Hide and Seek (Imogen Heap song)
Encyclopedia
"Hide and Seek" is the first single by Imogen Heap
from her album Speak for Yourself
. The song is performed with the sole accompaniment being a keyboard synth transformed by a vocoder
, creating an altered a cappella
sound.
, later parodied in a 2007 Saturday Night Live
Digital Short
called The Shooting.
The song also appears in the films The Last Kiss
, The Town
and Warren Miller
's Off the Grid. It has also been featured in the series So You Think You Can Dance, Smith
, The L Word
, The Real World: Sydney
, Smith
's pilot episode and CSI: Miami
.
The single was certified gold by the RIAA on 3 April 2009.
British alternative rock band Fightstar
covered the song as a B-Side to their single, "The English Way
". This is performed solely by lead singer Charlie Simpson
on Vocals and Piano. The Christian crunkcore
band And Then There Were None
has also covered the song.
Jason Derülo
's 2009 single "Whatcha Say
" prominently sampled Heap's song. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Both EDM artists Avicii and Afrojack have sampled the chorus from "Hide and Seek" in remixes of the song
Imogen Heap
Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter from Havering, Essex. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou and her solo albums, which she writes, produces, and mixes...
from her album Speak for Yourself
Speak For Yourself
-Charts:...
. The song is performed with the sole accompaniment being a keyboard synth transformed by a vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
, creating an altered a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
sound.
Television
The song gained popularity after being featured as background music at the climax of the season two finale of the American television series The O.C.The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
, later parodied in a 2007 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...
Digital Short
SNL Digital Shorts
An SNL Digital Short is one in a series of comedic and often musical video shorts created for airing on NBC's Saturday Night Live, generally produced and written by The Lonely Island , though originated by Adam McKay, in collaboration with SNL hosts, writers, and cast members...
called The Shooting.
The song also appears in the films The Last Kiss
The Last Kiss
The Last Kiss is a 2006 American romantic comedy-drama film which is based on the 2001 Italian film L'ultimo bacio, directed by Gabriele Muccino. The plot revolves around a young couple and their friends struggling with adulthood and issues of relationships and commitment.The film stars Zach Braff,...
, The Town
The Town
The Town is a novel written by Conrad Richter in 1950. It is the third installment of his Awakening Land trilogy. The Trees and The Fields were the earlier installments in the series. The Town was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1951.In September 1966, Alfred A. Knopf reissued the...
and Warren Miller
Warren Miller
Warren Miller may refer to:* Warren Miller * Warren Miller * Warren Miller * Warren Miller * Warren Miller...
's Off the Grid. It has also been featured in the series So You Think You Can Dance, Smith
Smith (TV series)
Smith is an American television drama that premiered on September 16, 2006 at 10:00 PM ET on CBS and on September 18, 2006 on CTV in Canada...
, The L Word
The L Word
The L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
, The Real World: Sydney
The Real World: Sydney
The Real World: Sydney is the nineteenth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras document their lives and interpersonal relationships...
, Smith
Smith (TV series)
Smith is an American television drama that premiered on September 16, 2006 at 10:00 PM ET on CBS and on September 18, 2006 on CTV in Canada...
's pilot episode and CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
.
The single was certified gold by the RIAA on 3 April 2009.
Heap's commentary
In a 2005 interview, Heap stated that the song's lyrics were ultimately about having painfully lost someone and how others react to things that happen to someone else. She then related it to when President George W. Bush was told of the September 11th attacks and she felt that his behavior was "emotionless", "awful and selfish", reminding her of the person inspiring the song.Other appearances
Heap arranged an alternate version of the song, labeled "Hide and Seek 2", for the compilation album Songs for Tibet — The Art of Peace.British alternative rock band Fightstar
Fightstar
Fightstar are an English alternative rock band from London. They formed in 2003 and their lineup comprises lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Charlie Simpson, guitarist and vocalist Alex Westaway, bass guitarist Dan Haigh and drummer Omar Abidi...
covered the song as a B-Side to their single, "The English Way
The English Way
"The English Way" was the first single to be taken from Fightstar's third studio album, Be Human. It was released on November 3, 2008 .Frontman, Charlie Simpson, described the songs meaning as wanting England to be more patriotic, as he believes it has lost its pride and traditional values.The song...
". This is performed solely by lead singer Charlie Simpson
Charlie Simpson
Charles Robert Simpson , is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was the youngest member of multi BRIT Award-winning band Busted, and is the lead vocalist, guitarist and co-lyricist in alternative rock band Fightstar...
on Vocals and Piano. The Christian crunkcore
Crunkcore
Crunkcore is a musical genre that combines crunk hip-hop with elements of screamo...
band And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None (band)
And Then There Were None is an American band from New Hampshire, currently signed to Tooth & Nail Records.-History:And Then There Were None formed in 2003 as a metalcore band, and toured across the United States in support of their highly acclaimed self-released EP "6,000 tries"...
has also covered the song.
Jason Derülo
Jason Derulo
Jason Joel Desrouleaux , better known by his stage name Jason Derülo, is an American singer-songwriter, actor and dancer. After producing records for several artists and writing songs for Cash Money Records, co-founder of the label Birdman, Young Money Entertainment owner Lil Wayne and rapper...
's 2009 single "Whatcha Say
Whatcha Say
"Whatcha Say" is the debut single by American recording artist Jason Derülo. It was produced by J. R. Rotem with additional production by German producer Fuego and samples the song "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap. "Whatcha Say" topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.Derülo recorded a...
" prominently sampled Heap's song. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Both EDM artists Avicii and Afrojack have sampled the chorus from "Hide and Seek" in remixes of the song
Charts
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | UK Download Chart | 22 |
| 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 ... |
125 | |
| U.S. Hot Digital Songs Hot Digital Songs The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of... |
37 | |
| U.S. 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... |
91 | |
| 2006 | 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 ... |
140 |
| 2008 | Hot Canadian Digital Singles | 57 |
Mixes
- Album Version – 4:29
- Single Version – 4:16
- Radio Edit – 3:01
- Hide And Seek Afrojack Remix - 4:41
- TiëstoTiëstoTijs Michiel Verwest, , known as Tiësto , is a Dutch musician, DJ and record producer of electronic dance music. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tiësto...
's In Search of Sunrise RemixIn Search of Sunrise 6: IbizaIn Search of Sunrise 6: Ibiza is the sixth album in the In Search of Sunrise series mixed by trance DJ/producer Tiësto, released on September 7, 2007 in the Netherlands and October 16, 2007 in the United States as a double disc album. This information was confirmed on July 31, 2007 on Tiësto's...
– 8:32 - Otto Knows Bootleg
Release history
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
19 May 2005 | RCA Victor |
| 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... |
26 September 2005 | Megaphonic |