"Take a Walk" is a song by American

indietronica Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produce ...

band Passion Pit from their second studio album, ''

Gossamer Gossamer most commonly refers to: * Fine spider silk used by spiderlings for Ballooning (spider), ballooning or kiting * Gossamer (fabric), very light, sheer, gauze-like fabric Gossamer may also refer to: Technology * Gossamer Condor, the fi ...

'' (2012). The song was written and produced by the band's frontman

Michael Angelakos Michael John Angelakos (born May 19, 1987) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the indietronica band Passion Pit. Career Passion Pit (2008–present) The first Passion Pit songs, ...

, with

Chris Zane Chris Zane is an American music producer, engineer and mixer based in London. He's worked with an array of artists such as Jack Antonoff, Passion Pit, St. Lucia, Holy Ghost!, and Friendly Fires. Discography 2017 * Chloe Howl - "Magnetic" ( s ...

providing co-production. It was released as the lead single from the album in May 2012. ''

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 ...

'' named "Take a Walk" the third-best song of 2012.

Background

"Take a Walk" was written by Michael Angelakos, lead singer and keyboardist of Passion Pit. The song's lyrical content depicts a businessman burdened by financial troubles. According to Angelakos, each verse of the song is based upon one of the men in his family who immigrated to the United States, and depicts a point in each of their lives in America.

In popular culture

*The song appeared in a commercial by fast food chain

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

advertising their Doritos Locos. Reception by the band's fan base to the song's use in the commercial was mixed. Angelakos defended the use of "Take a Walk" in the commercial, explaining: "It's not about promoting celebrities or giant corporations or anything like that. It’s just airtime…It's an amazing opportunity. And, honestly, you take what you can get. I say no to about 90 percent of the offers, but we just want people to hear the music at the end of the day." *The song appears on the soundtrack of the 2012

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

Forza Horizon ''Forza Horizon'' is a 2012 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 on 23 October 2012. The game is the fifth instalment of the '' Forza'' series, having originally spun-off from Turn 10 ...

, on the in-game radio station Horizon Pulse. *The song also appears on the soundtrack of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

MLB 2K13 ''MLB 2K13'' (sometimes called ''Major League Baseball 2K13'') is a Major League Baseball licensed baseball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K and was released on March 5, 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox ...

from publisher

2K Games 2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. 2K was founded under Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports labels, following Take-Two Interactive's acquisition of Visual Concepts that same m ...

. This was the last game in the series.

Music video

The music video for "Take a Walk" was directed by David Wilson in collaboration with the Creators Project. The video is seen from the perspective of a ball as it bounces across several locations in and around

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, including a suburban neighborhood (Plymouth Meeting), farmland (Maple acres farm),

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

, and various parts of the city. Advanced helicam technology was utilized in the production of the video in order to achieve the effect.

Formats and track listings

;Digital download # "Take a Walk" – 4:23 ;Digital download – remix single # "Take a Walk" (

The M Machine The M Machine is an American electronic music duo from San Francisco, California, United States, formed in 2011 and currently consisting of Ben Swardlick and Eric Luttrell. They have released four EPs, a single and two remix collections on Skril ...

Remix) – 4:23

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Passion Pit 2012 singles Passion Pit songs Music videos directed by David Wilson (director) Songs written by Michael Angelakos 2011 songs Columbia Records singles Songs about New York City