"Helicopter" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...

, originally released as a stand-alone single in the UK in October 2004 and appeared later on the '' Little Thoughts EP''; it was released two years later as a single from their debut album, '' Silent Alarm'', in the US. The song received acclaim, reaching number 26 on the UK Singles Chart but failing to chart on the US Hot 100. It did however chart on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Singles Sales The Hot Singles Sales, also known as the Hot 100 Singles Sales and the POS chart, was a music chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling physical singles in the United States, such as CD singles, vinyl single ...

chart. Various

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

es of the song have been produced. The song was included in the music video games '' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock'', '' Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure'', ''

Burnout Revenge ''Burnout Revenge'' is a 2005 racing video game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360. Similar to its predecessor '' Burnout 3: Takedown'', ''Revenge'' focuses on a mixture of racing ...

'', '' FIFA 06'', '' FIFA 23'' and the episode "Alma Matter" from the sixth season of ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

''.

Composition

"Helicopter" is an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

and

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

song, written by all band members prior to their debut studio album, '' Silent Alarm''. Composed in

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

, it was written in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

and has a quick tempo of 171

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

.Commercial sheet music for "Helicopter". ''

Wichita Recordings Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees include Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yea ...

Music Publishing''. Distributed by International Music Publications. Retrieved 10 February 2009. The main riff was adapted from "Set The House Ablaze", a song by

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

featured on the 1980 album '' Sound Affects''. The song's critical references to the United States, and lines such as "just like his dad – the same mistakes", led to journalists believing that the song was an attack on

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, whose father

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

had also led American military intervention in the Middle East. Okereke denied these suggestions in an interview with ''Pitchfork'' in August 2005 saying "It's frustrating that people attribute something to certain songs and that's not what they're about at all. ..It's kinda patronizing".

Music video

The official video is displayed in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

and shows the band playing in an old, empty house, intercut with surreal imagery. It has received the most views of any of Bloc Party's songs on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, gaining over 30 million views. A remastered version with HD video and audio can be foun
here

Track listings

UK 7-inch # "Helicopter" # "Skeleton" UK CD # "Helicopter" # "Always New Depths" # "Tulips" (

Minotaur Shock Minotaur Shock is the stage name of David John Edwards, a Bristol-based electronic musician. His 2005 album ''Maritime (album), Maritime'' was his first album released through 4AD Records, having previously released work via the Manchester bas ...

mix) US CD # "Helicopter" (

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

) # "Helicopter" (Weird Science remix featuring

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...

) # "Helicopter" (Whitey remix) # "Helicopter" (Original version) US 12-inch # "Helicopter" (Diplo remix) # "Helicopter" (Weird Science remix featuring Peaches)

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2004 songs 2004 singles 2006 singles Bloc Party songs Song recordings produced by Paul Epworth Songs written by Gordon Moakes Songs written by Kele Okereke Songs written by Matt Tong Songs written by Russell Lissack Wichita Recordings singles