"Rather Be" is a song by English

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

group

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...

, featuring vocals by

Jess Glynne Jessica Hannah Glynne (born 20 October 1989) is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Atlantic Records, she rose to prominence in 2014 as a featured artist on the singles "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and " My Love" by Route 94, bot ...

. It was released on 5 December 2013 as the fourth single from the group's debut studio album, ''

New Eyes ''New Eyes'' is the debut studio album by English electronic music group Clean Bandit, released on 30 May 2014 by Atlantic Records in Germany and Ireland, and 2 June 2014 in the United Kingdom, after suffering from several setbacks. The album in ...

'' (2014). It also appears on the deluxe version of Glynne's debut album, ''

I Cry When I Laugh ''I Cry When I Laugh'' is the debut studio album by English singer Jess Glynne. It was released on 21 August 2015 in the United Kingdom and 11 September 2015 in the United States by Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group. ''I Cry When I Laugh'' ...

'' (2015). It was co-written by band members Jack Patterson and

Grace Chatto Grace Chatto (born 10 December 1985) is an English musician and singer who is the cellist, backing vocalist and occasional main vocalist, for the electronic music band Clean Bandit. Education Chatto attended Latymer School and Westminster S ...

, along with

Jimmy Napes James Napier (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Jimmy Napes, is an English songwriter and record producer. He has won a number of awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, 3 Grammy Awards, and 2 Ivor Novello Awar ...

and Nicole Marshall, and produced by Patterson and Chatto.

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

released a number of official remixes for download, with DJs such as

All About She All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

and

Cash Cash Cash Cash is an American electronic music group from Roseland, New Jersey. The group consists of three DJs / musicians: brothers Jean Paul Makhlouf, Alex Makhlouf and Samuel Frisch. They produce, record, mix and master all their music together as ...

. The song debuted at number one 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 ...

and was the third fastest-selling single of 2014, and the highest-selling January single since " Spaceman" by

Babylon Zoo Babylon Zoo were an English rock band formed in 1992 in Wolverhampton. Their song " Spaceman" gained considerable exposure through its use in a Levi's jeans television advert in the United Kingdom in late 1995. Released as the band's debut sin ...

in 1996. The song spent four weeks at number one, selling over one million copies since release and becoming only the seventh single to go 3× Platinum. "Rather Be" also reached number one in eleven additional countries including Austria, Finland, Germany, Norway and Sweden. It was the best selling single of 2014 in the Netherlands, was the tenth highest-selling single of the 2010s decade in the UK, and is

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

Platinum or higher in eleven countries. In the United States, the song peaked at number ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was placed at number four on ''Billboard''s 10 Best Songs of 2014 list. "Rather Be" has also become an international hit in part due to the song's video becoming a viral hit on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Filmed in Tokyo and featuring

Haruka Abe is a Japanese actress. Life and career Born in Nerima, Tokyo, Abe grew up in Tokyo, London and New York. She trained at Rose Bruford College in South East London. She appeared in BBC's ''Ideal'' as Miko, and as Marti in Sleepydog's science-f ...

, it has over 698 million views. It won the

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

category at the

2015 Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive tim ...

in the United States.

Background and composition

"Rather Be" was written by Clean Bandit

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

Jack Patterson, Nicole Marshall and James Napier (frequent collaborator of

Disclosure Disclosure may refer to: Arts and media *Disclosure (The Gathering album), ''Disclosure'' (The Gathering album), 2012 *Disclosure (band), a UK-based garage/electronic duo *Disclosure (novel), ''Disclosure'' (novel), 1994 novel written by Michael ...

), and was produced by Clean Bandit

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Grace Chatto and Patterson. "Rather Be" performs in the key of G♯ minor, in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and at a light

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 121

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. It follows a chord progression of G♯m–D♯m/F♯–Emaj7–BClean Bandit "Rather Be" Sheet Music
musicnotes. Retrieved 7 February 2014. The track's

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

includes a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

chiptune Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The t ...

-style synth blips, a slow bass, piano and vocals. According to Pandora.com, the song features a "vocal counterpoint", a subtle "buildup/

breakdown Breakdown may refer to: Breaking down *Breakdown (vehicle), failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that it cannot be operated *Chemical decomposition, also called chemical breakdown, the breakdown of a substance into simpler components *Decompo ...

