"Thumbs" is a song recorded by American singer

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer and actress. Carpenter made her acting debut with an appearance in the television crime show ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and had a recurring role on Fox Broadcasting ...

from her second studio album ''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

'' (2016), included as the third track of the album. The track was written by

Priscilla Renea Priscilla Renea Hamilton (born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long"), is an American singer and songwriter. Under her birth name, her solo debut studio album, ''Jukebox'', was released through Capitol R ...

and its producer

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

. The song was originally released by

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...

as the third promotional single from ''Evolution'' on October 7, 2016, a week before the album's release. It was later released as the album's second single on January 3, 2017. "Thumbs" is an up-tempo

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

song with

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

elements. Lyrically, the song talks about embracing individuality and rising above mediocrity. It was accompanied by a music video directed by Hayley Young premiered on her

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

channel on February 10, 2017. Carpenter promoted "Thumbs" with several live performances, including on Radio Disney Music Awards 2017, on '' Today'' and on '' The Late Late Show''. It was the first song by Carpenter with a chart impact and it peaked at number one on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. It was certified Platinum by United States (

RIAA 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 ...

) and Norway ( IFPI).

Background and recording

It was released initially as a promotional single and later released as a single. The song was written by

and

and was the only song in the album without Carpenter's writing credit. The song was the last recorded for the album, Carpenter says. "We'd finish the album, I then heard "Thumbs" which gave me these vibes of fame and black and gold and just like some of my favorite soulful songs." The song talks about embracing individuality and escaping mediocrity. She says that if people are falling into the same mistakes they are going to continue 'twiddling them thumbs', thus continuing to live in the mediocrity. Carpenter describes the other songs on the album as "children" of "Thumbs".

Composition and lyrical interpretation

Musically, "Thumbs" is a three minutes and thirty-six seconds

song with

and

elements. In terms of music notation, "Thumbs" was composed using common time in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

of C minor, with a moderately fast

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 135 beats per minute. The song follows the chord progression of Cm-Csus-C5-Csus-Cm–A-Fm/A-A-Fm/A-A-Fsus7-F7-Bsus-B. Carpenter's vocal range spans from the low note F3 to the high note of G5, giving the song two octave and one note of range. The tempo has a Swing feel. Lyrically, the song talks about embracing individuality and rising above mediocrity. The chorus' lyric "They gonna keep on twiddling them thumbs" is a metaphor for wasting time doing pointless things and making no real progress.

Music video

The music video, which was directed by Hayley Young, was uploaded to her

account on

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 February 10, 2017. The video is set in a

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

car and is shot in

one take A one-shot cinema (also one-take film, single-take film, or continuous shot feature film) is a full-length movie filmed in one long take by a single camera, or manufactured to give the impression it was. Use and theory In a 2019 article, discus ...

. The video features Carpenter singing the song with several bored people inside the subway on a typical big-city daily commute. When the idea of the video was being processed, Carpenter thought of a subway because it's where different people would be found; the line "Somewhere in the world" represents those people.

Critical reception

Brittany Goldfield Rodrigues of ''Andpop'' said "the jazzy vibe of this song sold us, and the scatting just made us play it on repeat. With this tune Sabrina really makes us fall for her unique jazz vibes she sprinkles into her pop sound."

Live performances

Carpenter first performed the song on the Honda Stage at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles on August 25, 2016, along with other new music before the release of ''Evolution''. She performed the song on '' Today'' on November 22, 2016. On April 17, 2017, she made her late night talk show debut by performing the song on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...

.'' On April 29, 2017, she performed the song at the

2017 Radio Disney Music Awards The 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards was held on April 29, 2017, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was shown on Radio Disney and Disney Channel the following night on April 30, 2017 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. (EDT). Pro ...

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Recording and management * Recorded at Rokstone Studios (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 ...

) * Lead vocals recorded in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North H ...

* Mastered at Sterling Sound (

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) * BMG Gold Songs/Rokstone Music (ASCAP), All Rights Administered by

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...

(US), LLC, WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) Personnel *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

– songwriting,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– songwriting, background vocals * Chris Laws –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Dan Pursey – engineering *

Mitch Allan Mitchell Allan Scherr, known professionally as Mitch Allan, is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has written and produced songs for artists such as Demi Lovato, Third Eye Blind, Miley Cyrus, Carlie Hanson, Jason Derulo, Pi ...

– lead vocals recording *

Phil Tan Phil Tan is a Malaysian-American music and audio engineer. Early life and education Tan was born in Malaysia. He attended Full Sail University in Florida in the U.S., where he attained a degree in Recording Arts in 1990. Afterwards he moved to Atla ...

– mixing * Chris Gehringer – mastering Credits adapted from ''

'' liner notes.''

'' liner notes D

(2016).

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2016 songs 2017 singles Sabrina Carpenter songs Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs written by Muni Long Songs written by Steve Mac Hollywood Records singles