Safe (Westlife song)

"Safe" is a song by Irish pop group Westlife from their tenth studio album Gravity (2010) and this pop rock ballad was released on 14 November 2010 as the album's lead and only single in the United Kingdom.[1] It was written by John Shanks and James Grundler, and the single version was produced by Shanks, Richard "Biff" Stannard, and Ash Howes. This song is the group's last physical single under the tutelage of Simon Cowell, having left Syco and Cowell in March 2011. "Safe" debuted at number four in Ireland, becoming their twenty-fifth top ten single. It charted at number ten in the UK. The song was featured in the 2011 movie Dolphin Tale starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman.[2]

"Safe"
Single by Westlife
from the album Gravity
B-side"Please Stay"
ReleasedNovember 14, 2010
RecordedAugust 2010;
Henson Recording Studios
(Hollywood, California)
RAK Studios
(London, England)
GenrePop rock
Length3:52
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Westlife singles chronology
"Everybody Hurts"
(2009)		 "Safe"
(2010)		 "Lighthouse"
(2011)
Music video
Safe on YouTube

Background

The decision to release 'Safe' as the first and only single from the group's new album came from executive producer Simon Cowell. The track was written by album producer John Shanks and James Grundler, frontman of American rock group Golden State.[3]

The single was first performed live on BBC Radio 2 Weekend Wogan Show.[4]

It was composed in the traditional verse–chorus form in D major, with Filan and Feehily's vocal ranging from the chords of D4 to A5.[5]

Release

The single's b-side, a cover version of "Please Stay", was recorded in 2009, and was promised to be included on the next single released following "What About Now".[6] It is their first original lead song and single released off a new album since their 2002 single "Unbreakable".

Soundtrack

The song was featured in the end credits of the 2010 American film Dolphin Tale. On 11 October 2011, the soundtrack album was released.[2]

Other versions

The song was also featured on the debut season of US X Factor. When a part of studio version of "Safe" was played on the reality television show X Factor, two different versions were played on different episodes. The first version was the version that was released as a single and included on the album while the second unreleased version was that it included the lyric "unlock the door" in the middle part of the song between the second verse chorus and the bridge.

Critical reception

The single received general positive reviews from fans and critics.[7][8][9][10][11]

Promotion

Premiere week

A 30-second snippet of the song was first heard on September 19, on the final audition show of ITV1 talent competition The X Factor. On September 26 and October 2, the song received a 60-second preview with different parts, becoming the theme for the Boys' Boot Camp results, once again on X Factor. On October 3, a 40-second official snippet was posted on the band's website.[12] Amazon.co.uk was the first to have the pre-order link of the single on October 4.[13] On October 5, the full version was released on their official YouTube site. On October 6, the official lyrics were released.[14]

They sent the single to UK and Irish radio stations on 4 October.[15] The single debuted on B-List of BBC Radio 2 on the week commencing 2010 October 16.[16] They had a radio tour confirmed first on Real Radio Scotland, Northwest.[17][18] On 22 October 2010, they announced their UK regional radio tour with schedule of complete date, time, and venue.[19] HR3 radio station first confirmed the airplay of the single on Germany on 16 October 2010.[20] They performed this single in The Dome 56, Germany on 26 November 2010 and broadcast on RTL II Germany on 4, 18 December 2010 but was later cancelled.[21] Afterwards, they are opt to promote on international market as they had meetings about it.[22] They had interviews with RTHK Radio 2 in Hong Kong, Kawanku Magazine and Tabloid Nova in Indonesia, Daily Joong-ang in South Korea, and Sayidaty in Middle East on 5 November 2010.[23][24] At the same day, Nicky tweeted he will do a lot of phone call interviews on other countries not mentioned above such as Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, Sweden, Switzerland, and South Africa.[25] After the radio tour comes the promo tour in television shows.[26] One of it was their performance live on X Factor on 14 November 2010 that coincides the promotion of Gravity and the face-off with other boybands, Take That and JLS.[27][28] (See Schedule)

Tours performed at

Track listing
  1. "Safe" (Single Mix) – 3:52
  2. "Please Stay" – 3:45

Credits and personnel
  • John Shanks – songwriter, producer, guitar, bass
  • James Grundler – songwriter
  • Richard "Biff" Stannard – additional production and mixing
  • Ash Howes – additional production and mixing
  • Lars Fox – Pro Tools editing
  • Helen Atkinson – assistant engineer
  • Nicolas Essig – assistant engineer
  • Jeff Rothschild – recording and drums
  • Charles Judge – keyboards
  • Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards
  • John Shanks – keyboards
  • Seton Daunt – additional guitar
  • Wil Malone – strings arrangement
  • Richard Woodcraft – strings recording
  • Shari Sutcliffe – musician contractor and production coordination

