Chasing Cars
Encyclopedia
"Chasing Cars" is the second single from Snow Patrol
's fourth album, Eyes Open
. It was recorded in 2005 and released on 6 June 2006 in the US and 24 July 2006 in the UK as the album's second single.
"Chasing Cars" gained significant popularity in the United States after being featured in the second season finale of the popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy
.
It became notable as one of the songs that revealed the impact of legal downloads
on single
sales in the UK.
The song is Snow Patrol's biggest-selling single to date, ending 2006 as the UK's fourteenth best-selling single of the year and 2007, on the strength of downloads, as the UK's thirty-fourth best-selling single of 2007.
As of 25 August 2011, the single has spent 106 weeks on the official UK Top 75 Singles Chart
and 150 on the Top 100 and has sold 816,877 copies in the UK by November 2011, despite missing the Top 5. It also sold 3,131,000 copies in the US by November 2011, making it one of the top 10 best-selling songs by a British artist.
wrote the song, sober after a binge of white wine
, in the garden of producer Jacknife Lee
's Kent
cottage.
The song has Lightbody singing a plain melody over sparse guitars, which has an ever-building crescendo.
He stated it was his "purest love song".
The phrase "Chasing Cars" came from Lightbody's father, in reference to a girl Lightbody was infatuated with, "You're like a dog chasing a car. You'll never catch it and you just wouldn't know what to do with it if you did."
The song was first heard on the band's 2005 Final Straw Tour
, when they began playing it, along with two other newly written songs ("Your Halo" and "It's Beginning to Get to Me") they had intended to release on their upcoming album. Since then, the composition of the song was changed slightly, and most of the lyrics were rewritten.
. The song was also performed as the last live performance on long-running music programme Top of the Pops
. The band also performed the song when they were the musical guest on the 17 March 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live
, hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus
. Additionally, the band played the song live in their appearance at Live Earth
. On 7 July 2007, this song was performed during the London leg of the Live Earth
concert at Wembley Stadium
and at Oxegen
later on that night in Ireland
.
"Chasing Cars" was heard on the TV show One Tree Hill
episode "The Show Must Go On", which aired in the US on 3 May 2006. The show is popular amongst the teenage crowd, and the episode gained around 3.06 million viewers. It was not until several weeks later when the song appeared on the second season finale
of Grey's Anatomy
on 15 May 2006 that the song found a larger listening audience and pushed its way onto the download and pop charts in the United States. The song was made into a music video for the show, serving as a promotion for its third season. The music video shows scenes from the first and second seasons as well as previously unseen scenes from the third season, with clips in-between from the UK music video of the song.
In the music video for UK, Gary Lightbody
lies on open ground as cameras film him from different angles. It starts raining, splashing his face and hands. Gary enters a pool of water next to him and in the end of the video, he gets out of the water, rises on his feet and looks up at the camera as it zooms out overhead.
In the US music video, Lightbody is shown lying down in busy places while singing. People ignore him and step over him. Among the places he lies are a diner, an intersection, at the top of an escalator, in a subway car, at the top of a hill overlooking a highway, and at the end on a bed.
Many have noted similarities between the way Lightbody lays down in the American video and the planking fad
.
", as well as for a 2007 BRIT Award
for "Best Single".
In 2007, "Chasing Cars" was voted number 1 in the Top 500 Songs: The Words Behind the Music, on Bristol's GWR FM (and other stations in The One Network
).
Yahoo! Music
's Adam Webb, however had mixed feelings for the single, when he awarded it 5 stars out of 10, saying it was a "misguided attempt to recreate its breast-beating slo-motion scarf-waving formula." Further, he made comparisons of the song to Hollywood soundtracks, which in his words are "about as subtle as a rhino and too overt to be truly affecting."
Billboard
magazine's Sven Phillip found the song the only one on the album "not to be missed". He called it a "catchy, colossal ballad that succeeds without any fireworks".
Channel 4
viewers voted the song the number one "song of the noughties" in a December 2009 programme.
UK music licensing body PPL
announced in December 2009 that Chasing Cars was the most played song of the decade.
, just one day after the DVD release of the second season of Grey's Anatomy.
