Gourt Home::Gourt :: Vertigo (song)
| How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb Album Listing | ||
|---|---|---|
| (beginning of album) | "Vertigo" (Track 1) | "Miracle Drug" (Track 2) |
"Vertigo" is the opening track and first single release from U2's eleventh studio album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The single was released for airplay on September 24, 2004; upon release the song received extensive airplay and was an international hit. It won 'Best Rock Song', 'Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal' and 'Best Short Form Music Video' at the 2005 Grammy awards.
The song is a driving rocker with impressionistic lyrics evoking a night at a dance club.
Its chorus is used as a Montreal Canadiens goal song.
U2 performed "Vertigo" in a television commercial for the Apple iPod as part of a cross-marketing plan to promote both the album and Apple's music products (especially the iPod U2 Special Edition and the iTunes Music Store's exclusive digital box set, "The Complete U2").
As noted by Rolling Stone and many other music publications, the song's central riff sounds extremely similar to Sonic Youth's 1990 single "Dirty Boots". The bassline is also very similar to one of U2's own songs, A Sort Of Homecoming, taken from the album, "The Unforgettable Fire".
At the beginning of the song, U2 lead singer Bono counts off in Spanish uno, dos, tres, catorce!. In English, this translates to "one, two, three, fourteen!" (When asked about this oddity in an interview for Rolling Stone, Bono simply replied "there may have been alcohol involved.") A Spanish reply of "¡Hola!" is also heard behind the "Hello, hello" of the refrain, as well as "¿Dónde está?" after the line "I'm at a place called Vertigo," meaning "Where is place?" or "''¿Como estás ?'"" which means 'How do you do ?'.
The "Hello, hello" line itself is reminiscent of similar lyrics in the song "Stories for Boys" from U2's debut album Boy; indeed in Vertigo Tour concerts supporting the Atomic Bomb album, the band has included a section of the latter song in their performances of "Vertigo". These concerts have also sometimes featured "Vertigo" played twice, once early in the show and again as a final encore; this too harkens back to U2's early days, when they did not have enough songs to fill out an entire performance and thus had to repeat some at the end.
Chart success
Upon release, "Vertigo" debuted at #18 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and #46 on the Billboard Hot 100; in the following weeks the track jumped to #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and also moved from #27 to #3 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and from #35 to #9 on the Adult Top 40. It also debuted at #1 on the Hot Digital Tracks chart and, after falling to #4, returned to the top position. The track later moved into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #31; it spent 20 weeks on the chart.In the United Kingdom, the song moved from BBC Radio 1's B-list on the first week of its airplay release to the A-list in the second week. The song was released commercially on 15 November; it debuted at #1 and remained there for one week; it spent 9 weeks in the top 40.
The track debuted at #5 on the Aria charts. In The Netherlands "Vertigo" reached #2 (Mega Top 100).
The digital single holds a 2x Platinum status in the United States, selling over 400,000 downloads.
Track listings
CD1
- "Vertigo" (Album Version) (3:11)
- "Vertigo" (Jacknife Lee 10") (4:13)
- "Neon Lights" (4:07)
CD2
- "Vertigo" (Album Version) (3:11)
- "Are You Gonna Wait Forever?" (3:48)
CD3 Japan
- "Vertigo" (Album Version) (3:11)
- "Are You Gonna Wait Forever?" (3:48)
- "Vertigo" (Jacknife Lee 10") (4:13)
- "Neon Lights" (4:07)
- "Vertigo" (HQ Video) (Video) (3:11)
UK 12"
- "Vertigo" (Jacknife Lee 12") (5:36)
- "Vertigo" (Jacknife Lee 7") (3:08)
- "Vertigo" (Jacknife Lee 10") (4:13)
- "Vertigo" (Jacknife Lee Instrumental) (5:36)
DVD
- "Vertigo" (HQ Video) (Video) (3:11)
- "Vertigo" (Audio with Photo Gallery) (Video) (3:11)
- "Are You Gonna Wait Forever?" (3:48) (Audio)
- "Vertigo" (Jacknife Lee 10" Lisbon Video) (Video) (4:13)
Chart performance
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Ireland | #1 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | UK | #1 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Greece | #1 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Argentina | #1 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | India | #1 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Italy | #1 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Latvia | #1 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Canada | #2 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Norway Top 20 | #2 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Brazil | #2 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Mega Top 100 Singles - The Netherlands | #2 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Finland | #2 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #3 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Austria | #4 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Aria | #5 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | New Zealand | #5 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #8 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Adult Top 40 | #9 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Pop 100 | #10 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Japan | #10 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Top 40 Adult Recurrents | #15 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Belgium | #16 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Hot 100 | #31 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | #35 |
| 2004 | "Vertigo" | Billboard Top 40 Tracks | #37 |
External links
- Band's Official Site for the Single - last accessed on February 16, 2006
- Vertigo Lyrics
References
- Top40-Charts.com - "Vertigo" Single Charts Page - last accessed on November 11, 2005
- All Music - U2 Charts and Awards - last accessed on March 11, 2006
2004 singles | U2 songs | U2 songs | UK number one singles | Irish number one singles
"Vertigo (song)"