Fuck You (CeeLo Green song)
"F**k You!" | |||||||
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Single by CeeLo Green | |||||||
from the album The Lady Killer | |||||||
Released | August 19, 2010 | ||||||
Format | |||||||
Recorded | 2010 | ||||||
Genre | |||||||
Length | 3:41 | ||||||
Label | Elektra | ||||||
Writer(s) |
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Producer(s) | The Smeezingtons | ||||||
CeeLo Green singles chronology | |||||||
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"Fuck You" (stylized as "Fuck You!" or "F**k You!"), also titled "Forget You" or "FU" for the clean versions, is a song by American recording artist CeeLo Green. It was written by Green, The Smeezingtons, and Brody Brown, and produced by The Smeezingtons. It was released on August 19, 2010 as the first single from Green's third studio album, The Lady Killer (2010). "Fuck You" received positive reviews from music critics, and was an international commercial success, making the top-10 in thirteen countries, including topping charts in the United Kingdom, and number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
Inspiration
In an interview with NME, Green revealed that the song is actually aimed at the music industry itself.[1]
Versions
Several versions of "Fuck You" have been released. The version of the song edited to remove swearing, which is broadcast in the music video on UK television stations, and played on US radio, is called "Forget You", while the UK radio edit is entitled "FU".[2][3] All three versions differ in lyrical content, with "Fuck You" being completely uncensored, "Forget You" replacing the swearing with sound effects, and "FU" replacing them by editing them out completely and leaving blank spaces. All three versions can be found on iTunes and both "Fuck You" and "Forget You" are included in an extended play, which features the music video and lyric video, and was released on August 19, 2010,[4] whereas "FU" did not appear in the store until September 21.[5]
A fourth version of the song, featuring American rapper 50 Cent, was released to iTunes in March 2011. The version was entitled "Fuck You (Heartbreaker)!", and was released only in America. The video for this version of the song incorporates scenes from the original video with extra shots of 50 Cent performing. Cee Lo performed a remix of the song, featuring an all-female backing band named "Scarlet Fever", on the The Colbert Report on November 9, 2010. The remix was entitled "Fuck You (Fox News)". The first full verse of the song was a satirical parody of Fox News Channel controversies.[6] A fifth version of the song, entitled "Thank You", was released on May 9, 2011. The song was re-written with new lyrics as a tribute to firefighters. The lyrics mention that Cee Lo's mother was a firefighter. A new version of the video was released with scenes of Cee Lo visiting a fire station.[7][8]
Music video
Initially, a lyric video for "Fuck You" was released to YouTube on August 19, 2010,[9] featuring kinetic typography, with the lyrics of the song appearing on different colored backgrounds with film grain overlaid on the video. The same thing was done in the German and Spanish versions of the video, translating the lyrics, although the vocals remained in English.
The official music video was released on September 1, 2010.[10] The video was directed by Matt Stawski and was filmed at Cadillac Jack's, a movie prop diner located in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles.[10] Taking place in a diner, the video chronicles Cee Lo's misadventures with a girl he has a crush on, known as "The Heartbreaker" throughout the video. In the beginning, a young Cee Lo goes into the diner with his parents and goes up to the Heartbreaker, who is sitting with another boy. He offers to let the Heartbreaker play with his toy garbage truck, but she ignores him and walks away with the other boy, who has a toy Ferrari F40. In his high school years, Cee Lo works at the diner as a chef. He attempts to woo the Heartbreaker with a bouquet of flowers but slips on fries deliberately dropped by another boy. The flowers fly out of his hand and land on a much younger girl's lap. During his college years, Cee Lo studies in the diner with another woman, implied to be his music tutor. He then attempts to woo the Heartbreaker by having the waitress draw a heart-shaped ketchup mark on her hot dog plate, but the Heartbreaker approaches him with a basket of fries and spills them on his shirt, leaving a large ketchup stain on it. Cee Lo then goes through an epiphany in his life and the video fast-forwards to present day, when Cee Lo is now known as "The Lady Killer" and has a fancy Cadillac Eldorado with his backup singers in the back seat. He drives past the diner to find the Heartbreaker working there, sweeping the front entrance while others are dancing behind her. Cee Lo waves at the Heartbreaker before driving away. The final shot is of him waving at the camera and the words "The Lady Killer" appearing on screen, before the shot freezes, thus ending the video.
