Drowning (Backstreet Boys song)

"Drowning"
Single by Backstreet Boys
from the album The Hits – Chapter One
Released	October 16, 2001[1]
Recorded	July 2000 Polar Studios, Cheiron Studios, (Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre	Pop
Length	4:27
Label	Jive
Writer(s)	Andreas Carlsson, Linda Thompson, Rami
Producer(s)	Kristian Lundin, Rami
Backstreet Boys singles chronology
"More than That" (2001) "Drowning" (2001) "Incomplete" (2005)

"Drowning" is a song by American boy band Backstreet Boys. It was released on October 16, 2001 as the first and only single from their compilation album The Hits – Chapter One.

The song was written by Andreas Carlsson, Rami Yacoub and Linda Thompson and produced by Yacoub and Kristian Lundin. The song was initially recorded for the Black & Blue album, but there wasn't any room on the track list for it.

It was released as an iTunes Exclusive Play on January 14, 2008. It features member Kevin Richardson on piano and was also their last release before a two-year-hiatus from 2002 - 2004.

The song reached #28 in the US on November 13, 2001 and also did moderately well in the international charts, peaking at #3 in Sweden and #5 in Norway. The song also did exceptionally well on TRL, and the video for it was retired on February 26, 2002. The song was featured on the 2002 compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 9.

Parts of the song, e.g. the piano intro and the chorus, are very similar to "Långsamt farväl" released by the Swedish artist Mauro Scocco in 1997. Andreas Carlsson, co-writer of "Drowning", actually sang backing vocals on Lisa Nilsson's version of "Långsamt farväl" released in 2003.^[2]

Music video

Official version

The official music video was directed by Paul Boyd. It featured the five Boys gathered around some monuments and an old building which resembles a church.

The video is notable for its frequent used of the contre-jour technique, which puts the subject directly against the source of light, thus giving a clear, dark outline of the figure. In the video, the Boys are often seen as dark figures dancing and singing against a beautiful background. This was filmed in Los Angeles in November 2001.

There are two edits of the video, one made for the album version (4:33) and a slightly shorter one made for the radio edit (4:14).

Unreleased version

Before the final video was produced, a different concept was in production. The concept was eventually abandoned and the official video was produced instead. One of the preliminary cuts of this original video was leaked to the public. This video was done in August 2001, then canceled and replaced by the end of the month.

It features the band dressed in black outfits, which can be seen in the photograph on the CD single cover. The video was shot mainly using green screen to place the band on an arid salt flat. The sun is initially shining, but dark clouds quickly fill the sky in the first chorus, and it begins to rain in the second verse. A flood of water fills the area and the storm continues to get worse. At the key change, and at the end of the song, the band is hit with a large wave. Through the rest of the video they simply sing in a shallow depth of water.

Track listing

International

1. "Drowning" (Album Version) - 4:25
2. "Back to Your Heart" - 4:21
3. "Shape of My Heart" (Video) - 3:50

UK CD1

1. "Drowning" (Radio Edit) - 4:13
2. "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (Sharp London Vocal Mix) - 7:58
3. "I Want It That Way" (Morales Club Version) - 7:25

UK CD2

1. "Drowning" (Radio Edit) - 4:13
2. "Drowning" (Dezrok Radio Mix) - 4:04
3. "Drowning" (Rizzo & Harris Radio Mix) - 4:02
4. "Drowning" (Video) - 4:32

UK promo single

1. "Drowning" (Rizzo and Harris Club Mix) - 7:53

Other uses

"Drowning" appeared on the US Version of Now That's What I Call Music! 9, which was released March 19, 2002. The song was track #15.^[3] "Drowning" was licensed and used as the ending theme for the 2002-2003 anime TV series Hanada Shōnen Shi. One of their other songs, "The One", was also used for the opening theme.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2001–2002) Peak position Australian Singles Chart 49 Austrian Singles Chart 9 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart 20 Belgian Tip Singles Chart (Walonia) 4 Canadian Singles Chart 11 Danish Singles Chart 4 Dutch Singles Chart 13 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[4] 12 Finnish Singles Chart 10 German Singles Chart 11 Irish Singles Chart 10 Italian Singles Chart 10 New Zealand Singles Chart 27 Norwegian Singles Chart 5 Portuguese Singles Chart[5] 3 Romanian Singles Chart[6] 9 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[7] 5 Swedish Singles Chart 3 Swiss Singles Chart 13 UK Singles Chart 4 US Billboard Hot 100 28

Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position Dutch Singles Chart[8] 77 Italian Singles Chart[9] 70 Swiss Singles Chart[10] 94

References

1. "AllMusic: Drowning". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
2. "Groove" (PDF). 2003.
3. Now That's What I Call Music! 9 (U.S. series)
4. "Billboard - Google Books". 2001-11-10. Retrieved 2014-02-26 – via Google Books.
5. Billboard - Google Books. 2001-12-08. Retrieved 2012-02-14 – via Google Books.
6. "Romanian Top 100". rt100.ro.
7. "Spanishcharts.com – Backstreet Boys – Drowning" Canciones Top 50.
8. Steffen Hung. "Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
9. 2001 Italian Singles Chart. Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved on 2011-06-29.
10. 2001 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved April 20, 2010)

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics