom Austria in 2015 and 2016.[23]
- In 2013, the song was used by the TV channel Vikings and in the trailer for The Counselor (2013).[15]
- "Sail" was featured in "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", the ninth episode of the third season of The Good Wife.[24]
- A So You Think You Can Dance contestant danced to it in May 2012.[25]
- "Sail" was featured in "The Walking Dead", the twenty-second episode of season four of The Vampire Diaries.[26]
- "Sail" was played during the final scene of "Dog Soldier", the fifth episode (season one) of A&E's crime drama Longmire.
- "Sail" was the soundtrack to the season highlights video of the Orange Emus rugby club's premiership win in 2016.
- A brief excerpt of "Sail" was used in Fleabag, the second episode (season 1), a BBC comedy and drama in 2016.
- "Sail" was used in the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of Pretty Little Liars, in 2014.
- "Sail" is played by the marching band of East Mississippi Community College in the Netflix documentary series Last Chance U.
- "Sail" was featured in the Fecal Mattersin 2021.
Music
- The song was officially remixed by West Coast rappers Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul of Black Hippy, courtesy of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). The song can be found on Megalithic Symphony (Deluxe Version) and was dubbed the “TDE remix”.
- Rapper Machine Gun Kellyheavily sampled the song to create his own single, "Sail".
- Australian artist Ash Grunwald covered the song on his 2012 album, Trouble's Door.
- Heavy metal band DevilDriver covered the song in 2013 for their album Winter Kills.
- Singer Macy Gray covered the song on her 2012 album Covered. A "Bonus Track Version" of the album features the Dirty Plastic Hits Remix of the cover which samples Aaron Bruno's vocals from the original.
Video games
- Game developer Valve's video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive allows you to purchase a "Music Kit" containing portions of Awolnation's music, including "Sail".
- A remix of "Sail" by LED was featured in the soundtrack of EA Sports UFC.
- "Sail" as well as a few other tracks made by the band were included as a limited music theme option in Smite.
- "Sail" is featured on Just Dance 2024 Edition.
Sport
- "Sail" has been used as the walk-out music for Sale Sharks in their home rugby matches, and is currently used before games during team line-up announcements.
- "Sail" has been used by Red Bull in intro and advertising video for their "Red Bull Signature Series".
Formats and track listings
- Digital download (United States)[27]
- "Sail" – 4:19
- "Sail" (Innerpartysystem Remix) – 5:26
- "Sail" (Dan the Automator Remix) – 4:34
- "Sail" (Unlimited Gravity Remix) – 5:49
Personnel
Sourced from the original album liner notes
Awolnation
- Aaron Bruno - lead and backing vocals, synthesizers, piano, bass guitar, drums, string arrangement
- Christopher Thorn - electric guitar
Additional musicians
- Billy Mohler - bass guitar
- Brad Smith - whistling
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Certifications
‹See Tfd›Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[64] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria)[65] | Gold | 15,000* |
Canada (Music Canada)[66] | 6× Platinum | 480,000* |
Italy (FIMI)[67] | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[68] | Platinum | 15,000* |
Norway (IFPI Norway)[69] | Gold | 5,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[70] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF)[71] | 3× Platinum | 120,000‡ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[72] | Gold | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[73] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[74] | Diamond | 6,126,000[18] |
Streaming | ||
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[75] | Platinum | 1,800,000† |
Norway (IFPI Norway)[69] | 2× Platinum | 20,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Country | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
United States[27][76][77] | January 4, 2011 | Alternative radio | Red Bull |
June 6, 2011 | Active rock radio | ||
June 13, 2011 | Digital download | ||
Germany[78] | September 23, 2011 | ||
United Kingdom[79] | September 25, 2011 | ||
France[80] | September 26, 2011 | ||
Spain[81] | September 27, 2011 | ||
United States[82][83] | October 29, 2012 | Hot AC radio | |
Contemporary hit radio |
References
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- ^ Sail, 2011-03-15, retrieved 2022-10-19
- ^ Dolan, Jon (March 19, 2015). "Awolnation – Run". Rolling Stone Australia. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
- ^ Teitelman, Bram (March 4, 2014). "Devildriver set 'Sail' with new lyric video". Metal Insider. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
- ^ Cridlin, Jay (November 29, 2011). "AWOLNATION'S Aaron Bruno talks 'Sail,' electronic influences and the art of melding genres". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
- ^ "Awolnation Run". AllMusic.
- ^ a b "Sound file" (MP3). Archive.org. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
- ^ "Interview: Kenny Carkeet, Keyboardist for AWOLNATION". blog.zzounds.com. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
- ^ Nanalew (25 March 2015). "A bunch of you have noticed that SAIL has been taken down again..." Facebook. Retrieved 2015-04-16.
- ^ Ugwu, Reggie (October 1, 2013). "AWOLnation: How 'Sail' Took the Scenic Route to Hot 100 Juggernaut". Billboard. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
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- ^ Molanphy, Chris (June 29, 2013). "The Slow Hit Movement: Year-Old Songs On The Pop Charts". NPR. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ^ Hooper, Ryan Patrick (March 28, 2012). "'Sail' by AWOLNATION Soars to Platinum Status". Red Bull. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Fekadu, Mesfin (April 28, 2014). "How 'Sail' sold: Story of Awolnation's Aaron Bruno". Businessweek. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
- ^ a b "Awolnation Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ^ "AWOLNATION's Sail goes triple platinum". Red Bull. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ^ Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original(PDF) on September 21, 2017.
- ^ "AWOLNATION - SAIL (SONG)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
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- ^ "Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK (Week-ending 18th January 2014)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
- ^ "When the Game Stands Tall (2014)". IMDb. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ Blog, A1 (2014-02-06). ""Music makes A1 go round" | A1Blog" (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-12.
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