"Faded" is a song by British-Norwegian record producer and DJ Alan Walker with vocals provided by Norwegian singer Iselin Solheim. The single was originally set to be released on 25 November 2015, but was postponed to 3 December. The song was highly successful, peaking in the top 10 in most of the countries it charted in, and reached the top spot in more than 10 countries. As of April 2022, it is the 21st most viewed video on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

and also the 14th most viewed music video, with over 3.3 billion views, making it the first

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...

track to hit that milestone. "Faded" is also the 48th most streamed song on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

as of April 2022, with over 1.5 billion streams. Walker debuted a live performance of "Faded" with Solheim and string support on 27 February 2016 at the

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

in Oslo. The performance was aired live on Norwegian television.

Background and composition

The song "Faded" is a revamped version of Walker's past composition "Fade", which was released via the record label NoCopyrightSounds in 2014. Walker was inspired by the music producer Ahrix's sound on his track "Nova" from 2013. In an interview he stated: "The melodies and the way the track progresses are what's so unique and it's what inspired me to create 'Fade' which later on became 'Faded'". The style is inspired by the Norwegian producer K-391. The melody, I don't know where it came from, but I try to let my emotions and feelings have a big influence on the melodies I produce." While the structure and melody are almost identical to "Fade", "Faded" is noticeably different for its piano intro and outro; with uncredited vocals by Iselin Solheim and mainstream production. The song is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and has a tempo of 90

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. It is written in the key of

E♭ minor E-flat minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature consists of six flats. Its relative key is G-flat major (or enharmonically F-sharp major) and its parallel key is E-flat maj ...

with a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of E♭m–C♭-G♭–D♭.

Chart performance

"Faded" became a worldwide commercial success upon its release, topping Norwegian, Finnish and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

singles charts, as well as entering the top 3 in the Danish singles chart. The song peaked at number one in more than ten countries and in the top 5 in more than 25 countries. It also charted in various countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It also reached number one on the

Shazam Shazam () may refer to: Comic book franchise * Captain Marvel (DC Comics), also known as Shazam, a superhero character published by Fawcett Comics and DC Comics ** Shazam (wizard), a character from the ''Shazam!/Captain Marvel'' comics, who give ...

Worldwide Top 100 Popular Songs in February 2016, and by March 2016, had become the world's most Shazamed song. Its music video on YouTube reached 1 billion views on 26 March 2017, and has received over 3 billion views to date, making it the 22nd most viewed YouTube video. It is also the 8th most liked YouTube video with over 26 million likes.

Live performances

Several female vocalists have performed the song live: Iselin Solheim, the original vocalist on the recording,

Ingrid Helene Håvik Ingrid Helene Håvik (born 1987 in Ålesund, Norway) is a Norwegian songwriter and vocalist. She is best known as the lead singer of Highasakite but has also released a solo album under the artist name Ingrid. Biography Håvik is a former mem ...

(vocalist of Highasakite), Tove Styrke, Alexandra Rotan, Angelina Jordan,

Zara Larsson Zara Maria Larsson (, ; born 16 December 1997) is a Swedish pop singer. In 2008, at the age of 10, she won the second season of the talent show '' Talang'', the Swedish version of the '' Got Talent'' format. Since then she has received recogni ...

and Torine Michelle. On 4 November 2017 Alan Walker performed the song live with Against the Current at the 2017

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', Ri ...

World Championship closing ceremony in Beijing.

Music video

Remains of Rummu quarry utility buildings in the water at night on 5 September 2014

A music video was released, featuring Shahab Salehi as the protagonist. It was produced and edited by Bror Bror and directed by Rikkard and Tobias Häggbom; Rikkard Häggbom served as director of photography. On 24 September 2021, a new music video called

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

was released on YouTube featuring K-391 and Boy in Space as a collaboration with mobile game PUBG Mobile (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds). That music video takes place at the same time as ''Faded'', with it becoming the start of the ''World of Walker'' (WoW) Universe, as it uncovers a deeper plot within the previous music video ''Faded''.

Synopsis

The video shows a young man dressed in scruffy clothes and covering his face, roaming with his backpack and a photograph of his home in his hand. He wanders through devastated high rises and derelict structures in an abandoned town, wielding a flare to explore a dark building. Guided by the photo, he finally locates his home, which lies in

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

. With a final look at his home, he removes his mask, and the video fades to black.

Filming locations

The video was filmed in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

at such locations as the Linnahall building; a disused textile manufacturing plant and a concert hall in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

; the former Rummu prison; the Rummu quarry and lake alongside the adjoining

spoil tip A spoil tip (also called a boney pile, culm bank, gob pile, waste tip or bing) is a pile built of accumulated ''spoil'' – waste material removed during mining. These waste materials are typically composed of shale, as well as smaller quan ...

