Breakfast at Tiffany's (song)
| "Breakfast at Tiffany's" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Deep Blue Something | ||||
| from the album 11th Song and Home | ||||
| Released | July 4, 1995 | |||
| Format | CD single, music cassette | |||
| Recorded | 1994 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, pop rock, jangle pop | |||
| Length | 4:16 | |||
| Label | Interscope | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Todd Pipes | |||
| Producer(s) | David Castell | |||
| Deep Blue Something singles chronology | ||||
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"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is a 1995 song recorded by American alternative rock band Deep Blue Something. Originally appearing on the album 11th Song, it was later re-recorded and released on their album Home. It was the band's only hit,[1] peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] Outside the United States, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" topped the charts in the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Germany, Iceland, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden.
Todd Pipes said in a Q magazine article about the promotion of "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "As the song had 'breakfast' in the title, radio stations thought it would be genius to have us on at breakfast time. We'd be up till 3 am and they'd wonder why we were pissed off playing at 6 am."[3] Follow-up singles failed to match the success of "Breakfast at Tiffany's", hence the reason for the band's classification as a one-hit wonder.
Inspiration and composition
"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is sung from the point of view of a man whose girlfriend is on the verge of breaking up with him because the two have nothing in common. Desperate to find something, the man brings up the Audrey Hepburn film Breakfast at Tiffany's, and his girlfriend recalls that they "both kinda liked it." He argues that this should serve as enough motivation for them to work out their problems based on the notion that love will always find a way to make things work.
The film Roman Holiday inspired the lyrics of the song, but songwriter Todd Pipes thought that one of Hepburn's other films would make a better song title.[4]
Critical reception
Brian Wahlert called Breakfast at Tiffany's "a cute, catchy song that should fit in well on adult contemporary, Top-40 and alternative radio" with memorable melody that makes it "a perfect single, along with the mildly repetitive, conversational lyrics of the chorus and the bright, acoustic guitar".[2] However, Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly was unimpressed. He called it "possibly the year's most innocuous single, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' is distressingly prosaic pop from a wimpy-sounding Texas quartet"; he added that it lacked any "musical piquancy".[5] The Houston Press listed the song as the second worst by an artist from Texas, after Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby".[6]
VH1 and Blender ranked the song #6 on their list of the "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever".[7]
Music video
The music video features the band members arriving to a breakfast table and being served by butlers, beside the curb in front of Tiffany & Co. in Midtown Manhattan. At the end of the video a young woman dressed like Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn's character from the film) walks past on the sidewalk, and takes off her sunglasses.
Track listing
- UK CD single
- Breakfast at Tiffany's - 4:17
- A Water Prayer - 3:19
- Sun (Non LP Track) - 4:15
- US Cassette single
Side A
- Breakfast at Tiffany's - 4:11
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (Crunch Mix) - 4:11
Side B
- A Water Prayer - 3:20
- Breakfast at Tiffany's - 4:11
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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Other uses
- On Top Gear, episode 8 of series 5, the song can be heard attempting to drown out a rattling from the dashboard of Jeremy Clarkson's Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.
- In 2008, the song was used in a commercial in the Slovak Rep. for Orange cellular phone.[26]
- In 2010, the song appeared in a Saturday Night Live skit, with four friends (played by Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader and Ryan Phillippe) talking during the verses and singing the choruses.[1]
- In August 2011, it was voted into fifth place by fans on Quietdrive's upcoming cover album, Your Record, Our Spin.[27]
- In May 2012, Episode 24 of New Girl highlighted the cast members dancing to this song. The group was llistening to this song from Nick's mixtape where he was trying to convince himself to stay together with a likewise dissimilar girlfriend.[28]
- The song appeared in the fifth episode of the VH1 series Hindsight.
- The song also appeared in the season 2 finale of Orange Is the New Black, eliciting a comment from a prison guard.
- In 2018, the song was played on Netflix series "Everything Sucks!".
References
- 1 2 Pete Freedman, "Saturday Night Live Remembers Deep Blue Something," Dallas Observer, April 22, 2010. Found at Dallas Observer website. Accessed July 21, 2010.
- 1 2 Brian Wahlert, "Deep Blue Something disappoints with off-key harmonies, vocals," The Thresher (Rice University (1996). Found at The Thresher online archives at Rice University website Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.. Accessed July 21, 2010.
- ↑ "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Songfacts.com. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
- ↑ British Hit Singles & Albums (Edition 18), Guinness World Records Limited
- ↑ Sinclair, Tom (October 20, 1995). "Music review - Breakfast at Tiffany's". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
- ↑ Lomax, John Lomax (April 29, 2004). "The worst songs of all time from Texas". Houston Press. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
- ↑ "VH1 & Blender Magazine Present: 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs ... Ever". Archived at PR Newswire. VH1, Blender. May 2004.
- ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany's". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany's" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany's" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
- ↑ "Musicline.de – Deep Blue Something Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
- ↑ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (NR. 170 Vikuna 18.5. - 24.5. '96)" (PDF) (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Breakfast at Tiffany's". Irish Singles Chart.
- ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Deep Blue Something" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
- ↑ "Charts.nz – Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany's". Top 40 Singles.
- ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany's". Singles Top 100.
- ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany's". Swiss Singles Chart.
- ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ↑ "Deep Blue Something Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ↑ "RPM 100 Hit Tracks of 1995". RPM. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
- ↑ "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1996". RPM. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
- ↑ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
- ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1996". Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
- ↑ "British single certifications – Deep Blue Something – Breakfast at Tiffany's". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Enter Breakfast at Tiffany's in the search field and then press Enter.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO7Wfexnh5g
- ↑ Archived August 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "New Girl Review: "See Ya" (Episode 1.24)". Paste Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2015.