Faded (Alan Walker song)
"Faded" is a song by British-Norwegian record producer and DJ Alan Walker with vocals provided by Norwegian singer Iselin Solheim. It was written by Alan Walker, Jesper Borgen, Mood Melodies and Gunnar Greve, production was handled by Alan Walker, Jesper Borgen and Mood Melodies. The song was released as a single by Mer Musikk on December 3, 2015 for digital download and streaming.
"Faded"
The song topped the charts in several countries around the world, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. obtained. It has received several certifications around the world, including 11x platinum in Sweden, double diamond in Poland, 7x platinum in Italy, and quadruple platinum in Australia and Spain.[1] It also reached number one on the Shazam Worldwide Top 100 Popular Songs in February 2016, and by March 2016, had become the world's most Shazamed song. As of June 2023, it is the 28th most viewed video on YouTube and also the 14th most viewed music video, with over 3.3 billion views, and was the first EDM track to hit 3 billion views.[2] "Faded" is also the 95th most-streamed song on Spotify as of March 2024, with over 1.8 billion streams.
The song "Faded" is a revamped version of Walker's past composition "Fade", which was released via the record label NoCopyrightSounds in 2014. At first, when creating "Fade," the idea was to create a tropical house sound, but then an electro house drop was inserted into the song. However, tropical house and electro house did not blend well together, so he decided to make it completely electro house.
Walker debuted a live performance of "Faded" with Solheim and string support on 27 February 2016 at the X Games in Oslo.[3] The performance was aired live on Norwegian television. The song was put as the ultimate track on Walker's 2018 album Different World after an interlude specific to the track.
Background and release[edit]
The song "Faded" is a revamped version of Walker's past composition "Fade", which was released via the record label NoCopyrightSounds in 2014. At first, when creating "Fade," the idea was to create a tropical house sound, but then an electro house drop was inserted into the song. However, tropical house and electro house did not blend well together, so he decided to make it completely electro house. Walker was inspired by the music producer Ahrix's sound on his track "Nova" from 2013. In an interview he stated: "The melodies and the way the track progresses are what's so unique and it's what inspired me to create 'Fade' which later on became 'Faded'".[4][5] The style is inspired by the Norwegian producer K-391. The melody, I don't know where it came from, but I try to let my emotions and feelings have a big influence on the melodies I produce."[6]
When "Fade" first started gaining attention in 2014, many people said, "Oh, I feel like this song has lyrics, but it doesn't," and Walker responded, " It's kind of weird to say that, because it's an instrumental song that's just the same melody over and over again, just a little bit different. "I started to realize that it had the potential to turn into a song," he said. Walker had been toying with the idea of redoing the vocals for some time. He envisioned fleshing out "Fade" into a larger song, but wasn't ready to do it yet. So he spent his time working on other releases.[7]
Walker, who subsequently signed with MER Musikk in 2015, was looking for a vocalist to create a vocal remake, and the first vocalist in the demo sent to him was Iselin Solheim. As soon as Walker heard the demo, he instinctively knew, "She's the one!" and immediately contacted her and started working in the studio.[8]
With the release of this song, He first uploaded teasers to YouTube, the first showing an excerpt of what the remake sounds like, the second showing the lyrics, and the third revealing the expected release date and name of the track, "Faded".[9][10][11] Faded was originally planned to be released on November 25 (as a belated 1-year anniversary of Fade being released on NCS), but it was delayed "due to circumstances out of Walker's control."[12] The track was eventually released on December 3.[13]
Writing and composition[edit]
The lyrics for "Faded" were written by Jesper Borgen, Anders Frøen, and Gunnar Greve. In addition to the lyrics, this song also changed the intro and introduced a piano. In the acoustic version, only the piano, violin, and Solheim's vocals are heard.[14] "Faded" is noticeably different from "Fade" for its piano intro and outro, and for having uncredited vocals by Iselin Solheim and mainstream production.[15] The song is said to be a mix of electro-pop and EDM. Additionally, you can feel the influence of electro and progressive house. Due to its slow tempo of 90 beats per minute, the song is often categorized as "downtempo". The chord progression is based on D#m–B-F#–C# and was written in D# minor. In an interview with the American online magazine "The Knockturnal,'' he said, I don't know where the melody comes from,'' but that basically it is "my own emotions and feelings'' that have the biggest influence on the melody. He said he was "trying."[16]