The radio edit version of the video contains re-shot elements which have been mixed with parts from the original, most notably when Cee Lo is on screen and he is singing alternative lyrics, but he is not shown singing the clean lyrics in the titular chorus. Some parts of the video tend to freeze for a split second when a bowdlerized lyric is being mouthed to prevent the lips from being read. At the start of the explicit version, the mother of the young Cee Lo Green can be seen to look very shocked and taps him on the shoulder to make him turn around when he first swears. This does not happen in the clean version.
Commercial performance
In the U.S., the song debuted at No. 69 on Hot Digital Songs and No. 96 on the Billboard Hot 100.[11] The song originally peaked at number 9 in 2010, but following Cee Lo's performance of the song at the 53rd Grammy Awards, "Fuck You" had a resurgence in popularity and climbed back up the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 2 in its 26th chart week (making it one of the slowest climbs ever into the number 2 position). The song remained at No. 2 for four consecutive weeks, kept from the top spot by Lady Gaga's "Born This Way."[12] In all, the single spent a total of 48 weeks on the Hot 100. It was certified Gold on November 5, 2010.[13]
The week of March 24, 2011, the song was the best-selling song in the USA of 2011, having been sold 1,865,000 times in 2011 only, despite the song never reaching No. 1 and being released in August 2010.[14] In the subsequent week, the song surpassed 2 million copies in sales in 2011 alone, bringing its total to 3,707,000 copies.[15] The week of April 16, 2011, the song topped the Pop Songs radio airplay chart in its 25th week, completing the longest journey to the summit in the ranking's 18-year history.[16] As of April 2013, "Fuck You" had sold over 6 million copies in the U.S.[17]
Critical reception
"Fuck You" received general acclaim from music critics. Jason Lipshutz from Billboard gave "Fuck You" a positive review stating, "it's as sunny as a '60s Motown hit and as expletive-laden as an early Eminem song, a combination that fits the singer's sky-high vocals and offbeat sense of humor well. Over a twinkling piano line, bumping bass and steady percussion, Green shakes off a failed relationship with a gold digger by packing the simple pleasures of old-school soul music into tongue-in-cheek verses and a suitably soaring chorus."[18] Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song four out of five stars writing: "As its title suggests, 'Fuck You' is essentially a middle finger extending from the fist of a pop single—and a gloriously catchy Motown stomper of a pop single at that."[19] Alexandra Patsavas, music supervisor for the "Twilight" films, praised Mars' ability to veer between "a beautifully crafted pop song exquisitely sung" and the likes of Cee-Lo's "Fuck You". She confessed "How sublime that an artist can travel so fluidly between humor and earnestness," she said.[20]
Accolades
At the 53rd Grammy Awards, "Fuck You" was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and won Best Urban/Alternative Performance. The video was also nominated for Best Short Form Music Video.[21] It was named the #1 song of 2010 by Time, and made the top of Metacritic's users poll.[22][23] Spin and The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll named "Fuck You" the best single of 2010. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 112 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[24]
Live performances
Cee Lo toured with an all-female backing band named Scarlet Fever, performing "Fuck You" on Taratata,[25] Reeperbahn Festival,[26][27] Later... with Jools Holland,[28] BBC Radio,[29][30] Late Show with David Letterman,[31] the 19th annual Children in Need telethon, the Christmas edition of BBC One chart show Top of the Pops, Saturday Night Live[32][33] and many other venues. Cee Lo also performed February 13, 2011, at the 53rd Grammy Awards with Gwyneth Paltrow and several puppets provided by The Jim Henson Company.[34] On February 15, he sang at the 2011 BRIT Awards alongside Paloma Faith.[35] On August 14, Cee Lo sang at WWE's 2011 SummerSlam pay-per-view in Los Angeles, with the addition of WWE Divas dancing to "Fuck You" at the event's venue.
Track listings
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Credits and personnel
- Mixing and mastering
- Mixed at Larrabee Sound Studios, Hollywood, California; mastered at Sterling Sound, New York, New York; engineered at Levcon Studios, Hollywood, California.
