"For the Nights I Can't Remember" is a song recorded by Canadian

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band Hedley for their second studio album, ''

Famous Last Words Famous Last Words may refer to: * List of last words, collection of last words attributed to historical figures before their death Music * Famous Last Words (band), an American metal band Albums * ''Famous Last Words'' (Al Stewart album), 1 ...

'' (2007). The

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

was co-written by the members of the band with the record's producers,

Greig Nori Greig Andrew Nori (born November 21, 1962) is a Canadian producer and musician from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and is the frontman, co-lead vocalist and guitarist of the pop punk band Treble Charger. In the late 1990s, he began working as a pro ...

and

Dave Genn David Robert Madison Genn (born March 2, 1969) is a Canadian musician, producer, and songwriter. He is a member of the rock group 54-40, and a former member of the Matthew Good Band. Early life Genn was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Mar ...

. It was released in November 2007, as the album's second single. In 2009, the song was re-issued digitally with their follow-up single. Following its release, the song reached a peak of six on the ''Billboard'' Canadian Hot 100, making it the group's first top-10 single on the then-new chart. "For the Nights I Can't Remember" went on to be named the ninth most-played song on Canadian radio in 2008, according to

Nielsen Company Nielsen Holdings plc (or Nielsen) is an American media audience measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide. For most of its history, the company was known for its two subsidiarie ...

, and also earned the band multiple music awards.

Composition

"For the Nights I Can't Remember" is a

love

produced by

and

which lasts for four minutes and one second. According to the sheet music published by

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a global music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Publishing has been ranked the #1 music publisher in market share by Billboard for multiple consecutive quart ...

, the song is composed in the key of

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

and set in compound duple time () to an approximate tempo of 72 BPM. Hoggard's vocals span a two-octave range, from the note of E through E. The song follows a non-repeating

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

and is instrumented primarily by

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. Lyrically, the song finds Hoggard pleading to his lover for forgiveness for the time he's spent away. "I do want to love you ... And I do want to try," he insists on the chorus, while in the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

he voices regret over "the nights ecan't remember."

Accolades

"For the Nights I Can't Remember" garnered three awards at the 2009

Canadian Radio Music Awards The Canadian Radio Music Awards is an annual series of awards presented by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters that was part of Canadian Music Week The Departure Festival + Conference, formerly known as Canadian Music Week, is an industr ...

: Fan's Choice, Song of the Year, and the Chart Topper Award. The song also earned Hedley the Pop Music award for songwriting at the 2009

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

Awards.

Chart performance

"For the Nights I Can't Remember" debuted at number 24 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

chart dated November 17, 2007, the week's second-highest debut. It reached a peak position of six in its eighth week, on the chart dated January 5, 2008, where it was the highest-charting Canadian single. The song spent 39 weeks on the chart. It was the ninth most-played song on Canadian radio in 2008, according to numbers released by

. The song's airplay also contributed to Hedley being the second most-played act (and most-played Canadian) for that year. On a chart compiled by

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, also based on numbers reported by Nielsen, "For the Nights I Can't Remember" was listed as the 61st most-played song on Canadian radio between January 1, 2001 and July 2015.

Music video

An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song was directed by

Kevin De Freitas Kevin De Freitas is a Canadian filmmaker. Career De Freitas has worked with Universal, BMG, Columbia Records, Def Jam, Sony, EMI, VP Records, Boost Mobile, ACLC Advertising, and The Hershey Company. He directed the Canadian series of 30 and 60 sec ...

and choreographed by Samy Inayeh; it premiered January 8, 2008. It was shot in November 2007. The clip starts off with a battered Jacob Hoggard getting photographed for a

mug shot A mug shot or mugshot (an informal term for police photograph or booking photograph) is a Portrait photography, photographic portrait of a person from the shoulders up, typically taken after a person is placed under arrest. The primary purpose ...

. It cuts to his girlfriend who waits patiently for him, intercut with scenes of Hoggard getting involved an alley fight. The band is also shown playing in a club, accompanied by back-up singers, with his girlfriend arriving to see him. One scene shows the girl looking at a letter from Jacob with the chorus written in; the first line in the chorus is then shown on a music sheet where Jacob performs on piano.

Reception

The video for "For the Nights I Can't Remember" won the awards for Best Video, Best Director (for Kevin De Freitas), and Best Cinematography (for Samy Inayeh) at the

2008 MuchMusic Video Awards The ''2008 MuchMusic Video Awards'' were held in Toronto, Ontario at MuchMusic's headquarters on June 15, 2008 with the rain-soaked Red carpet arrivals that started at 8:00pm ET, but was slightly delayed by rainstorms that soaked the crowds and ...

. This made them the most-awarded act at that ceremony with four wins, including one (Best Rock Video) for " She's So Sorry".

Track listing

Usage in media

"For the Nights I Can't Remember" was used as the

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

for two performances on the American

dance competition Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before a ...

series ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:For The Nights I Can't Remember 2007 songs 2007 singles Hedley (band) songs 2000s ballads Pop ballads Songs written by Jacob Hoggard Songs written by Greig Nori Songs written by Dave Genn Songs containing the I–V-vi-IV progression Universal Music Canada singles