"Broken Arrow" is a song by English recording artist Pixie Lott

Pixie Lott

Victoria Louise "Pixie" Lott is an English singer-songwriter, dancer and actress. Her debut single "Mama Do" was released in June 2009 and went straight to number one in the UK Singles Chart. Her second single "Boys and Girls", also topped the UK charts in September 2009. Her debut album Turn It...

 from the re-release of her debut album, Turn It Up Louder

Turn It Up (Pixie Lott album)

Turn It Up is the debut studio album by English recording artist Pixie Lott. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 September 2009 by Mercury Records. The album debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart, before dropping to number thirteen in its second week. Turn It Up has so far spent five...

(2010). Written by Lott, Ruth-Anne Cunningham

Ruth-Anne Cunningham

Ruth-Anne Cunningham is a singer/songwriter/producer from Donaghmede, Dublin, Ireland.- Songwriting :Ruth-Anne is a 23-year-old singer/songwriter/producer/vocal producer from Dublin, In Ireland, She is signed to Sony ATV as of May 2010...

 and Toby Gad

Toby Gad

Tobias "Toby" Gad is a Los Angeles-based hit producer and songwriter from Germany, perhaps best known for co-writing Fergie's Grammy nominated hit song "Big Girls Don't Cry" as well as co-writing and producing Beyoncé's worldwide #1 hit "If I Were a Boy", and The Veronicas multi-platinum #1...

, the track was released on 10 October 2010 as the lead single

Lead single

A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...

 from the re-release, reaching number twelve on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. An acoustic version of the song, available as a B-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 to the single, was uploaded onto YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 a week prior to the single's release. "Broken Arrow" is on be heard in the trailer for the 2011 film Beastly

Beastly (film)

Beastly is a 2011 romantic fantasy film loosely based on Alex Flinn's 2007 novel of the same name. It is a retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast set in modern-day New York City. The film is written and directed by Daniel Barnz and stars Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer.The plot focuses...

and its end credits.

Critical reception

The song received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. In a review for Digital Spy

Digital Spy

Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....

, Robert Copsey referred to "Broken Arrow" as "an autumnal midtempo number on which Pix sings about struggling to get over an ex", but felt that the lyrics "make for a predictably slushy affair, and the chorus doesn't quite have the instant impact of her best tunes." Newsround

Newsround

Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children...

noted that the song "isn't the catchiest of tunes but it will definitely grow on you". It also described the track as a "stormy heart-wrenching song", complemented by Lott's "powerful" vocals. Gerard McGarry from Unreality Shout agreed, calling the song "[e]normously radio-friendly but with muted hooks that aren't immediately catchy, but they add up over time."

Music video

The 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...

 was directed by Gregg Masuak and filmed in North East London

North East (London sub region)

The North East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, and the City of London. The sub region was established in 2008 and replaced the larger East sub region that had been...

. Masuak described the shoot as "mental but fun: one single day for a bunch of different performances that included several costume and makeup changes, a narrative with Pixie and two different guys, a series of dance routines, and a cluster of different scenarios." The video features product placement in the form of the Citroën DS3

Citroën DS3

The Citroën DS3 is a supermini, produced by French manufacturer Citroën from 2009. This is the first car in the new DS range from Citroën. It was first hinted by the concept car Citroën DS Inside. This range of vehicle shares no common feature with, and is in no way the successor to, the Citroën DS...

, marking the first instance of vehicle product placement in a music video in the United Kingdom. It premiered on Lott's official YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

/Vevo

Vevo

Vevo is a music video website. It is a joint venture among Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media with EMI licensing its content to the group without taking an ownership stake. The service was launched officially on December 8, 2009...

 account on 16 September 2010.

Model Alex Watson, brother of Harry Potter

Harry Potter (film series)

The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...

star Emma Watson

Emma Watson

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson is an English actress and model.Watson rose to prominence playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series. Watson was cast as Hermione at the age of nine, having previously acted only in school plays. From 2001 to 2011, she starred in all eight Harry Potter...

, plays one of Lott's love interests in the video.

Track listings

• UK CD single

1. "Broken Arrow"
2. "Broken Arrow" (Acoustic Version)

• iTunes EP

1. "Broken Arrow" – 3:39
2. "Broken Arrow" (Paul Harris Vocal) – 6:37
3. "Broken Arrow" (Paul Harris Dub) – 6:24
4. "Broken Arrow" (Acoustic Version) – 3:48
5. "Broken Arrow" (Shapeshifters
   Shapeshifters (band)
   The Shapeshifters are Simon Marlin and Max Reich, a house music production duo based in London, England. They have a recording contract with Defected Records, and were previously signed to Positiva...
   
    Remix) – 6:07

Personnel

• Pixie Lott – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , backing vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  
• Toby Gad
  Toby Gad
  Tobias "Toby" Gad is a Los Angeles-based hit producer and songwriter from Germany, perhaps best known for co-writing Fergie's Grammy nominated hit song "Big Girls Don't Cry" as well as co-writing and producing Beyoncé's worldwide #1 hit "If I Were a Boy", and The Veronicas multi-platinum #1...
  
   – producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  , instrumentation
  Instrumentation (music)
  In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...
  
  , arranger
  Arrangement
  The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
  
  , engineer
  Audio engineering
  An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
  
  
• Mark Pusey – drums
  Drum kit
  A 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 ....
  
  
• Jay Reynolds – additional producer, programming
  Programming (music)
  Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
  
  , mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  
• Oliver Weeks
  Oliver Weeks
  Oliver Weeks is an English composer, arranger, and guitarist.- Education :He grew up in Frome, Somerset, studying first at Frome Community College and then Clare College, Cambridge, where he received a starred First...
  
   – keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  

Charts

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Chart (2010)	Peak position