"Wherever You Will Go" is a song by American band the Calling. It was released on May 22, 2001, as the first single from their debut studio album, '' Camino Palmero'' (2001). It remains their most successful hit, peaking at number five on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topping the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

for 23 weeks, the second-longest-running number one in the chart's history. Outside the United States, the song topped the music charts of Italy, New Zealand, and Poland, reached number three in the United Kingdom, peaked at number five in Australia, and became a top-10 hit in several European countries.

Background and writing

Songwriter Aaron Kamin talked about the song in a radio interview. He said: "At the time my grandmother's best friend had passed away and she left behind a husband of 50 or more years and I was at the funeral and afterwards I just started thinking of what it would be like to be him and have your whole life change so dramatically and not for the best in a matter of moments. Somebody that you live and grow with and are one with, just to be gone, is crazy and I figured all he ever thinks about probably is finding a way to get back to her or be with her or make sure she's alright or something like that. That was the sentiment behind that."

Music video

Two videos were shot for this song. The first was set in Mexico. The other version, which is more popular, was directed by

Gregory Dark Gregory Dark (born Gregory Hippolyte Brown) is an American film director, film producer, music video director, and screenwriter. Dark is an Pornographic film, adult filmmaker who transitioned into directing Hollywood movies. He has also been cr ...

, and has the band performing in the concrete channel of the

Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...

, while a teenage

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

plays in the foreground. A teenage girl gets her boyfriend's name tattooed on her shoulder, but when she finds him cheating with another girl, she flies into a rage, destroying most of his belongings. At the end of the video, she is seen with a new boyfriend (male model and then-fledgling actor

Drew Fuller Andrew Alan "Drew" Fuller (born May 19, 1980) is an American actor and former model. He is best known for his portrayal of Chris Halliwell in the television series ''Charmed'' and for playing soldier Trevor LeBlanc on Lifetime's ''Army Wives''. ...

) with a flower tattoo covering the name, as her jealous ex watches her from his car. The group's lead singer,

Alex Band Alex Band (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the vocalist for the Los Angeles-based rock music, rock band The Calling (band), the Calling. He performed their hit song "Wherever You Wil ...

, can also be seen in some scenes singing in the foreground of some of the storyline, such as when the girl is seen destroying the belongings.

Track listings

US 7-inch single :A. "Wherever You Will Go" – 3:28 :B. " Adrienne" – 4:30 UK CD single # "Wherever You Will Go" (radio edit) – 3:28 # "Lost" – 3:48 # "Wherever You Will Go" (acoustic) – 3:24 # "Wherever You Will Go" (director's cut video) – 3:26 UK cassette single # "Wherever You Will Go" – 3:28 # "Lost" – 3:48 # "Wherever You Will Go" (acoustic) – 3:24 European CD single # "Wherever You Will Go" (radio edit) – 3:28 # "Lost" – 3:48 European limited-edition maxi-CD single # "Wherever You Will Go" – 3:28 # "Nothing's Changed" – 4:04 # "Lost" – 3:48 # "Wherever You Will Go" (video) – 3:26 Australian CD single # "Wherever You Will Go" – 3:28 # "Nothing's Changed" – 4:04 # "Lost" – 3:48

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK CD single liner notes. Studios * Recorded at

Cherokee Studios Cherokee Studios is a recording studio facility in Hollywood founded in 1972 by members of 1960s pop band the Robbs. Cherokee has been the location of many notable recordings by such artists as Steely Dan, David Bowie, Journey, Toto, Michael J ...

(

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

) * Mixed at Image Recording (Hollywood, California) Personnel *

– writing, vocals * Aaron Kamin – writing, guitar,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, loops, percussion * Matt Laug – drums, percussion *

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

– bass * Ron Fair – synth strings * Satnam Ramgotra –

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

, percussion * Paul Mirkovich – additional keys * Marc Tanner – production * David Thoener – recording * Marc Greene – recording * Tiago Becker – recording assistance * Valente Torres – recording assistance *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...

– mixing * Matt Silva – mixing assistance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Charlene Soraia version

The song was covered by English singer-songwriter Charlene Soraia for use in a

Twinings Twinings () is a British marketeer of tea and other beverages, including coffee, hot chocolate, and malt drinks, based in Andover, Hampshire. The brand is owned by Associated British Foods. It holds the world's oldest continually used company ...

advert in the United Kingdom. It was released in the UK as a digital download on September 30, 2011. On October 9, 2011, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 20 and peaked at number three two weeks later. It served as the lead single from Soraia's debut studio album, '' Moonchild'' (2011).

Music video

A music video for the song was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on October 3, 2011, at a total length of three minutes and thirty-eight seconds. The video shows Soraia in the studio performing the song.

Track listing

Digital download # "Wherever You Will Go" – 3:17 # "Lightyears" – 3:03

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In popular culture

The song was featured in the 2000 film '' Coyote Ugly'' in the scene where Violet first sees Kevin. The Calling performs the song live. In 2001, the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

network used the song and video to promote the debut of ''

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 ...

''. The song was used in a commercial promoting the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

's 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs. The song was featured in the 2003 British comedy-drama film ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas film, Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous pro ...

'' during a scene in which Colin ( Kris Marshall) participates in an orgy with a group of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

ite girls shortly after arriving in the United States. The song plays during the final scenes of the series finale of '' Saving Grace'', a TNT drama that aired from 2007 to 2010. The song plays on ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'' during the final scene of the episode "Metamorphosis" (Season 1 episode 2). The song was parodied on ''

Mad TV ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...

'' by several of the cast playing the Calling, Scott Stapp of Creed, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and Ray Charles, making fun of how all the singers' voices sound the same and they accuse each other of getting famous by imitating them. This song is also featured in the popular South Korean drama ''

I'm Sorry, I Love You ''I'm Sorry, I Love You'' () is a 2004 South Korean television drama series starring So Ji-sub and Im Soo-jung. It aired on KBS2 from November 8 to December 28, 2004, on Mondays and Tuesdays for 16 episodes. The series was a success and had ...

'', starring So Ji-sub and

Im Soo-jung Im Soo-jung (; born July 11, 1979) is a South Korean actress and former model. After modeling for teen magazines, Im made her acting breakthrough in Kim Jee-woon's horror film ''A Tale of Two Sisters'' (2003), followed by the popular Korean dram ...

, and its soundtrack as well. A cover of this song is also featured in the movie Unravel: A Swiss Side Love Story. In

JK Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

's Cormoran Strike series, the song is used for Robin Ellacott's first dance with Matthew Cunliffe at their wedding in Lethal White. In '' the TV adaptation'', the song is also played at their wedding reception.

References

{{Authority control 2000 songs 2001 debut singles 2011 debut singles Bertelsmann Music Group singles The Calling songs Charlene Soraia songs Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Poland RCA Records singles Songs about death Songs written by Aaron Kamin Songs written by Alex Band UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles Music videos directed by Gregory Dark