- Personnel
- Songwriting – Cee Lo Green, Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine
- Production – The Smeezingtons
- Mixing – Manny Marroquin
- Assistant – Christian Plata, Erik Madrid
- Mastering - Chris Gehringer
- Engineer – Ari Levine
- All instruments played by – Ari Levine, Bruno Mars, Brody Brown
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Lady Killer, Elektra Records
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts |
Year-end charts
Certifications
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Cover versions and media appearances
- The contestants of the seventh series of British TV talent contest The X Factor performed the "Forget You" version of the song on the episode broadcast on 24 October 2010. Cee Lo's response was, "I saw it; I thought it was cool."[85]
- The song was included in the November 16, 2010, episode of Glee, "The Substitute", whereon Gwyneth Paltrow sang lead, and was included in the soundtrack album "Glee: The Music, Volume 4". It reached #11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Paltrow later dueted the 'clean' version of the song with Cee-Lo (with a puppet ensemble playing backup) on the 2011 Grammy Awards. It remains the second best-selling recording in the history of Glee, having sold 783,000 copies in the United States.[86]
- Mexican musical trio, Vazquez Sounds, covered "Forget You".[87] Their version of the song was certified gold in Mexico.[88]
- Chiptune artist Inverse Phase parodied "Fuck You" on an 8-bit Nintendo. The changed lyrics depict the forlorn NES singing to its owner who had forsaken it for a Sega Genesis. An accompanying video used an intro sequence to display the "sung" lyrics.[89]
- Plain White T's made an acoustic cover of "Forget You" in Billboard.com.
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label |
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United States | August 19, 2010 | CD single | Elektra |
United Kingdom | October 4, 2010[90] |
See also
- List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 2010
- List of 2010s Scottish number-one singles
- List of UK R&B Chart number-one singles of 2010
- List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 2010s
References
- ↑ "CeeLo Green - NME Video Interview music video on MUZU". MUZU.
- ↑ "Cee Lo's Viral Hit: Blunt and Sweet". All Things Considered (NPR). August 26, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
- ↑ Brown, Damon (August 30, 2010). "Cee Lo's YouTube hit you won't hear on radio". CNN. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
- ↑ "F**k You – Deluxe Single by Cee Lo Green – Download F**k You – Deluxe Single on iTunes". iTunes. 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
- ↑ "FU – Single by Cee Lo Green – Download FU – Single on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
- ↑ Ward, Kate (November 10, 2010). "Cee-Lo Green swaps 'Fox News' for 'F—k You' on 'Colbert'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
Saw you driving ’round town with the girl I love on Fox News / Didn’t see one politician that wasn’t corrupt on the Fox News, and I get the blues / The poor get poorer, the rich get richer / Ain’t that some s— / I’m having pains in my chest because I’m so stressed over Fox News.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Turns 'Forget You' Into 'Thank You'". May 9, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
It's a very noble cause, and I connect with it very, very personally because my mother was a fireman as well — one of the first black female firemen in Atlanta, Georgia, so quite a historic accomplishment.
- ↑ Gonzalez, Sandra (May 9, 2011). "Cee Lo adapts 'Forget You' for ode to firefighters. Now this is a tribute!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
- ↑ Green, Cee Lo (2010-08-19). "Cee Lo Green – FUCK YOU". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
- 1 2 Green, Cee Lo (2010-09-01). "Cee Lo Green – FUCK YOU (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- ↑ "Cee Lo: I Wanted to 'Rock the Boat' with 'F**k You'". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
- ↑ "Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' Grows Atop Grammy-Fueled Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
- ↑ "RIAA Gold & Platinum – Cee Lo". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- ↑ "Week Ending March 20, 2011: Songs: The Chris Brown Matter – Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. 2011-03-23. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ "Week Ending March 27, 2011: Songs: Katy Moves Up – Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. 2011-03-30. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ "The Year in Chart Headlines, Part 1". Billboard. 2011-12-27. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- 1 2 Paul Grein (April 10, 2013). "Week Ending April 7, 2013. Songs: Discount Helps Bruno Reach #1". Yahoo Music (Chart Watch). Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ↑ Lipshutz, Jason (3 September 2010). "Cee Lo Green ,"Fuck You" | Billboard.com". Billboard. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
- ↑ Levine, Nick (5 October 2010). "Music – Singles Review – Cee Lo Green: 'F**k You' – Digital Spy". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ↑ Ryan Pearson (August 8, 2012). "Bruno Mars Heads Back To Grammys With Production Team, Smeezingtons". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
- ↑ National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (2010-12-01). "53rd Annual Grammy Awards: Final Nominations List" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ↑ J-23 (2010-12-10). "Kanye West, Big Boi, Drake Make Time Magazine's Top 10 Albums | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHopDX. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
- ↑ "Best of 2010 Metacritic User Poll Results". Metacritic. January 10, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2011.
- ↑ "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". Nme.Com. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
- ↑ "Taratata N°369". Taratata. Air Productions. September 21, 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
- ↑ "Der Kiez rockt". Radio Hamburg. September 25, 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
- ↑ Barrett, Brad (October 11, 2010). "Reeperbahn Festival 2010: the DiS review". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
- ↑ "Series 37, Episode 4". Later... with Jools Holland. BBC. October 8, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green Session". 1Xtra. BBC. October 26, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
- ↑ "Cee Lo in the Live Lounge". Live Lounge. BBC. November 3, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
- ↑ "Late Show with David Letterman". November 8, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
- ↑ "Gwyneth Paltrow hosts Saturday Night Live with musical guest Cee Lo Green!". Saturday Night Live. NBC. January 15, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
- ↑ David, Valerie (January 18, 2011). "Gwyneth Paltrow & Cee Lo Green Are Game for Anything on 'Saturday Night Live'". Retrieved 2011-02-14.
