Song#: 3903
Date: 05/20/1989
Debut: 87
Peak: 41
Weeks: 14
Genre: Rock, Soundtrack
Pop Bits: In '86, Gabriel hit #1 with "Sledgehammer," the first single from his album So. For a follow-up, the track "In Your Eyes" was issued out. It would perform fairly well at Pop reaching #26. It would do far better at Rock where it got to #1. That might have been it for the song, but then filmmaker Cameron Crowe sought Gabriel's permission to use the tune for his teen rom-com Say Anything... The movie starred John Cusack and Ione Skye and Gabriel's song was to be used for a pivotal scene. Following the film's mid-April of '89 release, it received mixed-to-positive reviews and did just okay at the box office. However, the scene that used Gabriel's song got a lot of attention and it sparked new interest in the track. The single got reissued and it would end up back on the Pop chart. On its second run, the song nearly made the Top 40 for a second time, but halted just shy at the dreaded #41 spot. The film's soundtrack album would end up getting to #62. Say Anything... would gain a bigger audience after its initial theater run and the Romeo and Juliet-style balcony scene where Cusack's character holds a boombox over his head that is blasting Gabriel's song has become an iconic film moment. The song has remained popular enough over the years that in 2005 the digital version of it would earn Gabriel a gold record.
ReduxReview: I loved this song when it first came out, but it didn't quite catch on in a big way. So when the tune got attention due to its use in Say Anything..., I was happy that it was getting a new lease on life. But who could have predicted that it and the scene would become so iconic? The two will be tied together forever and that's not a bad thing. The song continues to be popular and has become one of Gabriel's most recognizable tunes. Just the fact that in the new digital age it would go gold says quite a bit. To-date, no other songs from Gabriel has achieved that feat. Props have to go to Cameron Crowe for selecting the song and making it work so well in the film.
ReduxRating: 9/10
Trivia: Double Shot! 1) Gabriel's song wasn't Cameron's first choice for the scene. Initially he had wanted to use Billy Idol's 1986 #6 hit "To Be a Lover." But after pairing the song with the scene, Cameron realized that it didn't really work. Needing a new tune, Cameron just happened to be listening to a tape from his wedding and Gabriel's song popped up. That spurred him to reach out to Gabriel for permission to use it in the film. Apparently, folklore has it that Gabriel wanted to see a cut of the film before giving the go-ahead. He was sent a copy and after seeing the rough cut, thought it would be fine, but in talking with Crowe he was concerned about the main character's overdose at the end. It was then that they discovered Gabriel was sent a copy of the John Belushi biopic Wired instead of Say Anything... 2) After a six-year absence, Gabriel returned in 1992 with his follow-up to So, the equally short titled Us. It would reach #2 and go platinum despite not having a significant Pop chart hit. The best result from the LP was the #32 "Steam" (#2 Rock, #1 Modern Rock). It also featured the #1 Rock/#1 Modern Rock hit "Digging in the Dirt," which could only get to #52 Pop. It would be a decade before Gabriel would release a new studio album (2002's Up, #9).
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