Feeling This
Encyclopedia
"Feeling This" is a song by American pop punk
band Blink-182
, released on October 2, 2003 as the lead single from the group's fifth studio album, Blink-182. Bassist Mark Hoppus
and guitarist Tom DeLonge
share songwriting credits on the track. Both wrote independently about sex, which resulted in the song's lyrics representing the lustful side of sex during the verses, the passionate side in the bridge and the romantic side in the chorus.
The band picked the song as the first single because it was representative of the transition the band had undergone since Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. The song became a critical and commercial success, peaking at number two on the Billboard
Modern Rock Tracks
chart and later certified gold
by the Recording Industry Association of America
. The single's success was widened with the release of its accompanying video, which was frequently played on music television channels.
Many music journalists, upon release of the song, cited it as a standout track from the album. True to the evolution of the band, the song is seen as a transition to a more mature style, lyrical and musical, than many of their previous releases. The song can be found on the band’s Greatest Hits
.
The effects on the opening drum introduction for the song features flanging
. Although computer technology offered it during the album’s production (2003), according to Hoppus, the band opted to produce the effect "the old school way", opting for two tape machines. The song is particularly memorable for a section of the chorus of the song (right before the bridge begins), in which guitarist Tom DeLonge sings the vocals loudly and off-key. According to the liner notes for Blink-182, DeLonge stated that the recording was done in a 30 feet (9.1 m) living room at the home previously mentioned, with microphones 10 to 15 ft (3 to 4.6 ) away. The end of the song is a melodic duet between the band's two vocalists, both singing conflicting but harmonizing parts. The intro phrase 'get ready for action' is taken from Captain America (1990).
There is not a large difference between the single release of the song and the album version. The only difference is that the album version ends at the 2:52 mark, immediately beginning the next track, "Obvious". The single instead adds a couple of seconds of silent audio near the end; this version can be found on the band’s Greatest Hits
.
influences, with elements of alternative pop rock and punk revival thrown in. "Feeling This" is two minutes and fifty-two seconds long. The song is composed in the key
of E major
and is set in time signature
of common time
with a tempo
of 168 beats per minute. The vocal range spans from E4 to B5.
). A slightly different version of the song had been released previously as part of the soundtrack for the video game Madden NFL 2004
under the erroneous title "Action". Barker explained in an interview that "'Action' just sounded kind of dorky to us. Like we would always call it 'Feeling This' and then someone at our label, I think, like wrote it as 'Action' one time and sent out singles to people. And it was always supposed to be 'Feeling This'." The band picked "Feeling This" as the first single because it was representative of the transition the band had undergone since Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
"Feeling This" was a large success, peaking high at number 2 on the Billboard
Modern Rock Tracks
chart. The song reached number 15 in the United Kingdom
.
. The song can also be heard in the background in the Drake and Josh episode Guitar.
school-prison while a policeman is shown shaving a boy's hair off, leaving him bald. Next, it shows the desolate lives of the students in juvenile hall as they get pushed around by policemen and teachers. Some students get locked in cells and a policeman is seen pushing a boy (played by Alexander Cappelli
) down in a seat next to a glass window whereupon the boy sees a girl and they begin to kiss while being on opposite sides of the window. Suddenly, one student gets up and the other students join him to spark rebellion by creating chaos and wreaking havoc in the juvenile hall and they escape to see Blink-182 play inside a cage, celebrating freedom. The video was directed by David LaChapelle
.
This was the first video that shows Tom DeLonge's new Gibson
signature guitar
. However, Hoppus is still using his signature pink Jazz Bass
, as was first seen in the video for "The Rock Show
". During "Making of the Video", Tom Delonge admits that towards the end of the video he accidentally hit Mark Hoppus in the head with his guitar, which takes place at 2:50.
There is also a second "Feeling This" Video, where the band is playing in the room where "Down", "Violence", and "Stockholm Syndrome" videos also took place.
