"1901" is a song by French
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
band
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
. It was released on 23 February 2009 as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'' is the fourth studio album by French indie pop band Phoenix. It was released on 25 May 2009 by V2 Records. While the band's previous work enjoyed a moderate underground following, the release of ''Wolfgang Amadeus P ...
'' (2009). It peaked at number 73 in Canada and number 84 in the United States, making "1901" the band's first song to chart there. It also reached number one on the US
Alternative Songs
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
chart. The song has been covered by English singer
Birdy.
Origin and description
It was released in February 2009 as the album's lead
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
, originally as a free download from the band's official website, but was issued as a retail single due to the song's popularity. A
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for the song was released in May. In July, the song entered the U.S.
''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart, where it later reached number one,
becoming only the fourth
independent label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
single to achieve the feat.
The single was re-issued in the UK in February 2010.
According to lead singer
Thomas Mars
Thomas Pablo Croquet (born 21 November 1976), known as Thomas Mars, is a French musician and the lead singer of the French indie pop band Phoenix.
Early life
Thomas Pablo Croquet was born on 21 November 1976 in Versailles, France. Croquet was ...
, the song is about ''
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is a period of French and European history, usually considered to begin around 1871–1880 and to end with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era ...
''
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. Mars said, "Paris in 1901 was better than it is now. So the song is a fantasy about Paris."
Phoenix performed "1901" on television programs such as ''
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, as part of NBC's ''Tonight Show'' franchise. O'Brien had previously hosted NBC's ''Late Ni ...
'',
[
] ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'',
[
] ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'', and
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's ''
It's On with Alexa Chung
''It's On with Alexa Chung'' is an American live interactive talk and variety program that aired weekdays on MTV from June 15 to December 17, 2009. The show, a "successor" to MTV's ''Total Request Live'', was hosted by British model-turned-telev ...
''.
Critical reception
The song has received very positive reviews from
music critic
''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...
s;
''Pitchfork'''s Jason Crock chose the song as a "Best New Track" and added that it's "just as smooth and spirited and dementedly catchy as any of their best singles." ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
''s
Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
critics' poll ranked "1901" at number two to find the best music of 2009, after
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
s "
Empire State of Mind
"Empire State of Mind" is a song performed by American rapper Jay-Z featuring American singer Alicia Keys from the former's 11th studio album, '' The Blueprint 3'' (2009). It was released on October 20, 2009. Produced by Al Shux, the song featur ...
". In October 2009, "1901" ranked number 228 in ''Pitchfork''s list of "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s",
[
] the fifth-highest placement on the list amongst 2009 songs. The ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
s Gavin Haynes praised the song's "rave-like stop-go guitars," while Evan Sawdey of ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' said it might be Phoenix's "finest song to date." ''
Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' music critic Dan DeLuca described the song as "joyously exultant riff-happy pop." The song was ranked number two on ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' magazine's list of the "20 Best Summer Songs of 2009".
In popular culture
The song is featured in episodes of ''
Friday Night Dinner
''Friday Night Dinner'' is a
British television sitcom written by Robert Popper and starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap. The comedy is focused on the regular dinner experience of the middle-class Bri ...
'', ''
Gossip Girl
''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...
'', ''
Melrose Place
''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, in ...
'', ''
The Vampire Diaries
''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...
'' and ''
Hellcats
''Hellcats'' is an American cheerleading comedy-drama television series that originally aired on The CW in the United States from September 8, 2010, to May 17, 2011. Based on the book ''Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders'' b ...
'', the trailer for the film ''
New York, I Love You
''New York, I Love You'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama anthology film consisting of eleven short films, each by a different director. The shorts all relate in some way to the subject of love, and are set among the five boroughs of New ...
'',
television advertisement
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
s for
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
and the 2010
Cadillac SRX
The Cadillac SRX is a mid-size luxury SUV and compact luxury crossover SUV (CUV) manufactured and marketed by Cadillac over two generations: the first generation as a five-door, three-row, seven-passenger CUV (2003–2009), and the second genera ...
,
and appears on the soundtrack to the ''
NHL 2K10
''NHL 2K10'' is an ice hockey sports video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports, part of the ''NHL 2K'' series. It was released on September 15, 2009 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Randy Hahn and ...
'' video game. An edited version is also used as the theme tune for
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' football phone-in show.
Samples from the song were also used for the track "Triple Double" from
". It was released as part of a Phoenix Track Pack for ''
'' on April 8, 2010. It appears on the ''
'' soundtrack. The song is also featured as the default music for the "Modern" template in the
. The song is also featured on the ''
'' soundtrack. The song appears on the soundtrack of ''
'', playing on the Horizon Pulse in-game radio station, and in the free-to-play MMOTPS sandbox game
. In 2014, the song was featured in ''
chart at number 90. It peaked at number 84 for the week ending January 23, 2010. The single also reached number 73 on the
. The single would also top the Alternative chart for two weeks, and become the second longest running song on the chart at the time at 57 weeks, trailing only "
on October 25, 2009.