"Such Great Heights" is a song by American
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
band
The Postal Service
The Postal Service are an American indie pop supergroup from Seattle, Washington, consisting of singer Ben Gibbard, producer Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis on background vocals.
The band released their only album, '' Give Up'', in 2003 on S ...
. It was released as the lead
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
from their debut studio album, ''
Give Up'', on January 21, 2003 through
Sub Pop Records
Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to
Places
* Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB
Computing and technology
* , an HTML tag for subscript
* SUB designate ...
. The single includes a previously unreleased track, "There's Never Enough Time", and two cover tracks by
The Shins
The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...
and
Iron & Wine
Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a ...
of "
We Will Become Silhouettes
"We Will Become Silhouettes" is a single by American indie band the Postal Service, released February 8, 2005, under the Sub Pop Records label. The single included a new track "Be Still My Heart" and two remixed tracks by Matthew Dear ("We Will ...
" and "Such Great Heights", respectively.
"Such Great Heights" ranked 27 on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
s 100 Best Songs of the Decade list.
Background
"Such Great Heights" came together late in the recording process, and was one of the last songs the duo completed in June 2002.
Its genesis came together "incredibly quickly," according to Gibbard, who felt it "seemingly came out of nowhere. It did feel that there was some sort of spiritual transcendence happening and the song being beamed down to me."
For Gibbard, the song was a thematic departure from his more melancholy subject matter: "I think 'Such Great Heights' is the first time I've ever written a positive love song," he told ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', "where it's a song about being in love and how it's rad, rather than having your heart broken."
The song was written by
Ben Gibbard
Benjamin Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a membe ...
and
Jimmy Tamborello
James Scott "Jimmy" Tamborello, also known by his stage name Dntel , is an American electronic music artist and DJ. Aside from his main solo project, Tamborello is also known as a member of the groups The Postal Service, Headset, and Figurine ...
, and recorded in early 2002. The final recordings include backing vocals in the studio recording by
Jen Wood
Jennifer "Jen" Wood (born c. 1976) is an American indie rock musician based in Seattle, Washington. A solo artist since 1996, she was previously a member of alternative rock band Tattle Tale.
Biography
In 1992, at the age of fifteen, Wood form ...
, whose other collaborations include work for
The Black Heart Procession
The Black Heart Procession (occasionally spelled The Blackheart Procession) is an American indie rock band from San Diego, California.
Biography
Early years
The band was formed in 1997 by Pall Jenkins (Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects, Palllap ...
and
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daÊk} ; 1412 â 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of OrlĂ©ans and her insistence on the coronat ...
. The single for "Such Great Heights" was the first
CD released by The Postal Service, featuring cover artwork designed by
Kozyndan. The release of the single served as a preview for the band's album, ''
Give Up'', which was released a month later.
Music video
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 "Such Great Heights" was directed by Josh & Xander, and premiered in April 2003.
Set in the clean room of a
semiconductor fabrication plant
In the microelectronics industry, a semiconductor fabrication plant (commonly called a fab; sometimes foundry) is a factory where devices such as integrated circuits are manufactured.
Fabs require many expensive devices to function. Estimate ...
, where, as the machinery assembles devices, two workers in
bunny suits cast longing glances at each other. For most of the song, the two workers are primarily shown, interspersed with shots of the machinery working on
silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic tab ...
wafers
A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...
. When the
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
comes, the video leaves the two workers as one is carefully taking a wafer from the other, and dives into a sequence of shots of machines assembling wafers; then zooms in on a bank of
chips
''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The seri ...
; then zooms out to show the chips are inside of a
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
; then zooms in on the Earth and down to the city block containing
EnergySolutions Arena
Vivint Arena (stylized as vivint arena), formerly known as Delta Center, EnergySolutions Arena and Vivint Smart Home Arena, is an indoor arena located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The arena serves as the home venue for the National Basketball Asso ...
(now the Vivint Smart Home Arena), in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, however the block has been replaced with a computer circuit; from there, a match cut is made to a monitor in the factory displaying a similar looking computer chip; and this is the end of the sequence, cutting back to the two workers handing over the wafer.
The video was filmed inside a real fabrication plant run by
Skyworks Solutions
On October 5, 2015, Skyworks Solutions entered a definitive agreement to acquire PMC-Sierra for $2 billion in cash. However, Skyworks walked away from the deal, having been outbid by Microsemi. On April 22, 2021, Skyworks Solutions entered into ...
When the video premiered on
iTunes, the Skyworks Solutions name and logo were blurred out during some scenes.
Josh & Xander later created a commercial for Apple Computer Inc. (now
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
) and
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
using similar footage. While strikingly similar to the music video, the commercial did not contain imagery of The Postal Service or a recording of its music. On January 19, 2006, Ben Gibbard stated on the band's website, "It has recently come to our attention that Apple Computers' new television commercial for the Intel chip features a shot-for-shot recreation of our video for 'Such Great Heights' made by the same filmmakers responsible for the original." In response, the band issued the following statement: "We did not approve this commercialization and are extremely disappointed with both parties that this was executed without our consultation or consent."
Track listing
# "Such Great Heights" â 4:27
# "There's Never Enough Time" â 3:33
# "
We Will Become Silhouettes
"We Will Become Silhouettes" is a single by American indie band the Postal Service, released February 8, 2005, under the Sub Pop Records label. The single included a new track "Be Still My Heart" and two remixed tracks by Matthew Dear ("We Will ...
" (cover by
The Shins
The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...
) â 3:01
# "Such Great Heights" (cover by
Iron & Wine
Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a ...
) â 4:10
Uses in media
*Featured on a 2004 episode of ''
Veronica Mars
''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series pr ...
''
*Featured on an episode of
VH1âs Bands Reunited
*Used in several
television commercial
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
s for organizations such as
Ask.com
Ask.com (originally known as Ask Jeeves) is a question answeringâfocused e-business founded in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California.
The original software was implemented by Gary Chevsky, from his own design. Wa ...
,
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser ...
,
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
,
UPS
UPS or ups may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* United Parcel Service, an American shipping company
** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary
** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary
* Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
,
M&M's
M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...
, and
Telstra
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...
*Featured in the trailer for the 2004 film ''
Garden State'' and the
Iron & Wine
Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a ...
cover version was featured in the film and its
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
*
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 ...
version of the song was featured as part of
UPS
UPS or ups may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* United Parcel Service, an American shipping company
** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary
** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary
* Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
's "Whiteboard"
ad campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...
, which was launched 6 January 2007, almost four years after the song was officially released.
*Was the original theme song to ''
Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...
'', and appears on its season one soundtrack, ''
Grey's Anatomy Original Soundtrack Volume 1''
*In Chile, the song was featured Bank commercial of
BCI in 2017.
*Featured in episode 6 of season 1 of
Tell Me Lies (TV series)
''Tell Me Lies '' is an American drama streaming television series created by Meaghan Oppenheimer, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Carola Lovering. The series was released on Hulu on September 7, 2022. It follows a relationship betwe ...
.
Cover versions
*
Ben Folds covered "Such Great Heights" on
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 ...
n
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
using a piano, forks, tin foil, and glass. He also played the song live during his Fall 2006 tour, including once in his MySpace webcast on October 24, 2006, and on his Summer 2007 tour. He again played it on his Fall 2009 tour in Northampton Massachusetts, St. Louis, MO, Indiana University, and in May 2010 in San Francisco to close the show.
*
Iron & Wine
Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a ...
did a
cover of the song which was featured on
the soundtrack for ''Garden State''. It was released as one of the B-sides of the original Postal Service single.
*
Firebrand Boy recorded a
chiptune version of the song.
*
Matt Nathanson
Matthew Adam Nathanson (born March 28, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock and roll music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic (sometimes a 12-string) and electric guitar, and has played both sol ...
has often covered part of "Such Great Heights" as an outro to his song "Bent".
*
Amanda Palmer of
The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; addi ...
has performed "Such Great Heights" solo on keyboard at live concerts, as well as releasing a ukulele version with
Kim Boekbinder
Kim Max Fractal Boekbinder, born Kim Boekbinder, is a Canadian musician. Their music ranges from dark synth pop to acoustic looping.
A longtime proponent of direct-to-fan marketing and social media, Boekbinder gained publicity for their take ...
in 2011.
*
The Scene Aesthetic
The Scene Aesthetic was an American two-piece band based in Seattle, Washington. The duo consists of Andrew de Torres (also a member of Danger Radio) and Eric Kimberlin.
History
The band gained recognition through MySpace after posting their ...
did a live cover on tour. They also recorded their version for the 2010 compilation "Rockin Romance II."
