"River Below" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Billy Talent | ||||
from the album Billy Talent | ||||
Released | July 5, 2004 | |||
Genre | Post-hardcore, punk rock | |||
Length | 2:59 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ian D'Sa, Jonathan Gallant, Benjamin Kowalewicz, Aaron Solowoniuk | |||
Producer(s) | Gavin Brown | |||
Billy Talent singles chronology | ||||
|
"River Below" is a song by the Canadian band Billy Talent. It was released in June 2004 as the third single from their self-titled debut studio album.
Sean Michael Turrell was the director of this video. The subject of the video for the song is a schizophrenic man who hears voices in his head compelling him to construct and detonate a bomb. A photo of himself indicates that he was previously a member of the military during a war. While watching the television he sees bombs falling. Examples of insanity show the man trying to change the channel but it staying the same, newspaper headline clippings rearranging themselves forming various motivating phrases (i.e.: You will be famous!), and bomb blueprints becoming animated. Billy Talent are shown playing in a garage in the house across the road from the man's, which appears to be cast somewhere around the 1960s, demonstrable by the clothing and technology; such as black and white television and the style of decor. The video is censored. In the original video, the bomb blows up showing an explosion, consuming the man and Billy Talent. In the MuchMusic edition, the bomb blows and there is a larger, more graphically visual, explosion. In a MuchMusic countdown, "Top 50 Most Controversial Videos," "River Below" made it to #7. It also placed #15 in MuchMusic's "100 Best Videos". The video was released after the 2004 Madrid train bombings; it caused outrage because it was after a deadly attack involving bombs.
Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds
Oppenheimer was known as the 'Father of the Atomic Bomb', and this foreshadows the events that lead to the detonation of the bomb that the General has constructed. However, it could also be treated as having much wider implications; suggesting that those with weapons, such as that shown in the video (i.e. warring countries), become the givers of death but on a scale that has a real potential of destroying the world. The man is therefore only a representation of a greater danger, a microcosm of a possible scenario.
The quotation is actually that of Robert Oppenheimer quoting Vishnu from the Hindu scripture " Bhagavad Gita"
Chart (2004) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Rock Top 30 (Radio & Records) [1] | 12 |
UK Singles (OCC) [2] | 70 |
UK Rock & Metal (OCC) [3] | 6 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [4] | Platinum | 80,000 |
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Billy Talent is a Canadian rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup changes, although Solowoniuk is currently taking a hiatus from the band due to a relapse of multiple sclerosis. In the three decades since their inception, Billy Talent has sold well over a million physical albums in Canada alone and nearly 3 million albums internationally. During their most successful period, they were ranked as one of the top 10 best-selling native bands in Canada.
"Say It Ain't So" is a song by American rock band Weezer. It was released as the third and final single from the band's self-titled 1994 debut album on May 15, 1995. Written by frontman Rivers Cuomo, the song came to be after he had all the music finished and one line, "Say it ain't so". Cuomo made a connection to an incident in high school where he came home and saw a bottle of beer in the fridge. He believed his mother and father's marriage ended because his father was an alcoholic, and this made him fear the marriage between his mother and step-father would end this way as well.
"The Day I Tried to Live" is a song by American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "The Day I Tried to Live" was released in April 1994 as the second single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown (1994). The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 25 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was included on Soundgarden's 1997 greatest hits album, A-Sides.
"Just" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, included on their second album, The Bends (1995). It was released as a single on 7 August 1995.
"Devil in a Midnight Mass" is the first single released from Billy Talent's second album, Billy Talent II.
"The Ex" is a song by Canadian rock group Billy Talent. It was released in December 2003 as the second single from their debut self-titled album.
"Red Flag" is a song by Canadian rock group Billy Talent. It was released in September 2006 as second single from their second album, Billy Talent II.
"Pain" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released on September 19, 2006, as the second single from their second studio album, One-X.
"Pardon Me" is a song by American rock band Incubus. Released in October 1999 as the lead single from their third album Make Yourself, it was the band's first song to receive considerable radio airplay, reaching number three on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and number seven on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 2 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
"Fallen Leaves" is a song by Canadian rock group Billy Talent. It was released in November 2006 as the third single from their second studio album, Billy Talent II.
"Surrender" is the fourth single from Canadian music group Billy Talent off their triple platinum selling album, Billy Talent II. The single was released on April 2, 2007.
This is the discography of Canadian rock band Billy Talent. Included in this discography are three items that are from when the band was known as Pezz. These items are Demoluca, Dudebox, and Watoosh!. Besides those items, this discography documents every studio album, live album, EP, DVD and single released under the name Billy Talent.
"The River" is a song by Canadian rock band The Tea Party. It was released as a single in Australia and the UK, where it reached #79 in the UK Singles Chart, #99 in Australia, and was a promotional single in Canada and the USA. The music video was shot in Toronto, directed by Floria Sigismondi and features a cameo by Roy Harper.
"Overkill" is a song by Australian pop rock band Men at Work. It was released in March 1983 as the second single from their second studio album Cargo. Written by lead singer Colin Hay, it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100; No. 5 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart; and top 10 in Canada, Ireland, and Norway. The song was a departure from the group's style of reggae-influenced pop rock, featuring a melancholic feel musically and lyrically.
"Solitary Man" is a song that was written and composed by American musician Neil Diamond, who himself initially recorded the song for BANG Records in late January 1966. It has since been covered many times by such artists as Billy Joe Royal, B.J. Thomas, Jay and the Americans, T. G. Sheppard, Gianni Morandi, The Sidewinders, Chris Isaak, Johnny Cash, Johnny Rivers, HIM, Crooked Fingers, Cliff Richard, Ólöf Arnalds, Theuns Jordaan and Farhad Mehrad.
"I Go to Extremes" is the fourth track on American singer Billy Joel's 11th studio album, Storm Front (1989). It was released as the second single from the album in 1989. It reached the number-six position on the US Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number three on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart. The song was also a top-10 hit on both the Billboard Adult Contemporary and Album Rock Tracks charts.
"Cradle of Love" is a rock song written by Billy Idol and David Werner for Idol's 1990 fourth studio album Charmed Life. The song is the album's sixth track and was released as its first single. "Cradle of Love" became Idol's last top-10 hit in the United States, where it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also Idol's first and only No. 1 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. On the UK Single Chart, it stalled at No. 34.
"It's Not My Time" is the first official single from the self-titled fourth studio album by rock band 3 Doors Down. The song was serviced to US modern rock radio on February 18, 2008. Lyrically, the song focuses on "being resilient, going against the grain and going against the world when the world's trying to push you down, or take you out," lead singer Brad Arnold said. The song topped the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for three weeks. An acoustic version was also available on iTunes as a pre-order.
"Rusted from the Rain" is the first official single by Canadian rock band Billy Talent off their album Billy Talent III. It was released on May 19, 2009. Lead singer Ben Kowalewicz has said that the song is very "tin man-esque" and evolved from an "epic Soundgarden-like riff". The lyrics are about marital breakdown, Kowalewicz told Kerrang!: "Nowadays, I'm seeing a lot of people who got married young are now getting divorced. It seems to be a new fad. Divorce is the new black." The song was nominated for Single of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards, but lost to Michael Bublé's "Haven't Met You Yet".
"Begin Again" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her fourth studio album, Red (2012). It was released as the second single from Red on October 1, 2012, by Big Machine Records. Produced by Swift, Dann Huff, and Nathan Chapman, "Begin Again" is a gentle country and soft rock ballad with acoustic guitar, steel guitar, and percussion. Its lyrics are about falling in love again after a failed, toxic previous relationship.