"Shot Me Down" is a song by French

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

producer and DJ

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

, featuring vocals from American singer

Skylar Grey Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986), known professionally as Skylar Grey, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. In 2004, Grey signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group and a recording contract w ...

. The song was released on 20 January 2014 as a digital download. It was produced by David Guetta and Giorgio Tuinfort, with additional production from Ralph Wegner. "Shot Me Down" peaked at number six on the

French Singles Chart SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

. Outside France, "Shot Me Down" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Lebanon and the United Kingdom, and the top 20 of the charts in Germany, Italy and Spain. The original version of the song, "

Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" is the second single by American singer-actress Cher from her second album, '' The Sonny Side of Chér'' (1966). It was written by her husband Sonny Bono and released in 1966. It reached No. 3 in the UK Singles ...

", was released by

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

in 1966 and was famously covered by

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer, actress, film producer and author. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato) and is known for her 1965 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walki ...

in the same year.

Critical reception

''DJ Times'' described the song as "A clear departure from Guetta’s pop anthems of the past few years" and compared "the electro frenzy of percussion-laden drops and grinding pops" to

Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix (or Ytram and GRX), is a Dutch Republic, Dutch DJ and record producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—20 ...

's song "

Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...

". Mike Wass of

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

wrote: "The track closely follows

Avicii Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer. At age 16, he began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose ...

's ' Wake Me Up' formula of blending raw acoustic moments — courtesy of

's husky vocal — with bone-rattling beats and the radio version simply trims away some of the instrumental." Robert Copsey of

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

gave the song a mixed review stating:

"Even before listening to David Guetta's new single, it's difficult not to think, is this really necessary? And if you feel like you've already heard it before actually hearing it, it's because essentially you have; the Cher/Nancy Sinatra classic has not only been covered to death already, but a dance version created by production duo
Audio Bullys Audio Bullys are a British electronic music project from London, originally consisting of Simon Franks and Tom Dinsdale. Franks and Dinsdale released their debut album '' Ego War'' in 2003, and two years later followed up with ''Generation'', ...
in 2005 remains perfectly serviceable today. So why is he bothering? Surprisingly, the song's infamous chorus remains largely similar to the original here, even with Skylar Grey's vocal, which bears a haunting resemblance to Sinatra's. It's a shame then that it's been sandwiched between sections of menacing beats, strobing EDM and grinding bass. In separation they both sound like promising songs, but together, the result feels lazy and disjointed."

Track listings

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end chart

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Skylar Grey 2014 singles 2014 songs David Guetta songs Skylar Grey songs Songs written by David Guetta Songs written by Giorgio Tuinfort Songs written by Sonny Bono Parlophone singles Song recordings produced by David Guetta Animated music videos