The song was released as a download-only single on 17 July 2006 and entered the UK Singles Chart
in the week ending 29 July at #25 on the strength of download sales alone. Its physical release had come on 24 July and this pushed the song up to #15, peaking six weeks later at #6. However, seven weeks after that, in November the CD single was deleted and, under the chart rules prevailing at that time, the song was removed from the chart two weeks after that, having clocked up 17 weeks in total. It was then absent from the chart for seven weeks, but in January 2007 a change to the chart rules meant that all downloads, with or without a physical equivalent, were now eligible to chart. "Chasing Cars" duly surged back in at a Top 10 position (#9, just three places below its peak), and remained on the chart for 48 consecutive weeks, entirely on downloads, only falling out again in December. After a three-week absence, in January 2008 it was back again, for 13 weeks this time, peaking at #50. It then bowed out for a third time, re-entered the top 75 in June, August, October and November 2008, November 2009, January and December 2010, March 2011, and most recently in July 2011, taking the song's tally up to an incredible 106 weeks on the UK Top 75, making it the 2nd longest runner of all time, bettered only by Frank Sinatra
's "My Way
" (124 weeks). For only 14 weeks out of those 106 was a physical copy of "Chasing Cars" officially available. It has also spent 150 weeks on the Top 100.
The song was voted number one in a 2006 Virgin Radio
Top 500 Songs of All Time poll. After the popularity of its association with the Grey's Anatomy television show, the song peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100
in the US, the band's first Top 10 hit in the US. It was the fourth best selling digital single of 2006 in the UK, totaling 190,000 legal downloads and is the fourteenth most downloaded song in the country of all time. "Chasing Cars" also went to number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for two non consecutive weeks.
As of November 2011, the song has sold 3,131,000 copies in the USA.
version of the song was remixed by Blake Jarrell & Topher Jones. It aired on the trance radio show A State of Trance
on 17 August 2006. It was later voted to be the 12th best track played on A State of Trance in 2006 by the listeners. The song was also used in a mashup
by Party Ben
, who combined the song with "Every Breath You Take
" by The Police
.
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
's fourth album, Eyes Open
Eyes Open
Eyes Open is the fourth album by Northern Irish/Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released in the UK on 1 May 2006, and 9 May 2006 in the US. The first European single, "You're All I Have", was released on 24 April 2006; the first U.S. single was "Hands Open" and the first...
. It was recorded in 2005 and released on 6 June 2006 in the US and 24 July 2006 in the UK as the album's second single.
"Chasing Cars" gained significant popularity in the United States after being featured in the second season finale of the popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
.
It became notable as one of the songs that revealed the impact of legal downloads
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...
on 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...
sales in the UK.
The song is Snow Patrol's biggest-selling single to date, ending 2006 as the UK's fourteenth best-selling single of the year and 2007, on the strength of downloads, as the UK's thirty-fourth best-selling single of 2007.
As of 25 August 2011, the single has spent 106 weeks on the official UK Top 75 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 ...
and 150 on the Top 100 and has sold 816,877 copies in the UK by November 2011, despite missing the Top 5. It also sold 3,131,000 copies in the US by November 2011, making it one of the top 10 best-selling songs by a British artist.
Writing
Lead singer Gary LightbodyGary Lightbody
Gary Lightbody is an Northern Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol.- Early life :...
wrote the song, sober after a binge of white wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, in the garden of producer Jacknife Lee
Jacknife Lee
Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including The Cars, U2, R.E.M., Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, AFI, The Hives, Weezer, Vega4 and Editors.-Biography:...
's Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
cottage.
The song has Lightbody singing a plain melody over sparse guitars, which has an ever-building crescendo.
He stated it was his "purest love song".
The phrase "Chasing Cars" came from Lightbody's father, in reference to a girl Lightbody was infatuated with, "You're like a dog chasing a car. You'll never catch it and you just wouldn't know what to do with it if you did."
The song was first heard on the band's 2005 Final Straw Tour
Final Straw Tour
The Final Straw Tour was a concert tour by Northern Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was launched in support of the group's 2003 album Final Straw. The band visited numerous venues internationally from 2003 through 2005. The tour is the collective name of many smaller tours and festivals...