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
band Blink-182
Blink-182
Blink-182 is an American rock band consisting of vocalist and bass guitarist Mark Hoppus, vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. They have sold over 27 million albums worldwide since forming in Poway, California in 1992...
, released on October 2, 2003 as the lead single from the group's fifth studio album, Blink-182. Bassist Mark Hoppus
Mark Hoppus
Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...
and guitarist Tom DeLonge
Tom DeLonge
Thomas Matthew "Tom" DeLonge, Jr. is an American rock musician. He is the guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists for the American pop punk band Blink-182 as well as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the alternative band Angels & Airwaves...
share songwriting credits on the track. Both wrote independently about sex, which resulted in the song's lyrics representing the lustful side of sex during the verses, the passionate side in the bridge and the romantic side in the chorus.
The band picked the song as the first single because it was representative of the transition the band had undergone since Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. The song became a critical and commercial success, peaking at number two on the 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...
Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart and later certified gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. The single's success was widened with the release of its accompanying video, which was frequently played on music television channels.
Many music journalists, upon release of the song, cited it as a standout track from the album. True to the evolution of the band, the song is seen as a transition to a more mature style, lyrical and musical, than many of their previous releases. The song can be found on the band’s Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (blink-182 album)
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits compilation album by the American pop punk band Blink-182. The compilation was released on October 31, 2005. A DVD, similarly titled Greatest Hits, was also released, featuring the same title and cover. The disc included most of the band's music videos.The...
.
Background
The song was the first track written for Blink-182. Like all tracks on Blink-182, it was recorded at The Rubin’s House, a house just outside of San Diego that the band rented out and converted into a studio. The lyrics were written with Hoppus and DeLonge going into separate rooms – Hoppus writing the choruses and DeLonge writing the verses. The two had not spoken to each other about the lyrics ahead of time, and it turned out that the two had both written about sex. When they put it together, the song represents the lustful side of sex during the verses, the passionate side in the bridge and the romantic side in the chorus.The effects on the opening drum introduction for the song features flanging
Flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, with one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum,...
. Although computer technology offered it during the album’s production (2003), according to Hoppus, the band opted to produce the effect "the old school way", opting for two tape machines. The song is particularly memorable for a section of the chorus of the song (right before the bridge begins), in which guitarist Tom DeLonge sings the vocals loudly and off-key. According to the liner notes for Blink-182, DeLonge stated that the recording was done in a 30 feet (9.1 m) living room at the home previously mentioned, with microphones 10 to 15 ft (3 to 4.6 ) away. The end of the song is a melodic duet between the band's two vocalists, both singing conflicting but harmonizing parts. The intro phrase 'get ready for action' is taken from Captain America (1990).
There is not a large difference between the single release of the song and the album version. The only difference is that the album version ends at the 2:52 mark, immediately beginning the next track, "Obvious". The single instead adds a couple of seconds of silent audio near the end; this version can be found on the band’s Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (blink-182 album)
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits compilation album by the American pop punk band Blink-182. The compilation was released on October 31, 2005. A DVD, similarly titled Greatest Hits, was also released, featuring the same title and cover. The disc included most of the band's music videos.The...
.
Composition
"Feeling This" was written by bassist Mark Hoppus, drummer Travis Barker, and guitarist Tom DeLonge, while sung by DeLonge and Hoppus and produced by Jerry Finn. The song has pop punkPop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
influences, with elements of alternative pop rock and punk revival thrown in. "Feeling This" is two minutes and fifty-two seconds long. The song is composed in the key
Key (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...
of E major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
and is set in time signature
Time signature
The 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....
of common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
with a tempo
Tempo
In 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:...
of 168 beats per minute. The vocal range spans from E4 to B5.
