Sing (Travis song)

Travis frontman Fran Healy explained on the band's official website that he wrote the song in spring 1999, right before he planned to go to the studio to record the B-sides for the band's 1999 single "Turn". He came up with the song as he watched a swingbeat video on MTV, leading him to write a basic melody called "Swing".[2] Healy liked the results, saying that he appreciated the free chorus and verse melody. The following day, after recording the B-side "We Are Monkeys", Healy began to play the song's chords while the track was rewinding, and the rest of his bandmates soon joined him. Healy then asked to put production of "We Are Monkeys" on hold so they could record a demo of the new composition.[3] As he performed with the rest of the band, he changed the word "swing" to "sing", modifying the lyric so that it described the healing powers of singing.[2] Since Travis lead guitarist Andy Dunlop had brought his banjo into the studio for "We Are Monkeys", the instrument was overdubbed into the recording.[3] Along with "Flowers in the Window", Healy dedicated the song to his wife, Nora Kryst, in the booklet for The Invisible Band.[4]

"Sing" is a pop song with folk elements,[5] which includes a banjo played by Dunlop.[2] It begins with a swelling synth chord that leads into a rhythm consisting of several guitars and the banjo.[6] Lyrically, it is a love song discussing the inhibitions of a relationship.[7] Its chorus partly consists of the repetition of the word "sing". Healy explained, "First of all, I love the idea of having the word 'sing' repeated in the chorus of a song—it's just so silly," and he explained that the emotional weight of the song originates from the belief that "feeling free enough to cut loose and sing in front of someone you love is an indication of extraordinary intimacy and trust."[8] Healy also stated that his wife partially inspired the song's lyric as she was vocally shy around him, which he found vexing.[3] Set in common time, "Sing" is in the key of F♯ minor and has a tempo of 80 beats per minute.[9] Additional strings on the song were provided by Millennia Strings and arranged by Joby Talbot.[4]

Norwegian NRK Petre head of music Atle Bredal said of "Sing", "It's brilliant. Classic pop with a folky feel to it. This will be on the radio the whole summer!"[5] Another music director, Rainer Gruhn of German radio station Hundert 6, praised the song's "modern" sound and "wonderful" production.[10] Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine positively reviewed the song, describing its lyric as "playful", "silly", and "sweet", praising its "infectious" hook, and going on to call Healy's performance "skillful" and noting how the band and its producer, Nigel Godrich, avoided turning the song into a commercial anthem.[11] Another Billboard editor, Larry Flick, praised the contrast of its production with its guitar and banjo riffs.[12]

In a review of The Invisible Band on AllMusic, MacKenzie Wilson described "Sing" as "charming" and said that the banjo in the song set the track apart from traditional acoustic simplicities, referring to the instrument as a "mainstay".[7] Andy Frankowski of Drowned in Sound called the track an "infectious summer song".[13] Pitchfork writer Kristin Sage Rockermann said that while the lyric was "banal" and the song as a whole was "cheesy", Healy's voice was "passionate and expressive" as well as mature and wise.[14] In more recent reviews, Mark Beaumont of NME gave the song a scathing review in 2005, labelling it a "characterless mandolin dirge" and referring to its success as alcohol-induced altruism.[15] In 2015, Pop Rescue wrote that Healy's vocals were a flawless compliment to the instrumentation and were unable to identify any flaws with the song.[6]

Promoted with a radio release in late April 2001, "Sing" was issued as a physical single on 28 May 2001 through British record label Independiente.[8] The song debuted at number three, its peak, on the UK Singles Chart on 3 June, becoming the band's highest-charting single in the UK.[16] It was Travis's fourth top-ten hit and stayed on the country's chart for 14 weeks, ending 2001 as the nation's 77th-highest-selling single.[17] In the band's home country of Scotland, the single settled at number two on the week of its premiere.[18] By May 2007, "Sing" had sold 159,000 copies in the UK and was the band's biggest-selling single out of all their 17 top-40 hits.[19] On 4 July 2014, the British Phonographic Industry awarded the song a Silver certification for sales and streams of over 200,000.[20]