, when they began playing it, along with two other newly written songs ("Your Halo" and "It's Beginning to Get to Me") they had intended to release on their upcoming album. Since then, the composition of the song was changed slightly, and most of the lyrics were rewritten.
Promotion and release
Snow Patrol played "Chasing Cars" on an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
. The song was also performed as the last live performance on long-running music programme Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
. The band also performed the song when they were the musical guest on the 17 March 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus is an American actress and comedienne, widely known for her sitcom roles in Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine....
. Additionally, the band played the song live in their appearance at Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
. On 7 July 2007, this song was performed during the London leg of the Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
concert at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
and at Oxegen
Oxegen
Oxegen is an annual music festival in Ireland held since 2004, sponsored by Heineken. As of 2007, 2008, 2009, the festival has been cited as Ireland's biggest music festival. And by 2009, the festival is cited as the greenest festival, being a 100% carbon neutral event in Ireland. It was previously...
later on that night in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
"Chasing Cars" was heard on the TV show One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
episode "The Show Must Go On", which aired in the US on 3 May 2006. The show is popular amongst the teenage crowd, and the episode gained around 3.06 million viewers. It was not until several weeks later when the song appeared on the second season finale
Losing My Religion (Grey's Anatomy)
"Losing My Religion" is the second season finale of the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy. The episode, the third of three parts, was written by the creator of the show, Shonda Rhimes, and directed by Mark Tinker. This episode garnered 22.42 million viewers. This episode was included on the list...
of Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
on 15 May 2006 that the song found a larger listening audience and pushed its way onto the download and pop charts in the United States. The song was made into a music video for the show, serving as a promotion for its third season. The music video shows scenes from the first and second seasons as well as previously unseen scenes from the third season, with clips in-between from the UK music video of the song.
Music video
There are two music videos: one for UK, one for the US.In the music video for UK, Gary Lightbody
Gary Lightbody
Gary Lightbody is an Northern Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol.- Early life :...
lies on open ground as cameras film him from different angles. It starts raining, splashing his face and hands. Gary enters a pool of water next to him and in the end of the video, he gets out of the water, rises on his feet and looks up at the camera as it zooms out overhead.
In the US music video, Lightbody is shown lying down in busy places while singing. People ignore him and step over him. Among the places he lies are a diner, an intersection, at the top of an escalator, in a subway car, at the top of a hill overlooking a highway, and at the end on a bed.
Many have noted similarities between the way Lightbody lays down in the American video and the planking fad
Planking (fad)
"Planking" is an activity consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. Both hands must touch the sides of the body and having a photograph of the participant taken and posted on the Internet is an integral part of the game. Players compete to find the most unusual and...
.
Critical
The song was nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award for "Best Rock SongGrammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
", as well as for a 2007 BRIT Award
2007 BRIT Awards
The 2007 BRIT Awards was the 27th edition of the biggest annual pop music awards in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 14 February 2007 at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London...
for "Best Single".
In 2007, "Chasing Cars" was voted number 1 in the Top 500 Songs: The Words Behind the Music, on Bristol's GWR FM (and other stations in The One Network
The One Network
The One Network was the collective name for thirty-eight regional Independent Local Radio licences operated by Global Radio in the United Kingdom. It was formed from the combination of GWR Group's The Mix Network and Capital Radio Group's The Capital Radio Network when the companies merged in 2005...
).
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
's Adam Webb, however had mixed feelings for the single, when he awarded it 5 stars out of 10, saying it was a "misguided attempt to recreate its breast-beating slo-motion scarf-waving formula." Further, he made comparisons of the song to Hollywood soundtracks, which in his words are "about as subtle as a rhino and too overt to be truly affecting."
Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine's Sven Phillip found the song the only one on the album "not to be missed". He called it a "catchy, colossal ballad that succeeds without any fireworks".
Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
viewers voted the song the number one "song of the noughties" in a December 2009 programme.
UK music licensing body PPL
Phonographic Performance Limited
PPL is the London-based United Kingdom music licensing company which undertakes collective rights management of recorded music and music videos for public performance, broadcast and new media use...
announced in December 2009 that Chasing Cars was the most played song of the decade.
