"4am" | ||||
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Single by Our Lady Peace | ||||
from the album Clumsy | ||||
Released | December 2, 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock, Post-grunge | |||
Length | 3:30(radio edit) 4:17 (album version) | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Raine Maida, Arnold Lanni | |||
Producer(s) | Arnold Lanni | |||
Our Lady Peace singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"4am" on YouTube |
"4am" is a song by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released in December 1997 as the fourth single from their second album Clumsy . [1] The band has described the title of the song as having a double meaning. The band wrote the entire song at 4 am. Also, the band's lead vocalist's father's name was Anthony Maida. The song being written at 4am and the initials of Raine's father give meaning to the song's name. Raine has confessed that the song was triggered by a dream about his father. The dream was about their relationship and the fear he had about his father supporting his musical career. The meaning has resonated with many of the band's fans. The song has a steady upbeat tempo throughout, with poetic lyrics. [2]
The song 4am made the band very popular in North America and ultimately helped them win two Juno Awards. [3] It also helped propel the album "Clumsy" to platinum status. [4] The song was reviewed negatively by Billboard Magazine who said, "To warrant a snail-paced tempo, a song should ideally deliver pleasing vocals or poetic lyrics, and this overwrought ballad by Our Lady Peace unfortunately does neither." [5]
The music video was directed by Tony Pantages and was filmed in Los Angeles during El Niño. In the video, the band is shown riding in a black 1958 Cadillac Series 75 limousine. [6] There is also an edited version of the video made for airing in the U.S. The edited version is similar to the original, except it is shorter and features different camera shots at different times than the original. For example, in the original, Maida sings the majority of the song in the car, while in the edited version, he sings mostly on an empty street. [7]
CSK 41071
Chart (1997–98) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Singles (RPM) | 29 |
Canada Alternative Top 30 (RPM) | 8 |
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 31 |
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 38 |
Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guitars, and Jason Pierce on drums. The band has sold several million albums worldwide, won four Juno Awards, and won ten MuchMusic Video Awards—the most MMVAs ever awarded to a band. Nineteen of their singles have reached the Top Ten on one of Canada's singles charts. Between 1996 and 2016, Our Lady Peace was the third best-selling Canadian band and the ninth best-selling Canadian artist overall in Canada.
Raine Maida is a Canadian musician best known as being the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. He has come to be known for his unique countertenor nasal falsetto singing voice, as well as his cryptic and poetry-influenced song lyrics. He occasionally plays certain instruments, such as the acoustic guitar, while performing with Our Lady Peace. Following guitarist Mike Turner's departure from Our Lady Peace in 2001, Maida is the only remaining original member of the band.
Spiritual Machines is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines. Short tracks of spoken dialog from Kurzweil himself are interspersed among the actual songs on the album. The Kurzweil K250 keyboard, one of his inventions, was utilized throughout the recording of the album.
Clumsy is the second studio album by the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace, released on January 23, 1997, by Columbia Records. The album is the band's most successful to date, achieving diamond status in Canada and strong sales in other countries, including platinum status in the U.S. for another 1 million sales. In 2007, it ranked No. 76 on "The Top 100 Canadian Albums" by Bob Mersereau and No. 33 on The Top 102 New Rock Albums of All Time by 102.1 The Edge. The album features five hit singles: "Superman's Dead", "Automatic Flowers", "Clumsy", "4am" and "Carnival". Each single except "Carnival" has a music video.
Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch is the third studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released on September 21, 1999, by Columbia Records. The album was very successful in Canada, debuting at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album was certified 3× Platinum in July 2001. Hit singles from the album include "One Man Army", "Annie", "Is Anybody Home?", and "Thief". The final track on the CD, "Stealing Babies", features Elvin Jones, a prominent post-bop jazz drummer. The photo shoot for this album took place around Staten Island in New York State.
Gravity is the fifth studio album by the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released on June 18, 2002 by Columbia Records in North America. The album became a worldwide success, charting highly both in Canada and the United States with the hit singles "Somewhere Out There" and "Innocent".
Healthy in Paranoid Times is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace, released on August 30, 2005, by Columbia Records. The disc was released on a standard CD as well as a DualDisc, with the reverse side containing a documentary on the making of the album. The album fared well in both Canada and the U.S., but didn't match up to the success of its 2002 predecessor, Gravity. The first single was "Where Are You", released in Canada during June 2005 and released in the United States a month later. The second and third singles were "Angels/Losing/Sleep" and "Will the Future Blame Us", respectively.
"Thief" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released in March 2000 as the fourth and final single from their third album Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.
"Superman's Dead" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released on January 16, 1997 as the lead single from their second album Clumsy, preceding the album's release by a week. This has become one of Our Lady Peace's most popular songs.
A Decade is Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's first compilation album, released on November 21, 2006, in Canada, and November 28, 2006, in the United States. In addition to songs from the band's first six albums, the set included two unreleased songs, "Kiss on the Mouth" and "Better Than Here".
"One Man Army" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released in July 1999 as the lead single from their third album, Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.
"The Birdman" is Our Lady Peace's first single off their debut album Naveed. Because of the Naveed cover, Saul Fox is best known for being the Birdman. The chorus of the song originates from an early demo that the band cut in 1992 called "Nobody's Wrong" with a completely different meaning.
Naveed is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was produced by Arnold Lanni, and was released on March 22, 1994, by Sony Music Canada. Naveed became a success in Canada, being certified 4× Platinum in the country. There were five singles released for the album, including "The Birdman", "Starseed" and "Naveed". This is the only album to feature bass player Chris Eacrett, who was replaced by Duncan Coutts in 1995.
"Starseed" is the second single from Our Lady Peace's first album Naveed, released in 1994. It was remixed and released on the soundtrack to Armageddon. In addition, a live version from the 2003 Live album was released as a single. The song was also planned to be included on the soundtrack for Drew Barrymore's 1995 film Mad Love but was left off. Art model Saul Fox makes a brief appearance in the music video and appears on the cover of the promotional single.
"In Repair" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released in November 2000 as the lead single from their fourth studio album Spiritual Machines.
Burn Burn is the seventh studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released in North America on July 21, 2009. The album's title is based on a quote by Jack Kerouac from his 1957 novel On the Road.
"Is Anybody Home?" is a song by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released in January 2000 as the second single released from their third album, Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.
"Automatic Flowers" is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released in July 1997 as the third single from their second studio album, Clumsy.
"Life" is a song by Canadian rock group Our Lady Peace. It was released in December 2000 as the second single from their fourth studio album, Spiritual Machines and the most successful from that album. The song was nominated for "Best Single" at the 2002 Juno Awards, losing to Nickelback's "How You Remind Me". A sample can be heard in the Trailer Park Boys episode "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys". It can also be heard in the show's 2006 film adaptation.
Curve is the eighth studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace (OLP), released on April 3, 2012. The album was recorded from 2010 through 2012 at vocalist Raine Maida's home recording studio. Curve's first single, "Heavyweight", was released on December 20, 2011. The music from Curve has been touted by lead singer Maida as being "more experimental and ambitious" than the band's 2000 concept album Spiritual Machines. The album's cover features Canadian heavyweight boxer George Chuvalo, whose vocal excerpts are featured in the album's tenth and final track "Mettle".