| "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byFlorence and the Machine | ||||
| from the albumLungs | ||||
| B-side | "Are You Hurting the One You Love?" | |||
| Released | 21 June 2009 (2009-06-21) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:52 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Paul Epworth | |||
| Florence and the Machine singles chronology | ||||
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| Lungs track listing | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" onYouTube | ||||
"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" is a song by Englishindie rock bandFlorence and the Machine from their debutstudio albumLungs (2009). It was released as the album's thirdsingle on June 21, 2009, byIsland andMoshi Moshi Records.[1] The song was written byFlorence Welch andPaul Epworth, produced by Epworth and mixed byCenzo Townshend. The song contains elements of "House Jam" byGang Gang Dance. It has been remixed by numerous artists, includingJamie T, whose remix appears on the single's CD and digital releases.
"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" peaked at number 12 on theUK Singles Chart, becoming the band's third most successful single to date, behind "Spectrum", which peaked at number one, and "You've Got the Love", which has reached number five.
"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" featuresFlorence Welch's voice overdubbed with many harmonies in order to sound like a massed choir of one. She confessed toThe Independent: "The guy who mixed it nearly had a nervous breakdown."[2]
The song was co-written by Welch together withPaul Epworth who also produced the song which was recorded by Mark Rankin. The track features Tom 'Moth' Monger on harp and Robert Ackroyd on guitar.[3] During the verses, the song features some of the melody and lyrics (e.g."How quickly the glamour fades") fromGang Gang Dance's song "House Jam".[4]
Florence described her inspiration behind the song:
I'd written all these dark songs, and the label suggested we should have something that was a bit more upbeat. In the process of trying to do that, I realised maybe I was sacrificing something. So I had a really upbeat piano and drums, but the lyrics that came out were 'This is the gift/It comes with a price/ Who is the lamb/And who is the knife?' The rabbit heart is a reference to fear. I'm so afraid of what's about to happen. Of being in the spotlight.[5]
As part of the single's promotion, the band performed the song onThe Jonathan Ross Show as well as inBBC Radio 1'sLive Lounge. The single was also performed at numerous festivals across the United Kingdom throughout 2009, includingGlastonbury,Electric Picnic,Brighton,T in the Park,Bestival andReading, among others.
The song was also featured asBBC Radio 1'sZane Lowe's "Single of the Week".[6]
"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" received critical acclaim frommusic critics.Pitchfork Media wrote that Welch "add[s] some welcomed ambiguity to a Paul Epworth production that stunningly internalizes every pseudo-psych/freakishly-folk trend that's passed through these parts over the last few years. 'The looking glass so shiny and new/ How quickly the glamor fades,' wisely observes Welch. A gold record in every way."[7]
On 4 July 2009, "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" debuted at number twelve on theUK Singles Chart. It spent a total of seven weeks in the top twenty, and seventeen in the official top seventy-five, a significantly longer charting period than any of the band's previous three singles.[8] "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" debuted at number forty-two on theIrish Singles Chart on 27 June 2009. The song then went on to peak at number forty-one, spending a total of eight weeks on the chart.
As of July 2018 in United Kingdom the track has shifted 308,000 combined sales and streams.[9]
The music video for "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" was directed by Tom Beard andQueens of Noize's Tabitha Denholm.[10] It was shot on location atPainshill Park inCobham, Surrey on May 6, 2009[11][12] Welch toldNME that the video shoot had "a twisted mid summer night's dream feel to it."[11] The video premiered onYouTube on May 14, 2009.[13]
English girl group theSugababes performed the song twice, first in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge alongside their single "About a Girl" in November 2009 and again atCamden Crawl in 2010.[citation needed]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[20] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
