Moving Mountains (song)
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"Moving Mountains" is a song recorded by
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
R&B singer Usher. It was released on May 23, 2008, as the third single from his fifth studio album, '' Here I Stand''. It was written by Usher with
Christopher "Tricky" Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart has won 5 Grammys and is responsible for over 50 million rec ...
,
Kuk Harrell Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell ( ) is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In ...
and
The-Dream Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride ...
, and was produced by Stewart and The-Dream. "Moving Mountains" is a slow tempo
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
, with lyrics describing a love struggle. The song appeared on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
, as well as the
single charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...
of several European countries. It peaked highest in New Zealand, where it reached number six on the singles chart and was certified gold. The
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 "Moving Mountains" was filmed in front of a
green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
as a sequel to the video of " Love in This Club".


Background and composition

"Moving Mountains" was written by
The-Dream Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride ...
,
Christopher "Tricky" Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart has won 5 Grammys and is responsible for over 50 million rec ...
,
Kuk Harrell Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell ( ) is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In ...
and Usher, and produced by The-Dream and Stewart. Recorded at Triangle Sound Studios and
Chalice Recording Studios Chalice Recording Studio is located in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. Chalice opened in 2002 and is known for its elaborate interior decor and its large collection of rare and vintage analog recording equipment. When Chalice ...
, it was leaked in February 2008, before being officially released for sale on May 23, 2008. "Moving Mountains" is a
slow jam A slow jam is music with rhythm and blues and soul influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or downtempo songs, and are mostly soft-sounding with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. The earliest known use of the term is the 1983 ...
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
, and contains
synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...
beats and
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...
influences. Portions of the song follow a
chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
used in
OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellis ...
's " Apologize". Partway through the song the beat is adjusted, while the
musical instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
are accentuated. Usher's voice ranges from
tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
to
falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
. The song's lyrics are of a "struggle to get through to his girl", and contain an
extended metaphor An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than one single point of contact bet ...
, relating his fight for love to that of moving mountains, wishing for the situation to change. Fraser McAlpine from
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. ...
...
called it "a cold, sad song with cold, sad lyrics".


Critical reception

Leah Greenblatt called it "an easy pick" as a single, while Sal Cinquemani of
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
lauded it as "further evidence that Usher always delivers musically". "Moving Mountains" was dubbed by ''
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 ...
'' Rosie Swash "a marked improvement on the sex-pestery" of " Love in This Club", and the
AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fea ...
reviewer called it "one of Usher’s most impressive efforts to date", likening the song to Usher's 2004 single "
Burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
". However, while Alex Fletcher of
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
was impressed with the technicalities of Usher's vocals, he found it "hard to take Usher completely seriously when he insists on wailing each line", advising Usher to "stick to party bangers in the future".


Chart performance

"Moving Mountains" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number seventy-two on the chart date June 14, 2008. It peaked at number sixty-seven on August 2, 2008, falling off the chart two weeks later, after spending a total of nine weeks on the chart. The song is Usher's lowest-peaking song on the Hot 100. It fared better on the US
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
, where it peaked at number eighteen and spent seventeen weeks on the chart. It placed at number eighty-four on the end-of-year R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Moving Mountains" reached number fifty-six on the
Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...
. The song appeared 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 ...
in July 2008 at number sixty-seven, rising to peak at number twenty-five. After thirteen charting weeks it fell off the chart. "Moving Mountains" was commercially well received in the rest of Europe, reaching the high point of number twenty-two on the
European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and '' Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...
. In individual countries, the song reached the top forty in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. It also appeared on the
Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...
charts in both
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
and
Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
at number twenty. The song also had chart success in Japan and Australia, reaching the high positions of thirty-three and thirty-six, respectively. "Moving Mountains" had the most impact in New Zealand, where it reached number six on the singles chart, and, on March 29, 2009, was
certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the
RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...
for over 7,500 sales. The song ranked at number forty-seven on the New Zealand 2008 year-end Singles Chart.


