Use Somebody
"Use Somebody" is a song recorded by the American rock group Kings of Leon. It was the second single from the band's fourth studio album Only by the Night, and it entered American and British charts in early October 2008, three weeks after the album release.[3][4] The single was augmented with a music video released a month later.[5][6]
"Use Somebody"
October 2008
2008
Blackbird (Nashville)
3:51
- Caleb Followill
- Jared Followill
- Matthew Followill
- Nathan Followill
The single received heavy airplay in Scandinavia, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia, where it was number one on the Official Airplay Chart for six consecutive weeks.[7] It was a huge success in the U.S., where it topped multiple airplay formats and reached number four on the Hot 100 and number one on the Pop Songs chart.[8]
The song received positive reviews and won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year,[9] Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal[10] and Best Rock Song.[11] It was also nominated for Song of the Year.[12] "Use Somebody" is written in the key of C major.[13]
Critical reception[edit]
The song has received generally positive reviews from music critics. Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly called "Use Somebody" a highlight of the album, describing the song as "a too-cool hipster's cry for comfort".[14] Nick Levine of Digital Spy said, "With its Springsteen-style 'oooah-woooah's, gathering storm of guitars and lusty, longing vocals from Caleb Followill, it's nearly as infectious as 'Sex on Fire'."[15] Gavin Haynes of NME praised the song as "easily the best 80's power ballad of 2008", but cautioned that the band "may be in danger of mistaking bluster for brilliance".[16]
Chart performance[edit]
In the United States, "Use Somebody" became the band's mainstream breakthrough. Peaking at number four on the Hot 100, it gave the band their first top five hit there, and spent 57 weeks on the chart.[17][18] On United States radio, the song was a multi-format smash, becoming just the fourth song in history to top the Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, Alternative Songs, and Triple A charts.[19] (Preceding it were "Slide" by the Goo Goo Dolls, "Every Morning" by Sugar Ray, and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day.) The song first reached number one on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart (now called the "Alternative" chart), their second of three consecutive singles to top that chart. "Use Somebody" also reached number one on the Adult Top 40 chart,[20] and later topped the Mainstream Top 40 chart as well. It reached over four million downloads in the US by July 2013.[21]
In the United Kingdom, "Use Somebody" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and spent an unbroken 40 weeks on the chart, only dropping out due to the surge in sales of Michael Jackson titles immediately after his death; after an absence of just one week, it was back for another 20 weeks, peaking at number 25. It has reappeared on further occasions since, and has now spent 77 weeks on the top 75, making it the 14th longest runner of all time, six places behind "Sex on Fire" with its 90 weeks.[4]
Music video[edit]
Directed by Sophie Muller, who also directed the video for "Sex on Fire" and would later direct "Radioactive", the video features tour footage of the band, in addition to Caleb singing while sitting on a sofa in a penthouse suite overlooking the New York City skyline at night.