Commercial
It was released as an overlapping single in early June and the video was re-edited to include clips from the show. The video failed to catch on, regardless, so a third version was filmed for the edited single version of the song. On 13 September 2006, the song soared in the digital music charts to become the most-downloaded song in the U.S. iTunes StoreITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
, just one day after the DVD release of the second season of Grey's Anatomy.
The song was released as a download-only single on 17 July 2006 and entered 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 ...
in the week ending 29 July at #25 on the strength of download sales alone. Its physical release had come on 24 July and this pushed the song up to #15, peaking six weeks later at #6. However, seven weeks after that, in November the CD single was deleted and, under the chart rules prevailing at that time, the song was removed from the chart two weeks after that, having clocked up 17 weeks in total. It was then absent from the chart for seven weeks, but in January 2007 a change to the chart rules meant that all downloads, with or without a physical equivalent, were now eligible to chart. "Chasing Cars" duly surged back in at a Top 10 position (#9, just three places below its peak), and remained on the chart for 48 consecutive weeks, entirely on downloads, only falling out again in December. After a three-week absence, in January 2008 it was back again, for 13 weeks this time, peaking at #50. It then bowed out for a third time, re-entered the top 75 in June, August, October and November 2008, November 2009, January and December 2010, March 2011, and most recently in July 2011, taking the song's tally up to an incredible 106 weeks on the UK Top 75, making it the 2nd longest runner of all time, bettered only by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's "My Way
My Way (song)
"My Way" is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the...
" (124 weeks). For only 14 weeks out of those 106 was a physical copy of "Chasing Cars" officially available. It has also spent 150 weeks on the Top 100.
The song was voted number one in a 2006 Virgin Radio
Virgin Radio
Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
Top 500 Songs of All Time poll. After the popularity of its association with the Grey's Anatomy television show, the song peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the US, the band's first Top 10 hit in the US. It was the fourth best selling digital single of 2006 in the UK, totaling 190,000 legal downloads and is the fourteenth most downloaded song in the country of all time. "Chasing Cars" also went to number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for two non consecutive weeks.
As of November 2011, the song has sold 3,131,000 copies in the USA.
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Rock FM The Rock (New Zealand) The Rock is a New Zealand rock music radio station. It currently holds the #1 ratings spot out of the music stations nationwide. The station is known to broadcast material of a controversial nature, and The Rock has in the past had some issues with the Broadcasting Standards Authority with a number... |
New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
The Rock 1000 | 2008 | 719 |
| 2009 | 554 |
Covers and samples
A tranceTrance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
version of the song was remixed by Blake Jarrell & Topher Jones. It aired on the trance radio show A State of Trance
A State of Trance
A State Of Trance is the title of a weekly radio show hosted by prominent trance producer DJ Armin van Buuren. First airing in March 2001 on ID&T Radio , the show takes the format of a two hour mix in which he plays new trance music, both promotional and commercially released...
on 17 August 2006. It was later voted to be the 12th best track played on A State of Trance in 2006 by the listeners. The song was also used in a mashup
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
by Party Ben
Party Ben
Party Ben is a DJ in San Francisco who spent many years working at local radio station Live 105 and is one of the more notable figures in the mashup scene.-Mashups:...
, who combined the song with "Every Breath You Take
Every Breath You Take
"Every Breath You Take" is a song by The Police on the band's 1983 album Synchronicity, written by Sting and Andy Summers . The single was one of the biggest hits of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks and the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the...
" by The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
.
- In March 2007, Natasha BedingfieldNatasha BedingfieldNatasha Anne Bedingfield is a British pop singer and songwriter. Bedingfield debuted in the 1990s as a member of the Christian dance/electronic group The DNA Algorithm with her siblings Daniel Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle...
covered the song on Ray FoleyRay FoleyRaymond 'Ray' Foley is an Irish radio presenter. He currently presents The Ray Foley Show on Today FM at weekday lunch times. Having worked at 98FM and Spin 1038 early in his career, Foley moved to Today FM in 2004, presenting the night time show The Blast with, "JP" Gilbourne...
's Today FMToday FMRadio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...
show. She also recorded a version for the album Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 2Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 2Radio 1's Live Lounge: Volume 2 is a collection of live tracks played on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show. The album is the second in a series of Live Lounge albums. It consists of both covers and the bands' own songs...
