Atlantic (song)
Encyclopedia
"Atlantic" is a song performed and composed by English
alternative rock
band Keane and is featured on their second studio album
, Under the Iron Sea
as the opening track. The cover of the album is also the illustration representing the song in the inner pages of the book-shaped CD+DVD edition.
The song was premiered at a secret gig in London
on April 5, 2006.
It was officially released on 24 April 2006 as a the first single
from the album (see 2006 in British music
), firstly as a download
only music video
and later as a 7" Vinyl limited to 1000 pieces. This is to date the only Keane single with only one song on the track list. The video was aired only on Europe
.
circa 2005 and recorded at the Helioscentric Studios, Rye, East Sussex
and at the Magic Shop, New York
.
First demos featured Rice-Oxley instead of Chaplin on the lead vocals. The first verse, lyrically, was different from the final version. Sessions at the Magic Shop for the recording of this song were filmed and released on the Under the Iron Sea DVD
.
The video for Atlantic was filmed at a remote location in a beach in East Sussex
.
The recording appearing on this single is two minutes longer than the one on the album.
under the BMaj7 chord are played with Rice-Oxley's electric piano
instrumentally. After 30 seconds, the bass
and drums are added. Within 59 seconds, the shorter version appearing on the albums starts (running 19 seconds on that version). The weird intro of the drums was a particular reason for Rice-Oxley to include it on the album.
Chaplin vocals are then introduced, without drums for 16 beats. Clocking 3:27 on the video and 2:32 on the album, the song drastically changes its tone to introduce the chorus and the final part, converting automatically the song in a ballad
.
While the album version fades with strings, the video version incorporates the outro of "The Iron Sea", with strange and electronic sounds including echoes and voices.
Tim also explained this on May 22, 2006:
. It is entirely black and white and starts with scenes of the Atlantic Ocean
and a beach
at Sussex.
A long-haired, bearded man with ragged clothes, played by Jonathan Lewis Owen, a business partner of Welsh's, comes out of the ocean and walks quietly along the beach. Firstly, he sees a couple tying a rolled sheet of paper - presumably a message for help - and putting it into a bottle before they throw it to the sea. He stops briefly to watch them, and then continues walking to find a boy kicking a football
. The ball rebounds on the cliff and falls into the water; the boy asks the man to fetch it, but he refuses, so the boy kicks him and runs away.
When the man recovers he continues walking, and sees a large swimming-costume clad woman with a life-ring
who throws herself to the sea and disappears while the life-ring floats on the waves. The man is shocked, looks around for somebody to help her, sees no one and then walks on. He finds an old man who has a metal detector
, and points out a place along the shore and the metal detector finds something in the sand. Digging, they find what seems to be a dead bird. The old man runs away shortly before the main man. When the chorus leads in, the man finds two children building a sand castle, who promptly destroy it upon seeing him.
The song ends and a part of the Keane instrumental, The Iron Sea, comes in as the final scenes show three teenagers throwing two unlit petrol bombs into the sea, and when the man turns around, he faces a pale man with a dark hooded cloak representing Death
, or the Grim Reaper, and loses himself in Death's eyes. Immediately, for two seconds every person in the video appears, and in the final shot they all follow Death with linked hands - this bears a resemblance to the final shot of the Swedish
film The Seventh Seal
.
artist in May 2006.
in the eighth episode of the third season "Consequenses".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Keane and is featured on their second studio album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Under the Iron Sea
Under the Iron Sea
Under the Iron Sea is the second studio album by English rock band Keane, released in 2006. During its first week on sale in the UK, the album went to #1, selling 222,297 copies according to figures from the Official Chart Company...
as the opening track. The cover of the album is also the illustration representing the song in the inner pages of the book-shaped CD+DVD edition.
The song was premiered at a secret gig in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on April 5, 2006.
It was officially released on 24 April 2006 as a the first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from the album (see 2006 in British music
2006 in British music
This is a summary of 2006 in music in the United Kingdom including the official single and album charts.-Summary:*At both ends of the year, the chart was dominated by acts from series 2 and series 3 of the television show The X Factor...
), firstly as a download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
only music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
and later as a 7" Vinyl limited to 1000 pieces. This is to date the only Keane single with only one song on the track list. The video was aired only on Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
iTunes video
- "Atlantic"
- The video version is longer than the one found on the album, incorporating the outro of the album track "The Iron Sea" as well as an extended intro. Irvine WelshIrvine WelshIrvine Welsh is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting. His work is characterised by raw Scottish dialect, and brutal depiction of the realities of Edinburgh life...
, author of the novel TrainspottingTrainspotting (novel)Trainspotting is the first novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. It is written in the form of short chapters narrated in the first person by various residents of Leith, Edinburgh, who either use heroin, are friends of the core group of heroin users, or engage in destructive activities that are...
, directed the video, which was filmed in black and white on a remote Sussex beach, and did not feature the band.