Lyrically, the song expresses a sense of longing and search for something meaningful. The song's protagonist feels like she is fading away, both physically and emotionally, and struggles to find her way back to a place of belonging and purpose. In an interview with Genius, Walker said of the lyrics: "It's about searching for someone, something, or somewhere that's been lost. Or just feeling lost! One of the things I love most about this lyric is that the meaning can be interpreted freely.”[1]
Critical reception[edit]
The song received mainly positive reviews. Simon Cleese of the music website Dance-Charts wrote, "With Faded, Alan Walker, along with vocalist Iselin Solheim, has created a radio hit that is at least as suitable for main floor clubs. The mood, vocals, and elements make Faded a very special song." Anke van de Weyer of radio station 1 Live said, "It's a brilliant pendulum between melancholy and bass banging, but when it gets too set, Alan Walker picks up the tempo, and when he really gets into party mode, he slows down again."[17] The website vol.at wrote, "The voice of young artist Iselin Solheim fits the concept perfectly."[18]
Chart performance[edit]
"Faded" became a worldwide commercial success upon its release, topping Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish singles charts, as well as entering the top 3 in the Danish singles chart.
The song peaked at number one in more than ten countries and in the top 5 in more than 25 countries.
In the United States, the song debuted at number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 80, becoming Walker's first chart entry on the Billboard Hot 100. It also ranked No. 4 on the Dance Club Songs chart and No. 7 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified her 3x Platinum for sales of 3 million copies. In the UK, it debuted at number 91 on the UK Singles Chart on February 11, 2016 and peaked at number 7. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Dance charts. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded her a 3x platinum certification for sales of over 1.8 million copies.
In Walker's native Norway, the song reached number 19 in 2015, one week after its release. Two weeks later, it jumped to number one. In Germany, the song earned her the top spot on the Dance Chart for 13 weeks and the Airplay Chart for 2 weeks.[19] The song also set a new streaming record in Germany, where the song was streamed 3.69 million times in just one week. Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) certified 7x Gold for sales of 1.4 million.
"Faded" topped the charts in several countries around the world, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. obtained. She has received several certifications around the world, including 11x platinum in Sweden, double diamond in Poland, 7x platinum in Italy, and quadruple platinum in Australia and Spain.[1] It also reached number one on the Shazam Worldwide Top 100 Popular Songs in February 2016, and by March 2016, had become the world's most Shazamed song.[20]
The song’s success has also boosted Walker’s career, being named as one of the 100 most influential people in Norway by the newspaper VG. Forbes listed him in their “30 Under 30” Europe list in 2018.
Its music video on YouTube reached 1 billion views on 26 March 2017, and has received over 3 billion views to date, making it the 22nd most viewed YouTube video. It is also the 8th most liked YouTube video with over 26 million likes.
Walker said: "This is undoubtedly the track that most people associate me with, and it’s kind of crazy to think that it was released three years ago. I’m always asked what this track means to me, and the best way to describe is probably that it literally changed my life forever. These past three years have been absolutely incredible for me, and I never imagined the impact this single would have when I first released it when I was 18 years old."[21]
Live performances[edit]
Several female vocalists have performed the song live: Iselin Solheim, the original vocalist on the recording, Ingrid Helene Håvik (vocalist of Highasakite), Tove Styrke, Alexandra Rotan, Angelina Jordan, Zara Larsson and Torine Michelle.[22] On 4 November 2017 Alan Walker performed the song live with Against the Current at the 2017 League of Legends World Championship closing ceremony in Beijing.[23]