"Safari Song" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Greta Van Fleet Greta Van Fleet is an American rock band from Frankenmuth, Michigan, formed in 2012. It consists of Kiszka brothers Josh (vocals), Jake (guitar) and Sam (bass guitar, keyboards); and Danny Wagner (drums). They were signed to Lava Records in M ...

. It was their second single off of their EP ''

Black Smoke Rising ''Black Smoke Rising'' is the debut EP by American rock band Greta Van Fleet. It was released digitally on April 21, 2017, and physically on August 7, 2017 by Republic Records. The single " Highway Tune" topped the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock a ...

'', and their compilation EP '' From the Fires''. It topped the '' Billboard''

Mainstream Rock Songs 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 Ma ...

chart in February 2018.

Background

The song was initially released on the band's debut EP - ''

'' in April 2017. The song was released as the second single from the EP, after " Highway Tune", in October 2017, and was the second most added song to rock radio. Shortly afterwards, on November 10, 2017, a compilation EP, '' From the Fires'', containing "Safari Song" and the other three songs from ''Black Smoke Rising'', and four newly recorded songs, was released. The release of ''From the Fires'' pushed "Safari Song" to chart on the '' Billboard''

Hot Rock Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alterna ...

chart at number 44, staying on the chart for four weeks. The band performed the song live on national television on ''

Last Call With Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with ''T ...

'' on October 31, 2017.

Themes and composition

The song's sound has drawn comparisons to the work of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

, both in the song's production sounding similar to rock music from the 1960s, and Josh Kiszka's vocals mirroring Robert Plant's "signature wail, phrasing, and articulation". Beyond the Led Zeppelin similarities, Loudwire also compared the song's vocal and

guitar riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompanime ...

style to the work of

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...

of Guns N' Roses,

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotlan ...

of AC/DC and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. Josh Kiszka said of the song's initial conception: Sam Kiszka, the band's bassist, stated that the song's initial iteration was far more complicated, with more

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

and busy guitar-work in it. The band felt that they had added too many

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

s while recording the song's initial version in the studio, and ended up simplifying its composition and removing an extended drum interlude. The song's live performances often re-add a long

drum solo A drum solo is an instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance. In rock, drum solos are unique in that traditionally they are minimally or never accompanied, whe ...

at the end.

Personnel

*Joshua Kiszka – lead vocals *Jacob Kiszka – guitar *Samuel Kiszka – bass guitar, keyboards *Daniel Wagner – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Greta Van Fleet songs 2017 songs 2017 singles Republic Records singles