Vasalemma Parish Vasalemma Parish ( et, Vasalemma vald) was a rural municipality in north-western Estonia. It was a part of Harju County. The municipality had a population of 4,991 (as of 1 January 2012) and covers an area of 38.66 km2. The population densit ...

; and the city of

Paldiski Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri Peninsula of northwestern Estonia. Since 2017, it's the administrative centre of Lääne-Harju Parish of Harju County. Previously a village of Estonia-Swedes known by the historical ...

. The last shot features the ruins of a building near the shore on Pakri Peninsula just outside Paldiski, on the outskirts of Laoküla village, Keila Parish ().

Acoustic version

On 11 February 2016, Alan Walker published an acoustic version of the song called "Faded (Restrung)". The song is performed with a piano and strings, with all the EDM elements taken out. Walker wrote in a note to ''

The FADER ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'', that he had decided on an alternative version of "Faded", so as "to highlight other aspects of the song; to present it to another audience who may like Iselin olheims voice and the melodies, but can't stand the electronic parts of it." The music video to "Restrung" features Walker, vocalist Iselin Solheim, and a string ensemble performing in the reactor hall of the dismantled R1, Sweden's first nuclear reactor. The cast wore black

hoodie A hoodie (in some cases spelled hoody and alternatively known as a hooded sweatshirt) is a sweatshirt with a hood. Hoodies with zippers usually include two pockets on the lower front, one on either side of the zipper, while "pullover" hoodi ...

s bearing Walker's logo of his stylized initials. The R1 reactor hall is located underground at Sweden's

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technol ...

(KTH) in Stockholm. The same team who created the video for "Faded", also made the music video for "Restrung" — Bror Bror was the producer, Rikkard and Tobias Häggbom directed, and Shahab Salehi was credited as an assistant. The filming atmosphere closely resembles that of "Faded"; according to a behind the scenes video of the filming, the "Restrung" video was shot as a continuation of sorts to the original "Faded" video.

Track listing

*Digital – Single #"Faded" – 3:32 #"Faded" (Instrumental) – 3:35 *Digital – EP #"Faded" – 3:32 #"Faded" (Instrumental) – 3:34 #"Faded" (Restrung) – 3:37 #"Faded" (Piano Version) – 3:35 *Digital – Restrung #"Faded" (Restrung) – 3:37 *Digital – Remixes EP #"Faded" ( Tiesto's Deep House Remix) – 4:29 #"Faded" ( Dash Berlin Remix) – 3:35 #"Faded" ( Tungevaag & Raaban Remix) – 4:11 #"Faded" (Y&V Remix) – 4:33 #"Faded" (Tiesto's Northern Lights Remix) – 4:10 #"Faded" ( Luke Christopher Remix) – 3:26 *Digital – Remixes #"Faded" (Tiesto's Deep House Remix) – 4:29 #"Faded" (Slushii Remix) – 3:31 #"Faded" (Young Bombs Remix) – 3:23 #"Faded" (Dash Berlin Remix) – 3:35 #"Faded" (Tungevaag & Raaban Remix) – 4:11 #"Faded" (Y&V Remix) – 4:33 #"Faded" (Tiesto's Northern Lights Remix) – 4:10 #"Faded" (Luke Christopher Remix) – 3:26 *CD single #"Faded" – 3:32 #"Faded" (Instrumental) – 3:34 #"Faded" (Restrung) – 3:37 #"Faded" (Tiësto's Deep House Remix) – 4:29 #"Faded" (Tiёsto's Northern Lights Remix) – 4:10 *7-inch :A-side #"Faded" – 3:32 :B-side #"Faded" (Instrumental) – 3:35 #"Faded" (Restrung) – 3:37 *Digital – Remixes II #"Faded" ( Slushii Remix) – 3:31 #"Faded" ( Young Bombs Remix) – 3:22 *Digital – Lost Stories Remix #"Faded" ( Lost Stories Remix) – 3:31 *CD – EP (Japan) #"Faded" – 3:32 #"Alone" – 3:34 #"Tired" – 3:37 #"The Spectre" – 3:11 #"Sing Me to Sleep" – 3:11 #"Routine" – 2:48 #"Faded" (Tiёsto's Northern Lights Remix) – 4:10

Charts

The song was highly successful, peaking between 1 and 20 in most of the countries it charted in, and reached the top spot in more than 10 countries. The only countries where the song peaked between 21 and 40 are

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and Japan.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Copyright

In 2018, Cheetah Mobile removed a level containing this song from ''Rolling Sky'' to avoid being copyright claimed. Other levels with Alan Walker songs removed include " The Spectre", "

Alone ALONE is a charity organization in Ireland which was set-up to highlight the issues facing older people living alone. Founded in 1977 by Willie Bermingham, the charity seeks to help elderly people living on their own who may feel isolated and lone ...

" and " Ignite", as well as remixes of the songs.

References