"Hollywood", originally titled "Hollywood Is Dead", is a song by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

artist

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

, released as the fifth and final single from his fourth studio album '' Crazy Love'', and is the only from its re-release, ''The Hollywood Edition'', which was released on October 25, 2010. "Hollywood" was released worldwide on September 7, 2010.

Background

Bublé described the song as being about his "

tongue-in-cheek Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...

statement on the culture of

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

," saying "People will do anything for their

15 minutes ''15 Minutes'' is a 2001 satirical buddy cop action thriller film directed and written by John Herzfeld and starring Robert De Niro and Edward Burns. Its story revolves around a homicide detective (De Niro) and a fire marshal (Burns) who joi ...

, and you have to remember who you are and why you wanted it. At the end of the day, you should be careful: You might get what you wish for." "Hollywood" was originally planned to be '' Crazy Loves third single and was reported to be released as a stand-alone single at a later date because the song did not fit the album thematically or stylistically. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at the fifty-fifth position, with 46,000 digital downloads in its first week. He performed "Hollywood" on ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' on October 31, 2010. He also performed the song on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'' on November 28 and ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' on December 12.

Composition

The song is based on a

beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

-like groove, unlike Bublé's many other uptempo singles, which feature a swing feel, such as "

Haven't Met You Yet "Haven't Met You Yet" is the first single from Canadian singer Michael Bublé's fourth studio album, '' Crazy Love'', released on August 31, 2009. According to Bublé, the single and its official music video are "about everyone's dream of finding ...

", "

It's a Beautiful Day It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards. David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...

" and "

Feeling Good "Feeling Good" (also known as "Feelin' Good") is a song written by English composers Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the musical '' The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd''. It was first performed on stage in 1964 by Cy G ...

". It contains at least two references to songs by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. First, the melody of the first two lines of the verse is nearly identical to the song "

Do You Want To Know A Secret? "Do You Want to Know a Secret" is a song by English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 album ''Please Please Me'', sung by George Harrison. In the United States, it was the first top ten song to feature Harrison as a lead singer, reaching No ...

". Second, the first line of the fourth verse mentions a

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

, and the groove of the song changes slightly, differentiating this verse from the first three - exactly the same happens in

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

's song "

Rock and Roll Music Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and ...

", and its cover version by the Beatles.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was released on September 27, 2010 and was directed by

Rich Lee Richard "Rich" Lee is an American music video and commercial director. He has directed music videos for Eminem, Lana Del Rey, Maroon 5, The Black Eyed Peas, Norah Jones, Michael Bublé and The All-American Rejects. Rich Lee started his professi ...

. It features Bublé walking through

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and watching himself

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

ing several different characters and

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

, such as an

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He became one of the most influential figures in Hollywood in the 1950s, despite a career that lasted only five years. His impact on cinema and popular culture was p ...

driving his

Porsche 550 Spyder The Porsche 550 is a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine car with ...

numbered 130, a ''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired ...

''-esque character in a police chase driving a GTO Judge muscle car,

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

in ''

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' (, literally "''The good, the ugly, the bad''") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Cleef as "the Bad", and Eli Wallach a ...

'', and

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

, which Bublé described on his website as "a loving

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

" to the fellow Canadian singer. The official lyric video was released on September 10. UsMagazine.com premiered the exclusive backstage filming of the music video on October 5.

Track listing

* UK CD single"Hollywood" U.K. 2-track CD single
on eBay. # "Hollywood" - 4:13 # "Mack the Knife" - 3:20

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman MBE (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his roles as Captain Jack Harkness in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2010; 2020–2021) and its spin-off ''Torc ...

covered the song on the album ''You Raise Me Up'' in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollywood (Michael Buble song) 2010 singles Michael Bublé songs Songs written by Michael Bublé 143 Records singles Reprise Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Rock 2010 songs Music videos directed by Rich Lee