"Dear Maria, Count Me In" is the debut single by the American

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 Wale ...

band

All Time Low All Time Low is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Towson, Maryland, in 2003. Consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist/backing vocalist Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson ...

. The song is from their second studio album ''

So Wrong, It's Right ''So Wrong, It's Right'' is the second studio album and major label debut by American rock band All Time Low. Following an unsuccessful showcase for Fueled by Ramen, Hopeless Records signed All Time Low in March 2006. They released an EP, ' ...

''. It was released May 6, 2008, through

Hopeless Records Hopeless Records is an American independent record label in Van Nuys, California. History Hopeless Records was founded in 1993 by Louis Posen. The label's artists are generally considered to fall under the genres of punk rock, pop punk, post-ha ...

as the album's second single. The song became the band's first to chart on a ''

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 advertis ...

'' chart, reaching No. 86 on the

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles ...

, and had a music video that aired frequently on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. The commercial success of the song contributed to All Time Low's greater success with their follow-up album '' Nothing Personal'' in 2009. In 2011, the song was

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

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 ...

for reaching 500,000 sales, and later Platinum in 2015 for reaching 1,000,000 units consumed.

Music video

A music video for "Dear Maria, Count Me In" was released on February 14, 2008. The video was directed by Travis Kopach and features the band at a

strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

watching a stripper, portrayed by Gilli Messer, with the members'

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

s, portrayed by the band themselves, on the other side of the club. Over the course of the video, the actions of the alter egos become more nonsensical, like riding a motorcycle on stage and letting a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

dance on the pole. The video reaches a climax when the band members and the alter egos begin to fight, resulting in the alter egos being

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be question ...

ed.

Legacy

Since its release, it has been considered a

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

classic. The song was featured in the first episode of the TV show '' Stoked'', chosen by show-creators

Tom McGillis Tom McGillis is a Canadian writer, producer, and the president of Fresh TV Inc. Early life McGillis is the son of Donald and Marguerite McGillis. Personal life McGillis is openly gay. Career Along with partner Jennifer Pertsch, he was the cre ...

and Jennifer Pertsch. In January 2021, the song went viral on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, also appearing on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

’s “Viral Hits” playlist. The song first gained major traction on the app when a user posted a video of himself listening to the song in the car and declaring: "Mom, it was never a phase, it’s a lifestyle!" This started the viral "it’s not a phase" trend, which saw users quote the line while listening to "Dear Maria, Count Me In" to emphasize their continued appreciation for the

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

and

emo pop Emo pop (alternatively typeset with a hyphen, also known as emo pop-punk and pop-emo) is a fusion genre combining emo with pop-punk, pop music, or both. Emo pop features a musical style with more concise composition and Hook (music), hook-filled ...

of the 2000s. The song gained further notice when users began to argue that it sounded similar to the songs often used in the

title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...

s of popular anime. This song also appeared in

Guitar Hero 5 ''Guitar Hero 5'' is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment and the ninth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internationally in ...

DLC and

Rock Band 4 ''Rock Band 4'' is a 2015 rhythm game developed and published by Harmonix. The game was initially distributed by Mad Catz, who also developed new instrument controllers for the game, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 6, 2015. Performanc ...

DLC.

Track listings

Digital download # "Dear Maria, Count Me In" — 3:02 UK digital single # "Dear Maria, Count Me In" — 3:02 # "Dear Maria, Count Me In" — 3:28 Live single # "Dear Maria, Count Me In" — 6:46 # "Dear Maria, Count Me In" — 5:29

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2007 songs 2008 singles All Time Low songs Hopeless Records singles Songs written by Alex Gaskarth Songs written by Jack Barakat Songs written by Zack Merrick Songs written by Rian Dawson