*English electronic artist
FrankMusik
Vincent James Turner (born 9 October 1985), better known by his stage name Frankmusik ( ) (and between 2011 and 2012, by the name Vincent Did It), is an English synth-pop musician.
Early life
Vincent was born on 9 October 1985 in the Thornton H ...
also covered "Such Great Heights" and was a B-Side to his 2009 Confusion Girl (Shame Shame Shame) single.
*
The New Standards covers it on their 2008 album "Rock and Roll".
*
Streetlight Manifesto
Streetlight Manifesto is an American ska punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, formed in 2002. They released their first album, '' Everything Goes Numb'', which was distributed by Victory Records, on August 26, 2003. The band h ...
covered this song on their album "
99 Songs of Revolution: Vol. 1".
*
The Section Quartet
The Section Quartet is a string quartet founded by Eric Gorfain that performs cover versions of rock songs.
History
Eric Gorfain founded the quartet after working for the 1996 tour of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. He said the quartet fulfilled h ...
covered this song on their album "Fuzzbox".
*
Joy Kills Sorrow released a cover on their EP "Wide Awake".
*
Postmodern Jukebox
Postmodern Jukebox, also widely known by the initialism PMJ, is a rotating musical collective founded by arranger and pianist Scott Bradlee in 2011. PMJ is known for reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early ...
arranged the song with Kiah Victoria as lead vocalist.
*
As It Is covered the song as a part of charity compilation ''
Songs That Saved My Life''.
*
Confide
Confide is an encrypted instant messaging application for most major operating systems. It was first released in 2013 on iOS, and is known for its self-destructing messaging system that deletes messages immediately after reading. The platform offe ...
included their cover of this song as a bonus track on the re-release of their debut album ''
Shout the Truth
''Shout the Truth'' is the debut full-length album by American metalcore band Confide, released on June 17, 2008
Background
The album was released on Science Records (Warner Bros.), the same label as Blessthefall and Greeley Estates were on at ...
''.
Commercial performance
"Such Great Heights" was the band's first single; both Gibbard and Tamborello both jokingly referred to it as "the hit" of the album, presaging its eventual popularity.
It debuted before the album's release as a physical CD single on January 21, 2003. The duo had hoped to offer more to listeners than a typical A/B-side release, and Sub Pop labelmates the Shins and Iron & Wine agreed to cover two of the group's songs. Iron & Wine's rendition of "Such Great Heights" aided in boosting the song's profile. Both versions were simultaneously popular, with Iron & Wine's version were both in the film and soundtrack for ''
Garden State'', as well as in television advertisement for
M&M's. The original version was licensed for commercials for
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
,
Ask.com
Ask.com (originally known as Ask Jeeves) is a question answeringâfocused e-business founded in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California.
The original software was implemented by Gary Chevsky, from his own design. Wa ...
,
UPS
UPS or ups may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* United Parcel Service, an American shipping company
** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary
** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary
* Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
, and
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser ...
.
It debuted on ''Billboard''
Hot 100 Singles Sales chart, a ranking which only tallied physical sales, at number 30 on February 8, 2003.
It rose to its peak position of number 21 the following week, and slowly fell after that.
In total, the song spent eleven weeks on the chart.
The success of "Such Great Heights" was a grassroots approach. For example, in Boston, local independent retailer Newbury Comics campaigned for the city's alternative station, WFNX, to put the song on the air.
Two of the first stations to broadcast the tune were KCRW in Los Angeles and KITS in San Francisco.
In January 2004, influential Los Angeles alternative station KROQ-FM began playing "Such Great Heights",
which bolstered the album's popularity. Sub Pop offered a free download of the song on their official website, which had been downloaded over nine million times by August 2005.
Sub Pop A&R director Tony Kiewel was told by executives that the song had high "burn factor"âradio terminology for a song that listeners might quickly grow tired of.
Despite this, "Such Great Heights" continued to sell. The single had sold over 25,000 copies by August 2004,
and was later certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
for selling over 500,000 copies, in June 2005.
The grassroots approach was also apparent in radio airplay; while it originally peaked at #44 on the
Radio and Records
''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...
Alternative chart
in 2004, its airplay was so persistent that it managed to break into the chart again in 2005, peaking that time at #50.
Charts
References
{{Authority control
The Postal Service songs
2003 songs
2003 debut singles
Music video controversies
Sub Pop singles
Songs written by Ben Gibbard