"Floating" is a 2004 single by the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

band

Jape Jape is a synonym for a practical joke. Jape or JAPE may also refer to: * Jape (band), an Irish electronic/rock band * JAPE (linguistics), a transformation language widely used in natural language processing * JAPE, an automated pun generator * J ...

, taken from the second studio album, '' The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me'' and described as "Jape's trademark song". Co-produced by

David Kitt David Kitt (born 1975 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician. He has released eight studio albums to date: ''Small Moments'', ''The Big Romance'', ''Square 1'', ''The Black and Red Notebook'', '' Not Fade Away'', ''The Nightsaver'', ''Yous'', ...

, the single was the first release from the album and was generally viewed by critics as the standout track on the album. In 2007, it featured on the EP, ''Jape is Grape'', for which a video was made.

Brendan Benson Brendan Benson (born November 14, 1970) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released eight solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs. Recording career ''One Missi ...

The Raconteurs The Raconteurs (, also known as The Saboteurs in Australia) is an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 2005. The band consists of Jack White (vocals, guitar), Brendan Benson (vocals, guitar), Jack Lawrence (bass guitar), and Pa ...

is a known admirer of the song and has performed a cover version during live shows.

Reception

"Floating" was a popular single on late night

alternative music Alternative music may refer to the following types of music: *Alternative rock *Alternative pop *Alternative R&B *Neo soul, sometimes known as alternative soul *Alternative reggaeton *Alternative hip hop *Alternative dance *Alternative metal *Chris ...

radio shows in Ireland. The national broadcaster

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

described the song as "part drugs story and part love song" and noted its "quirky instrumentation and

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

ing". It described the lyrics as having "a definite feel of amateur

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at 5am" but it said that that was "not necessarily a bad thing".

Cover versions

The song was famously overheard being played in

Whelan's Whelan's is a pub and music venue in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Profile Numerous international artists have played at the venue, including Jeff Buckley, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Kate Nash, Townes Van Zandt, Damien Rice and Allen To ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

by the musician

who immediately requested a copy of the album. A friend at the venue informed the band of this development following a show at The Bloom Festivalhttp://bloomintralee.com during The Rose of Tralee festival in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. Benson then praised Jape in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (however, the newspaper spelt it "Jabe") and rang the song's writer to inform him he would be covering "Floating" with his band

. Benson did not actually receive permission to cover the track although it has been said that he would have been allowed to had he asked. Jape witnessed the cover live at the Olympia Theatre and was later to describe it as "a great moment". "Floating" is also covered by the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

bastard pop A mashup (also mesh, mash up, mash-up, blend, bastard pop or bootleg) is a creative work, usually a song, created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumenta ...

duo

Soulwax Soulwax are an electronic band from Ghent, Belgium. Centred around brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, other current members include Igor Cavalera and Stefaan Van Leuven. They were first noticed after the release of their album ''Much Against Eve ...

during their DJ sets.

2007 remixes

A remix collection of "Floating" was released as a single on 4 June 2007 through the Marine Parade label of Adam Freeland. There were contributions from Prins Thomas, Alex Metric and Son Green over three formats. The 12" featured an eleven-minute "Prins Thomas Diskomiks" and an "Alex Metric Mix". The original version of "Floating" and a "Son Green Mix" featured on the 7", whilst the download version featured bonus tracks of "Prins Thomas Dub" and "Prins Thomas 0.75 Miks".

Video

"Floating" went on to feature on the EP, ''Jape is Grape'', released on 19 November 2007 on V2 Records. The video was recorded on 2 October 2007 and was directed by M&E and D.A.D.D.Y."JAPE Floating by DADDY and M&E"
Dailymotion. Accessed 8 March 2009. The video's storyline involves Richie Egan walking onscreen to finish painting a garden fence. As he completes this task he is hit with a piece of fruit by an unknown assailant. He is then hit with more fruit before gently lifting off the ground as a water melon is hurled in his direction. Despite this an apple hits him in the face and this is followed by a stream of fruit and vegetables including broccoli, pears, a tomato which splashes across his forehead and a shower of grapes which cascade onto him from above as he attempts to defend himself. A coconut hits a bottle and glass of milk which are positioned on a stepladder, sending the contents flying through the air. As the fruit piles up Egan slips and falls exhaustedly onto the ground, with more food landing on top of him and apparently burying him. The fruit and vegetables then rise up to form an anthropomorphistic figure, with Egan's facial features visible beneath. An apple is then hurled at Egan beneath the fruit but it freezes mid-air and Egan rises above it out of the picture as the apple falls to the ground. The video ends with a fruitless Egan walking into shot clutching his paintbrush; he then picks up the fallen apple and takes a bite before returning to complete his painting of the garden fence.

Awards

UK Music Video Awards

"Floating" was nominated for Best Budget Video at the UK Music Video Awards in 2008. Autamata, another Irish band, were also nominated for their video "Need You Sunshine" as were

Example Example may refer to: * '' exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, ex ...

’s video for "Me and Mandy", Lise Westzynthius's video for "Childlike Curves" and

These New Puritans These New Puritans are an English music group/band from Southend-on-Sea, England. It consists mainly of Jack Barnett (principal songwriter, vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist) and his twin brother George Barnett (drums, electronics, prod ...

's video for "Elvis". The awards ceremony took place on 14 October 2008 in the

Odeon West End The Odeon Luxe West End is a two-screen cinema on the south side of Leicester Square, London. It has historically been used for smaller film premieres and hosting the annual BFI London Film Festival. The site is on an adjacent side of the squa ...

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...

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 ...

. , - , 2008 , , "Floating" , , Best Budget Video , , , -

References

External links

Official video
at ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...

'' (subscription required) {{DEFAULTSORT:Floating (Jape Song) 2004 songs Jape (band) songs