", use of "modal harmonies", the use of "chordal patterning" and "

staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...

synths".

Release and critical reception

"Rather Be" received its first play on 4 December 2013, when it featured as

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

's ''Hottest Record in the World''. The song's digital release date was originally planned to be 19 January 2014, but was moved to 17 January. The single was issued by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

, and is the third to be taken from Clean Bandit's debut studio album. Warner Music Group also released a number of official remixes released for download, with DJs such as

and

. The song was met with critical acclaim in the music press, with both positive reviews from

contactmusic Contactmusic.com is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, and ...

and

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, ...

, who commented, "Co-penned with

hitmaker Jimmy Napes, 'Rather Be' blends classical-inspired violin with uplifting

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

beats and a vocal that sounds suspiciously like

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...

. The result is an infectious sound that feels fresh and exciting.". The song was placed at number four on ''

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 advertise ...

''s 10 Best Songs of 2014 list. In December 2014, the song received a nomination for

Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

, which it would go on to win in early 2015.

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number one on the

, selling 163,000 copies in the first week. It was the third fastest-selling single of 2014 (behind

Band Aid 30 Band Aid 30 is the 2014 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. The group was announced on 10 November 2014 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, with Geldof stating that he took the step after the United Nations had contacted him, saying help w ...

's "

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

" and

Ben Haenow Benjamin Bernard Haenow (born 6 January 1985) is a British singer-songwriter and former van driver. In 2014, he was crowned as the winner of the eleventh series of ''The X Factor'' UK after beating Fleur East. Following his win, his debut singl ...

's "

Something I Need "Something I Need" is a song recorded by American pop rock band OneRepublic. It was released on August 25, 2013, through Mosley Music and Interscope Records as the third single from their third studio album, ''Native'' (2013). The song was wri ...

"), and the highest-selling January single since " Spaceman" by

in 1996. It stayed there for four weeks, the longest UK number one for three years. It is the second best-selling song of 2014 in the UK, selling over 1.13 million copies by the end of the year. On the US ''

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 ...

, the song peaked at number ten, marking Clean Bandit's and Glynne's first US top 10. The song was a remarkable success worldwide, topping the charts in 13 different countries. Upon its release "Rather Be" held the record for the most streams in a single week on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

in the United Kingdom. The track received 1.09 million plays over seven days in February 2014, surpassing the record previously held by

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

's " Get Lucky", although this record has now been surpassed. In August 2015, the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

certified the song 3× Platinum (the sixth song of the century to achieve this)."British single certifications – Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne – Rather Be".
British Phonographic Industry. ''Enter'' Rather Be ''in the field Search. Select'' Title ''in the field'' Search by. ''Select'' single ''in the field'' By Format. ''Click'' Go It stayed in the top 75 for 73 weeks, setting the record for the longest unbroken run (since equalled by "

Thinking Out Loud "Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, recorded for his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the US ...

" by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

). As of September 2017, the song has sold in the UK 1,283,000 copies in pure sales, it also gained 93 million in streams, making a total of 2,219,000 in combined units.

Music video

The music video was directed by the group and was uploaded to

on 5 December 2013. It has since received more than 688 million views. The video was filmed in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan and features

as a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

fan. During the video, Abe lip-syncs to Jess Glynne's vocals. Glynne herself also appears in the video. The band comments:

"The video is about a Japanese fan of the band who becomes delirious and has hallucinations of band members and our logo appearing unexpectedly in her daily life as a chef. Filming in Tokyo was an amazing experience: we spent almost a week there and everyone was so helpful. We made it ourselves as always, which was quite scary as we've never produced anything so far away before. We had a bit of trouble filming the scene on the train though. Turns out it's considered incredibly rude to make noise on a train so when we started dancing around to the track in the carriage with the extras, it didn't go down well! Got shouted at."

Live performances

On 16 January 2014, the group performed "Rather Be" in

's ''

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

'', together with a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

's " Royals". They performed it as part of their sets at the

Summertime Ball Capital's Summertime Ball is a mini-festival in London, held on either first or second Saturday or Sunday of June by the radio station Capital. The first ball was at Emirates Stadium in 2009, and it has since been held at Wembley Stadium. The ...

