"Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest h ...

band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-ba ...

that appeared on the band's 12th studio album, '' Nine Lives'' (1997). The song was written by

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

, Joe Perry, and

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album ''Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Al ...

, who had signed on to produce ''Nine Lives''. Although he was dropped from the role halfway through production and replaced by

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

, Ballard was still credited for his contributions to the album; he also co-wrote "

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

" with Tyler and Perry and " Taste of India" with Tyler and Richard Supa. Released as a single on February 11, 1997, the song topped the

Spanish Singles Chart Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and reached number two in Canada for four weeks. It also topped the

UK Rock Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...

and the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart. Elsewhere, the track peaked at number four in the Czech Republic while reaching the top 10 in Finland and the top 30 in Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. On the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, it reached number 35.

Chart performance

The song was a popular hit around the world, reaching number 35 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number one on the US

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in M ...

chart and in Spain, number two in Canada, number 22 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 ...

, and number 46 in Australia.

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single. The video was directed by

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use ...

, and had a surreal landscape described as "''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée'', starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in sup ...

'' meets ''

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

''". Many supermodels, such as

Angie Everhart Angela Kay Everhart (born September 7, 1969) is an American actress and former model who appeared in several ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issues in the 1990s and posed nude for ''Playboy'' in 2000. Early life Everhart was born on September 7 ...

, are featured dressed as nurses, dominatrices and princesses. The video for the song won the band a

MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock was first given out in , one of the four original genre categories added to the VMAs that year. In its first year, the award was called Best Heavy Metal Video, and from 1990 to 1995, it was renamed Best Meta ...

in 1997.

Track listings

US CD and cassette single # "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" – 3:25 # "Fall Together" – 4:38 UK and Australian CD single # "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" – 3:25 # "Fall Together" – 4:38 # "Sweet Emotion" – 4:34 # "Season of Wither" – 5:39

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees) Aerosmith songs 1997 singles Columbia Records singles Music videos directed by Michael Bay Number-one singles in Spain Song recordings produced by Kevin Shirley Songs written by Glen Ballard Songs written by Joe Perry (musician) Songs written by Steven Tyler