"The Night Sky" is a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

written and performed by

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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 Keane. The song was released as a one-off charity single released by the band in aid of War Child. It was released as a download on 22 October 2007 and then a physical release on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

on 29 October 2007. It was also released in USB format, and was the third of Keane's singles to be released in this format. The single was controversially deemed ineligible for the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, due to the 7" vinyl containing a free poster; in the UK these are seen as 'free gifts', thus making any vinyl singles containing prints disqualified from the charts. A competition was run with the single's release, to win a program guide, signed by all the artists who played at War Child's charity concert in

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. This also rendered it ineligible, as it is deemed an incentive for those who would not under other circumstances have bought the single. Selling the single under USB format was also believed to be the reason for its disqualification from the charts as the charts do not recognize single sales released under the USB format which several Keane singles have been released under. In

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, rather than "The Night Sky", the single's B-side "Under Pressure" was broadcast as an A-side following the song's popularity and its previous release by

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Background

The song is written from a child's point of view on

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, thus the support for the War Child charity. It was composed by pianist

Tim Rice-Oxley Timothy James Rice-Oxley (born 2 June 1976) is an English musician, best known for being the keyboardist, singer and songwriter of the pop rock band Keane. In 2010, he formed a side-project, Mt. Desolation, with his Keane bandmate Jesse Quin. ...

in late 2005 and was meant to be included on ''

Under the Iron Sea ''Under the Iron Sea'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Keane, released on 12 June 2006. During its first week on sale in the UK, the album opened at number one, selling 222,297 copies according to figures from the Official ...

'', the band's second album, but was replaced on the definite track list on 14 March 2006. A cover of 1981

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and Queen's classic single "

Under Pressure "Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album ''Hot Space''. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, ...

", for

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's 40th anniversary is on the Bside of the single. It was also included on the '' Radio 1: Established 1967'' CD released on 1 October. In this cover, singer

Tom Chaplin Thomas Oliver Chaplin (born 8 March 1979) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer, best known as the lead singer of the English pop rock band Keane. Early life Thomas Oliver Chaplin was born in Hastings, East Sussex, to Sally and ...

reaches the highest tone achieved by him in a recording ( A5) holding the note four seconds more than

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

on Queen's original version. On 29 September 2017 the band announced through

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and

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that the song would be rereleased on streaming services on 3 November. The announcement was accompanied by a competition to design the new cover for the single.

Track listing

CD # "The Night Sky" – 5:05 # "

" – 3:54 # " Put It Behind You" (Ffrisco Mix) – 5:44 Limited 7" (with free print) # "The Night Sky" # "

" USB Release # "The Night Sky" # "

" # " Put It Behind You" (Ffrisco Mix) Download # "The Night Sky" (Radio Edit) – 3:27 # "The Night Sky" – 5:03 # "

" – 3:50 # " Put It Behind You" (Ffrisco Mix) – 5:43 # "The Night Sky" (Demo) – 4:24

Technical information

Release history

References

External links

Keanemusic - Keane release exclusive download for War Child
{{DEFAULTSORT:Night Sky, The 2007 singles 2006 songs Keane (band) songs Songs written by Tim Rice-Oxley Songs written by Tom Chaplin Songs written by Richard Hughes (musician) Island Records singles