- The video version is longer than the one found on the album, incorporating the outro of the album track "The Iron Sea" as well as an extended intro. Irvine Welsh
UK 7" vinyl
- "Atlantic"
- A special one-sided limited edition 7" of 1000 copies of the single was released and sent to members of the messageboard. The single came inside a special box designed to contain the remaining singles of the "Under the Iron Sea era" (similar to the one released with "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore")
Composition and recording
"Atlantic" was composed by Tim Rice-OxleyTim Rice-Oxley
Timothy James Rice-Oxley , is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as co-founder, the principal composer and pianist, backing vocalist of piano rock band Keane.-Life and career:...
circa 2005 and recorded at the Helioscentric Studios, Rye, East Sussex
Rye, East Sussex
Rye is a small town in East Sussex, England, which stands approximately two miles from the open sea and is at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede...
and at the Magic Shop, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
First demos featured Rice-Oxley instead of Chaplin on the lead vocals. The first verse, lyrically, was different from the final version. Sessions at the Magic Shop for the recording of this song were filmed and released on the Under the Iron Sea DVD
Under the Iron Sea DVD
Under the Iron Sea is English rock band Keane's third DVD release. It includes the British version of the album and a book-shaped box. It was released the same day as the album, on June 12, 2006 and earlier in some countries...
.
The video for Atlantic was filmed at a remote location in a beach in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
.
The recording appearing on this single is two minutes longer than the one on the album.
Musical structure
The first rhodesRhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
under the BMaj7 chord are played with Rice-Oxley's electric piano
Electric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
instrumentally. After 30 seconds, the bass
Bass (instrument)
Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
and drums are added. Within 59 seconds, the shorter version appearing on the albums starts (running 19 seconds on that version). The weird intro of the drums was a particular reason for Rice-Oxley to include it on the album.
Chaplin vocals are then introduced, without drums for 16 beats. Clocking 3:27 on the video and 2:32 on the album, the song drastically changes its tone to introduce the chorus and the final part, converting automatically the song in a ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
.
While the album version fades with strings, the video version incorporates the outro of "The Iron Sea", with strange and electronic sounds including echoes and voices.
- Length: 4:13/6:11
- TempoTempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
: 65bpm - KeyKey (music)In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
: 1st part: BMaj7; 2nd part: Eb - Time signatureTime signatureThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
: Semi out of time 4/4 - Instrumentation: electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, bassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, vox synthesizer, effects pedals and what could possibly be a string quartetString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
.
Information about song's meaning
According to Keane.at, "This song talks about newly-wed Rice-Oxley feelings about his relationship."Tim also explained this on May 22, 2006:
Music video
The video for Atlantic was directed by Scottish novelist Irvine WelshIrvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting. His work is characterised by raw Scottish dialect, and brutal depiction of the realities of Edinburgh life...
. It is entirely black and white and starts with scenes of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and a beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
at Sussex.
A long-haired, bearded man with ragged clothes, played by Jonathan Lewis Owen, a business partner of Welsh's, comes out of the ocean and walks quietly along the beach. Firstly, he sees a couple tying a rolled sheet of paper - presumably a message for help - and putting it into a bottle before they throw it to the sea. He stops briefly to watch them, and then continues walking to find a boy kicking a football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
. The ball rebounds on the cliff and falls into the water; the boy asks the man to fetch it, but he refuses, so the boy kicks him and runs away.
When the man recovers he continues walking, and sees a large swimming-costume clad woman with a life-ring
Lifebuoy
A lifebuoy, ring buoy, lifering, lifesaver, life preserver or lifebelt, also known as a "kisby ring" or "perry buoy", is a life saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in the water, to provide buoyancy, to prevent drowning...
who throws herself to the sea and disappears while the life-ring floats on the waves. The man is shocked, looks around for somebody to help her, sees no one and then walks on. He finds an old man who has a metal detector
Metal detector
A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...
, and points out a place along the shore and the metal detector finds something in the sand. Digging, they find what seems to be a dead bird. The old man runs away shortly before the main man. When the chorus leads in, the man finds two children building a sand castle, who promptly destroy it upon seeing him.
The song ends and a part of the Keane instrumental, The Iron Sea, comes in as the final scenes show three teenagers throwing two unlit petrol bombs into the sea, and when the man turns around, he faces a pale man with a dark hooded cloak representing Death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, or the Grim Reaper, and loses himself in Death's eyes. Immediately, for two seconds every person in the video appears, and in the final shot they all follow Death with linked hands - this bears a resemblance to the final shot of the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
film The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight and a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death , who has come to take his life. Bergman developed the film from his own play...
.
Cover art
The cover artwork for the single was designed by Sanna Annukka Smith, a FinnishFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
artist in May 2006.
Soundtrack usage
The song was featured in the TV series CSI: NYCSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
in the eighth episode of the third season "Consequenses".