Relax, Take It Easy
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Relax, Take It Easy" is the debut single by British singer-songwriter Mika, from his debut album '' Life in Cartoon Motion''. In the UK, it failed to chart upon its original release in October 2006, but after " Grace Kelly" topped the charts in January 2007, it managed to peak at number 67 on the UK Downloads Chart because of download sales. The song makes use of a melody line from the Cutting Crew hit single " (I Just) Died in Your Arms". In North America, it was released as the third single from the album. The song was released as Mika's sixth single in the UK in stores on 31 December 2007, and for digital download on 24 December 2007 as a
double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
with " Lollipop". This single peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was also featured prominently in the movie '' Were the World Mine''. It is also in the 2011 film ''
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
''.


Background and composition

Mika described the story behind the song in an interview with ''The Sun'' newspaper, on 2 February 2007:
"I always wanted to write a dance song that wasn't a really full dance track, that felt organic. So when I came into producing 'Relax' I made sure that most of the sounds we used were actually made by real instruments. We used some great session musicians who had worked with
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
and
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
. And we picked up the strangest pedal combinations to get all these weird sounds. It's really effective – you can't tell if it's a full dance track or really laid-back. It feels a bit weird electronically. The organic-ness gives a more classic field to it. So it was one of the harder tracks for me to produce, but also the most rewarding."
In a 2017 episode of his show on the Italian TV channel Rai 2, Mika described that as a child he was scared of the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
, before becoming used to the noise and crowds as he grew up. Many years later, he was aboard a Tube train travelling to a recording studio when the train suddenly stopped. The lights went out, reminding him of his childhood fears. As lights came on again, passengers were told to leave the train. Outside there were police all around: it was
7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...
. He walked home and, still frightened, started singing. Once home, he wrote the song in twenty minutes. It uses the melody from " (I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight" by the Cutting Crew. The song is an upbeat pop track with a disco-like
bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched P ...
and a funky guitar riff in the background on the choruses, where he sings: "It's as if I'm scared/It's as if I'm terrified/It's as if I scared/It's as if I'm playing with fire". It is set in the key of F minor.


Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from music critics. Beth Johnson from ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' wrote that the song is "a
Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...
-ish shout-out to Frankie Goes to Hollywood." Craig McLean from ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' somewhat echoed the previous review, writing that the song "became the best song the Bee Gees never wrote." Christian John Mikane from ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' wrote that "the song is among the better songs on the album." He described the music as "gloriously synthetic, but the confidence in Mika's voice more than compensates for the artificiality of the music." While commenting about his voice, John Murphy from ''
musicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...
'' wrote that "He has an unfeasibly high falsetto, which works on the
Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...
-like electro pop track." Graham Griffith from
About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...
wrote that the song "channels the flawless electropop of the Scissor Sisters without being completely unoriginal." Heather Phares from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
agreed, writing that "it is in the same vein of hypnotic, danceable melancholy as the Scissor Sisters' reworking of '
Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a Single (music), single in 1980, with "Hey You (Pink Floyd song), Hey You" as the A-side and B- ...
', albeit less showy." Sal Cinquemani from ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
'' wrote a positive review, saying that "Mika fares best when he straddles the fence, as he does on the thumping hodgepodge 'Relax'." Dom Passantino wrote a more negative review for ''
Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...
'', saying that "Songs like 'Relax, Take It Easy' seem to be an attempt at simulating the effect that Supertramp chloroforming you in your sleep would produce."


Commercial performance

The song debuted at number 12 in the week ending 30 June 2007 in the ''Billboard'' European Hot 100, jumping to number 8 the following week, to number 4 in its third week, and to number 2 in its fourth week, despite not being released in some European countries such as the United Kingdom. In Spain, the song received double platinum certification for more than 40,000 downloads. The song peaked at number 4 in the Spanish download chart. The song spent 2 weeks at number 1 on the Belgian Ultratop Chart, 7 weeks at number 1 on the Dutch Top 40 Chart and 15 weeks at number 1 on the French Download Chart. The song received gold certification in Russia with 50,000 copies sold.


Music video

There are two versions of the "Relax, Take It Easy" music video. The first features a blue background with drawings based on Mika's songs that contain characters like Lollipop Girl, Big Girl and Billy Brown. It also contained colourful cartoon cables for the amplifiers, and in some parts it contained images of Mika in a concert in Europe. This version played on VH1 around the world. This version was used for the '' Life in Cartoon Motion'' release. This version is used for public use. The second version of the video is the newest. It was released in Britain and some countries in Europe for the re-release of the single. Version two contains videos and images taken by fans from Mika's numerous concerts. The video was officially released on YouTube. The video has received high ratings on YouTube, though it hasn't been released in any public release by MIKA.


Track listings

2006 * CD1 # "Relax, Take It Easy" – 4:10 # "Billy Brown" – 3:14 * CD2 # "Relax, Take It Easy" – 4:10 # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Ashley Beedle's Castro Vocal Mix) – 6:37 # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Acoustic) – 4:18 # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Video) * 7" vinyl # "Relax, Take It Easy" – 4:10 # "Billy Brown" – 3:14 * 12" vinyl # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Ashley Beedle's Castro Vocal Mix) – 6:37 # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Ashley Beedle's Dub) – 7:08 # "Relax, Take It Easy" – 4:10 2007 * CD1 # "Relax, Take It Easy" – 3:38 # "Lollipop" (Live From L'Olympia Paris) # "I Want You Back" (Live From L'Olympia Paris) # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Dennis Christopher Remix Radio Edit) # "Lollipop" (Fred Deakin's Fredmix) * CD2 # "Relax, Take It Easy" – 3:38 # "Lollipop" – 3:43 * USB stick # "Relax, Take It Easy" – 3:38 # "Lollipop" – 3:43 # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Alpha Beat Remix) # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Frank Musikmix) # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Ashley Beedle's Castro Vocal Mix) # "Relax, Take It Easy" (Live In Paris – Video) # "Lollipop" (16:9 Bunny Action – Video)


Charts


Weekly charts


Monthly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


Certifications


See also

* List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 2007 * List of number-one hits of 2007 (France) * Ultratop 40 number-one hits of 2007 * Ultratop 50 number-one hits of 2007 * List of Romanian Top 100 number ones of the 2000s


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2006 songs 2006 debut singles 2007 singles Casablanca Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Mika (singer) songs Number-one singles in the Czech Republic Number-one singles in Poland Number-one singles in Romania SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Greg Wells Songs written by Mika (singer) Songs written by Nick Van Eede Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles