"Our Velocity" is a song by English
indie rock
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 produc ...
band
Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band consists of Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), and Tom English (drums). The band have released seven studio albums: '' A Certain Trigge ...
. It was released on 19 March 2007 as the lead single from their second studio album, ''
Our Earthly Pleasures
''Our Earthly Pleasures'' is the second studio album by Newcastle-based alternative rock band Maxïmo Park. It was released on 2 April 2007 in the UK (and 8 May 2007 in the US), being preceded by the single " Our Velocity", released two weeks p ...
'' (2007). The music was written by guitarist
Duncan Lloyd
Duncan Lloyd is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist.
He is the lead songwriter and backing vocalist for Maxïmo Park. He also works as a solo artist releasing albums on Warp Records (U.K.), Crash Symbols (U.S.) and is currently on Reve ...
and the lyrics by lead singer
Paul Smith. According to Smith, the song is about the wars that the UK was involved in at the time, such as
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
.
"Our Velocity" became Maxïmo Park's first UK Top 10 single, reaching number 9 on 25 March 2007 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 ...
and number 1 on the
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...
within a week of its physical release.
Critical reception
The song has been highly regarded and in
VH1's "50 Greatest Songs of 2007 So Far", it placed at number 1.
Teletext
A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories
Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...
's music page
Planet Sound
Planet Sound was a Teletext music page on ITV and Channel 4 in the UK, active from 1997 until 2009. It was broadcast on analogue Teletext from page 340, and on digital Teletext from page 820. From 24 May 2007, Planet Sound was also available t ...
named "Our Velocity" as the best single of 2007.
Music video
The music video was directed by
Nima Nourizadeh. It features the band being multiplied in a white room while playing the song.
Usage in media
In August 2007, a segment of "Our Velocity" was used as the title music for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' in 2007. It is also included in the video games ''
"
* 7-inch white vinyl:
# "Our Velocity"
# "Pride Before a Fall"
* 7-inch red vinyl:
# "Our Velocity"
# "
"
* 1st-week-only download:
# "Our Velocity" (home demo version)
# "Our Velocity" (first live performance)