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

and

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

. They also performed at the

2015 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2015 was held on 25 February 2015. This was the 35th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London, presented by Ant & Dec. This was their second time ...

nomination launch party along with their new single " Real Love".

In popular culture

* In April 2014,

The 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in 2002 in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Now based in Manchester, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew "Matty" Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer G ...

covered the song while at the

''. * From September 2014 to December 2016, the instrumental of the song was used in

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

food adverts, until January 2017 when the music was changed to "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the double lead singles from his third studio album '' ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The dancehall and R&B-infused ...

" by

. * In September 2014,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

released a commercial in the United States featuring the chorus of the song. * In September 2014,

YES Network The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (which owns 20%), A ...

featured the song in the closing credits montage of

Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

's final season of playing Major League Baseball. * The song was featured in the season 6 episode of ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' entitled "

The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester "The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of the American musical television series ''Glee'', and the 118th overall. The episode was written by Jessica Meyer, directed by Anthony Hemingway, and first aired on ...

". The song is performed by the members of The New Directions. * The song was used in the

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

game, ''

Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2016'' (abbreviated as ''PES 2016'', marketed as ''Winning Eleven 2016'' in Japan) is a football simulation game developed by PES Productions and published by Konami for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbo ...

'' as third track. * The song is the backing music in 2016 for ads for Graton Resort and Casino in northern California. *

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

has used the song in an Australian commercial for the

Mazda2 The Mazda2 is a subcompact/ supermini (B-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Mazda since 2002, currently in its third generation. An entry-level model of the brand in markets outside Japan, the Mazda2 is positioned below the Mazda3. The Ma ...

vehicle. *

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and subseq ...

covered the song on her album '' The Secret Daughter Season Two: Songs from the Original 7 Series'' (2017). * A cover version by Marc Scibilia was featured in the 2018

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by Son ...

film ''

Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 1902, and subs ...

''. *The song was featured over the closing credits to the final episode of ''

Sense8 ''Sense8'' (a play on the word '' sensate'' ) is an American science fiction drama streaming television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski for Netflix. The production companies behind ''Sense8'' included th ...

'', "Amor Vincit Omnia", with behind-the-scenes clips of the production of the show. *The instrumental version of the song was used in ''Amphibiland'', the pilot version of ''

Amphibia Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbore ...

''. *In the UK the song is used in TV advertisements for the travel company

JET2 Jet2.com Limited is a British low-cost leisure airline offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is the List of largest airlines in Europe, third-largest scheduled airline in the UK, behind EasyJet and Briti ...

and the background music is played at intervals on their aircraft. *The song is set to be featured on the upcoming 2022 dance rhythm game ''

Just Dance 2023 Edition ''Just Dance 2023 Edition'' is a 2022 dance rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was unveiled on September 10, 2022 during the Ubisoft Forward September 2022 web presentation as the fourteenth main installment and the last installmen ...

''.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

''Credits adapted from "Rather Be" CD single liner notes.''

Musicians

* Jack Patterson – keyboards, piano *

– cello *

Luke Patterson Lucas Patterson (born September 19, 1987) is a former American football offensive lineman who played in the National Football League. Patterson was signed as undrafted free agent in 2011. Patterson has been released and re-signed to the practic ...

– drums *

Anthony Strong Anthony Strong (born 29 October 1984) is an English jazz singer, pianist, and songwriter. Early life Strong was born in Croydon, Surrey, England and educated at Whitgift School, the Royal Academy of Music, the Purcell School, and The Guildha ...

– piano * Asher Zaccardelli – viola * Beatrice Philips – violin * Neil Amin-Smith – violin *

Florence Rawlings Florence Rawlings (born 26 September 1988) is an English singer from South London, England. She first met Dramatico Entertainment chairman Mike Batt when she was 13 years old. He was auditioning female vocalists, and two of them stood out to him ...

– vocals * – vocals

Technical

* Jack Patterson – producer, mixer *

– producer * Lewis Hopkin – mastering * Wez Clarke – mixer * Liam Nolan – engineer * Brett Shaw – engineer (album version, mistakenly uncredited on single version)

Accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

References