Crazy (Gnarls Barkley song)

}} "Crazy" is the first single from Gnarls Barkley, a musical collaboration between Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo, and is taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere. It became the first UK number one single based on download sales alone.

The song was leaked in late 2005, months before its regular release, and consequently received massive airplay on BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, most notably by radio DJ Zane Lowe, who also used the song in TV ads for his show.

In the UK, the song was released as a digital download on March 13 2006, followed by a CD single on April 3 2006, and both a 7" picture disc and a one-sided etched 12" vinyl on April 10 2006. In the U.S., the song has been released as a promotional 12" vinyl single in March, with "Go-Go Gadget Gospel" as a B-side, as well as instrumental versions of each track.

After nine weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart, the band and their record company decided to delete the single from UK stores on 28 May 2006 so people will "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it."

The Kooks, Nelly Furtado and The Zutons covered "Crazy" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. Folk singer Ray LaMontagne has also covered the song, and Paris Hilton has delayed the release of her debut album Paris to include a cover of "Crazy" as well.Kilkelley, Daniel. Hilton's album release put back again? Digital Spy. May 20 2006. Retrieved May 24 2006.

Composition and inspiration

Musically, "Crazy" was inspired by film scores of spaghetti Westerns, in particular by the works of Ennio Morricone, who is best known as the composer of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy. The song also samples a portion of "Last Man Standing"On the film's soundtrack, the track is listed as "Nel Cimitero di Tucson". by the brothers Gianfranco and Gianpiero Reverberi from the 1968 spaghetti Western Django, Prepare a Coffin (Preparati la Bara!).

Chart performance

Following its release as a digital download in the UK on March 13 2006, the song debuted at the number one spot on the UK Official Download Chart on March 22 2006. As new chart rules now also allowed a song to appear in the UK Singles Chart based on their download sales if a physical equivalent is released the following week, "Crazy" became the first number one single based on download sales alone (selling over 31,000 times that week), on April 2 2006, with the CD single being released one day later. It remained on top of both download and single chart for several weeks, until the single was pulled from UK stores by the band and their record label on 29 May 2006, after nine consecutive weeks at number one, so people will "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it." The last song to spend such a long time at the UK's number one was "Love Is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet in 1994, which was number one for fifteen weeks. With its 11 weeks at the top of the UK Official Download Chart, "Crazy" became song with the longest stay on that chart as of 2006. Despite its official deletion, record shops had enough stock remaining to sell 19,827 physical copies; along with download sales, this kept the song at number two in the chart dated June 4. The following week, chart date June 11, "Crazy" was at number five, before disappearing completely from the Top 75 a week later, as under new chart rules a physically deleted single cannot remain on the chart longer than two weeks after deletion date. Thus, "Crazy" made history at both ends of its chart run. This is the most rapid exit from the chart ever for a former number one, and makes number five the highest position at which a single has ever spent its final week on the chart.

During its long stay in the UK charts, the single also entered multiple other single charts throughout Europe, including the German, the Swedish, the Austrian and the Irish Singles Charts, and the Dutch Top 40, resulting in a number one position on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.

It also performed strongly outside Europe, with top-five positions on the New Zealand and Australian Single Charts. On May 29 2006, the single went down in New Zealand music history by become the 500th number one single in New Zealand since the official Top 40 chart was started in 1973. The Discount Rhinos Full Control Remix of the track also featured in the Top 20 of the Australian ARIA Club chart.

When the album St. Elsewhere was released in the United States on May 9 2006, the song had debuted at number ninety-one on the Billboard Hot 100. As of the issue dated July 22 2006 "Crazy" has reached number two.

Music video

Going along with the psychiatric theme of the song, the music video for "Crazy" is done in the style of the Rorschach inkblot test. Animated, mirrored inkblots morph into another, while taking on ambigious shapes. Both Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse appear in the shapes, as do the band's gunshot/heart logo and various animals, including centipedes, bats, spiders, and insects.

The music video was directed by graphic designer Robert Hales, who previously directed the music videos for "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Look What You've Done" by Jet, "Starfuckers, Inc." by Nine Inch Nails, and Richard Ashcroft's "Money to Burn".

Formats and track listings

European CD single/download/UK 7" picture vinyl

"Crazy" – 2:58
"Just A Thought" (Edit) – 2:41

UK 12" vinyl/download/promo CD

"Crazy" – 2:58
"Crazy" (Instrumental) – 3:03

U.S. 12" vinyl single/promo CD

"Crazy" – 2:59
"Crazy" (Instrumental) – 2:59
"Go-Go Gadget Gospel" – 2:15
"Go-Go Gadget Gospel" (Instrumental) – 2:13

Australian CD single

"Crazy" – 2:58
"Just A Thought" (Edit) – 2:41
"The Boogie Monster" – 2:50

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak positionReferences for chart positions:
Australia Singles Chart	2
Austrian Single Chart	1
Belgium Singles Chart	3
Canadian Hit Charts (Airplay)	2
Danish Single Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	3
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	1
Finnish Single Chart	3
German Singles Chart	3
Greek Single Chart	8
Irish Singles Chart	1
Italian Single Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Single Chart	2
Swedish Single Chart	4
Swiss Single Chart	1
UK Official Download Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	2
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock	7
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	2
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs	2
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	55
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Airplay	6
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	42
United World Chart	2

UK Singles Chart trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chart position	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	5

U.S. Hot 100 trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chart position	91	54	38	35	26	15	6	5	3	2

New Zealand Top 40 Singles trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chart position	32	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Australia ARIA Singles Chart Trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chart position	3	4	4	3	2	2	3	4	4	6

Danish Single Top-20 trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chart position	42	12	11	5	1	1	2	2	1	5

Dutch Top 40 trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chart position	14	10	6	5	6	5	5	6	4	3	3

United World Chart trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Chart position	39	17	24	19	15	10	6	4	4	3	3	2	2	2	2

Notes and references

External links

Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)