Força

"Força" (Portuguese for "strength") is a song by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado from her second studio album, Folklore (2003). Written by Furtado, Gerald Eaton, and Brian West, the track is sung mainly in English, with the chorus completely in Portuguese. The song was produced by Furtado and Track & Field and received a positive reception from music critics. Released in June 2004 as the album's third single, served as the official song of the 2004 European Football Championship held in Portugal.

"Força"
Single by Nelly Furtado
from the album Folklore
B-side	"Powerless (Say What You Want)"
Released	7 June 2004 (2004-06-07)
Studio	The Gymnasium (Santa Monica, California) Metalworks (Mississauga, Canada)
Length	3:40
Label	DreamWorks
Songwriter(s)	Nelly Furtado Gerald Eaton Brian West
Producer(s)	Track & Field Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado singles chronology
"Try" (2004) "Força" (2004) "Explode" (2004)
Music video
"Força" on YouTube

Background and writing

Nelly Furtado said about the song: "When I was touring in Portugal, people would frequently say goodbye to me by saying 'Força', which is Portuguese slang. It translates as 'Keep going', or 'Kick ass'. It's also associated with sports, especially football. I put a feminine twist on the idea of how you feel when you're watching your favorite team. When you tie that into nationality, it becomes pretty intense. So this is a happy song, a burst of energy. Plus, we have [banjoist] Béla Fleck playing on the song. His contribution here is amazing".^[1]

Music video

The music video was shot in Toronto, Ontario and directed by Ulf Buddensiek. It was released in 2005 to the iTunes music Store.

The music video begins with Furtado wearing a pink top and gold hoop earrings, and a necklace with her hair tied back, singing in an alley way while in front of the camera. In the back drop while Furtado is singing, a boy with the Portugal national football team shirt is playing with a football and doing tricks. It also shows Furtado sitting on a ledge in the video singing to the camera. In the middle of the video the boy accidentally kicks the ball too high and it gets stuck on the pipes in the corner of the apartment building where he's playing. As Furtado continues singing more and more people come to help the little boy and they end up building a human pyramid to lift and support him up the side of the building. Furtado finally joins the pyramid and the group lifts the boy up to his ball.

The version of the song used in the video is different from the album version. It's the version that was prepared to be used on the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 (a.k.a. Swiss American Federation Mix Edit)^{[citation needed]} which Nelly Furtado composed for Portugal. The second version of the video features a Radio Edit for the Album version.

Track listings

European and UK CD maxi-single^[2]

1. "Força" (radio edit) – 2:58
2. "Força" (Swiss American Federation Mix) – 3:08
3. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" (Spanish version featuring Juanes) – 3:54
4. "Força" (video) – 3:40

European 2-track CD single

1. "Força" (radio edit) – 2:58
2. "Força" (Swiss American Federation Mix) – 3:08

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the Folklore album booklet.^[3]

Studios

• Recorded at The Gymnasium (Santa Monica, California) and Metalworks Studios (Mississauga, Canada)
• Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California)

Personnel

• Nelly Furtado – writing, lead and background vocals, production
• Gerald Eaton – writing
• Brian West – writing, engineering
• Track & Field – production, programming
  • Field – stadium guitar
• Béla Fleck – banjo
• Dean Jarvis – bass
• Gurpreet Chana – tabla
• Luis Simao – accordion
• Brad Haehnel – mixing, engineering
• Joe Labatto – engineering
• Steve Chahley – engineering assistance
• Ian Bodzasi – engineering assistance
• Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2004) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 5 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] 14 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[6] 7 Canada CHR/Pop Top 30 (Radio & Records)[7] 27 Czech Republic (IFPI)[8] 5 Denmark (Tracklisten)[9] 13 Germany (GfK)[10] 9 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[11] 39 Italy (FIMI)[12] 34 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[13] 3 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[14] 4 Norway (VG-lista)[15] 18 Romania (Romanian Top 100)[16] 57 Scotland (OCC)[17] 38 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 34 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 5 UK Singles (OCC)[20] 40

Year-end charts Chart (2004) Position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[21] 48 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[22] 79 Germany (Media Control GfK)[23] 67 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[24] 39 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[25] 40 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 41

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Germany	7 June 2004	CD single	DreamWorks	[27]
	14 June 2004	Maxi single		[28]
United Kingdom	12 July 2004	Digital download		[29]
		CD single		[30]