"Wake Up Call" is a song by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

. It was released on July 17, 2007, as the second single from their second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

It Won't Be Soon Before Long ''It Won't Be Soon Before Long'' is the second studio album by American pop rock band Maroon 5. It was released on May 16, 2007, by A&M Octone Records, as the follow-up to their debut album, ''Songs About Jane'' (2002). The name was inspired by a ...

'' (2007). The band performed the song on ''45th at Night'', which originally included a special guest

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

for the remix version, but never officially recorded. However, the band later requested artist

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

, with musician

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

to work on the song's official remix version. The remix was released on November 13, 2007, and included on the album's international limited deluxe edition and both with the artists' remix albums ''

Call and Response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

'' by the band and ''Soul Is Forever'' by Blige, all released in 2008. It is also featured on the television shows, ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'' and '' The Hills''. Before the release of "Wake Up Call", the band promoted by performing it a half-step lower. The song was

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

playlisted for the playlist week beginning July 18, 2007. As of June 2014, the song has sold 1,821,000 copies in the US.

Background

The band confirmed the song as the album's second single on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'' on May 29, 2007.

Music video

The music video for "Wake Up Call" is directed by

Jonas Åkerlund Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish film director, screenwriter, music video director, and drummer. His video for Madonna's song "Ray of Light" won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form, and a record of fiv ...

and was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in July 2007. The video is presented as a trailer for an imaginary

NC-17 The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion picture ...

-rated film. It features

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

's leading lady for the video, Kim Smith, talking with the suspicious Levine, asking for his forgiveness since she had sex with another man whom Levine doesn't know and who serves as the antagonist. As the video progresses, Levine arrives home and hears noises coming from the bedroom. He kicks down the door and catches his girlfriend cheating on him with the other man (played by

Jeremy Sisto Jeremy Merton Sisto (born October 6, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Billy Chenowith in HBO's '' Six Feet Under'', NYPD Detective Cyrus Lupo in NBC's '' Law & Order'', George Altman in the ABC sitcom ''Suburgatory'', fo ...

). As his girlfriend tries to break up the fight while attempting to explain the reason of her infidelity, Levine immediately shoots him in the chest, killing him in the process while his girlfriend watched in horror as her lover dies. Levine covers up the body and drags it out of the bedroom. The rest of the video centers around the other members of Maroon 5 whom they committed different crimes, while Levine and Smith are going through an elaborate plan to cover up the murder. At the end of the video, Levine gets arrested and taken to custody.

Director's cut version

director's cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...

version of the video includes additional scenes from the original video, with James Valentine giving

the finger In Western culture, "the finger", or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger, the bird or flipping someone off) is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent i ...

while getting a

mug shot A mug shot or mugshot (an informal term for police photograph or booking photograph) is a photographic portrait of a person from the shoulders up, typically taken after a person is arrested. The original purpose of the mug shot was to allow law e ...

and the ending scene where Levine getting

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

for the murder.

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2007 singles 2007 songs A&M Octone Records singles Maroon 5 songs Mark Ronson songs Mary J. Blige songs Music videos directed by Jonas Åkerlund Wake Up Call (Remix) Song recordings produced by Mike Elizondo Song recordings produced by Spike Stent Songs about infidelity Songs written by Adam Levine Songs written by James Valentine (musician) Songs written by Mike Elizondo