"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" is a song by English

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band Florence and the Machine from their debut studio album ''

Lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side ...

'' (2009). It was released as the album's third single on 21 June 2009, by

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

and Moshi Moshi Records. The song was written by

Florence Welch Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986) is an English singer, the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine. The band's debut studio album, ''Lungs'' (2009), topped the UK Albums Chart and wo ...

and Paul Epworth, produced by Epworth and mixed by Cenzo Townshend. The song contains elements of "House Jam" by

Gang Gang Dance Gang Gang Dance is an American band based in Manhattan, New York City. They are known for their distinctive sound which blends elements of psych-rock, ambient electronics, hip-hop, and Eastern music influences with the vocals of singer Lizzi ...

. It has been remixed by numerous artists, including

Jamie T Jamie Alexander Treays (born 8 January 1986), better known by his stage name Jamie T, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, guitarist and record producer from Wimbledon, South London. Jamie T released his debut album, '' Panic Prevention ...

, whose remix appears on the single's CD and digital releases. "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" peaked at number 12 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming the band's third most successful single to date, behind "

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

", which peaked at number one, and " You've Got the Love", which reached number five.

Background

"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" features

's voice overdubbed with so many harmonies she sounds like a massed choir of one. She confessed to ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'': "The guy who mixed it nearly had a nervous breakdown." The song was co-written by Welch together with Paul Epworth who also produced the song which was recorded by Mark Rankin. The track features Tom 'Moth' Monger on harp and Robert Ackroyd on guitar. During the verses, the song features some of the melody and lyrics (e.g. ''"How quickly the glamour fades"'') from

's song "House Jam". Florence described her inspiration behind the song:

I'd written all these dark songs, and the label suggested we should have something that was a bit more upbeat. In the process of trying to do that, I realised maybe I was sacrificing something. So I had a really upbeat piano and drums, but the lyrics that came out were 'This is the gift/It comes with a price/ Who is the lamb/And who is the knife?' The rabbit heart is a reference to fear. I'm so afraid of what's about to happen. Of being in the spotlight.

As part of the single's promotion, the band performed the song on ''

The Jonathan Ross Show ''The Jonathan Ross Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2011 and airs on Saturday evenings following the conclusion of Ross' BBC One chat show, ''Friday Night with Jonat ...

'' as well as in

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

. The single was also performed at numerous festivals across the United Kingdom throughout 2009, including

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

Electric Picnic Electric Picnic is an annual arts-and-music festival which has been staged since 2004 at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. It is organised by Pod Concerts and Festival Republic, who purchased the majority shareholding in ...

, Brighton,

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...

and

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, among others. The song was also featured as

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

's "Single of the Week".

Critical reception

"Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" received critical acclaim from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

wrote that Welch "add some welcomed ambiguity to a Paul Epworth production that stunningly internalizes every pseudo-psych/freakishly-folk trend that's passed through these parts over the last few years. 'The looking glass so shiny and new/ How quickly the glamor fades,' wisely observes Welch. A gold record in every way."

Chart performance

On 4 July 2009, "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" debuted at number twelve on the

. It spent a total of seven weeks in the top twenty, and seventeen in the official top seventy-five, a significantly longer charting period than any of the band's previous three singles. "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" debuted at number forty-two on the Irish Singles Chart on 27 June 2009. The song then went on to peak at number forty-one, spending a total of eight weeks on the chart. As of July 2018 in United Kingdom the track has shifted 308,000 combined sales and streams.

Music video

The music video for "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" was directed by Tom Beard and Queens of Noize's Tabitha. It was shot on location at

Painshill Park Painshill (also referred to as "Pains Hill" in some 19th-century texts), near Cobham, Surrey, England, is one of the finest remaining examples of an 18th-century English landscape park. It was designed and created between 1738 and 1773 by Charl ...

in Cobham, Surrey on 6 May 2009. Welch told ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' that the video shoot had "a twisted mid summer night's dream feel to it." The video premiered on

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on 14 May 2009. The video starts in a field with a piece of cloth being lifted from in front of Welch's face, before she begins spinning as two girls follow her. The girls then start to dance all around the field, you see a harp being played and then Welch joins in the dancing, doing the bunny hop. Welch sits at a table with six other people, including a man wearing a top hat, there are pig heads served on a plate. Welch and the other six people throw the food on the floor and begin to dance. Welch lies down on the table and the other people lift up the sides to make it into a coffin. The people carry the coffin into the river and it drifts away as the video ends.

Cover versions

English girl group the

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

performed the song twice, first in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge alongside their single " About a Girl" in November 2009 and again at

Camden Crawl Camden Crawl was a music festival in Camden, London, which first appeared in 1995 and then was held annually from 2005 to 2014. Overview Rather than a single venue, Camden Crawl operated at multiple venues simultaneously, with different acts tak ...

in 2010.

Track listings

* UK CD single # "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" (album version) – 3:54 # "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" (

's Lionheart remix) – 4:49 # "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" (Leo Zero remix) – 8:09 * Digital EP # "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" – 3:52 # "Are You Hurting the One You Love?" – 2:58 # "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" (Jamie T & Ben Bones Lionheart mix) – 4:50 # "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" (Leo Zero remix) – 8:05 # "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" (Switch mix) – 4:44 * UK 7-inch single :A. "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" – 3:52 :B. "Are You Hurting the One You Love?" – 2:58

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2009 singles 2009 songs Florence and the Machine songs Island Records singles Song recordings produced by Paul Epworth Songs written by Florence Welch Songs written by Paul Epworth