"Hunting for Witches" 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 ...

. It was released as the third single from their second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' A Weekend in the City'', on 9 July 2007. The song peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.

Composition

"Hunting for Witches" lyrics were influenced by the terrorist attacks on London's transportation system in July 2005, the

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

attacks in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and the media's reaction to the attacks. It also touches upon the amount of control the media has over modern society.

Frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Kele Okereke Rowland Kelechukwu "Kele" Okereke (born 13 October 1981), also known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Kele, is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie rock band Bloc Part ...

stated in an interview:

The 30 bus in Hackney, which is just around the corner from where I live, was blown up. hat song waswritten when I was just observing the reactions of the mainstream press in UK">United_Kingdom.html" ;"title="he United Kingdom">UKand I was just amazed at how easy it'd been to whip them up into a fury. ... I guess the point about the song for me is post-
September 11th, the Mass media">media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
has really traded on fear and the use of fear in controlling people.

Music video

The music video for the song was the most minimalist one from the album. It simply features the band performing the song in a dark room, using some unique overhead shots in some parts of the video. The video is credited as being directed by Alan Smithee.

Track listing

7" vinyls

* Wichita / WEBB130S (UK) (In gatefold sleeve which houses second 7") * Wichita / WEBB130SX (UK)

CDs

* Wichita / WEBB130SCD (UK) * Wichita / WEBB130SRMX (UK) * Manufactured CD, but labelled "for promotional use only".

Download

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunting For Witches 2007 singles Bloc Party songs Music about the September 11 attacks Song recordings produced by Jacknife Lee Music videos credited to Alan Smithee 2007 songs Wichita Recordings singles Songs written by Kele Okereke Songs written by Gordon Moakes Songs written by Russell Lissack Songs written by Matt Tong