On the Irish Singles Chart, the track debuted and peaked at number seven on 31 May,[21] remaining in the top 50 for nine weeks and coming in at number 87 on Ireland's end-of-year chart.[22][23] In mainland Europe, the song peaked at number four in Norway in early June,[24] while in Italy, it reached number eight on 9 August.[25] In France, it debuted at number 50 on 25 August and rose to its peak of number two on 29 September.[26] It spent 23 weeks on the French chart and came in at number 53 on the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) year-end ranking for 2001,[27] earning a Gold certification in October 2001 for selling over 250,000 copies in France.[28]

Throughout the rest of Europe, "Sing" reached the top 50 in Austria,[29] Sweden,[30] Switzerland,[31] and the Wallonia region of Belgium,[32] additionally attaining a peak of number 51 in Germany and number 82 in the Netherlands.[33][34] On the European Hot 100, it climbed to number eight,[35] becoming Europe's 60th-most-successful hit of the year.[36] While missing the top 40 of the Australian Singles Chart by one position,[37] the song was a top-ten hit in New Zealand, charting at number eight for two weeks in July 2001 and spending 17 weeks in the top 50;[38] it was ranked number 48 on the 2001 New Zealand year-end chart.[39] In the United States, "Sing" became Travis's second single to chart on Billboard (after "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"), reaching number 14 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart and number 37 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.[40][41]

The music video, which premiered on British music programme Top of the Pops on 20 April 2001, features the band visiting a large country house for dinner and getting into a massive food fight with the residents. Travis filmed the video at a mansion in Pasadena, California, with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris working as the directors. Healy has stated that one of his favourite parts of the video is when bassist Dougie Payne gets hit with a ball of spinach.[42] When the single reached number three in the United Kingdom, the band were invited to perform "Sing" on Top of the Pops, where they re-enacted the food fight during their live performance.[43] The music continued to play in the background during the event, as Top of the Pops utilised a miming format that usually prevented musical acts from playing instruments live.[44] Cult music website We Are Cult rated the performance as an honorable mention on their list of the "Top 10 Unforgettable 'Top of the Pops' Performances" in 2017.[45]

Synopsis

The soiled dinner guests pausing the food fight when the chef enters. The woman in the lavender dress (left) throws the first piece of food, and the woman in white (right) is the one who throws the octopus.

The video begins with the country house's residents preparing for the dinner by pouring the drinks, garnishing the pies, and lighting the candelabra. As the grandfather clock changes to exactly eight o'clock, the main instrumentation of the song begins, and Travis are seen riding bikes in tuxedos. Scenes of the band performing the song on a black-and-white television are shown, with a woman throwing suction-cup darts at Healy's face and a small monkey watching her. A butler announces that dinner is ready, so she switches off the television and removes the darts. The band arrives at the party while the monkey resumes watching the band perform on the television. Dinner is served, but Travis, puzzled about how to eat their refined meals, cause a few insignificant, comical accidents at the table. The woman who was watching television tosses a solid piece of food at Healy, who retaliates in the same manner. The other band members also start throwing food, and the situation begins to spiral out of control when the fancy dinner guests join the fight.

As the bridge starts, the video changes to slow-motion as a female dinner guest throws an entire octopus across the table that lands on a man's head. The video speeds up again as the fight reaches its climax, with everyone except Travis drummer Neil Primrose participating. A chef enters the dining room with a trolley cart containing the pies and is shocked to see the pandemonium. Everyone stops to stare at him, and although the chef attempts to prevent the guests from targeting him, they ignore him. The monkey enters the room and also starts tossing food around, at which point the chef returns and sprays everyone with frosting, covering the entire table with the glaze. Throughout the entire fight, Primrose is shown spotless, but at the video's conclusion, he too is sullied. The final clip of the video shows a female servant entering the room and getting soiled with more food.

The single's B-sides include a cover of Queen's "Killer Queen" with guest vocalist Jason Falkner (formerly of the band Jellyfish), and Andy Dunlop's vocal debut, "You Don't Know What I'm Like".

All songs are written by Fran Healy except "Killer Queen" by Freddie Mercury, "Ring Out the Bell" by Dougie Payne, and "You Don't Know What I'm Like" by Dunlop.

In 2008, the song was covered by American singer Glen Campbell for his album Meet Glen Campbell. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the cover one of the two "weakest" songs on the album, alongside his cover of Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)".[54]

• "Sing" Top of the Pops performance on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics