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"Spitting Games" is the lead single from Snow Patrol's third album, ''
Final Straw ''Final Straw'' is the third studio album and major-label debut by Scottish-Northern Irish rock band Snow Patrol, released on 4 August 2003 in the United Kingdom and Ireland and in 2004 in the United States. The album is notable for bringing t ...
'', released on 15 September 2003.


Original release

Snow Patrol released the song during their first UK Tour during the
Final Straw Tour The Final Straw Tour was a concert tour by Scotland, Scottish/Northern Ireland, Northern Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was launched in support of the group's 2003 album ''Final Straw''. The band visited numerous venues internationa ...
. To mark the release, the band made a previously unheard song for a free download on their official site, titled "Half the Fun of It". Snow Patrol were one of the acts chosen in AOL Music's "Breakers" in December 2003, a program to promote bands for months leading up to the release of their respective albums in the United States. During the time of the band's promotion, lead UK single "Spitting Games" was downloaded a million times, and was released as a stand-alone single in March 2004 in the week of the band's appearance at South by Southwest Festival.


Track listings

CD # "Spitting Games" – 3:48 # "Steal" – 2:44 # "Brave" – 4:12 # "Spitting Games" (Video) 7" vinyl # "Spitting Games" – 3:48 # "Steal" – 2:44


Reception

''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' reviewed the single positively, calling it a classic indie song. It praised the "British chugging guitar" and "bittersweet melodies". IrishCentral called the song an alternative rock "masterpiece" and said it had made the band "cool".
Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds o ...
's Simon Ward reviewed the single positively, awarding it 7 stars out of 10, though he criticized the song for being "an indie anthem of the kind Ash used to make ten years ago." He praised the song's "nagging 'do-doo harmonies and driving guitars" though said that it wasn't "going to rewrite rock history." He still felt "it's competent indie-pop that will doubtless signal skies full of water and bouncing moshpits at the rest of the summer's festivals. Which is, frankly, all that's asked of it."


Re-release

"Spitting Games" was re-released on 12 July 2004, on both E-CD and 7" formats. The enhanced CD featured a cover of Beyoncé's "
Crazy in Love "Crazy in Love" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé, featuring a rap verse and ad-libs from her future husband Jay-Z from her debut solo studio album ''Dangerously in Love'' (2003). The song was released as her official debut single a ...
", which was first performed on
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
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, ...
show and another cover of
Will Oldham Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...
's "New Partner", again from a Radio 1 Session for
Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Academ ...
in 2002. The song made the A lists of
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, ...
, BBC Radio 2 and
95.8 Capital FM Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...
radio station of London. BBC Radio 2: "Beverley Knight Affirmation (album); Jamelia See It In A Boy's Eyes; * Kealer Cry; Lenny Kravitz California; Morrissey First Of The Gang To Die; Snow Patrol Spitting Games; The Charlatans Try Again Today; The Streets Dry Your Eyes; Tom Baxter This Boy". Capital FM: "...* Natasha Bedingfield Single; Natasha Bedingfield These Words; Rachel Stevens Some Girls; Scissor Sisters Laura; Shapeshifters Lola's Theme; Shaznay Lewis Never Felt Like This Before; Snow Patrol Spitting Games; * Stonebridge Put 'em High; * Sugababes Caught In A Moment; The Rasmus In The Shadows; The Streets Dry Your Eyes; Usher Burn; Will Young Friday's Child." Due to heavy airplay by the radio stations, the single peaked at number six on the UK Airplay Chart. It helped the album ''Final Straw''s sales, which reached number five, its highest chart placing after 23 weeks. Appears as: "Snow Patrol's Spitting Games leaps 17-6 on the airplay chart, primarily because it is getting massive support form the BBC, with 32 plays from Radio One, where it tops the most-played list, and 18 from Radio Two. These 50 plays between them provide more than 82% of Spitting Games' total audience, though it received a further 677 plays elsewhere, including a phenomenal 91 from Kerrang! Digital and 65 from Storm. It certainly helps the group's album Final Straw, which climbs to five, its highest placing for 23 weeks." The re-release of "Spitting Games" was the band's first charting single in the United States, and peaked at number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart on June 5, 2004.


Track listings

CD # "Spitting Games" - 3:48 # "Crazy In Love" (BBC Live Version) - 4:25 # "New Partner" (BBC Live Version) - 4:05 # "Spitting Games" (Video version 2) 7" vinyl # "Spitting Games" - 3:48 # "Wow (Acoustic)" - 3:09 Promo CD # "Spitting Games (AAA Mix)" - 3:28


Charts


In popular culture

It was featured on the video game ''
MVP Baseball 2004 ''MVP Baseball'' was a baseball game series published by EA Sports, running from 2003 to 2007 with five games produced. In 2003, ''MVP'' became the official successor to EA's long-running ''Triple Play Baseball'' series, and it simulated Major L ...
'' and numerous ''Club Football 2005'' titles. The track was also featured in " Everything Changes", the first episode of the '' Doctor Who'' spin-off ''
Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...
'', and later in the episode " Greeks Bearing Gifts", in 2006. It was featured on an episode of the second season of the teen drama ''
One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...
'' and in the movie '' Boy Eats Girl''.


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 2003 singles 2004 singles Snow Patrol songs Song recordings produced by Jacknife Lee Songs written by Gary Lightbody 2003 songs Songs written by Nathan Connolly Songs written by Jonny Quinn Songs written by Mark McClelland