Snow ((Hey Oh))
Encyclopedia
"Snow" is a song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Grammy–nominated 2006 double album, Stadium Arcadium
. The song was released as the follow-up single to "Tell Me Baby" on November 20, 2006 and became the band's third straight number one hit on the Billboard
Modern Rock chart, a spot it held for five straight weeks. The single was their 11th to top the charts giving the band the all-time record for any artist on that chart, a record they still hold to date and even passed in 2011.
Vocalist Anthony Kiedis
states that the track is "about surviving, starting fresh. I've made a mess of everything, but I have a blank slate—a canvas of snow—and I get to start over."
Despite the song being very popular and a big hit, it hasn't been performed since the Stadium Arcadium tour
.
. The song is driven by a rapid guitar riff by John Frusciante
, and makes use of double stop
s on the bass by Flea
.
Frusciante.net revealed that this was going to be the third of seven songs released as a single from Stadium Arcadium
. Before even being released as a single, it climbed to #53 in the UK
iTunes
top 100 on May 13. Like its predecessor "Tell Me Baby
", it peaked at #16 in the UK Singles Chart
.
On 17 January 2007, "Snow (Hey Oh)" became the band's record breaking 11th number one Modern Rock single in the United States
and is the third consecutive chart-topping Modern Rock single from Stadium Arcadium.
In Germany, it was the band's most successful song, reaching #5, making it the band's only Top-10-song there.
, who also directed the video for "Dani California
", told MTV
he would be directing the video for the song. However, his footage wasn't used (pictures of this shoot can be seen here http://www.last.fm/group/Red+Hot+Chili+Peppers/forum/44/_/166084). Instead, Warner
commissioned director Nick Wickham to shoot a new video showing the band at the 17 October and 18 October 2006 shows at the Continental Airlines Arena
in East Rutherford, New Jersey
, along with black and white film of fans at the parking lot and lines at the live show.
Maxi-single 9362 42983-2
International CD-single 5439 15624-2
7" Picture disk 5439 15623-7
iTunes Version Single
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
Grammy–nominated 2006 double album, Stadium Arcadium
Stadium Arcadium
Stadium Arcadium is the ninth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released on May 9, 2006, on Warner Bros. Records. The album produced five singles: "Dani California", "Tell Me Baby", "Snow ", "Desecration Smile", and "Hump de Bump"...
. The song was released as the follow-up single to "Tell Me Baby" on November 20, 2006 and became the band's third straight number one hit 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 chart, a spot it held for five straight weeks. The single was their 11th to top the charts giving the band the all-time record for any artist on that chart, a record they still hold to date and even passed in 2011.
Vocalist Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis is an American vocalist/lyricist, and occasional actor best known as the lead vocalist of the Grammy-winning American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his mother before moving, shortly before his 12th birthday, to Hollywood,...
states that the track is "about surviving, starting fresh. I've made a mess of everything, but I have a blank slate—a canvas of snow—and I get to start over."
Despite the song being very popular and a big hit, it hasn't been performed since the Stadium Arcadium tour
Stadium Arcadium Tour
The Stadium Arcadium tour was a 2006-2007 concert tour by the band Red Hot Chili Peppers in support of their album Stadium Arcadium. It was composed of seven legs, one for promotional shows around the world, three in Europe, one in Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and the other two in the US and...
.
Song background
It is a characteristically soft, melodic song, much like those from the band's prior album By the WayBy the Way
By the Way is the eighth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released on July 9, 2002 on Warner Bros. Records. It sold over 286,000 copies in the first week, and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. The singles from the album included "By the Way", "The...
. The song is driven by a rapid guitar riff by John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
, and makes use of double stop
Double stop
A double stop, in music terminology, is the act of playing two notes simultaneously on a melodic percussion instrument or stringed instrument...
s on the bass by Flea
Flea (musician)
Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
.
Frusciante.net revealed that this was going to be the third of seven songs released as a single from Stadium Arcadium
Stadium Arcadium
Stadium Arcadium is the ninth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released on May 9, 2006, on Warner Bros. Records. The album produced five singles: "Dani California", "Tell Me Baby", "Snow ", "Desecration Smile", and "Hump de Bump"...
. Before even being released as a single, it climbed to #53 in the UK
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...
iTunes
ITunes
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....
top 100 on May 13. Like its predecessor "Tell Me Baby
Tell Me Baby
"Tell Me Baby" is a song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 2006 double album, Stadium Arcadium. The song was released as the follow-up to the hit single "Dani California" on July 17, 2006...