, released in October of that year.
- In June 2007, Faith HillFaith HillFaith Hill is an American country singer. She is known both for her commercial success and her marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw. Hill has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and accumulated eight number-one singles and three number-one albums on the U.S...
and Tim McGrawTim McGrawSamuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts with total album sales in excess of 40 million units in the US, making him the eighth best-selling artist, and the third best-selling country singer, in the...
performed this song as a duet at a Soul2Soul 2007 concert.
- The BaseballsThe BaseballsThe Baseballs are a German rock and roll band founded in Berlin in 2007. They became popular with rock cover versions of modern hits such as "Umbrella" by Rihanna and "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry. The band members are only credited by their first names...
, a rockabilly cover band that turn pop hits in 1950s-style rock and roll, covered the song in 2010. The video features the slicked-up band playing a 1950s prom.
- The ChordialsChordialsThe Chordials are a co-ed a cappella group at Cornell University that perform a mix of rock, soul, R&B, and pop music.-History:The Cornell Chordials were founded in 1997 by Elana Wolff...
, a co-ed a cappella group at Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, covered the song in 2007.
- Shane HarperShane HarperShane Steven Harper is an American actor, dancer and singer. He is best known for his recurring role as Spencer Walsh in the Disney Channel's teen sitcom Good Luck Charlie. His self-titled debut album was released on April 12, 2011....
from Dance on SunsetDance on SunsetDance on Sunset is a dance and music series hosted by Quddus on Nickelodeon that featured dance routines, called the "Fresh-Squeezed Dance", designed to be performed by its pre-teen and teen-age viewers. Choreographer Tony Testa and the show's dance troupe, the Nick 6, demonstrated each routine...
covered the song for his Music MySpace.
- Sarah BettensSarah BettensSarah Bettens is the lead singer of the Belgian band K's Choice. Sarah and her brother Gert Bettens are the two popular faces of the band. She is known for her enigmatic, smoky voice. The band is popular in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, and had toured in the U.S...
(lead singer of K's ChoiceK's ChoiceK's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are siblings Sarah Bettens and Gert Bettens . They are joined by Eric Grossman , Thomas Vanelslander , Reinout Swinnen and Koen Liekens...
) included a cover of this song in her 2007-2008 tour setlist.
- Dickie RockDickie RockDickie Rock is an Irish singer. He experienced much success on the Irish charts during the 1960s, but has continued on as a popular live act as well as occasionally hitting the charts ever since.-Early fame:...
covers the song on his 2007 album Sings contemporary Irish Classic Hits.
- GregorianGregorian (band)Gregorian is a German band headed by Frank Peterson that performs Gregorian chant-inspired versions of modern pop and rock songs. The band features both vocal harmony and instrumental accompaniment.- Band history :...
covered the song on their 2009 album Masters of Chant Chapter VIIMasters of Chant Chapter VIIMasters of Chant Chapter VII is the tenth album by Gregorian. The album was released September 25, 2009.- Track listing :# "Meadows of Heaven" # "One" # "It Will Be Forgiven"# "Sweet Child of Mine"...
.
- Deutschland sucht den SuperstarDeutschland sucht den SuperstarDeutschland sucht den Superstar is a German reality talent show, also commonly known by its initials DSDS. Part of the Idol franchise, it was created by English media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show Pop Idol, of which two series were broadcast between the years of 2001 and...
season 5 winner Thomas GodojThomas GodojThomas Godoj is a Polish-German rock-pop singer and songwriter. He is known most notably for winning the fifth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of Pop Idol....
performed the song in the Top-15 Show and the finale as his highlight song of the season.
- The song was covered on the ninth seasonAmerican Idol (season 9)The ninth season of American Idol premiered on January 12, 2010 and concluded on May 26, 2010 on Fox. Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi all returned as judges, and Ellen DeGeneres permanently replaced Paula Abdul as the fourth judge. Idol Gives Back also returned for the season and was...
of American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
by Lee DeWyzeLee DeWyzeLeon James "Lee" DeWyze, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter from Mount Prospect, Illinois, and the winner of the ninth season of American Idol. Prior to Idol, DeWyze had a solo career and formed the Lee DeWyze Band. He had also released two independent albums called So I'm Told in 2007 and...