Source:[29]

Charts

Safe peaked #40 on UK Radio airplay, and #34 on UK TV Airplay Chart or Digital Subscription Plays Chart.[30][31]

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Euro Digital Tracks (Billboard)[32] 18
Europe 75
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[33] 18
Ireland (IRMA)[34] 4
Ireland Digital Tracks (Billboard)[35] 5
Ireland Download (GfK Chart-Track)[36] 6
Lithuania[33] 26
Russia Airplay (Tophit)[37] 211
Scotland (OCC)[38] 7
Slovenia[33] 26
South Korea (Gaon International Digital Chart)[39] 20
South Korea (Gaon International Download Chart)[40] 12
South Korea (Gaon International Streaming Chart)[41] 29
Taiwan[33] 3
UK Singles (OCC)[42] 10
UK Physical Singles (OCC)[43]
2

References
  1. "New Westlife Album and Single Release Dates". Westlife.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Golden State - Official Website
  4. "Radio 2 Programmes - Weekend Wogan, 07/11/2010". BBC. 2010-11-07. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  5. "Safe BY WESTLIFE - DIGITAL SHEET MUSIC".
  6. "Official News (GB) - Pre-Order Westlife - Safe". Westlife. 2010-10-08. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  7. "Westlife confirm new album release". 4music. 2010-10-06. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  8. "Music All Stars - Westlife - Safe (New Song)". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  9. "Westlife - Safe". Entertainment Focus. 2010-11-15. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  10. music. "Next Week's Releases – Boyfest! (And some freebies for you too) Music blog - MSN Music, MSN UK". Music.uk.msn.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  11. Released on Monday, November 15, 2010 (2010-11-15). "Westlife: 'Safe' - Music Singles Review". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2011-08-16.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. "Official News (GLOBAL) - Westlife Announce New Single : SAFE". Westlife. 2010-10-04. Archived from the original on 2010-10-09. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  13. Safe - Westlife - Amazon.co.uk
  14. "SAFE : the lyrics to Westlife's new single". Westlife.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  15. MarkusFeehily (2010-10-04). "Twitter / MarkusFeehily: Right,the single is being". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  16. "Radio 2 - Playlist". BBC. 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  17. "Twitter / Paul Harper: Westlife will be here next". Twitter.com. 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  18. "Twitter / Real Radio NorthWest: So guys... our lucky Irish". Twitter.com. 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  19. "Official News (GB) - Westlife's Regional Radio Tour!". Westlife. 2010-10-22. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  20. "Twitter / gracie: @MarkusFeehily @KianEganWL". Twitter.com. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  21. "THE DOME - Stars". Thedome.de. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  22. MarkusFeehily (2010-10-04). "Twitter / MarkusFeehily: We love our fans internati". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  23. MarkusFeehily (2010-11-04). "Twitter / MarkusFeehily: Hello to everyone in Indon". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  24. MarkusFeehily (2010-11-04). "Twitter / MarkusFeehily: Other interviews tomorrow". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  25. "Twitter / Nicky Byrne: Lots and lots of internat". Twitter.com. 2010-11-05. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  26. "Westlife Promo Schedule". Facebook. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  27. McGarry, Lisa (2010-10-05). "Westlife, Susan Boyle, Shayne Ward & Mariah Carey for X Factor live shows unrealitytv". unrealitytv.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-10-08. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  28. "Take That, Westlife, JLS for 'X Factor' - X Factor News - TV". Digital Spy. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  29. Safe (liner notes). Westlife. Syco Music, Sony Music Entertainment, RCA Records. 2010. 88697724492.CS1 maint: others (link)
  30. "The UK Radio Airplay Chart". Ukairplaychart.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  31. "The UK Radio Airplay Chart". Ukairplaychart.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  32. "Euro Digital Song Sales - Westlife - Chart Search". Billboard. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  33. http://www.musicchartheaven.com/westlife/westlifegravity.htm
  34. "Chart Track: Week 46, 2010". Irish Singles Chart.
  35. "Ireland Digital Song Sales - Westlife - Chart Search". Billboard. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  36. "TOP 20 DOWNLOADS, WEEK ENDING 18 November 2010". GfK. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  37. "Russia Airplay Chart for 2010-10-18." Tophit.
  38. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  39. "Gaon Digital Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  40. "Gaon Download Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  41. "Gaon Streaming Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  42. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  43. "Official Physical Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company".
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