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"Boom Clap" is a song by English singer
Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...
, released as the first single from the
soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
of ''
The Fault in Our Stars ''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar (play), Julius Caesar ...
'' (2014) and is also featured on her second studio album, '' Sucker''. There are two existing mixes of this song: the first and original one is heard in the film, the film's soundtrack, and the music video shot in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
; the second mix is heard on the music video shot in Japan and in ''Sucker''. The single peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart and number eight on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topped the
Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...
, as well as peaking inside the top ten of the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Italy. This song is featured as
downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
on ''
Just Dance 2015 ''Just Dance 2015'' is a 2014 dance video game developed and published by Ubisoft. The sixth main installment of the ''Just Dance'' series, it was announced at Ubisoft's E3 2014 press event on 9 June 2014 alongside '' Just Dance Now''—a web-b ...
''.


Background and composition

"Boom Clap" is a "radio-ready"
electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...
and
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
ballad, written by Charli XCX, Fredrik Berger, Patrik Berger and Stefan Gräslund. The song was initially written during writing sessions for XCX's debut studio album, ''
True Romance ''True Romance'' is a 1993 American romantic crime film directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino. It features an ensemble cast led by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt ...
'', then later offered to singer and actress
Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...
for her new album. Once Duff's management declined the offer, XCX decided to use the song as her contribution to ''
The Fault in Our Stars ''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar (play), Julius Caesar ...
'' motion picture
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
. In a later interview, Duff said she had no idea that XCX had offered the song to her people and would have accepted the song if she had known. The song is composed in the key of
E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...
.


Critical reception

"Boom Clap" received positive reviews from music critics.
4Music 4Music was a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. Launched on 15 August 2008, the original incarnation, replacing The Hits television channel, showed a mix of music and entertainment pr ...
said the song was "infectious" and a "feelgood track
hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
contrasts softly-sung verses with a big attitude-packed chorus" resulting in a song that was "catchier than the clap." ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...
'' listed "Boom Clap" at number 24 on its list of "The 101 Best Songs of 2014," writing that "Charli XCX's excellent use of
onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetics, phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as Oin ...
gives this intoxicated '' Sucker'' cut her most unforgettable chorus yet." ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' named it the 37th best song of 2014. In January 2015, "Boom Clap" was ranked at number eight on ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
''s annual year-end
Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
critics' poll. In April 2022, '' Clash'' listed the song among the 17 best of Charli's songs, with Isabella Miller stating that "it captures the essence of youth culture with timeless stylistic and lyrical content that awakens the 2014
Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...
teen in us all."


Commercial performance

The song debuted at number 62 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the week dated 21 June 2014, becoming XCX's first entry as a lead artist. On 28 June 2014, the song jumped to number 29, becoming her first top-40 hit as a lead artist. The song became XCX's first top 10 hit as a solo artist (after her features on " I Love It" and "
Fancy Fancy may refer to: Music Albums * ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970 * ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997 * ''Fancy'' (video), a 2007 video album by Les Claypool Songs * "Fancy" (Bobbie Gentry song), 1969, covered by Reba McEntire in 19 ...
") and re-entered the top ten twice before peaking at number eight. The song has sold more than 3 million copies in the United States. "Boom Clap" also peaked at number one on the
Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...
chart and topped Dance Airplay. In the UK the song has sold over 200,000 copies and has received a silver certification.


Music videos

The accompanying music video for "Boom Clap", directed by Sing J. Lee, was filmed in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
and premiered on 2 June 2014. The video features brief clips from ''The Fault in Our Stars'' set to the song as well as on-screen text written in the style of the book cover and film poster. An alternative music video for the song, directed by Kazuya Murayama, was filmed in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
and premiered on 29 October 2014.


Live performances

Charli XCX performed the song for the first time on ''The Fault in Our Stars'' Live Stream Event on 14 May 2014. She also performed the song at the
2014 MTV Video Music Awards The 2014 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 24, 2014 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. It was the 31st annual MTV Video Music Awards. Beyoncé and Iggy Azalea led the nominees with eight nominations each, while Eminem followed them ...
pre-show on 24 August. The song was part of the setlist of Charli's first headlining concert tour Girl Power North America Tour. Charli XCX performed the song followed by " Break the Rules" at the
2014 MTV Europe Music Awards The 2014 MTV EMAs (also known as the MTV Europe Music Awards) were held at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland on 9 November 2014. This was the first time since 2003 when the awards were held in Scotland and the fifth time the United Kingdom has ...
. She also performed the song along with "Break the Rules" at the
American Music Awards of 2014 The 42nd Annual American Music Awards ceremony was held on November 23, 2014, at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California. The awards recognized the most popular artists and albums of 2014. Iggy Azalea led the nominees with six ca ...
; when she performed "Boom Clap" she wore a prom dress; after the song she performed her second song, removed her dress with another outfit underneath, and went wild at the show and destroyed parts of her set. She also performed the song on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
''. Charli XCX performed the song in the 1989 World Tour with
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
on 3 October 2015, and on the regular setlist of Crash: The Live Tour in 2022–2023.


Track listings

;Digital download # "Boom Clap" – 2:49 ;Digital download – remixes # "Boom Clap" (
Aeroplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...
Remix) – 5:14 # "Boom Clap" (ASTR Remix) – 3:19 # "Boom Clap" (
Surkin Benoit Heitz (born 1985), known by his stage name Surkin, is a French musician, record producer, DJ and art director. He is known for his electronic music compositions under the names Surkin and Gener8ion. Life and career Surkin was born in Arl ...
Remix) – 3:40 # "Boom Clap" (Elk Road Remix) – 3:40 # "Boom Clap" ( Cahill Remix) – 5:28 ;CD single # "Boom Clap" – 2:50 # "Boom Clap" (Aeroplane Remix) – 5:15


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


See also

* List of Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles in 2014 * List of Billboard Mainstream Top 40 number-one songs of 2014


References

{{authority control 2010s ballads 2014 singles 2014 songs Atlantic Records singles Charli XCX songs Electropop ballads The Fault in Our Stars (film) Songs written for films Songs written by Charli XCX Songs written by Patrik Berger (record producer) Neon Gold Records singles