Payphone (song)
"Payphone" is a pop song by American band Maroon 5 featuring American rapper Wiz Khalifa. It was released on April 16, 2012, as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Overexposed (2012). The song was written by Adam Levine, Khalifa, Ammar Malik, producers Benny Blanco and Shellback, and additional producer Robopop.[1] The song is a pop ballad that describes a romance that ended abruptly. It received favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the catchy melody and named it "a radio success", but some others dismissed its title and Khalifa's appearance.
"Payphone"
April 16, 2012
2011
Conway (Los Angeles)
- 3:51 (album version)
- 3:42 (no rap edit)
- Benny Blanco
- Shellback
- Robopop (add.)
In the official music video directed by Samuel Bayer, Levine takes down bank robbers and attempts to become the hero in a hail of bullets as he makes his escape. He steals a gun from a robber and then gets mistaken for one. Because of this, he must escape in a car chase from a fleet of policemen, which he does with ease.[2] The video was positively received from critics, who considered it an enjoyable mini-action film. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video but lost out to "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction.[3] In July 2012, "Payphone" was named Song of the Summer for 2012 by Idolator.[4]
On the Billboard Hot 100, the song debuted at the number three spot before peaking at number two. The song sold 493,000 copies in its first week, becoming the best sales week for a digital song by a group and also the eleventh-best sales week overall. It peaked at number one in Canada for eight consecutive weeks. It also topped the charts in the United Kingdom, making it the band's first-ever single to do so. "Payphone" was the world's fifth best-selling single of 2012 with 9.5 million copies sold.[5]
Composition and lyrics[edit]
"Payphone" is a pop and R&B song[12] that contains a hip hop beat and piano hook.[13] It has a duration of 3 minutes and 51 seconds.[12] Its instrumentation consists of funk guitars, bass and synths.[1][12][14] "Payphone" is written in the key of B♭ major (recorded in B major), in common time, with a tempo of 110 beats per minute.[15] Levine's vocal range spans from the low note of G♯3 to the high note of B4.[15] Thomas Chau from AOL Radio Blog called the song "mellow" and compared it to the band's previous singles "She Will Be Loved" (2004) and "Won't Go Home Without You" (2007).[16]
On the chorus, he sings: "I’m at a payphone trying to call home / All of my change I spent on you / Where have the times gone? / Baby, it’s all wrong / Where are the plans we made for two?".[17] Because of the song's profanity, "Shit" and "fucking" are intact, but have been replaced with "it" and "stupid" in the song's clean version. The clean version censors Wiz Khalifa's cursing as well. When Khalifa serves his verse, his rhymes don't speak of his love life, but rather his "haters": "I'll be out spending all this money while you sittin' 'round wondering why it wasn't you who came up from nothin' / Made it from the bottom now when you see me I'm stunnin'." An alternate version has these lyrics replaced with "Now baby don't hang up, so I can tell you what you need to know / Baby I'm begging you just please don't go, so I can tell you what you need to know."[18]
Chart performance[edit]
In the United States, the song debuted on the Pop Songs chart at number 21, making it the highest-charting debut by a group since 'N Sync's "Pop" debuted at the same position in June 2001.[29] "Payphone" peaked at number one on the Billboard's Pop Songs chart, becoming their fourth number one.[30] On Pop Songs, the group made it to back-to-back toppers, as its last entry, "Moves Like Jagger," featuring Christina Aguilera, reigned for six weeks beginning in October 2011.[30] The band had likewise led consecutively with its first two number ones, "This Love" (three weeks) and "She Will Be Loved" (four) in 2004.[30] Wiz Khalifa, featured on the pop edit of "Payphone," scores his first Mainstream Top 40 number one.[30] On the Adult Pop Songs chart, "Payphone" debuted at number 17, the highest-ever debut by a group and the third-highest overall.[29] It also topped the Adult Pop Songs, becoming their fifth leader.[30] On Adult Pop Songs, Maroon 5 - whose number one ledger on the list includes its four Pop Songs leaders plus 2010's "Misery" - ties Nickelback for the most commanding titles among groups in the chart's 16-year history.[30]
"Payphone" sold 493,000 digital downloads in its first week and subsequently debuted at number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart, the best sales week ever for a digital song by a group, surpassing The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow", which topped the chart with sales of 464,000 units in April 2009.[31] It is also the eighth-best sales week overall since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital downloads in 2003.[32] The song debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It failed to reach number one, peaking at number two on that chart for six non-consecutive weeks, being blocked from the top spot by Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" and Carly Rae Jepsen's smash hit of the summer, "Call Me Maybe". On its 18th week in the top ten, "Payphone" dropped to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first time the song was not a part of the top five.[32] It also spent its first 19 weeks in the top ten. Over 5 million copies of the song had been sold in the United States by March 2013,[33] and as of June 2014, it has sold 5,510,000 copies in the US.[34]
On the Canadian Hot 100 chart, the song debuted at number 2, for the issue dated May 5, 2012.[35] The following week, the song fell to number 3,[36] where it remained for a further week.[37] The following week, the song climbed to number 2[38] and on the chart issue dated June 2, 2012, the song topped the Canadian charts.[39] For the following seven weeks, the song remained at the top,[40] spending a total of eight weeks at the top.[41]
In the United Kingdom, "Payphone" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. It remained at the top of the chart for two non-consecutive weeks and became both Maroon 5's and Wiz Khalifa's first chart-topping song in Britain.[42] It sold over 141,000 copies, which marks the third week in a row that the number one single broke the 100,000 barrier after Gary Barlow and Cheryl Cole. According to the Official Charts Company, the song sold 725,000 copies in the United Kingdom in 2012, becoming Britain's ninth best-selling single of that year.[43] "Payphone" had sold 68,000 digital copies in Italy.[44]
Live performances[edit]
On April 16, 2012, Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa performed "Payphone" for the first time on The Voice, a reality talent show, in which lead singer Adam Levine is one of the coaches.[60] "Payphone" was also performed, for the first time at a proper Maroon 5 concert, during the band's special performance for the grand opening of the Microsoft Store in Palo Alto, California, on April 21, 2012. Adam Levine sang the lines from the alternative version of the song, without the rap, released officially on April 18, 2012, just two days after its world premiere on The Voice and also on iTunes: "Now, baby, don't hang up / So I can tell you what you need to know / Baby, I'm begging you / Just, please, don't go / So I can tell you what you need to know." in lieu of Khalifa's rap verse. On May 12, 2012, Maroon 5 and Khalifa performed "Payphone" together at the 2012 edition of Wango Tango.[61] In June 2012, the band performed "Payphone" (with a medley of their song "Moves Like Jagger"), on The Voice UK[62] and Germany's Next Top Model. On June 5, 2012, Maroon 5 performed "Payphone" on the French reality talk show, Le Grand Journal in Paris, France.[63] The band performed the song live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (June 28),[64] and The Today Show (June 29),[65] where they also played their songs including "One More Night", "Moves Like Jagger" and "Harder to Breathe".[65] The band continued to played "Payphone" in various concert tours such as the Overexposed Tour and the 2013 Honda Civic Tour, respectively.
"Payphone"
April 17, 2012
2012
3:51
PT