"Lucky Strike" is a song by American pop rock bandMaroon 5, and is the fourth track on their fourth studio albumOverexposed (2012). The song was released on January 20, 2014, inBelgium, as the album's first and only promotional single.[4] It was written by band frontmanAdam Levine with producersRyan Tedder andNoel Zancanella.
The song received generally positive reviews fromcritics, and is generally regarded as one of the best tracks onOverexposed. Following the release of the album, the song peaked on many different charts, including number three on thesingles chart in South Korea and number nine on the USBubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.
"Lucky Strike" is afunk song that featuresdubstep andsoul influences.[7][5][8][6] The song'sinstrumentation consists ofpiano and guitar accompanied with Levine's vocals.[9][6] "Lucky Strike" is written in the key ofB minor, in common time (4/4), with atempo of 144 beats per minute.[9][10] Levine's vocal range spans from the low note ofA4 to the high note ofB5.[9] According to Robert Copsey ofDigital Spy, the song contains the same "bells-and-whistles template" that is present in the band's previous single "Moves Like Jagger".[11] Chuck Arnold ofPeople shared the same opinion as Copsey and described the song as "lightning-paced".[12] Lyrically, the song discovers the theme ofsexual intercourse that can be seen through the lines, "Your body rockin', keep me up all night/One in a million, my lucky strike".[13]
"Lucky Strike" is the fifteenth most performed song live by Maroon 5,[14][15] being played 252 times by the band.[15] The song was debuted live on theOverexposed Tour, and was played at many shows on the tour.[16][17][18][19][20]
Adam Markovitz ofEntertainment Weekly labeled "Lucky Strike" and "Payphone" as the best tracks onOverexposed and described the former as "a funk-spiked strut".[5] Suzanne Byrne ofRTÉ.ie wrote that "Lucky Strike" alongside "Daylight", "The Man Who Never Lied" and "Love Somebody" are all worthy of a single releases (Daylight and Love Somebody were later released as singles).[25] Digital Spy's Robert Copsey named the track together with "One More Night" and "Ladykiller" as the most worthy for download.[11] Chris Payne ofBillboard wrote that on the song "Maroon 5's guitars finally come out to play in the opening bars here. Though not a rock song per se, it still packs the energy of the band's earlier, more band-based material."[26] Cameron Adams ofHerald Sun described "Lucky Strike" as "uncharacteristically clubby".[27]
Contact Music's Alex Lai wrote that Levine has exchanged his "angelic vocals for singing in favor of more universal hooks" on the album, pointing out Lucky Strike specifically.[28] Evan Sawdey ofPopMatters called the song a "danceable carbon copy" of "Second Chance" (Gimme Some, 2011) byPeter Bjorn and John. According to him, "Lucky Strike" imitates the latter "down to the guitar tone" and replaces the original by also adding additional dance beats.[29] The song was compared to the electronic duo3OH!3 by a writer from The Triangle.[30]
Upon the release ofOverexposed, due to strong digital downloads "Lucky Strike" debuted on the South KoreaGaon International Chart at number two on June 24, 2012, with sales of 53,090 copies.[31] The next week it fell to number four and sold an additional 39,392 copies.[32] Following the release of the album, the song peaked at number nine on theBillboardBubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart.[33]
The song has received over 100 million streams onSpotify.[34] As of November 2022, the song has 110.5 million streams.[35]
^"Online download – 2014".Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. To view sales from 2014, select "2014 년". Archived fromthe original on June 10, 2013. RetrievedSeptember 5, 2014.
^"Online download – 2014 Month End Chart - September".Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. To view sales from September "2014년 1월", "2014년 2월", and "2014년 3월", respectively. Archived fromthe original on June 10, 2013. RetrievedSeptember 12, 2014.
