Red Hands (song)

Last updated
"Red Hands"
WOTE - Red Hands.jpg
Single by Walk off the Earth
from the album R.E.V.O.
Released2 November 2012 (2012-11-02)
Recorded2012
Genre
Length3:01
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Tawgs Salter
  • Walk Off the Earth
Walk off the Earth singles chronology
"Somebody That I Used to Know"
(2012)		"Red Hands"
(2012)		"Gang of Rhythm"
(2013)
Music video
"Red Hands" on YouTube

"Red Hands" is a song by Canadian indie rock group Walk off the Earth. It was released on November 2, 2012 as the second single from their third studio album, R.E.V.O. (2013). The song was written by group members Ryan Marshall, Gianni "Luminati" Nicassio, and Sarah Blackwood, with additional writing from its co-producer Tawgs Salter.

Contents

Following its release, the song became a commercial success in North America. It reached number 9 on the Canadian Hot 100, surpassing the chart peak of its predecessor, and also topped the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart in the US.

Background and writing

According to band member Gianni Luminati: "'Red Hands' is pretty open to interpretation and will mean different things to different people. When we originally wrote the song, we were thinking about taking responsibility for your actions and standing up on your own when things go wrong ... rather than blaming other people around you. Sometimes you just have to accept the circumstances that are thrown your way without pointing the finger." [1]

Music video

The music video for "Red Hands", directed by Ellis Bahl, is shot as a one take sequence of the song in a different order with parts filmed at a higher speed and others at a lower speed so the final result would present the song in its normal order with reshuffled images of the single take. To make the sequence possible, the band members had to learn the song in the rearranged order (with parts sung backwards). Bahl states in the 'Behind the scenes' video [2] that it took nine full takes to complete the video and only the very last take is used for the actual video. The video premiered on NPR's All Songs Considered on November 1, 2012 [1] and was uploaded on YouTube the next day. [3] On November 8, the unedited version of the video was also uploaded on YouTube. [4]

On March 5, 2013, the band uploaded an alternative version of the song on YouTube, appropriately named 'Big Guitar Version', [5] with all five band members playing an oversized guitar - found in a pawn shop like stated in the video comments - thus echoing their rendition of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" uploaded one year and two months before.

The song was performed live to close out "Blast from the Past", an episode of The Listener. [6]

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [21] 2× Platinum160,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. 1 2 Bob Boilen (November 1, 2012). "First Watch: Walk Off The Earth, 'Red Hands'". NPR . Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Red Hands - Behind the Scenes - Walk Off The Earth". YouTube. November 20, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Red Hands - Walk Off The Earth". YouTube. November 2, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Red Hands - Unedited Version - Walk Off The Earth". YouTube. November 8, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Red Hands (Big Guitar Version) - Walk Off The Earth". YouTube. March 5, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ "The Listener - News - Walk off the Earth to guest star on 'Listener' premiere - CTV". Ctv.ca. 2013-05-29. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  7. ↑ "Aria Report: Issue #1210" ARIA Top 100 Singles. National Library of Australia. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth – Chart history". Billboard Heatseekers Songs for Walk Off the Earth. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Walk Off the Earth Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Canadian Hot 100: 2013 Year-End Charts". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  18. ↑ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard . Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Triple A Songs: 2013 (Year-End)" . Billboard . Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Adult Pop Songs: Year End 2013". Billboard . Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Walk off the Earth – Red Hands". Music Canada.


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