Chart success and live history
"Feeling This" was released as a single on October 2, 2003. The song was the first to be released immediately through digital distribution (iTunesITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
). A slightly different version of the song had been released previously as part of the soundtrack for the video game Madden NFL 2004
Madden NFL 2004
Madden NFL 2004 is the 14th installment of the Madden NFL series of American football video games. Michael Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, is on the cover. New features in Madden 2004 include a new owner mode option that allows the player to control a franchise...
under the erroneous title "Action". Barker explained in an interview that "'Action' just sounded kind of dorky to us. Like we would always call it 'Feeling This' and then someone at our label, I think, like wrote it as 'Action' one time and sent out singles to people. And it was always supposed to be 'Feeling This'." The band picked "Feeling This" as the first single because it was representative of the transition the band had undergone since Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
"Feeling This" was a large success, peaking high at number 2 on the 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...
Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart. The song reached number 15 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
In popular culture
As previously mentioned, "Feeling This" was released on the soundtrack for the video game Madden NFL 2004 (However entitled "Action" in the game). "Feeling This" is also featured on the U.S. edition of the compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 15. It was included by the television channel Spike in a special compilation album released in conjunction with the Spike TV 2004 Video Game Awards: Video Game Awards Vol. 1: Best of Video Game Music. The inclusion was based on the appearance of "Feeling This" in Madden NFL 2004. Richard Cheese covered the song on his 2004 album I'd Like a VirginI'd Like a Virgin
I'd Like a Virgin is the third album from Richard Cheese, released April 20, 2004. The album title and artwork are take-offs of Madonna's 1984 album, Like a Virgin...
. The song can also be heard in the background in the Drake and Josh episode Guitar.
Music video
The video for "Feeling This" was recorded on October 1st, 2003 and was set in the Lincoln High prison. "Feeling This" as a video was released on November 10, 2003, a week before the official release of Blink-182. The video starts out in a dystopian-basedDystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
school-prison while a policeman is shown shaving a boy's hair off, leaving him bald. Next, it shows the desolate lives of the students in juvenile hall as they get pushed around by policemen and teachers. Some students get locked in cells and a policeman is seen pushing a boy (played by Alexander Cappelli
Alexander Cappelli
Alexander Cappelli is an Australian musician/actor.Cappelli has also had many acting roles on Australian television, such as a recurring guest role as Mike Pill in Neighbours, Gretchen in the telemovie Little Oberon and a starring role as Kurt Winters in the 2001 children's television series,...
) down in a seat next to a glass window whereupon the boy sees a girl and they begin to kiss while being on opposite sides of the window. Suddenly, one student gets up and the other students join him to spark rebellion by creating chaos and wreaking havoc in the juvenile hall and they escape to see Blink-182 play inside a cage, celebrating freedom. The video was directed by David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...
.
This was the first video that shows Tom DeLonge's new Gibson
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:* Gibson Amphitheatre* Gibson Appliance* Gibson Girl* Gibson Guitar Corporation* Gibson * Gibson Generating Station-Places:In the United States:* Gibson, Arkansas* Gibson, Georgia* Gibson, Iowa* Gibson, Louisiana...
signature guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. However, Hoppus is still using his signature pink Jazz Bass
Fender Mark Hoppus Jazz Bass
The Mark Hoppus Jazz Bass was introduced by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2000. It was first seen in the Blink-182 music video for "Adam's Song". It has a Fender Jazz Bass body with a string-through body design and bridge system and Fender Precision Bass neck and pickups...
, as was first seen in the video for "The Rock Show
The Rock Show
"The Rock Show" is the first single from Blink 182's 2001 album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. It was released in June 2001. The song was the most successful song on Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, #71 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #14 on the UK...
". During "Making of the Video", Tom Delonge admits that towards the end of the video he accidentally hit Mark Hoppus in the head with his guitar, which takes place at 2:50.
There is also a second "Feeling This" Video, where the band is playing in the room where "Down", "Violence", and "Stockholm Syndrome" videos also took place.
Track listing
Chart positions
| Chart | Position |
|---|---|
| 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... |
102 |
| U.S. Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs... |
2 |
| 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 ... |
15 |
| Germany 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... |
4 |