Helicopter (Bloc Party song)
{{Short description|2004 single by Bloc Party}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Helicopter
| cover = BlocParty-HelicopterCoverUS.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Bloc Party
| album = Silent Alarm
| B-side = Skeleton
| released = {{start date|2004|10|25|df=y}}{{cite magazine|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=23|date=23 October 2004}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = * Indie rock
| length = 3:40
| label = Wichita
| writer = * Russell Lissack
| producer = * Bloc Party
| prev_title = Little Thoughts/Tulips
| prev_year = 2004
| next_title = Tulips
| next_year = 2005
| misc = {{Audio sample
| type = single
| file = Bloc Party - Helicopter.ogg
| description = 30-second excerpt of "Helicopter".
}}
}}
"Helicopter" is a song by English rock band Bloc Party, originally released as a stand-alone single in the UK in October 2004 and appeared later on the Little Thoughts EP; it was released two years later as a single from their debut album, Silent Alarm, in the US. The song received acclaim, reaching number 26 on the UK Singles Chart but failing to chart on the US Hot 100. It did however chart on the US Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart. Various remixes of the song have been produced. The song was included in the music video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Burnout Revenge, FIFA 06, FIFA 23 and the episode "Alma Matter" from the sixth season of The Crown.
Composition
"Helicopter" is an indie rock{{cite web | url=http://www.oxfordkarma.com/music/a-love-letter-to-bloc-partys-silent-alarm-on-its-10th-anniversary/ | title=A tribut to Bloc Party's Silent Alarm | publisher=Oxford Karma | date=17 February 2015 | access-date=2 September 2015 | author=Boydston, Joshua}}{{cite web | url=http://prettymuchamazing.com/reviews/bloc-party-the-nextwave-sessions | title=Review: Bloc Party - 'The Nextwave Sessions' | publisher=Pretty Much Amazing | date=14 August 2013 | access-date=2 September 2015 | author=Taylor, Benji}} and garage rock{{cite web | url=http://nbhap.com/features/bloc-party-silent-alarm-ten-years/ | title=Hoping For a Miracle: 10 Years of Bloc Party's 'Silent Alarm' | publisher=Nothing but Hope and Passion | date=2 February 2015 | access-date=2 September 2015 | author=Fleischer, Norman}} song, written by all band members prior to their debut studio album, Silent Alarm. Composed in B minor, it was written in common time and has a quick tempo of 171 beats per minute.Commercial sheet music for "Helicopter". Wichita Recordings Music Publishing. Distributed by International Music Publications. Retrieved 10 February 2009. The main riff was adapted from "Set The House Ablaze", a song by The Jam featured on the 1980 album Sound Affects.{{Cite web|last=Thomas|first=Lou|title=BBC - Music - Review of The Jam - Sound Affects: Deluxe Edition|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/bpcg/|access-date=8 December 2020|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}
The song's critical references to the United States, and lines such as "just like his dad – the same mistakes", led to journalists believing that the song was an attack on George W. Bush, whose father George H. W. Bush had also led American military intervention in the Middle East.{{cite news |last1=Connick |first1=Tom |title=So Here We Are: Bloc Party’s ‘Silent Alarm’ ten years on |url=https://diymag.com/feature/so-here-we-are-bloc-partys-silent-alarm-ten-years-on |access-date=16 March 2025 |work=DIY |date=2 February 2015}}{{cite news |title=Bloc Party : Silent Alarm |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-bloc-party-7600-317090 |access-date=16 March 2025 |work=NME |date=12 September 2005}} Okereke denied these suggestions in an interview with Pitchfork in August 2005 saying "It's frustrating that people attribute something to certain songs and that's not what they're about at all. [...] It's kinda patronizing".{{cite news |last1=Warren |first1=Jamin |title=Bloc Party |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/6128-bloc-party/ |access-date=16 March 2025 |work=Pitchfork |date=28 August 2005}}
Music video
The official video is displayed in black and white and shows the band playing in an old, empty house, intercut with surreal imagery. It has received the most views of any of Bloc Party's songs on YouTube, gaining over 30 million views.{{YouTube|2R6S5CJWlco}} A remastered version with HD video and audio can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkkA85hPtYw here].
Track listings
UK 7-inch
- "Helicopter"
- "Skeleton"
UK CD
- "Helicopter"
- "Always New Depths"
- "Tulips" (Minotaur Shock mix)
US CD
- "Helicopter" (Diplo remix)
- "Helicopter" (Weird Science remix featuring Peaches)
- "Helicopter" (Whitey remix)
- "Helicopter" (Original version)
US 12-inch
- "Helicopter" (Diplo remix)
- "Helicopter" (Weird Science remix featuring Peaches)
Charts
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart (2004-06)
!Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"|Sweden (Hitlistan){{cite web | title = Bloc Party discography | url = http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Bloc+Party | publisher = Swedishcharts | access-date = 2008-04-24 | archive-date = 24 October 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121024090025/http://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Bloc+Party | url-status = live }}
|align="center"|51 |
| {{single chart|UK|26|date=20041031}} |
| scope="row"|U.S. Hot Singles Sales (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/bloc-party/chart-history/hot-singles-sales|title=Bloc Party Chart History: Hot Singles Singles Sales|magazine=Billboard|access-date=21 May 2020}}
|align="center"|34 |
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Bloc Party|title=Helicopter|award=Gold|relyear=2004|certyear=2024|id=15769-1104-1|access-date=30 August 2024}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Bloc Party}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Paul Epworth
Category:Songs written by Gordon Moakes
Category:Songs written by Kele Okereke
Category:Songs written by Matt Tong