Cee Lo did his own version of Robert Palmer on the "Saturday Night Live" stage, singing his hit while being backed up by a girl band dressed in tight, hot pink mini-dresses. The difference between Palmer's models and these sexy gals, however, was that Cee Lo's band "Scarlet Fever" is the real deal, rocking out on their instruments with sass and true talent.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green Takes Flight With Gwyneth Paltrow and The Muppets". Celebrity Circuit. CBS News. February 13, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
- ↑ "Brit awards 2011: Stars walk the red carpet at O2 Arena". Newsbeat. BBC. February 16, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Fu Clean And Dirty Mixes Dj Cd | eBay". Cgi.ebay.co.uk. 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ↑ Steffen Hung. "Cee Lo Green – Fuck You". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
- ↑ "F**k You – Deluxe Single by Cee Lo Green – Download bitch You – Deluxe Single on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
- ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Cee Lo Green – F**k You". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Cee Lo Green – F**k You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Cee Lo Green – F**k You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Cee Lo Green – F**k You" (in French). Ultratop 50.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201052 into search. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
- ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Cee Lo Green – F**k You". Tracklisten.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" European Hot 100 for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Cee Lo Green – F**k You" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ↑ "Musicline.de – Cee Lo Green Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
- ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
- ↑ "Chart Track: Week 37, 2010". Irish Singles Chart.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Fuck You Media Forest". Israeli Airplay Chart. Media Forest.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Japan Hot 100 for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Cee Lo Green – F**k You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Cee Lo Green – F**k You". Top 40 Singles.
- ↑ "Archive Chart: 2010-10-16". Scottish Singles Top 40.
- ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20112 into search. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Cee Lo Green – F**k You". Singles Top 100.
- ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Cee Lo Grren – F**k You". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ↑ "Archive Chart: 2010-10-16" UK R&B Chart.
- ↑ "Archive Chart: 2010-10-016" UK Singles Chart.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "Cee Lo Green – Chart history" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for Cee Lo Green.
- ↑ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2010". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
- ↑ "European Hot 100". Billboard.com. 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
- ↑ "Charts Year End: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
- ↑ "dutchcharts.nl – Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
- ↑ "VIVA Single Jahrescharts 2010". VIVA (viva.tv). 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
- ↑ "MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 2010" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
- ↑ "2010 Year-end UK Singles". BBC (BBC Online). 2010-12-26. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
- ↑ "MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 2011" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ↑ "Best of 2011: Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
- ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association.
- ↑ "Austrian single certifications – Cee Lo Green – F**k You" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Cee Lo Green in the field Interpret. Enter F**k You in the field Titel. Select single in the field Format. Click Suchen
- ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Ceelo Green – Forget You". Music Canada.
- ↑ "Certificeringer - Ceelo Green - Fuck You" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Ceelo Green – Forget You". Recorded Music NZ.
- ↑ "British single certifications – Ceelo Green – Forget You". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Forget You in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
- ↑ Moss, Liv (June 19, 2015). "Official Biggest Selling Singles of the decade so far revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ↑ "American single certifications – Ceelo Green – Forget You". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
- ↑ Nissim, Mayer (November 15, 2010). "Cee Lo Green: 'X Factor cover was cool'". Digital Spy. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
- ↑ "'Glee' Cast's 10 Best-Selling Downloads". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. March 20, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
- ↑ Murata, Glow (January 19, 2012). "Vázquez Sounds regresan a YouTube con Forget You". Milenio (in Spanish). Grupo Multimedios. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
- ↑ "Certificaciones – Vazquez Sounds" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas.
- ↑ Stinson, Elizabeth (September 28, 2010). "Cee Lo’s ‘Fuck You’ Gets Reimagined, Nerd-Style". Wired News. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ↑ Praxis Media. "Radio1 Rodos Greece ::: UK Forthcoming Singles ::: Charts, DJ Promos, Dance, Lyrics, Free Mp3 Samples Downloads". Radio1.gr. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
External links
Preceded by "Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah (featuring Eric Turner) |
UK Singles Chart number-one single 10 October 2010 – 23 October 2010 |
Succeeded by "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars |
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