Paralyzer (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Paralyzer


Artist = Finger Eleven
from Album =Them vs. You vs. Me
Released = March 6 2007
Format = Digital download CD Single
Recorded = 2007
Genre = Dance-Punk Hard rock
Length = 3:24
Label = Wind-up Records
Writer = Shane Morey
Producer = Johnny K.
Video director =
Certification = 2x Platinum (RIAA)
Last single = "Thousand Mile Wish" (2004)
This single = "Paralyzer" (2007)
Next single = "Falling On" (2007)

"Paralyzer" is the first single from alternative rock band Finger Eleven's fifth album, "Them vs. You vs. Me". It was released in March 2007. Finger Eleven's frontman Scott Anderson has said that the single has a feel distinct from the rest of Finger Eleven's music, possessing more of a "dance rock" feel. The riff is quite similar to Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out," Mötley Crüe's "Too Young to Fall in Love", Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild", Amanda Lepore's "Champagne," Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Underfoot," The Cars' "Moving In Stereo", Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name", Bach's "Canon", and Iron Maiden's intro riff from "Stranger in a Strange Land".

The song received high airplay in both the United States and Canada, and was performed live on the March 14, 2007 episode of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and again ten months later on January 9, 2008, in a testament to the longevity of the single's success. The song has surpassed "One Thing" to be Finger Eleven's most successful single.

The single has two versions, one is the original CD version, while one is the radio edit version, which either has the term "s**tty" censored in the song for usage on regulated airwaves. Or "It's been s**tty" is replaced with "It's not been fun". The song also references "One Thing" with the line "I should just stay home, if one thing really means one". There are three musically different versions of the song. One is the album version, and the two others are both different radio versions. This song is played during the New York Islanders warm-ups at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.Fact|date=June 2008

In popular culture the song was featured on The CW's Gossip Girl & Greek and is confirmed to be a playable song on the upcoming rhythm game by Konami Rock Revolution although they have stated that all songs will be covers and the Finger Eleven version will not be used

Music video

The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYGCT4AQIR0 video] was released on YouTube. It starts with a man, walking, who begins to intersperse his steps with dance moves. He looks into windows and in the reflection, he sees himself with dancers around him, but when he turns he sees a woman. The two begin to dance with the symbolic dancers returning in greater numbers every time the chorus repeats. The video alternates between shots of the band playing on a rooftop that overlooks the dancers in a seemingly abandoned street.

The video reached #8 on VH1's weekly "VSpot Top 20 Countdown". On the channel's year-end "Top 40 Videos of 2007," it placed at number 23, despite only having spent (at the time) one week on its weekly "Top 20 Countdown".

Chart performance

"Paralyzer" debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number 97 in June 2007. [Jonathan Cohen, [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003598985 "Rihanna's 'Umbrella' Reigns Again Atop Hot 100"] , Billboard.com, June 14, 2007.] It proceeded to slowly gain in airplay and digital sales over the months. For the chart week of November 24, 2007 (over eight months after the song was released), it became the band's first-career Top Ten hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100, rising from #14 to #10 for that catalog week. The song then proceeded to reach a new peak of #6 on the Hot 100 over a month later, for the chart week of January 5, 2008. The song became the band's first #1 on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts. It also found great success on the "Billboard" Adult Top 40, eventually climbing into the top five of the chart at #3.

The track peaked at #12 on the Australian Singles Chart based on downloads alone; an amazing achievement considering eighty percent of single sales come from physical releases. Paralyzer is one of the most successful hits for the band.

The song topped the Alternative genre on iTunes. iTunes also named "Paralyzer" the #1 rock song and #8 song overall of 2007. The single has been certified double platinum (2,000,000 downloads) by the RIAA. [ [http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=Finger%20Eleven&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25%22 RIAA Search - Finger Eleven] ]

On the Canadian Singles Chart, the song became the band's second #1 following 2003's "One Thing." It also did well on the Canadian Hot 100, reaching #3. The song later debuted at #10 on the New Zealand RIANZ chart in February 2008, becoming the band's first charting song there. It climbed to #7 the following week. It is the first single by Finger Eleven to chart on the United World Chart, where it peaked at #11.

Charts

References