- SOS (Rihanna song)
Infobox Single
Name = SOS
Artist =Rihanna
from Album = A Girl like Me
Released =March 7 ,2006 (U.S.)April 3 ,2006 (F.R)
MidApril (Rest Of The World)
Format =12" maxi single ,digital download ,CD single
Recorded = 2006
Genre =Dance pop
Length = 4:00
Label =Def Jam /SRP
Writer =J. R. Rotem ,Evan "Kidd" Bogart , Ed Cobb
Producer = J. R. Rotem
Certification =
Last single = "Let Me "
(2006)
This single = "SOS"
(2006)
Next single = "Unfaithful"
(2006)
Misc = Audiosample
Upper caption = Audio sample
Audio file= SOSRescueMe.ogg"SOS", also known as "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)", is a
dance pop song written byEvan "Kidd" Bogart , Ed Cobb, andJ. R. Rotem for Barbadian pop singerRihanna 's second studio album, "A Girl like Me" (2006). It samples the key section in the chorus ofSoft Cell 's1981 single "Tainted Love "."SOS" was released as the album's
lead single in 2006 (see2006 in music ). The song reached number one inAustralia and theUnited States and the top five in other music markets such asCanada ,Germany , and theUnited Kingdom .Writing and recording
The song was primarily written by producer J. R. Rotem and Evan "Kidd" Bogart, son of
Casablanca Records founderNeil Bogart . Label mateChristina Milian was originally asked to record the song for her third album, "So Amazin' ", but the singer turned it down andIsland Def Jam CEOL.A. Reid instead offered "SOS" toRihanna . [ [http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur26866.cfm EURweb.com - Black Entertainment | Black News | Urban News | Hip Hop News ] ] [ [http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2006/06/island_def_jam_drops_christina_milian Island Def Jam Drops Christina Milian : VIBE.com ] ] Christina commented that the song was too "pop" for anR&B artist and that she wasn't asked to record it, which she confirmed in her official forum.Fact|date=September 2008The line "You got me tossin' and turnin' and I can't sleep at night" in the refrain is a quote from the 1964 Ed Cobb song "
Tainted Love ", where the line goes "And I've lost my light for I toss and turn - I can't sleep at night." The bell-like synth sounds in "SOS" are sampled fromSoft Cell 's 1981 version of "Tainted Love."The song's theme is based around the song's protagonist crying out for help as she becomes besotted with a lover mentioned in the song. Because she is unaccustomed to feeling this way, she believes that she is out of character, and states "'cause you on my mind, it's got me losing it." Remixes were provided by
Jason Nevins , who has produced remixes for artists such as Madonna,Fall Out Boy ,Good Charlotte ,Kelly Clarkson ,LL Cool J and Pink.Chart performance
In the
United States , "SOS" hit number one on the "Billboard Hot 100 ",Pop 100 ,Hot Dance Music/Club Play ,Hot Dance Airplay ,Hot Digital Songs andHot Digital Tracks ; the track also hit number two on thePop 100 Airplay , but could not get past the massive airplay ofSean Paul 's single "Temperature". The track was made available as adigital download upon the release of the album and its first week of digital sales prompted a dramatic jump from #34 to #1, one of the biggest jumps to the number one position in "Billboard" history. The reason for the large jump was that "SOS" was kept off of most digital download services until her album was released to stimulate more album sales.Outside the U.S., "SOS" became
Rihanna 's second number-one hit inAustralia ,New Zealand , and on a composite United World Chart. It stayed at the top for eight consecutive weeks, making it the singer's biggest hit in Australia. The song also reached number two on the UK and German singles charts, number four on the Dutch chart, and number seven in Italy. In Romania the song competed with both "If It's Lovin' That You Want " and "Unfaithful" since the "S.O.S." single was pushed back due to the good performance of "If It's Lovin' That You Want ", and when finally released, "Unfaithful" had already start gaining heavy radio airplay. "S.O.S." reached #28 in theRomanian Singles Chart ."SOS" was removed from the UK charts after thirteen weeks because there was a remix of "SOS" contained on the "Unfaithful" single. Due to UK chart rules, a new single can not have a remix of a previous single if the original song is still charting. This is why the song left the charts at the #27 position. However, the song was still a smash hit, being the UK's ninth best-selling single of the year. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/top40_2006.shtml Top 40 Singles of 2006] , from BBC Radio 1 website ] It also hit no.1 for 2 weeks on ECD:UK.
Music video
The song spawned three
music video s; one of them being aAgent Provocateur promotional video which featuresRihanna walking into a hotel which turns into a nightclub. Another promotional video was done for Nike, featuring a dance contest in a gym. The official version was shot for music and music-related television stations and premiered onMTV 's "Total Request Live " andMuchMusic 's "MuchOnDemand " onMarch 23 ,2006 . The video reached number one on "Total Request Live " for the first time onApril 14 ,2006 and stayed on the countdown for twenty days.In this clip, directed by
Chris Applebaum ,Rihanna wears a bikini and the video has her telling a guy she's going to call for help due to the desperate feelings caused by their relationship. She also uses a Nokia 3250 cellular phone, and she apparently seems to be listening to "Pon De Replay ," and "Tainted Love ," the song sampled in "SOS", asSoft Cell 's album cover can be seen on the display.Track listing and formats
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "SOS". Ironically, in some formats, "
Break It Off " was released as the B-side to "SOS," even though it ended up being released as a single on its own later on.;Canadian/U.S. CD Maxi-single
# "SOS" [Radio Edit]
# "SOS" [Nevin's Electrotek Club Mix]
# "Break It Off " (withSean Paul )
# "SOS" (CD-ROM Video);UK CD single
# "SOS" [Radio Edit]
# "SOS" [Nevin's Glam Club Mix];European/Australian Version
# "SOS"
# "Let Me ";UK 12" vinyl single
Side A
# Radio Edit
# InstrumentalSide B
# RemixCharts
References
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