"Friend or Foe" is a song by Russian recording duo

t.A.T.u. t.A.T.u. (russian: Тату, ) were a Russian music duo that consisted of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. The singers were part of children's music group Neposedy before being managed by producer and director Ivan Shapovalov and signing with R ...

, taken from the group's second

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

studio album ''

Dangerous and Moving ''Dangerous and Moving'' is the second English-language album by Russian musical group t.A.T.u. and the English-language equivalent of the album Lyudi Invalidy. The album was first released on 5 October 2005 in Japan then on 10 October in the UK, ...

'' (2005). The song was written by Dave Stewart and

Martin Kierszenbaum Martin Kierszenbaum, also known by his pseudonym Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, is an American music personality. As a songwriter and producer he worked with Lady Gaga, Sting, Madonna, Mylène Farmer, Keane, Tokio Hotel, Far East Movement, Robyn, Fei ...

, while production was handled by Kierszenbaum and Robert Orton. The song was released by

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

in 2005 as the album's second single. Musically, the song is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

and

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

inspired song, with

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

influences. The song features ambiguous lyrics; it is unclear who exactly the words are directed at. The song received generally positive reviews from critics, with many identifying it as the album's best song along with its praised for its dance nature and lyrical content. The song did not perform successfully like the group's previous single " All About Us", chart just under the top forty in most countries it charted in. An accompanying

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 ...

was issued, where it featured the group singing in a cave to fans.

Background and release

The song was written by Dave Stewart and

, while production was handled by Kierszenbaum and Robert Orton. The song was released by

in 2005 as the album's second single. For the production and promotion of the single, it was handled by some big names from the

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

industry. These included

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

, who played bass on the track and

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

, who shot the cover sleeve. The song was the group's last single to be released in the United Kingdom and United States, due to the lack of success. The song was released in multiple formats. The CD single was released in 2005 featuring the song with remixes, a music video and an "All About Us" remix. In December 2005, Interscope issued a remix EP featuring remixes that were released in Europe and the United Kingdom. A Part 2 CD single was issued in France as a maxi-single. The same month, Interscope Records announced that they would issue a 12-inch vinyl CD in the United States, only containing remixes of the single. The song was issued physically in the UK on 6 February 2006.

Critical reception

"Friend or Foe" received positive remarks from most music critics. Michael Boyles from ''

The Pitt News ''The Pitt News'' is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The Pitt News has been active in some form since 1910 and is publish ...

'' gave it a positive review, saying that alone with "

Loves Me Not "Loves Me Not" was a planned fourth single for the album ''Dangerous and Moving'' by t.A.T.u. However, due to the group leaving Universal Records, the song's release was postponed, then later cancelled in all countries, except for a limited rele ...

"; " stand out as the most sexually ambiguous of this type and are two of the best tracks on the album .. Michael Freedburg from ''

The Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' a ...

'' said along with "Perfect Enemy", "Dangerous and Moving" and " All About Us"; "shoot straight to the gut — and to the heart." Betty Clarke from

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

described the song as "vapid" and "epic synth-rock". Dom Passantino from

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

compared the lyrical content to the group's previous record "

Not Gonna Get Us "Not Gonna Get Us" is a song recorded by Russian music duo t.A.T.u. for their first English-language studio album, ''200 km/h in the Wrong Lane'' (2002). Interscope Records released the song on 21 April 2003 as the second Single (music), single ...

" by explaining "which is effectively a straight-up rewrite of previous album single 'Not Gonna Get Us.'"taTu - Dangerous and Moving
.

. Retrieved on 25 January 2013.

Chart performance

"Friend or Foe" generally received mixed reception surrounding chart positions. The song managed to make the top three in Hungary, peaking at number three. The song then managed to peak inside the top forty in countries including the Czech Republic, Italy and the Wallonia region of Belgium. In the United Kingdom, the song spent a sole week on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at forty-eight. It was the group's last single to chart in the United Kingdom. The song did not offer better success in various European countries, peaking at number three on the Flanders Ultratip extension chart in Belgium, seventy-five on the

Swiss Singles Chart The Swiss Hitparade (german: link=no, Schweizer Hitparade) is Switzerland's main Record chart, music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland. The Swiss charts include: * ...

and eighty-nine on the

Mega Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutc ...

in the Netherlands.

