Iron Sky (song)

"Iron Sky"
Single by Paolo Nutini
from the album Caustic Love
Released14 August 2014
Recorded2014
Genre
Length6:13
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Paolo Nutini, Dave Nelson
Paolo Nutini singles chronology
"Let Me Down Easy"
(2014)
"Iron Sky"
(2014)
"One Day"
(2014)

"Iron Sky" is a rock song by Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini from his third studio album Caustic Love, which was released in April 2014. The song was released as a single on Atlantic Records in August 2014. The song was a minor hit in the UK charts in the spring of 2014, reaching number 42 in April of that year, ahead of its official single release.[1]

The song was described as being a "slow burner." The Independent described it as being a "stirring blend of conscious-soul subject with deep-soul style" and compared the song to being, "like Percy Sledge singing Curtis Mayfield.".[2] The song features an audio excerpt of the famous speech Charlie Chaplin gave in his film The Great Dictator (1940).[3]

Initially a non-charting single in the Netherlands, the song was revived by radio station 3FM in early 2015 following the Paris shootings at the Charlie Hebdo offices on 7 January 2015. It was rush re-released as a single and only a week later reached number 15 in 3FM's Mega Top 50 chart.

The song is also sampled in Bon Iver's song "33 'GOD"" from their 2016 album 22, A Million.

Music video

[edit]

The music video was filmed in Kyiv, Ukraine by Daniel Wolfe. It won the best music video award at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival.[4]

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2014–15) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[5] 7
Ireland (IRMA)[6] 96
Italy (FIMI)[7] 71
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8] 24
UK Singles (OCC)[9] 42

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[10] Gold 25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Platinum 600,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Officialcharts.com
  2. ^ The Independent (UK), 20 April 2014
  3. ^ "The Final Speech from The Great Dictator". charliechaplin.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Daniel Wolfe wins at 2015 SXSW Awards with Iron Sky". Promonews. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Paolo Nutini". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 39 (dal 25.09.2015 al 01.10.2015)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Italian single certifications – Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 23 January 2021. Select "2017" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Iron Sky" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  11. ^ "British single certifications – Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 September 2023.