Broken Arrows (song)
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"Broken Arrows" is a 2015 single by
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 ...
featuring uncredited vocals from
Zac Brown Zachry Alexander Brown (born July 31, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the co-founder and lead singer of the country Zac Brown Band, as well as electronic dance music group Sir Rosevelt. In 2019, Brown ...
of American
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
group
Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulele, ...
, released on
Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...
. The track appears on his album '' Stories''.


Composition

"Broken Arrows" combines
Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...
's vocals with "thumping bass and twinkling synth lines". Like one of Avicii's previous singles, "
Hey Brother "Hey Brother" is a dance song by Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii from his debut studio album, ''True'' (2013). American bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski provides vocals for the track. It was written by Avicii, Ash Pournouri, Salem Al Fakir ...
", "Broken Arrows" is a dance song containing elements of country music. It is written in the key of
G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...
.


Reception

"Broken Arrows" received positive reviews from critics. Chris Parton of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' described Brown's vocals as "crystal-clear" and the song's hook as "a cross between a game-show theme song and something from Nintendo's '' Super Mario Brothers''", while Marcus K. Dowling noted similarities between this song and the
Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...
song The Gambler in a review for
Insomniac Insomniac or The Insomniac may refer to: * A person who has insomnia Music * Insomniac (Green Day album), ''Insomniac'' (Green Day album), 1995 * Insomniac (Enrique Iglesias album), ''Insomniac'' (Enrique Iglesias album), 2007 * Insomniac (song ...
.


Music video

The accompanying music video for the song was directed by
Julius Onah Julius Onah (born February 10, 1983) is a Nigerian-American filmmaker.
He has direct ...
. It was released on 23 November 2015. It is inspired by the life of
Dick Fosbury Richard Douglas Fosbury (March 6, 1947 – March 12, 2023) was an American high jumper, who is considered one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field. He won a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics, revolutionizing t ...
, who revolutionized the
high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
by introducing a new technique known as the
Fosbury Flop The Fosbury flop is a jumping style used in the track and field event of high jump. It was popularized and perfected by American athlete Dick Fosbury, whose gold medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City brought it to the world's attention. ...
. The music video starts with the caption: "Inspired by a True Story" and is located in Fairmont, a fictitious location in California in 1967, where a struggling athlete lives alone with his daughter in a trailer. The athlete is chastised by his trainer for not achieving enough on the field. The athlete is shown descending into alcoholism and despair. But the athlete is inspired again by his daughter's zeal and acrobatics to invent a new technique in jumping, leading to a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Although talking about Fosbury, the video displays however a newspaper clipping, attributing it to a fictional American high jump Olympic athlete named Richard Radomsky in the video. The athlete also has Avicii's signature AV sign tattooed on his back. The role of Richard Radomsky is played by
Joshua Fredric Smith Joshua Fredric Smith (born c. 1981) is an American actor from Northern California. He played onscreen at the age of 12. His latest movie is ''Dam 999''., directed by Sohan Roy. Career Joshua landed his first acting job through a . After that he w ...
, and his daughter is played by Emily Skinner. Richard Neil plays the coach in the video.IMDb.com: Avicii: Broken Arrows (2015)
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Track listing


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certification


See also

* Zac Brown Band discography


References

{{authority control 2015 singles 2015 songs Avicii songs Song recordings produced by Avicii Songs written by Avicii Songs written by Rami Yacoub Songs written by Zac Brown Songs written by Carl Falk Songs written by Eric Turner (singer) Universal Music Group singles