Big Sur (The Thrills song)

"Big Sur"
Single by the Thrills
from the album So Much for the City
B-side	"No-One Likes to Be Upstaged"
Released	21 May 2003 (2003-5-21)
Recorded	October 2002–March 2003
Studio	Sound Factory (Los Angeles) Strongroom (London, England) Area 51 (Dublin, Ireland)
Length	3:07
Label	Virgin
Composer(s)	The Thrills
Lyricist(s)	Conor Deasy
Producer(s)	Tony Hoffer
The Thrills singles chronology
"One Horse Town" (2003) "Big Sur" (2003) "Don't Steal Our Sun" (2003)

"Big Sur" is song by Irish band the Thrills, released as the third single from their debut album, So Much for the City (2003). The song contains elements from the 1966 song "(Theme from) The Monkees". ^[1] "Big Sur" was released on 21 May 2003 in Japan and on 9 June in the United Kingdom. The song reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the most successful single release from the band in the United Kingdom. In their native Ireland, the song reached number nine, giving them their second top-10 single, after "One Horse Town". ^[2] Elsewhere, the song reached number 44 in Italy and number 55 in the Netherlands.

Track listings

All tracks are written by the Thrills and Conor Deasy except "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me", written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr

UK and European CD single ^[1]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Big Sur"	3:07
2.	"No-One Likes to Be Upstaged"	3:24
3.	"One Horse Town" (demo)	3:12
4.	"Big Sur" (video)	3:07

UK 7-inch single ^[3]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Big Sur"	3:07
2.	"Your Love Is Like Las Vegas" (acoustic version)	3:09

Australian CD single ^[4]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Big Sur"	3:07
2.	"No-One Likes to Be Upstaged"	3:24
3.	"One Horse Town" (demo)	3:12

Japanese EP ^[5]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Big Sur"
2.	"No-One Likes to Be Upstaged"
3.	"Your Love Is Like Las Vegas" (acoustic version)
4.	"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"
5.	"Santa Cruz (You're Not That Far)"

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the So Much for the City album booklet. ^[6]

Studios

• Recorded between October 2002 and March 2003 at Sound Factory (Los Angeles), Strongroom Studios (London, England), and Area 51 Studios (Dublin, Ireland)
• Mixed between October 2002 and March 2003 at Quad Studios (New York City)
• Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)

Personnel

The Thrills – music, arrangement Conor Deasy – song, vocals, guitars Kevin Horan – backing vocals, pianos, organs, synthesizers Pádraic McMahon – backing vocals, guitars, bass Daniel Ryan – backing vocals, guitar, banjo, bass Ben Carrigan – drums, percussion

Tony Hoffer – production, engineering John Paterno – engineering Steven Rhodes – engineering Michael H. Brauer – mixing Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering

Charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) [7]	57
Ireland (IRMA) [2]	9
Italy (FIMI) [8]	44
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [9]	55
Scotland (OCC) [10]	12
UK Singles (OCC) [11]	17

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
Japan	21 May 2003	CD	Virgin	[12]
United Kingdom	9 June 2003	7-inch vinyl CD		[13]
Australia	1 September 2003	CD		[14]

References

1. Big Sur (UK & European CD single liner notes). The Thrills. Virgin Records. 2003. VSCDT 1852, 7243 5 47177 0 3.
2. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Thrills". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
3. Big Sur (UK 7-inch single sleeve). The Thrills. Virgin Records. 2003. VS1852.
4. Big Sur (Australian CD single liner notes). The Thrills. Virgin Records. 2003. 7243 5 52748 2 3.
5. Big Sur (Japanese EP liner notes). The Thrills. Virgin Records. 2003. VJCP-61072.
6. So Much for the City (UK CD album booklet). The Thrills. Virgin Records. 2003. CDV 2974, 7243 5 84968 2 6.
7. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 21, no. 27. 28 June 2003. p. 12. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
8. "The Thrills – Big Sur". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
9. "The Thrills – Big Sur" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
10. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
11. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
12. "ザ・スリルズ | ビッグ・サー" [The Thrills | Big Sur] (in Japanese). Oricon . Retrieved 24 March 2025.
13. "New Releases – For Week Starting 9 June 2003: Singles" (PDF). Music Week . 7 June 2003. p. 23. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
14. "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 1st September 2003" (PDF). ARIA. 1 September 2003. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2003. Retrieved 24 March 2025.