"Skinny Love" is a song written by American musician and songwriter

Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. Known for his distinct falsetto voic ...

. It was originally released by

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

band

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, ''For Emma, Forever Ago,'' independently in July 2007. The majority of the album was recorded while Vernon ...

, of which Vernon is a member, in 2007. 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 ...

by the British vocalist Birdy was released in 2011. Both versions charted internationally and have been featured in multiple television and film

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 ...

s. The song has since become a popular tune for various singing competition shows around the English-speaking world.

Background

"Skinny Love" was the first single released from Bon Iver's 2007 debut album, ''

For Emma, Forever Ago ''For Emma, Forever Ago'' is the debut studio album by American indie folk band Bon Iver. It was first self-released in July 2007, and later saw wide release on the Jagjaguwar label in February 2008. The album is principally the work of singer-son ...

'', in the United States. The song was released as a single in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

on April 28, 2008. While "Skinny Love" has been considered a reference to singer

's relationship with former girlfriend Christy Smith, Vernon countered this as "not entirely accurate ..it's about that time in a relationship that I was going through; you're in a relationship because you need help, but that's not necessarily why you should be in a relationship. And that's skinny." The song was used in the

second episode "Second Episode" is the second episode of the HBO television series ''The New Pope''. The episode was directed by series creator Paolo Sorrentino and was written by Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contrarello, and Stefano Bises. The episode takes place ...

of ''

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 se ...

''s fifth season. The digital download track "Skinny Love" was selected to be iTunes (UK) single of the week and was available for free during that time, as well as being featured as the track of the day on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

. On October 6, 2008, "Skinny Love" was featured in the NBC series ''

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

'' ( season 2, episode 3). On December 11, 2008, Bon Iver performed "Skinny Love" on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

''. On January 26, 2009, "Skinny Love" was announced at #21 by the Australian national radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

in the annual Hottest 100 countdown of the previous year's best songs. In July 2009, "Skinny Love" was announced at #92 in

's Hottest 100 of All Time countdown. In June 2013, "Skinny Love" was announced at #16 in

's Hottest 100 of the Last 20 Years countdown.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

Birdy version

British musician Birdy released a cover version of the song in 2011 as her debut single. The single has been B-listed on Xfm and is a particular favourite with listeners of Shak's overnight show. The song was also chosen as "Record of The Week" by UK radio DJ

Fearne Cotton Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', ...

. This version was used in Season 2 Episode 21 of ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'' and in Season 1 Episode 1 of ''

Prisoners' Wives ''Prisoners' Wives'' is a BBC drama series, created and written by Julie Gearey and starring Polly Walker, Pippa Haywood, Emma Rigby, Natalie Gavin, Sally Carman and Karla Crome, with supporting cast including Iain Glen, Adam Gillen, Jonas Arm ...

''. The song also skyrocketed in Australian popularity within 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 ...

' top ten, partly because of

Bella Ferraro Bella Ferraro (born 1994) is an Australian singer most notable for finishing fourth on the fourth season of ''The X Factor Australia'' in 2012. Early life Ferraro was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. She began singing as a child. At age ...

, an ''X Factor'' 2012 Top Four contestant who performed the song at the ''X Factor'' auditions aired in Australia in August 2012. The song reached number two on the ARIA Singles Chart in September, kept off the number-one spot by

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first '' Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's ''The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...

's song "

Battle Scars "Battle Scars" is a song performed by Australian recording artist Guy Sebastian and American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released digitally in Australia and New Zealand on 10 August 2012 by Sony Music Entertainment.X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' winner Jackie Thomas performed the song at her audition. The song entered the top 40 for the first time and reached number two on the

RIANZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

chart following the broadcast, behind

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...

's " Blurred Lines". In 2011, "Skinny Love" sold 259,000 copies in the UK, becoming the third biggest selling rock single of that year. As of August 2016, the song had sold 744,502 copies in the UK. Birdy's version of the song was serviced to US contemporary hit radio on February 11, 2014.

Music videos

There are three music videos for this single. The first music video for the song was uploaded to

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 ...

on April 1, 2011. It features Birdy playing the piano of walking in a dark house. The second music video was shot in one take and framed on Birdy's face. The camera changes focus as she sings. It was uploaded on October 14, 2011. The third music video was uploaded on January 15, 2014.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2007 songs 2008 debut singles 2011 debut singles 2000s ballads 4AD singles Jagjaguwar singles 14th Floor Records singles Atlantic Records singles Birdy (singer) songs Folk ballads Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Songs written by Justin Vernon Bon Iver songs