", it peaked at #16 in 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 ...
.
On 17 January 2007, "Snow (Hey Oh)" became the band's record breaking 11th number one Modern Rock single in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and is the third consecutive chart-topping Modern Rock single from Stadium Arcadium.
In Germany, it was the band's most successful song, reaching #5, making it the band's only Top-10-song there.
Music video
In an interview, Tony KayeTony Kaye (director)
Tony Kaye is a director of films, music videos, advertisements and documentaries.Kaye has made several well-known music videos, including the video for "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, which won a Grammy Award; "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers; "What God Wants" by Roger Waters; and "Help...
, who also directed the video for "Dani California
Dani California
"Dani California" is a single from the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers's ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium. The single was first made available at the iTunes Music Store and then was officially released on May 2, 2006...
", told MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
he would be directing the video for the song. However, his footage wasn't used (pictures of this shoot can be seen here http://www.last.fm/group/Red+Hot+Chili+Peppers/forum/44/_/166084). Instead, Warner
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
commissioned director Nick Wickham to shoot a new video showing the band at the 17 October and 18 October 2006 shows at the Continental Airlines Arena
Continental Airlines Arena
Izod Center is a multi-purpose arena, in the MetLife Sports Complex, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. It opened in 1981 and currently has a maximum seating capacity of 20,000...
in East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
, along with black and white film of fans at the parking lot and lines at the live show.
Usage
- The song is played during the credits of the second Death NoteDeath Noteis a manga created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped on Earth by a god of death, or a shinigami, named Ryuk...
movie, Death Note: The Last Name. - It was used by ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
in commercials for the X GamesX GamesThe X Games is a commercial annual sports event, controlled and arranged by US sports broadcaster ESPN, which focuses on action sports. The inaugural X Games was held in the summer of 1995 in Rhode Island....
. - During the summer of 2007, the song was used in a promotion for the new season of PBS'sPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
news-magazine program Frontline. - It was even used in some TV Spots for the 20062006 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
film Happy FeetHappy FeetHappy Feet is a 2006 American-Australian computer-animated family film with music, directed and co-written by George Miller. It was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures and Kingdom Feature Productions and was released...
. - The song was also used as a theme song for WWE's pay-per-viewPay-per-viewPay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
event WrestleMania XXIVWrestleMania XXIVWrestleMania XXIV was the twenty-fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . The event took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida and was the first WrestleMania to be held in the state of Florida...
. - The song is also available for download for the Rock BandRock BandRock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
series of music video gameMusic video gameA music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
s, along with "Tell Me BabyTell Me Baby"Tell Me Baby" is a song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 2006 double album, Stadium Arcadium. The song was released as the follow-up to the hit single "Dani California" on July 17, 2006...
"; notably it is one of the harder guitar songs in the game due to its abnormal pattern and back and forth motion. - The song was also used during a flashback scene on an episode of the show Cold Case, entitled "Sabotage".
- The song was also used during the season eight finale of ScrubsScrubs (TV series)Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
, "My FinaleMy Finale"My Finale" is the hour-long season finale for season eight of the American sitcom Scrubs. It was originally broadcast as episode 18 of season eight on May 6, 2009, and was intended to be the series finale. However, the show unexpectedly returned for a ninth season...
", where the main character is seen to be ending one part of his life and beginning a new one.
Track listings and formats
CD-single- "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
- "Permutation" (Live) – 3:43
Maxi-single 9362 42983-2
- "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
- "Funny Face" – 4:46
- "I'll Be Your Domino" – 3:54
International CD-single 5439 15624-2
- "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
- "Funny Face" – 4:46
7" Picture disk 5439 15623-7
- "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
- "Funny Face" – 4:46
iTunes Version Single
- "Snow (Hey Oh)" – 5:34
- "Funny Face" – 4:46
- "I'll Be Your Domino" – 3:54
- "Permutation" (Live) – 3:43
Chart performance
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
5 |
| German Singles Chart | 5 |
| World Singles Top 40 | 6 |
| Belgium Singles Top 50 IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
9 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 9 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 10 |
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
13 |
| 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 ... |
16 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 19 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 22 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 24 |
| Australia Singles Top 50 ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
35 |
| Portugal Singles Top 50 | 40 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2007) | Rank |
|---|---|
| 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... |
42 |