Music video

The music video to "Moving Mountains" was released on May 21, 2008. Directed by the Brothers Strause, it is a continuation of the video for " Love in This Club". The video was shot in front of a
green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
. The video begins with Usher exiting the club in which the "Love in This Club" video takes place, then shows a fiery transition into the next scene, showing the burnt-down club. As the song begins, Usher inspects the smoking ruins and imagines a woman in a shard of a broken mirror. He travels through a
desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
, and takes off his jacket to reveal a tight-fitting
t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...
, and again imagines the woman, this time in a desert pond. Upon reaching a mountain on which his
love interest ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and pos ...
appears, Usher climb the mountain and rain starts to fall. When he reaches the top of the mountain, the rain clears to be replaced by snowfall. Usher finds that the woman is, yet again, merely an illusion. He opens a
locket A locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item such as a lock of hair. Lockets are usually given to loved ones on holidays such as Valentine's Day and occasions such as christenings, wedding ...
to reveal a portrait of himself and his partner, which freezes over and cracks. As the video ends, Usher kneels, and the mountains breaks around him, leaving a sole pillar for him to stand on.
Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
noted similarities in some scenery between the music video and
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's " Frozen" video. It was placed at number eight on
BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...
's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008 list.


Personnel

*
Kuk Harrell Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell ( ) is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In ...
–
writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...
,
recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...
*
The-Dream Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride ...
– writing,
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...
*Christy Hall – assistant production *
Jaycen Joshua Jaycen Joshua is a mix engineer and music producer who owns the revered Canton House Studios in Studio City, California. Joshua started his mix career in 2005 when he became partners with his mentor Dave Pensado and formed The Penua Project. Joshu ...
– mixing *Dave Pensado – mixing *
Christopher "Tricky" Stewart Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart (born January 4, 1974) is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. In a career spanning over 30 years, Stewart has won 5 Grammys and is responsible for over 50 million rec ...
– writing, production * Usher – writing,
vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
*Andrew Wuepper – assistant mixing :Source:


Track listings

;CD single # "Moving Mountains" # "Moving Mountains" (
instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
) # "Moving Mountains" (FP remix) # "Moving Mountains" (J Remy & BobbyBass Remix) # "Moving Mountains" (
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 ...
) ;Japanese Remixes CD # "Moving Mountains" (radio edit) – 4:00 # "Moving Mountains" (FP Remix) – 3:05 # "Moving Mountains" (J Remy & BobbyBass Remix) – 4:33 # "Moving Mountains" (Pokerface Remix) – 5:07 # "Moving Mountains" (23 Deluxe) – 5:58 ;UK CD Single # "Moving Mountains" – 5:01 # "
Love in This Club Part II "Love in This Club Part II" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Usher, and features rapper Lil Wayne and fellow singer Beyoncé. "Love in This Club Part II" was released by LaFace Records on April 28, 2008, as the second single from Usher's ...
" (featuring
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
) – 4:19 ;Digital EP # "Moving Mountains" – 4:57 # "Moving Mountains" (Full Phatt Remix) – 3:06 # "Moving Mountains" (Pokerface Remix) – 5:09 # "Moving Mountains" (23 Deluxe Remix) – 5:58 ;Finnish Digital EP #"Moving Mountains" – 4:57 #"Moving Mountains" (instrumental) – 4:57 #"Moving Mountains" (FP Remix) – 3:05 # "Moving Mountains" (Pokerface Remix) – 4:33


Charts and certifications


Charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


Purchase dates


Radio add dates


References

{{authority control 2008 singles Usher (musician) songs Contemporary R&B ballads Songs written by Tricky Stewart Song recordings produced by Tricky Stewart Songs written by The-Dream Songs written by Kuk Harrell Songs written by Usher (musician) 2008 songs 2000s ballads LaFace Records singles