"Hey Brother" is a dance song by Swedish DJ and record producer

Avicii Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first re ...

from his debut studio album, '' True'' (2013). American bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski provides vocals for the track. It was written by Avicii, Ash Pournouri,

Salem Al Fakir Lars Salem Al Fakir (born 27 October 1981) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He regularly collaborates with Vincent Pontare as the songwriting and production duo Vargas and Lagola. Together, they have worked with man ...

Vincent Pontare Fred Vincent Pontare (born 13 May 1980) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and singer. He is also known by the mononym Vincent. He regularly collaborates with Salem Al Fakir as songwriting, producer, and duo Vargas & Lagola. Together, they have ...

and

Veronica Maggio Veronica Sandra Karin Maggio (born 15 March 1981) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Born to an Italian father and a Swedish mother, Maggio was raised in Uppsala. After studying music and being the lead member of a band, Maggio released her de ...

. "Hey Brother" sees Avicii giving his brother advice. The song, which serves as the album's third single, was solicited to Australian radio on 9 October 2013 and later released on 28 October 2013 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In March 2014, a version of the track remixed by Avicii himself was released on his remix album ''True'' (Avicii by Avicii), this time featuring new vocals from singer Salem Al Fakir.

Composition

The song is written in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the con ...

, at a tempo in common time of 125 beats per minute. The song is in 4-4 time signature, with a 2-4 measure during parts of the chorus.

Lyric video

On 1 November 2013, the lyric video for "Hey Brother" was released onto

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

by AviciiOfficialVEVO. The video is an assortment of stock footage clips depicting regular people and obscure events in normal everyday life such as playing basketball, Aundrea Fimbres with her face off screen having a light snack on chocolate and an olive, popcorn popping, and having a snowball fight, all in slow motion and accompanied by an animated text representation of the lyrics.

Music video

The official music video, directed by Jesse Sternbaum, was released on 9 December 2013. Loosely based on Ron Franscell's 1998 literary novel "Angel Fire", it depicts two brothers growing up in wartime middle America. There are pictures and clips of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

interspersed in the video. In the end of the video, it is uncovered that the younger brother thought of his dad as a brother that he didn't have. It features two boys, the older played by Zach Voss and the younger boy played by Jack Estes. The end of the video shows Avicii walking through the grass while fireflies are flying around. A music video was also released for the Avicii by Avicii version on 9 April 2014 on Avicii's VEVO page. The video was directed by Nick Fung and Nate Olson and features clips from the Cartoon Hangover web-series ''

Bravest Warriors ''Bravest Warriors'' is an American-Canadian animated series. Set onwards from the year 3085, it follows four teenage heroes-for-hire as they warp through the universe to save adorable aliens and their worlds using the power of their emotions. It ...

''. The video was released as part o
"Channel 4"
a project by Avicii which had several songs from his ''True'' (Avicii by Avicii) album made into music videos by various

filmmakers and animators, which included Joe Penna
Keshen8
an
YoMama
as well as Cartoon Hangover.

Track listing

*;CD single #"Hey Brother" (radio edit) – 4:14 #"Hey Brother" (instrumental) – 4:14 *;Digital download — remixes #"Hey Brother" ( Syn Cole remix) – 5:00 #"Hey Brother" (extended version) – 5:30 *;''True'' (Avicii by Avicii) #"Hey Brother (Avicii by Avicii)" – 6:09

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, after climbing for several weeks, "Hey Brother" peaked at number two on 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 ...

on 15 December 2013 ― for the week ending dated 21 December 2013 ― being held off the top spot by

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

's cover of "

Somewhere Only We Know "Somewhere Only We Know" is a song composed and performed by English alternative rock band Keane, officially released as the first single from their debut album, ''Hopes and Fears'' (2004). The single peaked at number three on the UK Singles C ...

". It eventually spent 22 weeks in the top 40 ― 10 of which were in the top 10. In addition, "Hey Brother" peaked at the top of the

UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

. Including previous releases "

I Could Be the One "I Could Be the One" is a song by Swedish DJ Avicii and Dutch DJ Nicky Romero, which features uncredited vocals from Swedish singer Noonie Bao. The song was released as a digital download in Sweden and the Netherlands on December 26, 2012. It p ...

", " Wake Me Up" and "

You Make Me "You Make Me" is a song written and recorded by Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii and Swedish musician and singer Salem Al Fakir in collaboration with Swedish songwriter Vincent Pontare and producer Arash Pournouri. It was produced for Avi ...

", Avicii therefore reached the summit of the UK Dance Chart four times in 2013 alone. The song spent a total of six weeks at the top spot on the UK Dance Chart, ended by "

Rather Be "Rather Be" is a song by English electronic music group Clean Bandit, featuring vocals by Jess Glynne. It was released on 5 December 2013 as the fourth single from the group's debut studio album, ''New Eyes'' (2014). It also appears on the delu ...

" by Clean Bandit featuring

Jess Glynne Jessica Hannah Glynne (born 20 October 1989) is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Atlantic Records, she rose to prominence in 2014 as a featured artist on the singles "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and " My Love" by Route 94, bo ...

. In the United States, the song entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number 77 in December 2013. It continued climbing and rose to number 16 in March 2014, and reached a million in total sales that week. After Clear Channel personnel noticed the song's success at pop and adult pop radio, they asked

Island Def Jam The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...

to craft a remix that showcases the song's instruments more prominently. Support for this remix enabled "Hey Brother" to debut, and peak, at number 59 on ''Billboard''s Country Airplay chart in March 2014. The song would become Avicii's final song to hit the top 40 before his death in 2018.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

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Release history

References