, during the Top 24.
- The song was covered on the The X Factor (UK)The X Factor (UK)The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
in the The X Factor (UK series 7)The X Factor (UK series 7)The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a £1 million recording contract with the Syco Music record label. The seventh series started on ITV on 21 August 2010 and ended on 12 December 2010. The winner was Matt Cardle and...
by the boy band One DirectionOne DirectionOne Direction are a British-Irish boy band, consisting of members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They finished third on the seventh series of The X Factor. Following The X Factor, the group signed a record contract with Syco Music.One Direction's debut single...
.
- The song was covered by the cast of Grey's AnatomyGrey's AnatomyGrey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
in episode "Song Beneath the SongSong Beneath the Song"Song Beneath the Song" is the 18th episode of the seventh season of the American medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the 144th episode overall, it was named after a song by American singer Maria Taylor. Written by series creator Shonda Rhimes and directed by Tony Phelan, it premiered on ABC on...
" (Season 7 Episode 18).
- Andy GrammerAndy GrammerAndy Grammer is an American singer-songwriter signed to Steve Greenberg's S-Curve Records. His debut album, Andy Grammer, was officially released on June 14, 2011.-Biography:...
covers the song during his set on Natasha BedingfieldNatasha BedingfieldNatasha Anne Bedingfield is a British pop singer and songwriter. Bedingfield debuted in the 1990s as a member of the Christian dance/electronic group The DNA Algorithm with her siblings Daniel Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle...
's Less is More TourLess is More TourThe Less is More Tour is the second headlining concert tour by British recording artist, Natasha Bedingfield. Primarily visiting the United States, the tour will support the singer's third studio album, Strip Me. Joining Bedingfield on tour will be American recording artists, Andy Grammer, and...
- Chris NormanChris NormanChris Norman is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the lead singer of Smokie, an English glam rock band from Bradford, which found success in Europe in the 1970s....
covers the song during his concert in Červeník, SLOVAKIA on 6 August 2011
Formats and track listings
- UK PromoPromotional recordingA promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
(released in July 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [radio edit] – 4:08
- "Chasing Cars" [album version] – 4:27
- UK CD (released 24 July 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [album version] – 4:27
- "It Doesn't Matter Where, Just Drive" – 3:37
- UK 7" (released 24 July 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [album version] – 4:27
- "Play Me Like Your Own Hand" – 4:15
- European CD (released in October 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [album version] – 4:27
- "Play Me Like Your Own Hand" – 4:15
- "It Doesn't Matter Where, Just Drive" – 3:37
- U.S. Promo (released in July 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [Top 40 Edit] – 3:58
- U.S. iTunesITunes StoreThe iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
single (released 6 June 2006)
- "Chasing Cars" [Live in TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
] – 4:28
- Special Dutch Edition
- "Chasing Cars" – 4:27
- "You're All I Have" (live from BNN) – 4:29
- "How To Be Dead" (live from BNN) – 3:24
- "Chasing Cars" (live from BNN) – 4:20
- Mexico & Australia PromoPromotional recordingA promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...
- "Chasing Cars" [Radio Edit] – 4:08
- "Chasing Cars" [Album Version] – 4:27
- UK & Ireland Bootleg 12" (released 22 January 2007)
- "Chasing Cars" [Blake Jarrell & Topher Jones Remix] – 7:35
- "Open Your Eyes" [Allende Remix] – 7:29
Weekly charts
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
6 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2006) | Position |
|---|---|
| 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 ... |
14 |
| Chart (2007) | Position |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
38 |
| 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 ... |
34 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
29 |
| Chart (2008) | Position |
| 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 ... |
95 |
| Chart (2009) | Position |
| 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 ... |
153 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Top 100 Songs of the Decade | 49 |
All-time charts
| Chart | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Download Chart | 14 |
Certifications
See also
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 2007 (U.S.)
- List of Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks number-one singles of 2007
External links
- Acoustic performance of "Chasing Cars" for Sky ArtsSky ArtsSky Arts and Sky Arts HD is the brand name for a group of art-oriented television channels offering 18 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music...
Songbook series.