"Just Say When" is a song by American rock band Nothing More. It was their third single off of their album '' The Stories We Tell Ourselves''. It peaked at number 8 on the ''

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 advertise ...

'' Mainstream Rock Songs chart in September 2018.

Background

In December 2017, after Nothing More earned three Grammy Award nominations, one for the album '' The Stories We Tell Ourselves'' ( Best Rock Album), and two for its first single, "

Go to War "Go to War" is a song by American rock band Nothing More. It was released on June 23, 2017 as the first single off of the band's fifth album ''The Stories We Tell Ourselves.'' The song performed well commercially and critically, topping the '' Bil ...

" (

Best Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...

and Best Rock Song), the president of the band's record label, Eleven Seven Music, announced plans to release the track "Just Say When" as a single. This was due to the belief that the softer sound of "Just Say When" was most likely out of the album to appeal outside of the band's core

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

fanbase and into the alternative rock, indie rock, and pop music radio stations and markets, in an effort to maximize the band's exposure from the Grammy Nominations. While the band would ultimately release the hard rock " Do You Really Want It?" as the album's second single, the band later released "Just Say When" as the third single. The song, alongside an accompanying music video, was released on April 27, 2018. The video was directed by Daniel Cummings and recorded at

El Paso International Airport El Paso International Airport (EPIA, , es, Aeropuerto Internacional de El Paso) is four miles (6 km) northeast of downtown El Paso, in El Paso County, Texas, United States. It is the largest civil airport in West Texas. It handled 3,516,91 ...

. The video involves a man chasing after a woman, catching up to her, slow dancing with her, only to have one fall to their knees while the other ends up running away. A lyric video had also previously been released in August 2017, as a promotional effort prior to the album's release.

Themes and composition

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 ...

and lyricist Johnny Hawkins described the song as being about his emotionally difficult divorce. Musically, the song was described as an outlier for the band and album; while much of their music has a heavier,

sound, the song was described as an acoustic ballad, consisting of just vocals,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, and having a pop punk ballad influence.

Personnel

Band *Jonny Hawkins – lead vocals *Mark Vollelunga – guitar, backing vocals *Daniel Oliver – bass, keyboards, backing vocals *Ben Anderson – drums Addition musicians and Production * Ryan Delahoussaye -

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

s * Tony Rodgers - cello *Will Hoffman - production

Charts

References

{{authority control Nothing More songs 2018 singles 2018 songs 2010s ballads Rock ballads