Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs song)

Last updated

"Maps"
Maps (song) cover.jpg
Single by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
from the album Fever to Tell
B-side
  • "Countdown"
  • "Miles Away"
ReleasedSeptember 22, 2003 (2003-09-22) [1]
Genre
Length3:40
Label Interscope
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) David Andrew Sitek
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs singles chronology
"Pin"
(2003)
"Maps"
(2003)
"Y Control"
(2004)
Audio sample
Maps
Digital download
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Maps"3:34
2."Countdown" 3:39
3."Miles Away" (John Peel Session Originally from the band's debut EP) 2:30

Music video

The video shows the band playing in an audition in a high school gymnasium, with different light filters changing the color of the room. Karen O's crying in the video was not staged. She explains: "They were real tears. My boyfriend at the time (Angus Andrew) was supposed to come to the shoot – he was three hours late and I was just about to leave for tour. I didn't think he was even going to come and this was the song that was written for him. He eventually showed up and I got myself in a real emotional state." [8] Some have suggested the song title stands for "My Angus Please Stay," although this was never confirmed by the band. [9] [10] The video was nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards at the 2004 ceremony: Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and the MTV2 Award. [11] It was directed by Patrick Daughters.

Notable cover versions

Critical reception and legacy

"Maps" has received vast critical acclaim. Some examples:

"Maps" served as an inspiration for Kelly Clarkson's 2004 hit song "Since U Been Gone," which was written and produced by Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. [28] In an interview with Billboard , Dr. Luke said:

That was a conscious move by Max and myself, because we were listening to alternative and indie music ... I said, "Ah, I love this song,' and Max was like, 'If they would just write a damn pop chorus on it!' It was driving him nuts, because that indie song was sort of on six, going to seven, going to eight, the chorus comes ... and it goes back down to five. It drove him crazy. And when he said that, it was like, light bulb. 'Why don't we do that, but put a big chorus on it?" It worked. [29]

"Maps" and "Since U Been Gone" share similar introductions, post-chorus guitar breaks, middle eights, and are both in the key of G major. [30] Karen O said noticing the similarity was "like getting bitten by a poisonous varmint." [31]

"Hold Up," a song recorded by Beyoncé for her 2016 album, Lemonade , contains an interpolation of the "Maps" lyric, "Wait, they don't love you like I love you." Beyoncé sings the line as "Hold up, they don't love you like I love you," which was based on a 2011 tweet from Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig paraphrasing "Maps." Koenig and Diplo recorded a demo version of "Hold Up" in 2014 including the interpolated line, and when Beyoncé released the song on Lemonade, the three members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs shared in the songwriting credits. [32]

Despite its lyrics, the song, via a sped-up version, gained popularity on TikTok in late September 2024. A dance was created along with it where it used different contexts of wanting someone to stop and listen to them. As a result the song charted at number one on the US TikTok Billboard Top 50 in October 2024. [33] [34]

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [41] Silver200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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