Chasing Pavements

Chasing Pavements
Adele
publication	January 11, 2008
length	3:30
Genre (s)	Soul , blues , pop
Author (s)	Adele, Eg White
Award (s)	Gold (USA)
album	19th

Chasing Pavements (German meaning: follow sidewalks, chase sidewalks; also in the figurative sense as "nothing further") is the second single from the debut album 19 by the British soul singer Adele . It was released on January 11, 2008.

overview

The song was released in Ireland on January 13, 2008 and rose to number 26 on the Irish charts through download sales. In the next week, the title jumped to number 7 and thus reached its highest position. On January 20, 2008, the single rose to number 2 in the UK charts through download sales . At the end of the year, Chasing Pavements became the 27th most successful single of 2008 in the UK with over 280,000 units sold.

The song was used in three episodes of Hollyoaks , as well as in the movie Wild Child and the 90210 series . Adele sang Chasing Pavements with Cold Shoulder on Saturday Night Live on October 18, 2008 . It is Adele's first single to make the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and Adele's first top 40 hit in the US. In the United States, Chasing Pavements was awarded gold by the RIAA . By April 2011, the single was sold over 986,000 times in the United States. On the B-side is the song That's It. I Quit. I'm moving on. , which is an acoustic cover version of the song of the same name by Sam Cooke .

Chasing Pavements won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year .

Content and meaning

The content of the song was influenced by the end of a six-month relationship with Adele. When Adele found out that her boyfriend at the time was cheating on her, she went into the bar and slapped him in the face. Then Adele ran alone through the street and the lines "What is it you're chasing? You're chasing an empty pavement." in mind. Adele then sang the lyrics and melody on the way home and she recorded the vocals on her cell phone.

Music video

The music video of Chasing Pavements , which in 2008 for an MTV Video Music Award in the category Best Choreography nomination was in Hyde Park rotated. Mathew Cullen of Motion Theory production company directed the music video. The music video shows two scenarios: First, you see the location of a car accident in Hyde Park, where the victims are still lying on the ground. In the second scenario of the video, Adele and her ex-boyfriend get closer again. Then the relationship is shown in time lapse, which ends with Adele cheating on her boyfriend. During the video you can also see Adele driving in the car with her boyfriend and singing the song. Then she gets out of the car and walks to a small group of people when the car accident happens. Adele can get to safety in time and is not injured. She then stands desperate and singing next to a tree. Shortly afterwards several people come and dance around the car. What is special is the - perspective shifted - representation of the accident victims initially lying down, who then dance together on the asphalt like in a 2-D flashback (as a couple), move apart and again towards each other and then again in the - perspective correct - accident position lying on the ground. The music video ends with the victim being taken to the hospital in an ambulance. On December 20, 2008, the song reached # 26 in the Top 40 Best Music Videos of 2008 by VH1 .

Cover and banishment

On the cover picture of Chasing Pavements you can see Adele in a dark room. She is sitting alone on a sofa and looks ahead. At the top left of the illustration you can see the writing of the title "Chasing Pavement" and that of the interpreter "Adele" in white letters. According to the Daily Mail , Chasing Pavements was banned from several US radio stations because of rumors spreading around the words "chasing pavements" that the song glorified homosexual relationships.

Grammy Awards 2009

Chasing Pavements was at the 2009 Grammy Awards, three Grammy nominations, in the categories of Record of the Year , Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance . In the latter, the song won and thus prevailed against Pink and Leona Lewis . Adele also performed live with Sugarland at the event.

Live performances

Adele sang the song on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show on December 7, 2007. Adele also sang Chasing Pavements on October 18, 2008 with Cold Shoulder on Saturday Night Live .

reception

Charts and chart placements

The song was released in Ireland on January 13, 2008 and rose to number 26 in the Irish charts through download sales alone . The next week the title jumped to number 7 and reached its highest position. On January 20, 2008, the single went straight to number 2 in the UK charts only through download sales. At the end of the year, Chasing Pavements became the 27th most successful single of 2008 in the UK, with over 280,000 units sold by Chasing Pavements .

Chasing Pavements is Adele's first single to make it onto the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and Adele's first Top 40 hit in the US at number 21. In the United States, Chasing Pavements was awarded gold by the RIAA . As of April 2011, Chasing Pavements had sold over 986,000 units in the United States .

In German-speaking countries, Chasing Pavements was only moderately successful. The song could not even place in the Swiss charts . In Austria , the single reached number 56 and in the German single charts ranked 46th, the top ten reached Chasing Pavements in Denmark , Belgium , Italy , Netherlands and Norway . Norway is the only country where Chasing Pavements reached number 1 on the charts and became a number one hit. Chasing Pavements reached number 27 in the UK annual charts and 36th in the Dutch.

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	46 (10 weeks)	10
Austria (Ö3)	56 (9 weeks)	9
United Kingdom (OCC)	2 (25 weeks)	25th
United States (Billboard)	21st (7 weeks)	7th

Awards for music sales

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Denmark (IFPI)	gold	20,000
Italy (FIMI)	gold	10,000
Canada (MC)	platinum	80,000
Norway (IFPI)	gold	5,000
United States (RIAA)	platinum	1,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	platinum	600,000
All in all	3 × gold 3 × platinum	1,715,000

Main article: Adele (singer) / Awards for music sales

Web links

• Music video on YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Week Ending March 27, 2011: Songs: Katy Moves Up - Yahoo! Chart watch . New.music.yahoo.com. March 30, 2011. Accessed March 31, 2011.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Frehsée, Nicole (January 22, 2009), "Meet Adele, the UK's Newest Soul Star". Rolling Stone . (1070): 26
3. ↑ Interview: Adele - Singer and Songwriter BlogCriticsMagazine 16 July 2008 ( Memento from April 4, 2009 in the web archive archive.today )
4. ↑ Kim Dawson: ADELE'S BI GUY , Daily Star. March 24, 2008. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008. 
5. ↑ Coldplay and Adele snag VMA nods Virgin Media August 28, 2008
6. ↑ 'Americans think that I'm chasing gay men,' says Adele as she reveals hit song radio ban , The Daily Mail , September 10, 2008
7. ↑ The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Winners List ( December 20, 2010 memento in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ Jonathan Ross welcomes Lucas, Walliams, Seinfeld and Zellweger . December 7, 2007. Archived from the original on December 9, 2007. Retrieved January 27, 2008. 
9. ↑ Week Ending March 27, 2011: Songs: Katy Moves Up - Yahoo! Chart watch . New.music.yahoo.com. March 30, 2011. Accessed March 31, 2011.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: DE AT UK US