Whole World Is Watching

For the activist chant see The whole world is watching.

"Whole World Is Watching"
Single by Within Temptation featuring Dave Pirner/Piotr Rogucki
from the album Hydra
B-side	"Keep On Breathing" "One of Those Days"
Released	January 22, 2014 (PL) February 21, 2014 (Main Release) March 29, 2014 (UK)
Format	Digital Download
Recorded	2013
Length	13:37 (Main version) 4:01 (Polish version)
Label	Nuclear Blast
Writer(s)	Sharon den Adel, Robert Westerholt, Daniel Gibson
Producer(s)	Daniel Gibson
Within Temptation singles chronology
"Dangerous" (2013) "Whole World Is Watching" (2014) "And We Run" (2014)

"Whole World Is Watching" is a song by Dutch symphonic metal/rock band Within Temptation from their sixth studio album, Hydra. It was released in Poland as the third single from the album on January 22, 2014^[1] and was scheduled to have its main release on February 21.^[2] The song features guest vocals from Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum, with Polish rock singer Piotr Rogucki of the band Coma providing vocals on the Polish version of Hydra.^[3]

The song premiered on Polish national radio on January 10, 2014,^[4] and received its first airplay in the Netherlands and Belgium on January 15, 2014.^[5] On the United Kingdom, the song had its first airplay on BBC Radio 2 on June 6 during The Ken Bruce Show.^[6]

Background

According to both music critics and lead vocalist Sharon den Adel, the song is the slowest one on Hydra.^[7][8][9] Before the song was finished, the band was already considering inviting Dave Pirner to provide his vocals on the track by its "captivating" voice, turning the final result as the band thought that it should be.^[10] The song premiered first on the Polish national radio station Polskie Radio Program III. The Polish version of the song features the native singer Piotr Rogucki instead of Pirner.^[4] A few days later, on January 15, 2014, the main version of the song, featuring Pirner, was released as a promotional song on Dutch/Belgian radio station Q-music.^[5] According to the band official Facebook account, a video for the song was shot on November 20, 2013.^[11] A teaser trailer for the video was released on January 24, 2014, and the video was released on January 31, 2014, the same day of the Hydra release.^[12]

Sharon den Adel's explanation of the song's lyrics;

“	[Whole World Is Watching] is about setbacks. Sometimes when you finally get back from the setback in your life, the thing that has given you certain problems, you feel like everybody who was informed about the problem that you had - maybe it could be a physical problem or a disease or you've been struggling with a certain kind of thing - everybody who knows it is watching and mentally supporting you while you're reaching that moment that you stand up and you get over that problem. That's a very positive feeling, a feeling of empowerment, like everybody is watching you while you're getting to this finish line. You finally ran that marathon and you finally reached the finish line. That's what the song is about. That's the feeling that we wanted to grasp. If you had something to battle for, something you've been working so hard for, it is the song when you come back and when you finally made that moment come true.	”
	— Sharon Den Adel, Songfacts Interview[13]

Track listing

Main version[2]
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Whole World Is Watching" (featuring Dave Pirner)	4:03
2.	"Whole World Is Watching" (featuring Piotr Rogucki)	4:01
3.	"Keep on Breathing" (Demo version)	3:02
4.	"One Of Those Days" (Demo version)	2:31

Polish version[1]
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Whole World Is Watching" (featuring Piotr Rogucki)	4:01

Charts

Chart (2014)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[14]	9
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[15]	16

References

1. "Whole World Is Watching (feat. Piotr Rogucki) - Single by Within Temptation". iTunes (PL). Retrieved February 8, 2014.
2. "Whole World Is Watching - Single by Within Temptation". Amazon.com. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
3. Litwin, Ewa (January 19, 2014). "Piosenka tygodnia: Within Temptation & Piotr Rogucki - Whole World Is Watching". Radio PiK. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
4. "WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING". Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego. Polskie Radio. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
5. "DTMD2.0 | donttearmedown.info – Within Temptation Fan Site » News » “Whole World..” Sneak peak!". Dtmd.co. January 14, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b045c4pg
7. "Within Temptation "Hydra" Album Review". Rocksins.com. January 22, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
8. "Within Temptation - Hydra". Rock n Reel Reviews. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
9. "Twitter / WTofficial: @SitaIsHere Whole world is". Twitter.com. January 14, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
10. https://web.archive.org/20131109030835/http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3264136/within-temptation-announces-details-for-new-album-hyrda-including-guess-appearance-from-xzibit-no-joke/. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
11. "Within Temptation is shooting a new video for 'Whole World is Watching'...". Facebook. November 20, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
12. "Within Temptation: Teaser For 'Whole World Is Watching' Video Featuring Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner". Blabbermouth.net. January 24, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
13. "SHARON DEN ADEL OF WITHIN TEMPTATION". Retrieved 2014-11-26.
14. "Ultratop.be – Within Temptation feat. Dave Pirner – Whole World Is Watching" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
15. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 28 April 2014.