"S.O.S" is a song by American
pop group
Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in W ...
. The song was released as the second single from ''
Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in W ...
'', their second studio album, in 2007. It was also their debut international single in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
in May 2008 and in the United Kingdom in early June 2008.
Background and composition
In an interview with
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
, Nick said that "S.O.S" was one of the songs that came to him in the middle of the night. He wrote the song in only ten minutes. In a
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
posted on the 15-year anniversary of the song, Nick further revealed that he wrote the song alone in a hotel room at thirteen years old. He also said that the original title was "A Call I'll Never Get", but when making the track list for the album, everyone kept calling it "S.O.S", so they ended up going with that title instead.
Chart performance
In August 2007, "S.O.S" debuted at number 65 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the week following its debut, the song rose to number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the band's first single to reach the top 20.
The single sold very well digitally, having peaked at number four on ''Billboard''s
Hot Digital Songs
The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally start ...
chart for two consecutive weeks in September 2007. It has sold 1.5 million copies in the US.
In
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, "S.O.S" debuted inside the top 50 at number 48 on the
ARIA Charts
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
on April 13, 2008. It has thus far peaked at number 47.
On January 3, 2008, the single gained a dramatic rise from number 85 to number 40 increasing album sales in the past few weeks. The video was also premiered on
Disney Channel Asia
Disney Channel was a pan-Asian pay television kids channel owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia; part of The Walt Disney Company Asia-Pacific.
It began broadcasting in Taiwan on 29 March 1995, until its main launch on Jan ...
on February 13, 2008.
"S.O.S" premiered on the German charts for the week of June 17, 2008. It was the number 38 song in Germany.
In the UK, "S.O.S" was a moderate success, entering the UK Singles Chart at number 16 and rising the next week to number 13. However, despite large amounts of video airplay, it fell 11 places to number 24 the following week. In the fourth week on the UK Singles Chart, the single dropped another eight places to number 32. The song sold 2,000,000 copies worldwide becoming one of the best-selling songs of 2007. The song was later used as the B-side to "
When You Look Me in the Eyes
"When You Look Me in the Eyes" is a song by the American pop rock band Jonas Brothers. The song was released as the third and final single from their self-titled second album, ''Jonas Brothers'', in 2007. In the United Kingdom, it was released as ...
".
Music video
The music video was filmed in June 2007 on board the ''
RMS Queen Mary
RMS ''Queen Mary'' is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. ''Queen Mary'', along with , ...
'', a retired
ocean liner
An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships).
Ca ...
moored in
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. It premiered in early August on the Disney Channel. It also features a cameo by
Moises Arias Moises or Moisés is a male name common among people of Iberian origin. It is the Spanish, Portuguese and Tagalog equivalent of the name Moses.
;Places
* Doctor Moisés Bertoni, a village in the Caazapá department of Paraguay
* Moises Padilla, a ...
. The song is about having troubled relationships with girlfriends. In the video, Nick is seen waiting for his significant other at a restaurant table, who then arrives with two friends. He then walks off, annoyed that she was not alone. Kevin appears, walking, when he gets a text which states, "I like u...but I don't like u ):." He then throws the phone in a wastebasket. Joe approaches a girl who appears to be waving at him, but Moises Arias appears behind him and walks off with the girl instead. In the end, the brothers see three new girls and chase after them. These scenes are intercut with footage of the Jonas Brothers performing on the ship's deck in front of an electric sign that says 'S.O.S.' The video also debuted on
MTV Live in August 2019.
Track listing
US and Europe maxi CD single
# "S.O.S" (Album Version) – 2:33
# "Hello Beautiful" (Live) – 3:22
# "Year 3000" (Album Version) – 3:21
* Music video "S.O.S" – 2:33
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sos (Jonas Brothers Song)
2007 singles
2007 songs
2008 singles
Hollywood Records singles
Jonas Brothers songs
Song recordings produced by John Fields (record producer)
Songs written by Nick Jonas