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2004 song by Switchfoot From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Dare You to Move" is a song by American alternative rock band Switchfoot from their fourth studio album, The Beautiful Letdown (2003). The song was originally called "I Dare You to Move", and was on the album Learning to Breathe, but the band decided to reimagine it and put it on The Beautiful Letdown. This track received considerable radio airplay, and its accompanying music videos saw play on MTV, VH1, FUSE TV, and other mainstream channels. "Dare You to Move" was released to Christian radio on February 6, 2004, and sent to modern rock radio the following month. It peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Switchfoot's second top-20 single, surpassing the success of their breakthrough single, "Meant to Live", in the United States.
"Dare You to Move" | ||||
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Single by Switchfoot | ||||
from the album Learning to Breathe, A Walk to Remember soundtrack and The Beautiful Letdown | ||||
Released | February 6, 2004[1] | |||
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Songwriter(s) | Jon Foreman | |||
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Switchfoot singles chronology | ||||
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Appearing as the first track on Learning to Breathe and the fifth track on The Beautiful Letdown, "Dare You to Move" was a long-lasting hit and eventually certified gold in April 2005.[2] The song received positive reviews from critics, and was ranked number 73 on Rhapsody's list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade.[3] "Dare You to Move" was co-produced by Charlie Peacock—who discovered Switchfoot and signed the band to its first record deal—and John Fields.[4]
Written by Switchfoot singer and songwriter Jon Foreman, it was originally produced solely by Charlie Peacock and recorded as the opening track for Switchfoot's 2000 album Learning to Breathe, and also appeared on the A Walk to Remember soundtrack, which featured several other Switchfoot songs. The song can be heard in season one, episode eight, in season two, episode five, and in season eight, episode eighteen of One Tree Hill as well as the documentary Warren Miller's Higher Ground.
Bassist Tim Foreman remarked that upon finishing the song, all the band members knew that they had really created something powerful. Jon Foreman (primary songwriter) said that "sometimes it still can move him to tears, and that he's glad it got a second chance, (on The Beautiful Letdown)."[5] The reason the band gave it a rewrite was "that song hadn't lived its shelf life yet".[6] In addition, "after having played it a couple years live, I feel like we've got a better grip of how we want it to be on a record," he said.[6]
Foreman has called it "a defining song"[6] for the band: "It's me talking to myself and I think a lot of times I feel stagnant and stuck in the same place, and 'Dare You to Move' is kind of a song for myself to get me up and get me moving and tackling a new part of life."[7]
The tune is played in the key of E major, beginning with a jangling strummed guitar riff and a driving rocky chorus. The song has a basic structure consisting of an intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. Multiple versions were released, varying slightly in dynamics and instrumental structure.
There are two official music videos: One depicts a man running against a large crowd of people while the other features a surfer who is being resuscitated on the beach while different parts of his life are shown. The second version of the video peaked at No. 2 on VH1's Top 20 Countdown.
In 2005, the track won two Dove Awards: Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year and Short Form Music Video of the Year, at the 36th GMA Dove Awards. It was also nominated for Song of the Year.[8]
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States (RIAA)[2] | Gold | 500,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
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United States | February 6, 2004 | Christian radio | Columbia | [1] |
March 1, 2004 | Modern rock radio | [28] | ||
Australia | December 27, 2004 | CD | [29] | |
United Kingdom | July 18, 2005 | Sony BMG | [30] |
"Dare You to Move" has five recorded versions that have appeared on soundtracks, CDs, and singles: