"Sometime Around Midnight" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

The Airborne Toxic Event The Airborne Toxic Event is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2006. It consists of Mikel Jollett (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Chen (guitar, keyboards), Adrian Rodriguez (electric bass, backing vocals), Daren T ...

. It was released as the second single from their self-titled debut album (2008) on February 2, 2009, in the UK. The song peaked at number 115 on the ''

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'' Hot 100, number 29 on the Wallonia

Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...

chart in Belgium, and number 33 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Composition

The song is about a night when lead singer

Mikel Jollett Mikel Frans Jollett (born May 21, 1974) is an American musician and author. He is best known as the frontman for American indie rock band the Airborne Toxic Event as well as the author of the ''New York Times'' bestselling memoir ''Hollywood Park ...

met a former girlfriend while out at a bar, during which he discovered that he still loved her. The entire band was present during this event. The lyrics to the song were written in isolation by Jollett over the course of the next three days.

Release

"Sometime Around Midnight" was iTunes' #1 alternative song of 2008. An acoustic version of this song was chosen as the

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 ...

Pick of the Week for May 6.

Music video

The song has two music videos, the first of which was released in August 2008, and was directed by Jason Wishnow. This video is a literal re-telling of the song's events. The second video was released on April 30, 2009, and was directed by D.J. Caruso. The newer video is a more abstract, surreal depiction of Jollett writing the song. Actress

Anita Briem Anita Briem (born 29 May 1982) is an Icelandic actress. She is known for her role as Queen Jane Seymour on '' The Tudors'' and her role as Hannah Ásgeirsson in '' Journey to the Center of the Earth''. Personal life Briem was born on 29 May ...

stars as the love interest in the video.

Track listing

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— 826663-11310 (UK CD single)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2008 songs 2009 singles The Airborne Toxic Event songs