Seasons (Waiting on You)

Last updated
"Seasons (Waiting on You)"
Future Islands Seasons.jpg
Single by Future Islands
from the album Singles
B-side "One Day"
ReleasedFebruary 4, 2014 (2014-02-04)
RecordedAugust 2013
Studio Dreamland Studios
(Hurley, New York)
Genre
Length3:46
Label 4AD
Songwriter(s)
  • William Cashion
  • Samuel T. Herring
  • J. Gerrit Welmers
Producer(s) Chris Coady
Future Islands singles chronology
"Tomorrow" / "The Fountain"
(2012)		"Seasons (Waiting on You)"
(2014)		"A Dream of You and Me"
(2015)
Music video
"Seasons (Waiting on You)" on YouTube

"Seasons (Waiting on You)" is a song by American synthpop band Future Islands. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album Singles , and was released as the album's lead single on February 4, 2014. [2] The song received much critical acclaim, topping The Village Voice 's annual year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll [3] and also being named the best track of 2014 by publications such as NME , [4] Pitchfork , [5] and Spin . [6] In 2019, it was named the 34th best song of the 2010s by Pitchfork, [7] and was ranked 94th on Rolling Stone 's 100 Best Songs of the 2010s. [8]

Contents

Critical reception

Accolades

Accolades for "Seasons (Waiting on You)"
PublicationAccoladeRank
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Songs of 2014 [9] 1
Pitchfork The 100 Best Tracks of 2014 [10] 1
Pazz & Jop Single of the Year 2014 [11] 1
Spin The 101 Best Songs of 2014 [12] 1
NME Top 50 Tracks of 2014 [13] 1
PopMatters The 75 Best Songs of 2014 [14] 2
Drowned in Sound 40 Favourite Songs of 2014 [15] 4
Slant Magazine The 25 Best Singles of 2014 [16] 8
Paste The 50 Best Songs of 2014 [17] 8
Rolling Stone 50 Best Songs of 2014 [18] 9
American Songwriter Top 50 Songs of 2014 [19] 14
Pitchfork The 200 Best Tracks of the Decade So Far (2010–2014) [20] 123
Pitchfork The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s [7] 34

Live performances

The band's performance of the song on Late Show with David Letterman became an internet hit [21] due to frontman Samuel T. Herring's visual and vocal performance, which included elaborate and angular dance moves and death metal-style growls. Herring also put on a similarly unusual performance during the band's performance of the song on Later... with Jools Holland . [22]

Track listing

  1. "Seasons (Waiting on You)" – 3:46
  2. "One Day" – 4:27
  1. "Seasons (Waiting on You)" (BADBADNOTGOOD Reinterpretation) – 3:43

Charts

Chart performance for "Seasons (Waiting on You)"
Chart (2014)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA Hitseekers) [24] 13
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [25] 50
UK Indie (OCC) [26] 25
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [27] 50
US Adult Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [28] 27
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [29] 37

Certifications

Certifications for "Seasons (Waiting on You)"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [30] Gold40,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) [31] Gold15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [32] Silver200,000‡
United States (RIAA) [33] Gold500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release history for "Seasons (Waiting on You)"
RegionDateFormatLabel
United States [2] [23] February 4, 2014 7-inch vinyl 4AD Records
June 30, 2014 Digital download

References

  1. 1 2 Treble Staff (May 11, 2020). "A History of Synth-Pop in 50 Essential Songs". Treble. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Seasons (Limited Edition)". Amazon.com . Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Village Voice's 42nd Pazz & Jop Music Critics' Poll: The Last Word on the Year in Music (Singles)". The Village Voice . Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  4. ↑ "NME's Top 50 Tracks Of 2014". NME . Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  5. ↑ "The 100 Best Tracks of 2014". Pitchfork . Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  6. ↑ "The 101 Best Songs of 2014". Spin . December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "the 200 Best Tracks of the 2010s". Pitchfork . 7 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  8. ↑ Will Hermes; Brittany Spanos; Christian Hoard; Suzy Exposito; Charles Holmes; Claire Shaffer; Jon Freeman; Joseph Hudak; David Browne; Jon Dolan; Rob Sheffield; Joe Levy; Nick Catucci; Simon Vozick-Levinson; Andy Greene; Brenna Ehrlich; Brendan Klinkenberg; Hank Shteamer; Angie Martoccio; Jerry Portwood (December 4, 2019). "The 100 Best Songs of the 2010s". Rolling Stone .
  9. ↑ "Top 50 Songs of 2014". Consequence of Sound . 5 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "The 100 Best Tracks of 2014". Pitchfork . 15 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Single of the Year 2014". Pazz & Jop. The Village Voice. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "The 101 Best Songs of 2014". Spin . 8 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Top 50 Tracks of 2014". NME. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "The 75 Best Songs of 2014". PopMatters. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "40 Favourite Songs of 2014". Drowned in Sound. 8 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "The 25 Best Singles of 2014". Slant Magazine. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "The 50 Best Songs of 2014". Paste. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "50 Best Songs of 2014". Rolling Stone. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Top 50 Songs of 2014". American Songwriter. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  20. ↑ "The 200 Best Tracks of the Decade So Far (2010–2014)". Pitchfork. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  21. ↑ "Future Islands - "Seasons" @ Letterman 3/3/14". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  22. ↑ Published on Sep 30, 2014 (2014-09-30). "Future Islands perform Seasons (Waiting On You) | Later... with Jools Holland - BBC". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-03-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. 1 2 "Seasons (Waiting On You) [BADBADNOTGOOD Reinterpretation] – Single by Future Islands". iTunes Store . United States. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  24. ↑ "ARIA Report: Issue 1302" (PDF). ARIA. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on You)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Future Islands Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Future Islands Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Future Islands Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on You)". Music Canada . Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  31. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on You)". Radioscope. Retrieved July 27, 2025.Type Seasons (Waiting on You) in the "Search:" field.
  32. ↑ "British single certifications – Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on You)". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  33. ↑ "American single certifications – Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting on You)". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved May 2, 2025.
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