"They" is the first single released by Jem

Jem (singer)

Jemma Griffiths , better known as Jem, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her debut album, Finally Woken, includes elements of rock, new wave-styled electronica and trip-hop...

 from her debut album Finally Woken

Finally Woken

Finally Woken is the first album by Jem, released in 2004. This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2004...

. It includes a sample of the Swingle Singers' 1963 adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

's Prelude in F minor (BWV 880) from Book II of Well-Tempered Clavier

The Well-Tempered Clavier

The Well-Tempered Clavier , BWV 846–893, is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach...

from their album Jazz Sebastian Bach

Jazz Sebastian Bach

Jazz Sebastian Bach is a compilation album / re-issue of music by the Paris-based Swingle Singers. It combines the tracks from two previous releases, 1963's Bach's Greatest Hits aka Jazz Sébastien Bach with 1968's Back to Bach aka Jazz Sébastien Bach Vol...

.

The song became her most popular single, peaking at #6 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 ...

.
"They" was used in TV series like Crossing Jordan

Crossing Jordan

Crossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...

and 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...

. A Chinese version of the song "Le Yuan" was covered by popular Taiwanese singer, Jolin Tsai

Jolin Tsai

Jolin Tsai was born on 15 September 1980. She is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning Mandopop singer, dancer and actor. She is managed by Mars Entertainment Ltd .-Career:...

, for an advertisement advertising Motorola phones. "They" is also the title song for the hit 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....

 show The X Effect

The X Effect

The X Effect is a relationship-based reality television show hosted by Thomas Bridegroom and Natalia Castellanos. The show began airing on MTV in June 2007 and ended in February 2009.- Show concept :...

, and currently featured on the Pantene

Pantene

Pantene is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1947 by Hoffman-LaRoche of Switzerland, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient...

 advert 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...

.

They Pt. 2/Australian CD

1. "They" (Original Version)
2. "They (Cut Chemist Remix)"
3. "They Mdk & Ayesha Mix (Eye in the Sky Mix)"
4. Music video

They remixes

1. "They" (Cut Chemist Remix)
2. "They" (Cut Chemist Instrumental Remix)
3. "They" (Eye in the Sky Mix)
4. "They" (Tech Breaks Mix) by Kid Freeze
5. "They" (Photek
   Photek
   Photek is Rupert Parkes , a Los Angeles-based British record producer and DJ. He joined the drum and bass scene relatively early , and is still one of its most respected players...
   
    Mix)
6. "They" (Album version)

Meaning

According to Jem: "Who are they/Where are they/How can they possibly know all this? It is a song about the things that 'they' say, whoever 'they' are that we listen to and we act on without questioning. The example being, and what I wrote it about, was when I went to New York I had read in a New York guide, to not look people in the eye on the subway it kind of implied that I would get shot or something. When I got there I was really scared and literally would not look at anyone."

"Years later I was on the subway every day going to Brooklyn and I thought, 'Oh my God, it's fine!' I had completely believed this book. It made me think about all the things 'they' say."

Music videos

Jem released two music videos for They. The UK version, inspired by the Barbarella

Barbarella (film)

Barbarella is a 1968 Franco-Italian science fiction film based on Jean-Claude Forrest's French Barbarella comics. The film was directed by Roger Vadim and stars Jane Fonda, who was Vadim's wife at the time.-Plot:...

 opening scene, features Jem strip

Strip

Strip, stripping, or stripped may refer to:* Landing strip, runway where airplanes land* Landing strip , a type of pubic hairstyle* Möbius strip, a surface with one side and one boundary component* Power strip, strip of power sockets...

ping herself in a spaceship (although she remains covered by strategically placed holograms); actually a boy dreams her as he constructs a model of the same spaceship back on Earth. The US version features Jem breaking various rules.

Chart positions

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Chart (2005)	Peak Position
Ireland (IRMA Irish Recorded Music Association Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:... )	8
United Kingdom (Official Charts Company)	6