Music video

From 16 October 2005 to 17 October 2005, t.A.T.u. shot their video in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

suburbs, directed by James Cox and produced by Billy Parks. The video was released on 8 November 2005. The video was shot at

Bronson Caves Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the ...

(where the original '' Batman TV series'' was filmed) in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

by 1171 Production Group. The group previously worked on such t.A.T.u videos as " All About Us" and "

Lyudi Invalidy ''Lyudi Invalidy'' ( Cyrillic: ''Люди-инвалиды'', ; translation: Disabled People) is the second Russian-language studio album by t.A.T.u., released on 21 October 2005 in Russia. It is the Russian-language equivalent of the English-la ...

" and has experience in making videos for

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

and

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

. Bronson Caves are famous for being the set location of Western movies and

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

series. The video was retired on

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

TRL TRL or trl may refer to: Arts * Temporary Residence Limited, a record label * ''Total Request Live'', a former MTV show * TRL Awards (''Total Request Live''), an Italian music award Libraries * Tampines Regional Library, a regional library in Ta ...

after spending 50 days on the countdown. The video did have more airplay in the U.S. than "All About Us" but it was still not played much. In the video,

Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in � ...

and

Yulia Yulia ( Юлия) is a female given name, the equivalent of the Latin Julia. It can be spelled Yulia, Yulya, Julia, Julja, Julija, Yuliia, Yuliya, Juliya or İulia. An alternative spelling is Ioulia/Gioulia (Greek) or Iuliia. Prononciations can diff ...

both immaculately dressed in black, drive to the caves in a

Chevrolet Chevelle The Chevrolet Chevelle is a mid-sized automobile that was produced by Chevrolet in three generations for the 1964 through 1978 model years. Part of the General Motors (GM) A-body platform, the Chevelle was one of Chevrolet's most successful ...

. Yulia snaps her fingers and music begins to play as the girls perform in front of a

mosh pit Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other, typically performed to "aggressive" live music such as heavy metal and punk rock. Moshing usually happen ...

for a crowd of fans, who all dance and move to the song. Toward the middle, Yulia heads off stage, by the crowd and to a piano, where she begins to play. When she is done, she and Lena return to singing the rest of song. A "Making Of" video for this music video was released on the DVD of ''

The Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

''.

Other uses in media

The song "Friend or Foe" was also featured on MTV's 3rd season of

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

Track listings

UK Maxi-CD single
Released 6 February 2006 # "Friend or Foe" (Single Version) # "All About Us" (Sunset In Ibiza Radio Mix By Guéna LG) # "Friend or Foe" (Morel's Pink Noise Mix) * "Friend or Foe" (Music Video) France Maxi-CD Single
Released 6 February 2006 # "Friend or Foe" (Glam As You Mix By Guéna LG) # "Friend or Foe" (Lenny Bertoldo Club Mix) # "Friend or Foe" (L.E.X. Massive Dub) # "Friend or Foe" (Morel'S Pink Noise Dub) # "Friend or Foe" (Lenny Bertoldo Dub) Europe Maxi-CD Single
Released 10 March 2006 # "Friend or Foe" (Single Version) # "Friend or Foe" (L.E.X. Global Oxygen Edit) # "Friend or Foe" (Morel's Pink Noise Mix) * "Friend or Foe" (Music Video) The Remixes # "Friend or Foe" (L.E.X. Club Mix) # "Friend or Foe" (L.E.X. Global Oxygen Mix) # "Friend or Foe" (Morel's Pink Noise Mix) # "Friend or Foe" (Lenny B Club Mix) # "Friend or Foe" (L.E.X. Massive Club Edit) # "Friend or Foe" (L.E.X. Global Oxygen Edit) # "Friend or Foe" (Morel's Pink Noise Radio Edit) # "Friend or Foe" (Lenny B Club Radio Edit) # "Friend or Foe" (L.E.X. Massive Dub) # "Friend or Foe" (Morel's Pink Noise Dub) # "Friend or Foe" (Lenny B Dub) # "Friend or Foe" (Glam As You Mix) # "Friend or Foe" (Glam As You Radio Mix)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

*
Official Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friend Or Foe (Song) T.A.T.u. songs 2005 singles Songs written by David A. Stewart Songs written by Martin Kierszenbaum English-language Russian songs 2005 songs